<p>I know it's obviously situational, but I'm worried because my parents make a good amount of money and I'm an only child they expect me to be able to pay 50+ a year </p>
<p>It is very situational. You can use the price calculater on the NEU site to get an idea. My daughter did not receive any need based aid. The only break was her merit aid. </p>
<p>@VirginiaDare I got no merit aid so is it possible I have a better chance at getting something from fafsa or CSS ? Do they take in to consideration the cost of the school itself after merit? </p>
<p>I think except in the case of your parents owning a business, CSS generally leaves you with less money just because it goes over a wider scope of money sources- I think it asks about places that a lot of people try to hide their money, i.e grandparents’ accounts/contribution, etc. Like you said, it’s situational, but I would expect a smaller aid estimate from the CSS than from the FAFSA.</p>
<p>That being said, I wouldn’t expect much aid at all…Northeastern is now guaranteeing to meet full need, which means they will probably low-ball everyone’s need more so than in past years to meet that promise. Especially given your case (an only child with a self-proclaimed good amount of income), I doubt you’ll get much. It sounds like your family CAN afford college, they just don’t necessarily WANT to pay for it. Sadly, fin.aid offices don’t have much pity for families like that. Expect to pull out your checkbook.</p>
<p>It really depends on your parent’s finances not just what they make, but what the have in savings. </p>
<p>FAFSA and CSS are just forms that are filled out. FAFSA can get you a federal Pell Grant up to 5,750 if your income is low but it sounds like it isn’t so you may not be qualified for that. Filing FAFSA allows you to take a student direct federal loan of 5,500. Also your parents can take Plus loans if they choose.</p>
<p>To find what the school might cost you after they take into account all the income and assets you have, run the Net Price Calculator from the college website. However in certain situations it isn’t that accurate, like self employed, own business, second house, farm, divorce and some other. And it might not show merit awards you could get.</p>
<p>You will have a higher price to pay than students who received merit aid, yes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have a better shot at need-based aid. They’ll determine a number for how much you need, and if it’s over the cost of attendance, you’re out of luck. Another kid might’ve gotten a $20k deans, but only have an EFC of $20k- so the rest will be covered in need-based.</p>
<p>Basically, merit aid and need based don’t matter to each other. I had an EFC of $22k, I pay $24k (I had a $20k Dean’s, and the rest was met mainly with grant aid, a few loans). My roommate had an EFC of $124k, she pays $14k (University Scholar). Try not to stress too much ahead of time.</p>
<p>If your parents earn too much money to get any FA then all you have to fall on is merit. You already know you haven’t got merit, right? I don’t really understand the advice of not stressing before time, because if the only variable was merit, (because you ran the numbers before applying, as this school is $$) then unless there are other merit options, isn’t it pretty straight forward? </p>
<p>My parents and I are visiting the school soon and plan to meet with an admissions counselor. I think what baffles me is that they expect me to pay 58k a year for 6 years . I just don’t get it I don’t think that anyone can pay that amount but whatever I’ll try to get some outside scholarships but I doubt that will bring it down by much</p>
<p>I suspect that the standards for merit have risen as the school plays the rankings. Uni’s don’t make you apply with any promises, I suspect it made it on our list as a safety only if merit came through. Looking at the stats of applicants just here on CC it would seem that plenty of high stats kids had this school on their list. Once many of those kids end up elsewhere, what happens to their scholarship money? Does it get re pooled to accepted kids? The COA for this school is about 61K. That part was never baffling. </p>
<p>@Alfonsia I was actually wondering what happens to the the money of kids who don’t take scholarships. I’ll be heading up to northeastern soon and I’ll talk to an admissions counselor and ask that question. If I were to get the price down id commit in a second. And the COA isn’t what I found baffling it was that a private school gave me no money and my npc said no money which means I would be paying 61k a year for 6 years. I don’t get how that makes any sense. What I will do though is probably retake my sats and acts to see if I can get a scholarship from a higher score </p>
<p>Be careful, PrayforUF. By all means try every option you have, but as far as I know merit scholarships aren’t reconsidered; they go to the top 25% of applicants. If you feel you could’ve gotten a better SAT/ACT for more money, you probably should not have applied EA.</p>
<p>Also, NU offers far more in scholarship money than they can actually afford, keeping in mind many will go elsewhere regardless…there is not some secret reserve of all this unused money. They offer their scholarships with yield in mind.</p>
<p>If your NPC says you don’t need any aid, then that’s exactly how you’re expected to pay full freight. You don’t need assistance. College is super expensive, sadly. It just sounds like you CAN afford it, it’ll just be tight/you don’t necessarily want to. Financial aid is not supposed to be a coupon, it goes to people who literally do not have the money to pay for their education so they pay all they can and financial aid tries to help with the rest.</p>
<p>If this is something that’ll put you in massive debt, I’d advise against it. NU is a great school, of course, but not worth impoverishing yourself/your family.</p>
<p>@novafan1225 although my parents do make a lot of money I cannot pay 50k+ a year. My parents have 25k in savings (for their retirement) which isn’t enough for college at all</p>
<p>You need to sit down with your parents and find out exactly what they are able and willing to pay. CSS and FAFSA will determine what they need to pay. If they can pay but don’t want to, you are out of luck.</p>
<p>There are also loans. </p>
<p>@PrayforUF I don’t think your parents retirement fund is accounted for in what your parents are expected to contribute (I could be wrong, but that doesn’t sound right).</p>
<p>From my personal experience, it seems most estimates of EFC are generally within ~5k of what the family expects to realistically contribute- MAYBE 10k, in rare cases. (I.e, a family expects to contribute $20k and the CSS might say $23k.) This is usually where you can take out loans, for the small difference. You say you make a lot of money but can’t afford to pay even close to your EFC, which again, makes it sounds like you have the ability to pay you just don’t want to. Financial aid counselors literally cannot do anything if that is the case, and though I did not personally have my financial aid re-reviewed, it doesn’t seem to do much; last year, I saw more than 1 case of people getting fin.aid REDUCED after requesting more from NU.</p>
<p>You are making it sound impossible to attend college at all, and with your EFC that just can’t be true. Maybe you won’t end up at NU, but you could always try to transfer in from a CC, and if not, if you’re good enough for NU you probably qualify for some hefty scholarships elsewhere. Don’t lose hope, you’ll end up somewhere great.</p>