<p>My parents actually said they would like to pay 30000/year for dream schools in my list and only about 20000/year for safety schools. But as we only use 1 bank statement for all schools, is it possible that we fill in diff amt of contribution and still get chance of being given financial aid from all those schools?</p>
<p>Thank you for reading this :D</p>
<p>Financial aid does NOT work that way. It has absolutely nothing to do with what your family is “willing” to pay. You fill out the FAFSA and each school calculates what (if anything) they will award. </p>
<p>You need to go through some of the threads stickied at the top of the forum.</p>
<p>No. A school has cost of attendence. Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is based on family adjusted income and assets for the previous year. Your parents don’t get to decide that number required. So if the requirement is less than they will pay, you can’t go to that school.</p>
<p>Sounds like you ALL have to get educated.</p>
<p>What your parents are telling you, is that they are willing to stretch their budget further for a college/university that they believe is offering a better quality product. They aren’t the only parents with this policy.</p>
<p>Need-based aid is based on your family’s EFC which is calculated according to specific formulas. Your family can get an estimate of their EFC by running the calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and at [College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Calculate Your Cost – BigFuture | College Board) Generally speaking, this would be the minimum that your family would be expected to pay. Many colleges/universities will expect them to pay even more.</p>
<p>Merit-based financial aid is dependent on your grades, the classes that you take in HS, your ACT/SAT exam scores, essays, etc., etc. and varies wildly by institution. To get an idea of what a student needs to have in their academic history in order to qualify for significant merit-based aid, read through <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>When you talk with your parents, find out the minimum that they are able/willing to pay. Use that as your figure when you look for Financial Safety schools. In many states, 20k would cover the cost of an in-state public university, so check out what is available in your home state.</p>
<p>Wishing you and your family all the best.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I’m a really noob when talking about fin aid. I’ll do more research on it soon.
I’m a int’l student so does EFC works for me? I find some questions regarding the calculation quite unfamiliar.</p>
<p>Being an international student is another issue when it comes to financial aid!
Check around on the forums for International Students & Financial Aid.
Many schools do not give financial aid to International Students.</p>
<p>Are you an international student resident in the US, or are you residing outside the US? If you are outside the US, you need to read through [EducationUSA</a> - Find an Advising Center](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.info/centers.php]EducationUSA”>http://www.educationusa.info/centers.php) and then you need to make an appointment with the counselors at the advising center closest to you. They are the experts on finding affordable colleges for students from your country of residence. You will also get some good ideas at the International Student Forum here at CC. Click on “Discussion Home” in the upper-left of this screen, and scroll down to find it.</p>
<p>If you are an international student in the US, everything depends on your immigration status. Do you have a green card or otherwise qualify to file the FAFSA? Then the info. I gave above applies to you. If you don’t qualify to file the FAFSA, you are an international student for financial aid purposes, and everything will be much harder. You would need to find out if you qualify for in-state tuition at the public Us in the state where you live. If you don’t, you will be OOS everywhere. In that case, you would be very lucky to even find a community college that you could attend for 20k or less.</p>