<p>yes USC is a good deal, since they meet full aid, however, i was talking to someone who works in admissions, someone i work with at an internshnip, anyways, even though meet full aid, and give you pretty large "usc" grants, their loan amount is still significantly higher than that of say UCLA, so even though at the school that meet full need one with a 0EFC CAN go to, i dont think they should just b/c a school says full need. I mean i am glad i never applied to USC b/c even if they offered me 10k in loans a year, it would be WAYY more in the long run than say UCLA.</p>
<p>I guess I'm thankful my son is the best of both things -- EFC 0 <em>and</em> highly qualified for top tier schools. Almost every school he's applying too is 100 need blind, particularly his top 3 choices, (two matches, one reach). Only one is a public school, because in our situation, private schools are a <em>much</em> better option financially. </p>
<p>But then, I've pretty much made it clear that we would have to work together to get to this point -- me financially, and him by being the kind of student his target schools would admit.</p>
<p>kunfuzed said it all! lol I also have an EFC of 0...yeah I think it's not as big of a deal as others said. I don't think that is a main concern in the admissions process. I mean, if you HAVE to take out a ton of loans...why the heck wouldn't a school want that? They'll end up getting MORE $$ from you. Interest over years...duh. Plus if you're going to school then you'll more than likely have a job to pay the loans back, then you're set. I don't think it matters. Don't worry...theres tons of money flowing around colleges and they WANT you at their school. I'll tell you where I get in with my 0 EFC. Seriously I will.</p>
<p>Malishka, I question the generalized accuracy of your statement in #121 re USC and loans. I know a number of USC students whose loans are the Stafford maximums of 4000-5500 a year and that's all, the rest being grants and work study. I think the best you can say is that the amounts vary, and you have to apply to know what you will get.</p>
<p>I have an EFC of zero, and its good when you are at a generous school like Smith College. Smith paid almost all my tutition and even waived my deposit as a first year. Whereas to some other colleges, case in point BU, only gave me 7,000....so yeah, being poor does greatly restricts your choice of colleges.</p>
<p>I hear all this talk about people with low EFCs coming from horrible backgrounds and horrible schools, and how they aren't "prepared" for college. In my case, my parents wanted the best public education possible for my sister and me, and chose to move to a pretty affluent town so that we could get a good education. In order to come up with the money, they have had to work 7 days a week and around 11 hours a day. My EFC is 434, and although my AP scores and SATs/ACTs are alright, they aren't steller. My GPA is a bit on the low side, 3.5uw, 3.9w (UC GPA), because it's a bit hard to juggle schoolwork because i've had to help out my parents at the store they manage because they can't afford to hire a helper. I've taken one of the most rigorous courseloads in school, 10 APs to be exact, and passed all of them with mostly 4s and 5s. For the people who claim that working is an EC, how would a person list that on their application? Stating that they had to work to maybe explain low grades or something makes the applicant sound whiny and desperate. And I don't see why many people see a low EFC as a good thing. Sure, it might get you more aid and an "edge" in college admissions but like many people in this thread have said only a select few are low income and have stats good enough for top schools. Having more money helps because you're going to require less aid from the school and thus the school would have more resources left to give to a student they really want. My dream school is Pomona, and I like for many reasons, mainly the aid they give. However, with my stats I know that I shouldn't be too optimistic. What I was wondering was that since I'm low income and not that great gpa but good test scores but go to a decent school thanks to my parent's hard work, what would colleges think about that? By the way, bottom line: being poor sucks.</p>
<p>what the heck's need blind? and seog?</p>
<p>Need blind, means that your having a financial need will not be considered in the admissions process. However, keep in mind that:</p>
<p>a school can be need blind in the admissions process and not meet 100% demonstrated need.</p>
<p>a school can give you a financial aid package heavy on loans and will still have met your financial need (if possible look up your school on the college board to see how your school packages aid and what percentage of the package is grants/ scholarship and what percentage is loans/workstudy).</p>
<p>SEOG - Supplemental opportunity grants. If a student is eligible for pell and the school has the funds they may give you a few $$ SEOG. Not all schools have SEOG funds.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I mean, if you HAVE to take out a ton of loans...why the heck wouldn't a school want that? They'll end up getting MORE $$ from you. Interest over years...duh. Plus if you're going to school then you'll more than likely have a job to pay the loans back, then you're set. I don't think it matters.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>A ton of loans does matter, especially if you are looking to go to graduate schools. Masters programs are rarely free rides so most of the aid you get will be in loans. Law schools and med schools tell you off the bat to make sure you protect your credit and to not over extend your self in loans becasuse there is a cap on the amount of loans you can take out throug stafford. So the more you use during undergrad, the less you will have for grad schools.</p>
<p>Contrary to what most high schoolers post about starting salaries coming out of college, a student coming out of college making big bucks is few and far between (even in fields like IB, who you know really helps in getting your foot in the door). </p>
<p>That being said, if you have a job making 40k a year (before taxes, payment into your health insurance plan and other deductions), you have an apartment, a car and other living expenses, paying of 70 to 80K of undergrad debt is going to be hard. I would suggest looking up one of the calculators and seeing what loan payments are going to be. 70,000 in student loans stretched out over the course of 20 years is still $534 a month Which would be more than 1/2 of your take home pay each week (even if your starting salary was 60k a year) ;)</p>
<p>if u get itno a school like an ivy league ull basically have a free ride.</p>
<p>
[quote]
if u get itno a school like an ivy league ull basically have a free ride.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The operative word here is IF considering that these schools are amongst the most competitive schools as fas as admisssion.</p>
<p>Even then schools that give need based financial aid do not give out "full rides" because there is an expectation that the student is gong to be an active participant in the financing of his/her education. This means there will be a student contribution from summer earnings and self help once the student is on campus in the forms or work-study and/or subsidized loans.</p>
<p>You probably still will not graduate free because they are incidential expenses associated with going to school for example:</p>
<p>Computers- if you are not tech savvy and out fit your own computer to meet the schools requirement, then you have to get a computer. If you have no money, then what will you get- loans.</p>
<p>Internships- many of the most "coveted" internships are unpaid. If you were to do a DC or NYC internship and you don't live in either one of those cities, while you may be able to get a nominal grant from your school it won't cover the expenses of living in these cities for 10 weeks. So how will you subsidized this?</p>
<p>Study abroad programs- Yes, the school will provide you extra financial aid to cover the increased tuition, room and board expenses associated with your study abroad program but, how are you going to get there? The plane ticket and spending money is on you. If you don't have the money or don't earn enough, how are you going to get there?</p>
<p>I am not saying that you will not get some extremely generous need based financial aid, however, do think that you make the assumption that you will have** no debt**when you graduate. A person with a zero EFC will have a vastly different experience. </p>
<p>Post 27 on this same thread.....</p>
<p>Not true:</p>
<p>Stanford specifically states in its FAQs regarding their low income initiative:</p>
<p>Does the new policy affect my student contribution or self-help expectation?</p>
<p>A. No. Students are still expected to contribute from their prior-year earnings (50% of after-tax income, minimum $1,700 for freshmen, $2,100 for all others) and from their own assets (35% of the current total value). Students are also expected to cover a self-help (student loan and/or work-study job) expectation of $5,500 for 2006-07. Some students from lower-income families will have a lower self-help expectation.</p>
<p>Harvard states:</p>
<p>You will also have non-billed (out-of-pocket)nexpenses for books, personal and travel expenses — costs which will vary depending on your own
style and habits. For purposes of determining your eligibility for financial aid, we are using a combined book and personal expense allowance
of $2,795.</p>
<p>Student Contribution</p>
<p>We normally expect that incoming students willnearn money for college expenses by working during the summer. We believe a reasonable goal for
this summer in most cases is $1,500, or approximately $150 per week during the summer vacation period. (Summer expectations for upperclass
students are higher due to a longer summer working period.)</p>
<p>If you are not able to save enough from your summer earnings
to meet part or all of the expectation, it may be possible for you to borrow an additional amount.</p>
<p>Princeton;</p>
<p>While Princeton has eliminated student loans, the student will still have a self help component in the form of a job and will still have an EFC where they will have to contribute from summer earnings.</p>
<p>Under Princeton’s financial aid policy student loans are not included in the initial financial aid award. However, student loans are available to help cover expenses beyond the standard student budget, or to replace a shortfall in expected summer or term earnings for aid recipients. Non-aid students may also consider taking a loan to assume responsibility for a portion of their expenses. In addition, parents can borrow to help cover their share of Princeton’s costs.</p>
<p>I have an EFC of 0 and I've been accepted to USC. They say that they meet 100% of need, but does anyone know how much is grants/scholarship and how much is loans and work study?</p>
<p>thank you</p>
<p>Shebrina, is that the FAFSA EFC? USC does not use that. USC has its own way of calculating "need."</p>
<p>Yes its the FAFSA EFC, besides fafsa, i know they require the CSS profile, which i did, and i submitted non-filing statements for myself and my dad. He has no income because he doesnt work and he is my custodial parent. My mom makes a lot of money and we did the custodial parent form where she said that she would contribute $5000 to my college expenses. I'm really not sure what they're going to give me. I just got a letter today saying that from USC I would receive a Cal Grant A of $9,708 and I qualify for a Cal Grant B. Is there anyone with experience who can tell me what all this means?</p>
<p>shebrina,</p>
<p>Please understand that USC uses the CSS profile and as a result will look at the income and the assets of both your parents not just your custodial parent.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My mom makes a lot of money and we did the custodial parent form where she said that she would contribute $5000 to my college expenses.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>this is probably not going matter as the school will take into consideration how much she can afford to pay, not how much she wants to pay or what kind of deals she is willing to cut.</p>
<p>I don't think anyone can definitively answer your questions because there are unknown variables that need to be considered and we don't know how it will affect your FA at USC.</p>
<p>here is the information reagardin Cal Grant A & Cal grant B</p>
<p><a href="http://www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?ID=20%5B/url%5D">http://www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?ID=20</a></p>
<p>As I stated before, the key to this whole thing is going to be how much USC thinks that your mother can afford to pay. So right now, you do not know what your mom's EFC is going to be.</p>
<p>As you already know, Cal grants are driven by the FAFSA. Since your custodial parent has an EFC of "0", they you have maxed out.</p>
<p>If you get a cal grant B for matching funds, in the best case if you get another ~9700 and a pell grant (also driven by the fafsa), you would have about 23k in grant aid (again, your individual mileage may vary).</p>
<p>You would most likely be eligible for a stafford loan ~3500
you would be eligible for a perkins loan ~4000
some college work study (the school would decide this).</p>
<p>So even if the school did not give you a dime of their money if you were to add all of this up, at best you could have $31, 216 (7500 of it in loans) if you were to max out on federal and state money.</p>
<p>keep in mind that your stafford loans will go up each year: 4500 sophomore year and 5500 junior year until you graduate undergrad. IF you were to max out on loans you could have ~19k in stafford loans and 16k in perkins loans (not including PLUS loans or unsubsidized stafford loans should your parent(s) not be a to secure a PLUS loan). </p>
<p>Do you have a plan B if your mom's EFC is more than 5k and she refuses to pay anymore than that?</p>
<p>sadly, if they ask her for more money she's said that she won't pay it and i'll have to go somewhere else. about the css profile though, i dont remember inputting any information about my mother's income at all</p>
<p>You don't have to put in anything about your mother's income. your mother will have to file the non-custodial version of the profile. If she has not yet done so, then at this stage, your financial aid information is complete and the school will not be able to craft a package until they have her information.</p>
<p>I have an EFC of $0 too, but it sucks more because I'm an International student in US!</p>
<p>I had an EFC of $0 and got $30,000 scholarship early decision as a "borderline" applicant (based on test scores) at a non need blind school. I suppose my case is kind of rare, but it happens. </p>
<p>Make sure you get application vouchers. Many of my friends did not know about this and were severely limited as to how many schools they could apply to. I would have applied to about 10-12 schools completely for free, but got in ED so there wasn't any need.</p>
<p>"I would have applied to about 10-12 schools completely for free, but got in ED so there wasn't any need."</p>
<p>OP and others with low EFC, do not follow SilverClover's and apply ED SC was incredibly lucky. Indeed, while SC got a $30 k scholarship, more than likely, that means that SC still had to take out thousands of dollars in loans each year as many colleges costs $40 k a year or more to attend.</p>
<p>If you have high financial need, it is very unwise to apply ED. While one can get out of ED if financial aid isn't sufficient, it still can be hard to do this. Also, it's the colleges, not you, that determine your need and what's appropriate in the financial aid package. If they feel that they've met your need by giving you $30 k a year in loans for a $44 k a year college, so be it.</p>
<p>By applying ED, you also prevent yourself from comparing offers.</p>
<p>The top colleges are particularly interested in diversifying their student bodies by adding more low income students, so you don't need any ED tip when it comes to them. You already have a low income tip.</p>
<p>While SC thinks that s/he was a borderline candidate, she may have been a very strong candidate for that school when compared to other low income applicants or applicants who had limited schooling opportunities (which often is the case because school funding is linked to property taxes).</p>
<p>Also, if you don't get in ED or don't get enough $ ED, you may be hard pressed to be able to get enough applications in elswhere to get the best deals. ED decisions tend to come close to Christmas, which for some schools also is in exam periods. GCs already are swamped with taking care of apps from students who got their apps in weeks earlier, as most GCs require. Dec. is a bad time to be running to your GC for advice about how to get apps in to have good chances of acceptance and financial aid.</p>
<p>There also are many colleges that have nice merit aid or even need-based aid, but give it on a first come, first served basis. By applying after mid Dec., you may have missed out.</p>
<p>If you are very low income or if $ is a concern when applying to college, the first thing you need to take care of is making sure that you get some acceptances to colleges that you can afford. That's far more important than finding and getting into a dream school.</p>
<p>Frankly, most students aren't in a position to find their dream schools from the thousands in the U.S. The majority of students -- even upper middle class ones -- have financial considerations when it comes to their college educations. Probably that's why the majority of college students go to colleges within 250 miles of home, and usually go in state to public colleges. Those are the most affordable.</p>