<p>I have an EFC of 0. I'm a NYS resident and hope to attend a SUNY school where full costs will be about $17k a year. According to the research I've done the maximum amount of stafford loans for a first year student who is either independent, or whose parents are unable to obtain PLUS loans is $9,500. I fit into the latter of the two. Meaning that I would still require another ~$7,500 a year in FA to cover the full costs. Because I have an EFC of 0, how likely is it that I will be able to meet my needs and be able to go to this school?</p>
<p>Your FA package will include the following: grants, loans, and work study. Possibly some of the grant money will be described as scholarship if your stats are high enough. What are your stats? With an EFC of 0, do you have any other available funds to put toward college? Do you have any ideas on your possible fields of study? I would not recommend going deeply in debt for your undergraduate study.</p>
<p>My stats aren’t bad (not good either; ~1950 SAT, low GPA), but from previous research I find it unlikely that I will receive much help from scholarships. I do not have any other funds to put towards college. I plan on studying computer science as my major.</p>
<p>Since you’re in NY, you’ll get Pell (about $5500), TAP (up to $5k), maybe work-study ($2500), and loans.
**
Try to borrow as little as possible.** Let your work-study pay for your personal expenses, and use summer job money for other costs. </p>
<p>Submit your FAFSA as soon as you can after Jan 1 and send info to schools. The best aid packages often go to those who apply for FA early!!!</p>
<p>Do NOT make the assumption that as an engineer you can afford to pay back big loans. New graduates have a lot of other expenses, so paying back big loans can be a drag. The **most **you should borrow for 4 years is about $30k…about $7,500k per year. Try to borrow LESS!</p>
<p>Besides…many students change their majors. </p>
<p>Which SUNYs are you applying to?</p>
<p>Suny Bing</p>
<p>In-state tuition and fees: … $6,881<br>
Room and board:… $11,244<br>
Books and supplies: … $800<br>
Estimated personal expenses: … $750<br>
Transportation expense: … $250 </p>
<p>Cost of Attendance…about $20,000 including personal expenses and trans.</p>
<p>I plan on applying to several SUNY schools, but I would prefer to goto Stony Brook. Tuition, Room & Board, etc… Come out to about $17k a year, as I stated before.</p>
<p>I’ve been reading up on grants like the Pell. I haven’t however been able to find information about how that actually works. With a EFC of 0 am I likely to receive that grant? Or is it a small chance that I should still take?</p>
<p>Would you say it’s likely I will be able to attend Stony Brook University given my situation regardless of how much in loans I will have to take out? (I do understand it’s important to attempt to take out as little as possible in loans, and I do plan on doing that, but just knowing that I have a decent chance of being able to afford my first choice school would really take a lot of stress away.)</p>
<p>Your post was very informative, and I appreciate it. Thanks!</p>
<p>Pell is completely based on your FAFSA EFC. If you file FAFSA and have a 0 EFC, you will absolutely receive the full amount (I think next year it will be around $5700). Likewise, if you file a TAP application after you file FAFSA anId have a 0 EFC, you will receive the full TAP award…max is around $4900 this year. It’s likely SB will also offer you a SUSTA grant of several hundred dollars, a Perkins loan, and federal work study in addition to the normal Stafford loan of $5500. If you’re careful, you should be able to make it work without the extra Staffords from the Plus loan refusal.</p>
<p>Idk how SB’s scholarship programs work and I haven’t seen any info posted on their website, although I know they do offer scholarships. Their admissions rep, Chris, often posts on the SB sub-forum (look under the Colleges link on the left of this page) under the name “sbuadmissions”. You could PM her and ask for info.</p>
<p>Given that information assuming I get the maximum amount for both of those grants (which it looks like I should, at least I think) I should be able to cover the rest of the $6k-$7k / year through Stafford / Perkins loans ($4k limit for undergraduates) without going over the $5.5k normal Stafford limit.</p>
<p>Though, currently I’m unsure if it would be better to just take it all in Stafford loans taking advantage of the $9.5k limit I will have, or to spread it between Stafford and Perkins loans. I suppose that’s what I’ll research next.</p>
<p>Thank you for that information!</p>
<p>Er, if you can take Perkins loans you should take those before taking unsubsidized Stafford loans. As a freshman, if I had to rank loans in the order of which one you should take, I would get the subsidized Stafford loan, then the Perkins, and then the unsubsidized Stafford loan, and no PLUS loans under any circumstances whatsoever.</p>
<p>Take whatever combo of loans give the best rates. </p>
<p>You’re forgetting that you’ll likely also get about $2000 or so in work-study. Also, summer earnings. </p>
<p>Borrow the least you can…borrow only what you need for real education related expenses.</p>
<p>You do NOT want to use loan money to pay for “day to day” expenses. You have no idea how frustrating it was to pay back my H’s students loans that he only took out to pay for restaurants, pizza, movies, and other fun things. He didn’t want to work, so he took loans instead (he had a full ride scholarship that paid for his real costs). 
Believe me…it’s annoying to pay back loans that weren’t necessary.</p>
<p>Thanks again, as always, you have all been very helpful!</p>
<p>Would you say it’s likely I will be able to attend Stony Brook University given my situation regardless of how much in loans I will have to take out? (I do understand it’s important to attempt to take out as little as possible in loans, and I do plan on doing that, but just knowing that I have a decent chance of being able to afford my first choice school would really take a lot of stress away.)</p>
<p>It looks like you will have all your costs at Stony covered. :)</p>
<p>However, as a back up, you need to apply to SUNY or two that would also give you a scholarship. You probably won’t need to attend one of those SUNYs, but they would be your financial safety schools. </p>
<p>Besides…if you get a scholarship at another SUNY, maybe Stony would match it. :)</p>
<p>There are several SUNYs that might be generous to you. Stonybrook is one of the hardest to get into and your current stats may not be quite good enough. How about Oneonta?</p>
<p>you say that you have a “low GPA”. What is your GPA? </p>
<p>What is the breakdown of your SAT? Will you test again?</p>
<p>Will SUNY’s accept weighted grades? Will SUNY’s accept senior grades for admittance?</p>
<p>Stonybrook’s mid 50s stats…</p>
<p>Test Scores
Middle 50% of First-Year Students<br>
SAT Critical Reading: 520 - 620<br>
SAT Math: 580 - 670<br>
SAT Writing: 520 - 620
ACT Composite: 24 - 28</p>
<p>You say that you have about a 1950 SAT. That’s about a 650 in each section (don’t know your actual score distribution).</p>
<p>40% are admitted. Over 50% of incoming students have a GPA of 3.5 or higher.</p>
<p>My GPA will be about a 3.5.</p>
<p>Honestly, I’m not too worried about getting accepted. From the research that I’ve done it seems like I won’t have a problem being accepted. The numbers I find say 50th-75th percentile: 1580 - 1890, which means I’ll be over the 75th percentile.</p>