<p>i filled out all the fafsa stuff and qualified for some aid. now dartmouth tells me that they dont accept the federal system to assess financial aid. they are saying its gonna cost 57,000 a year unless they assess my financial situation differently. </p>
<p>my parents definitely cannot afford 57k plus another sibling in college.
any1 else have $$ problems like this?</p>
<p>yea im an incoming freshman. i looked on the website and they estimated the cost to be 47,000. no idea where they are getting the other 10k or why they wont use my fafsa/css profile.</p>
<p>You need to make an appointment with the financial aid office and go and talk to them. They require both FAFSA and css/profile (assuming you are a US citizen or permanent resident). Have you provided all the required supporting documentation? It may be as simple as some missing document. Go see a financial aid officer. They are the only ones that can answer your questions.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine how it could be $57K…isn’t that more than the entire cost? My S got a revised FA letter a few weeks ago, and he actually got slightly more aid due to a federal program I’ve never hear of. You need to call the FA office pronto and talk with someone. (Could this be some kind of misprint?)</p>
<p>DId you apply for Financial aid form Dartmouth? Did you apply on time?</p>
<p>When you were accepted to Dartmouth, did you receive a financial aid award letter? Did you read the letter? At the time you were sent the award letter, how much did they say your EFC was and how much aid did the school say that you were eligible for?</p>
<p>The only thing that the FAFSA does is determine your eligibility your Federal aid (Pell grants, stafford loans). Dartmouth uses an institutional methodology and the CSS profile to determine your EFC and if you are eligible for their insitutional aid.</p>
<p>I think Darmouth may have told you that your EFC was $57,000. Since this is more than the cost of attendance, you would not be eligible for aid.</p>
<p>If they have determined that your family can afford to pay 57k, this means that your family has a lot of income, assets or a combination of the 2 (money in the bank, annunities, stocks, second homes, while money already in their 401k is not counted in the FA formula, the contribution to the 401k is added back in). In addition, if your parents are divorced and someone has remarried, your stepparents income and assets are also used to determine your EFC.</p>
<p>from Dartmouth’s student guide to FA (see page 9)</p>
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<p>the cost of tuition room and board is $47,845</p>
<p>No private college is required to accept a FAFSA EFC as binding. Most private schools have their own methodology for determining EFC and eligibility for their own institutional funds. Most of the schools that accept the FAFSA EFC (“FAFSA only” schools) don’t meet 100% of need.</p>
<p>Being unable to afford a particular school is not unusual. You may need to go elsewhere.</p>
<p>But if you’re an incoming freshman, why is this a surprise? You should have gotten this information in April.</p>
<p>Oh that is a good point from sybbie. Are they saying your EFC is $57K ? If so that would mean you are not considered to have ‘need’ hence no need based aid. But I also don’t understand why you are just now finding this out.</p>