<p>What are your FAFSA EFCs, just to get some idea what your need is according to FAFSA? If you get a merit award and would be in place of financial aid. Did that more than cover your need? Then the $5500 Stafford will go towards your EFC. The way it usually works is that those who ask for financial aid, and who are eligible for a certain amount of aid, and who also get a merit award, will get nothing if that merit award wipes out that need. If it does not, the school might throw the subsidized loans into the picture as the next step, and unsubsidized thereafter. What need is left, if unmet is your gap. </p>
<p>Need to know what your official need figures or your EFCs to see if you truly got need “taken away” by merit. I don’t think you did. American does not guarantee to meet need and it does not overall.</p>
<p>Wow, I’m surprised at the lack of need-based aid. I was fortunate enough to be given a $21k AU grant in addition to my $12k Scholarship. I got loans too. Do you all have high EFC’s? My EFC is low.</p>
<p>How do I find out my FAFSA EFC? I submitted it in January and I know it has been processed…</p>
<p>@smwhtslghtlydzed: That’s so funny, I noticed that we had really similar stats as well! Good luck!</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids: I got the Frederick Douglass scholarship for 22k. My stats were: 2360 SAT (760CR, 800M, 800W), GPA: 3.8 UW, 5 SATIIs (800, 790, 770, 770, 730), 8 APs (seven 5s, one 4), average ECs, not my best essay.</p>
<p>@cptofthehouse: I honestly have no idea since my mom filled out my FAFSA, sorry! But… we make 110k before taxes, have a mortgage/ car payments. My little sis will also be going to college soon.</p>
<p>I was accepted to UChicago and UVa on Friday, so I don’t think that I’ll take American’s offer. I guess the whole reason why I applied to AU was because I was counting on getting a merit scholarship and thus not having to pay very much. The financial aid stuff was just pretty unexpected. </p>
<p>Thanks for all of the help, everyone! And best of luck!</p>
<p>Nevermind, I figured it out haha. My EFC is…really really low…</p>
<p>I got a very good package! Including loans and grants, I got a little over $50,000 from AU! I didn’t expect to receive such good aid!</p>
<p>EFC of ~7000</p>
<p>20,000 Presidential’s Scholarship
around 8,000 in loans
around 16,000 in grants
= 44,000 per year</p>
<p>wish they gave me at least 2k more per year but AU is still one of my top choices atm because of the honors college and the strong impression they made with their awesome admissions letter :D</p>
<p>Not be a jerk here… but are people really complaining about getting a Fredrick Douglass and a “bad” package in addition to that? </p>
<p>No matter what AU calls it (Presidential Scholarship, Douglass, etc.) they absolutely consider that towards your overall aid package. Say for example your EFC is 30k and AU’s TC is 55k. The Douglass is 20k-ish so they essentially just met almost all of your need right off the bat. Plus AU doesn’t promise to meet 100% of need like other schools do.</p>
<p>That being said-- I’m incredibly lucky and my parents have managed to budget about 40k a year for my education, which automatically disqualified me from need based aid. AU, being the sneaky (or sketchy?) school it is tried to tell me I got like 10k in aid per year but when I looked into it and called them it turns out 4k of that is from an outside I already have and the other 6k is from a loan. Needless to say I will not be going to AU 
fingers crossed that GWU gives me a better package</p>
<p>Data about American University:
- Merit-Based Gift Received by 256 (17.0%) of freshmen without need, average amount $19,686
- Found to Have Financial Need 905 (80.2%) of applicants
- Average Percent of Need Met 85% </p>
<p>Data about HH income:
Top 20% of income in the country starts at $100k per year</p>
<p>In our family the deal was that the NET amount needed to “start with a 2” . … that is, less than $30k per year</p>
<p>OP, what is the net your family can afford?</p>
<p>littlepolitician: I complained because my parents said that they could not afford it, and at the time I really wanted to attend AU for the Global Scholars Program. American met both of our needs (I’m assuming) but we both had hoped for better packages, so our situations are very similar. Best of luck for GW. </p>
<p>Kei-o-lei: my parents never specified an amount (I would guess 35K max), but I think they look at the school in relation to the aid given. They told me that Dartmouth was affordable (the total cost after my financial aid package was only about 5k less than AU) but said that American was “out of the question.”</p>
<p>senoritapipita did AU increase your aid at all when you called them?</p>
<p>Hi skatespin, I didn’t end up calling them in the end (I got offers from some other universities that I prefer to AU and that were more affordable) but good luck to you! (Sorry I couldn’t be more of a help)</p>
<p>I recieved absolutely no financial aide, how is this possible?</p>