<p>Anyone else feel just like whining about the expected family contribution? I just saw mine. It's $34,580. My parents told me earlier this year they could only afford 12K, with straining. And the schools I really want to get into are all private (Smith, Bryn Mawr, American).</p>
<p>I feel like jumping into a lake. Where do they get these numbers? I wish they allowed you to really explain what's going on with your money. Like when it asks how much real estate I have, shouldn't I be able to say that I have two houses because we haven't been able to sell the other for about 7 years, and it's actually pushing us into debt? </p>
<p>Feel free to let loose about why you hate FAFSA.</p>
<p>*I just saw mine. It’s $34,580. My parents told me earlier this year they could only afford 12K, with straining. And the schools I really want to get into are all private (Smith, Bryn Mawr, American).
*</p>
<p>Well, you may not get to go to those top choices. From the start, you’re over $22k in the hole if your parents can only contribute $12k. Borrowing $22k per year would be ridiculous (even if you did get your parents to co-sign) Your payments after graduation will be toooo high.</p>
<p>And… If your schools also include gaps or loans in their FA packages, then those schools will be impossible to attend.</p>
<p>What are your safety schools? Did you get any merit scholarships from them? Are they affordable for you?</p>
<p>Yeah, Profile doesn’t generate an “EFC”. Schools use the information in the Profile according to their own policies in putting together an aid package. Somtimes people do end up with a lower family and student contribution at Profile schools because they may take into account things the FAFSA does not such as private school tuition for younger siblings, medical debt, and various other things.</p>
<p>It seems that most of the time though, Profile estimates of family and student contributions tend to run a bit higher than the FAFSA EFC because they look more carefully at assets and other resources, as well as non-custodial parents.</p>
<p>^^I ran a financial aid cacluator on the Amherst and collegeboard website. The IM on college board is bascially equivalent to your need according the the profile(give or take) and the Amherst one gave me a MUCH lower number</p>
<p>We have no assets and lots of medical bills…plus the FAFSA can’t account for our current family financial situation</p>
<p>My wife and I just sent in FAFSA and we have a 0 EFC. Great for the aid, but bad in general. But it’s because we just got married. We both have Pell Grants up to $5500. How much are we likely to actually get? What really decides?</p>
<p>Pell grants do not depend on the school. They follow a strict government formula. The only way you wouldn’t get full Pell with a 0 EFC is if your total cost of attendance was less than the Pell amount.</p>
<p>Of course, Garland, but since the poster already knew the value of the Pell, I was assuming he was asking “how much?” with regard to other aid that might be available. Perhaps I assumed that in error.</p>
<p>Well both of our FAFSA accounts say “Processed”. It says we can receive up to $5500 from the Pell Grant and maybe more from other academics. So I didn’t know if we’d get less or if that’s the amount. Our tuition is pretty cheap around $3200 per year each. (Plus Insurance+Apartment+Books etc…) Ah well I’ll be really happy if it covers all of our tuition.</p>
<p>I believe you’d get the whole amount, it would go to the college first and amounts owed for tuition and fees would be deducted. Schools have different ways they deal with book costs, in my experience. (I mean the money is definitely available for books, but you may just have a check issued to you for the amount left over after tuition and fees, or you can get credit at the bookstore if you want --I know they offer that option at the comm. college here.) Otherwise, they will issue you the excess to use towards other costs.</p>
<p>Or at least, that’s what I understand about how it works.</p>
<p>Oh, yeah… and they will divide it up by term – semesters or quarters – they don’t award it in a lump sum.</p>
<p>Yes Chimichonga, we were also shocked by our EFC. It first came back as $31,000. I thought this must be for all four years because it couldn’t possibly be for one. Then I realized the problem might be that I had made a mistake in my numbers and when I corrected them and reran the calculator it came back as … $38,000. Another mistake put us at $44,000. In the end we got … nothing.</p>
<p>That didn’t mean we couldn’t send our kids to school, it just meant that we weren’t eligible for need-based assistance. Financing an education is daunting but there are many ways to do it. So take a deep breath and keep your chin up and keep exploring your options.</p>
<p>Since many have a “too high of an EFC,” it is sooooo important to “run the numbers” early on so that families can determine whether their EFCs are affordable. </p>
<p>On CC we’ve seen more than a few upset kids who learn too late that they have unaffordable EFCs, and they don’t want to go to their safeties (or they didn’t apply to any safeties.) </p>
<p>It’s really unfortunate for the kids with high stats, because many of them could have snagged some hefty merit scholarships if they had applied on time.</p>