<p>It depends on how strong your daughters application is and where she wants to apply. A good consultant can help identify schools that fit her stats and offer generous merit aid but if she is focusing solely on state schools it’s pretty straightforward. I think it is worth paying a consultant to review applications for weak spots. I also think it’s helpful to work on a list of schools with a consultant. Beyond that though, if you aren’t looking at selective private college, it is primarily grades, rigor of coursework, essays and test scores. I do think very few students really know where to apply to maximize their odds of getting the best merit aid package but the numbers are right in each colleges common data set</p>
<p>@MostlyDolores </p>
<p>That sounds more like a FAFSA EFC calculator that some schools may be including. Maybe some FAFSA-only schools are indicting what they estimate the FAFSA EFC to be. </p>
<p>Edited to add…</p>
<p>I just tried Alabama’s NPC calculator using fictional numbers and at the top of the results it gives you the estimated federal EFC that a family would get from filling out FAFSA.</p>
<p>YOUR COLLEGE COST RESULTS</p>
<p>The following results are based on the information you submitted. Your 2014-2015 Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is estimated to be $92,540.</p>
<p>Direct Educational Costs Fall Spring Total
Costs Paid to UA $19,878 $19,558 $39,436
Tuition (12 to 16 hours) $12,475 $12,475 $24,950
Course Fees $400 $400 $800
Dining Dollars $325 $325 $650
Residence Hall $4,400 $4,400 $8,800
Meal Plan $1,958 $1,958 $3,916
Parking Decal $320 $0 $320</p>
<p>Estimated Indirect Costs Fall Spring Total</p>
<p>Total Indirect Costs $2,215 $2,534 $4,749</p>
<p>Books & Supplies $600 $600 $1,200
Transportation $541 $861 $1,402
Miscellaneous $1,074 $1,073 $2,147</p>
<p>Grants and Scholarships Fall Spring Total
Total Grants & Scholarships $12,475 $12,475 $24,950</p>
<p>Presidential Scholar $12,475 $12,475 $24,950</p>
<p>Results Fall Spring Total
Estimated Net Price $9,618 $9,617 $19,235
Direct Educational Costs $19,878 $19,558 $39,436
Indirect Costs $2,215 $2,534 $4,749
(less) Grants and Scholarships - $12,475 - $12,475 - $24,950</p>
<p>@mostlydolores Did your Alabama results show any merit scholarships? </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids It did show the merit scholarship. She’d qualify for the Presidential so the estimated net price ended up being the $19,235. (Which is fabulous!) </p>
<p>Those are the kind of scholarships we’ve been researching. My understanding (from this board) is that the majority of scholarship money would come from the school, so that’s what we’ve been looking at. I assumed that these would be the sort of things we could find out ourselves. Our estimated net price for Ole Miss is $14,313! (Although I’m pretty sure that I remember reading that that was based on the lowest price projections. I understand that the Alabama one is actually based on the highest priced options. So we were thinking that they’d likely turn out to be roughly the same. And she likes UA better…)</p>
<p>I realize that there are a lot of smaller scholarships out there. We know a kid who got a ‘tall person’ scholarship. And I’ve served on local scholarship committees. The $500 we give out on a one time basis per person is great, and every bit of other people’s money helps - but it would take a lot of those to equal the $99,000 from Alabama. So we weren’t planning on working all of the smaller amounts that hard because we find the cost of some of her preferred options to be reasonable. And we are fortunate enough that not getting that $500 will not be the deal breaker in her college decision.</p>
<p>It sounds as though, for us, the main benefit in working with a college planner would be her having the help in editing the application. And since she’s mostly interested in the big southern state schools - where admissions seem to be mostly focused on stats - we’re probably OK going it alone. Right?</p>
<p>But the whole thing is still scary. </p>
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<p>Actually, the net cost is really less than that. The COA is padded and includes the priciest dorms and the priciest meal plan. Typically, if a student has the Presidential award, the remaining costs are about $15k…and could even be a little less if a standard double dorm is selected.</p>
<p>It sounds like you are going about this right. If you have UA Presidential and daughter is happy, there is no need for it to be scary. Apply early and get your acceptance in hand and you will feel quite comfortable.</p>