Your EFC isn’t what the colleges will say you can afford.
So your budget is less than your EFC - which means the meets need schools likely won’t work. It will depend on the school but the reason they have you do the CSS is so they can take even more things into account - i.e. they’ll likely want more than $27K.
This leaves you then with the in-states, the Alabamas of the world, or a hail mary full ride.
At many (most) schools, merit and need will only “stack” until you get to your EFC. So, if it’s not a full-need-met school, and your need-based aid doesn’t get the net cost down to your EFC (as calculated by the school), merit can fill the gap. But once the gap is filled, your need-based aid will be reduced if you get additional merit. The only way to get below your EFC is if the size of the merit award exceeds your documented need.
This isn’t always the case, but you should assume that it is at any given school, unless/until proven otherwise.
That’s a big gap.
And 27K is the MINIMUM colleges will expect your parents to pay.
If you want merit that gets you out of the heat, Fordham is your best bet, then top merit from UCincinnati, Miami-Ohio, UMN, and perhaps privates like Denison, Kalamazoo&St Olaf.
(U New Mexico is in a hot climate but it’s hot&dry rather than hot&humid/tropical, so it’s easier to handle. Same thing for Arizona, with ASU/Barrett and UA.)
Does that mean I won’t be able to get below $27k unless I get enough in merit scholarships to offset the entire difference between sticker price and EFC? Also, how can schools like MIT or Harvard offer me such low prices if they go below my EFC?
There’s often confusion between the FAFSA EFC, and the family contribution that a given school calculates. Each school has its own formula for computing your demonstrated need and your family contribution. Those super-generous schools assign you a low family contribution, and give you enough need-based aid to get there. So, they’re going below your FAFSA EFC, but not below the amount they calculate.
A school with a less generous formula typically isn’t going to give you need-based aid to get to their family contribution amount, and then take additional merit off of that amount. This is why you need to run the Net Price Calculator for each school. The FAFSA EFC is just a guideline - it’s what the school comes up with that ultimately matters.
This ^^^
Yikes. So, basically, aside from a full-ride outside scholarship, I’m not getting schools like CMU below the $30k price from the NPC? (assuming I can’t otherwise cover the $53k difference between EFC and sticker price)
Unfortunately, that is likely the case. There are exceptions, but the way most schools look at it is that the purpose of need-based aid is to get you to the family contribution that they calculate. So, if you get merit money, they’re not going to say, “Sure, you can keep all of the need-based aid too, and pay less than your family contribution.” They’re going to reabsorb any “extra” money. They may use the “extra” to eliminate loans that would otherwise have been part of your package, so that can be helpful. But your out-of-pocket will usually not go below their calculated number.
You can always ask whether there are exceptions. Exceptions do exist. But you should understand that this is the norm. It’s always really sad to see people get an unpleasant surprise on this front, in the spring of senior year, because they didn’t understand that it would work this way.
Good to have a heads-up in advance, then. There’s still something a little infuriating about each school calculating their own cost, in whatever way they want, but at least now I know to laser-focus on big time scholarships and leave the door open for the very best cheap options.
I agree that it’s frustrating. But policies can differ quite a bit, resulting in surprisingly large differences in expected family contribution. For example, some schools don’t consider home equity at all - if you have a lot of money tied up in your family home, but have a low income, you’ll still get lots of aid. But other schools look at your home equity and say, “That’s money you can access to pay us. Get a home equity loan and pay this large amount!” And even among schools that consider home equity, the way they weight this as a factor will vary. That’s just one example. How non-custodial parent income is handled is another one. Lots of variables. All you can do is find the schools whose formulas are favorable to your situation, or rely on merit.
Some schools with very large endowments, are able to expect people to pay significantly less than other schools.
I think it is definitely worth applying to Fordham, but it seems like this year they gave out a lot less merit than in the past. Their national merit scholarship is not guaranteed. In the past they have said that 70% of eligible students received it. This year, anecdotally, it seems like it was fewer.
Also, my understanding is that the NM scholarship is full tuition. That leaves room & board, which were higher at Fordham than many schools ($23,000 according to my spreadsheet).
Yes, Fordham’s National Merit scholarship is only full tuition, not room & board. That said, Fordham is still worth applying to, as they also give out some Cuniffe Presidential scholarships that are a full ride plus a stipend.
If OP wants assured it’s a Tulsa for small or Alabama/Maine/UTD like for big.
There’s a reason these schools attract NMFs.
These are the assured that are needed and other similar can be found too. They eliminate your risk - especially a Tulsa that gives you free food too.
Than you’re in-state. The rest - take a flyer but just know you likely aren’t going. The sooner you accept this the better.
Maine looks nice setting-wise. It’s probably going to come down to program ranking for safeties.
CS - don’t worry about rank.
Find the right school for you.
Many a kid chooses to go to a safety over targets/reaches. Both mine.
Choose the right school.
If you pick a school on paper, via rank, there’s a strong chance it won’t be right for you.
Pick one on attributes important to you.
I guess we’ll see who comes out on top.
A big difference is in the way they factor home equity.
Another is that some colleges have the funds for a general policy that is akin to “if your family of 4 makes 65K or less and has typical assets for that income, then you pay nothing and we pay for your transportation and books. if your family of 4 makes 125K or less and and has typical assets for that income bracket, you automatically get a full ride or near full ride covering tuition, room, and board but not fees/books/transportation”. Those schools are the most elite in the world, they want the best/most promising in the world, and they have the budget to make the students they want choose them regardless of family income.
CSS calculates differently than FAFSA, so that they may estimate that your family can pay more or less than FAFSA does; then there are particulars so that running each and every college’s NPC is your best bet.
(Vanderbilt&UChicago are pretty unique in the way they treat divorced parents, Boston College is infamous for the way it treats equity, etc.)
Some colleges WILL offer you “deals” that don’t care about your EFC if they want you. For instance, your being bilingual and coming from FLorida is going to appeal to colleges in the Midwest that I listed. It’s a gamble though, no sure thing, and a 10K budget for a 27K EFC means they’d have to bridge 15K, and even “meet need” colleges can be need aware meaning the fact your parents can afford 10K will help you compared to a kid whose parents can afford 0 but will disadvantage you in relation to a kid whose parents can afford 25K.
That’s why you have to get on these colleges’ mailing list.
I’m sorry because it’s hard. But you’re in a better position than 90% kids out there. Take heart: you’ll have lots of admissions you like, I’m sure of it (you’re very smart and dedicated and you have all of us here on CC to help you).
I agree with all of your post, except for this part. I am more cynical. These schools want the students in line with their institutional priorities. That includes some students that could be characterized as “best/most promising.” But also a certain number who are legacies, a certain number who fence, at least 1 from Wyoming, and some dude named Jared Kushner…
I don’t know, that’s a lot of students from Wyoming…