<p>Apply RD. I thought Rice was my top choice… keep your choices open. Things will work out.</p>
<p>@matthew1992102: When you say that the FAFSA EFC doesn’t match the Rice EFC, are you saying it was more than Rice, or less? Rice’s website had an EFC calculator, so I’m not quite sure which to go by. It’s good to know that you received more financial aid after appealing. Did you calculate everything beforehand and expect it to have matched? (just wondering)</p>
<p>RD seems the most reasonable, but I don’t want to be overlooked as many 2400ers apply to Rice as a backup. Can anybody back up the popular belief that Rice awards more merit scholarships the RD round in order to entice those who would otherwise be attending more prestigious schools?</p>
<p>Rice’s EFC, like EFC calculated by most colleges, tends to be higher than FAFSA’s EFC.
And no, I did not calculate everything beforehand nor did I expect Rice to match FAFSA’s EFC. </p>
<p>Financial aid gets really tricky when it comes to assets (savings, properties, stocks, etc.) Somebody please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that FAFSA only expects parents to contribute around 5.6% of assets while Rice expects parents to contribute up to 30%. Therefore, even if you make very little, it’s possible that you’ll be expected to pay as much as people making $100,000+ because of assets. </p>
<p>Anyway, you shouldn’t really trust efc calculator on Rice’s website because it does not take assets into account. </p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>
I don’t believe that’s true (the 30% thing!). Anecdotally, we have 7 years receiving Rice financial aid (Child number 2 graduates this May), and with income over $100,000 our Rice expected contribution has been the same as the FAFSA EFC each year. We have been very happy with the financial aid we’ve received. I would still encourage the OP to apply RD unless money is no object and he or she is firmly set on Rice U.</p>
<p>While we have much less experience with FA than anxious mom, we too have been asked to match the FAFSA figure for the last two years.</p>
<p>“I would still encourage the OP to apply RD unless money is no object and he or she is firmly set on Rice U.”</p>
<p>If firmly set on Rice, why is money an object, especially when FAFSA EFC is reliable? What’s wrong with applying ED?</p>
<p>I don’t think there is anything wrong with an ED application (D applied ED), but you must be comfortable with need-based aid predicted by FAFSA AND have an uncomplicated financial profile. If your parents are salaried workers, only own one home, have limited assets (you can look up the FAFSA protection limits which vary by parent age) you are uncomplicated. If parents own a business, have a farm, have a vacation home, have substantial savings, etc. you need to be careful. If you have a college fund or a trust or… you may not get the “predicted” aid. </p>
<p>Also be aware that any merit scholarships you earn will reduce the loans and work study first, but then reduce need-aid. Your family must be comfortable paying your EFC and you must be ok with the loans and work study. Merit aid doesn’t reduce EFC UNLESS it exceeds the FAFSA</p>
<p>But why is being comfortable or careful an issue? If something does go wrong and the school does not offer the expected FAFSA- (or possibly PROFILE-) computed aid, the student declines the FA offer and applies RD elsewhere.</p>
<p>I know that my views have changed a bit since the first post, but here is the basic breakdown of my situation now:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Decent SAT, ECs, GPA. Without disclosing any specific stats, I’ll just define ‘decent’ as being in the top 1% of my graduating class. Essays and recommendations projected to be fairly well written. Nothing terrible that’s holding me back there, but nothing outstanding, either. I highly doubt Rice would want to lure me away from Ivies with generous merit scholarships, as I’m nothing special…</p></li>
<li><p>Rice is THE school I want to be at. It is my top choice. I love every aspect of it.</p></li>
<li><p>My financial situation isn’t too terribly complicated:</p>
<ul>
<li>married parents, but only one parent working. Gross income around 80,000 (closer to 90,000 if interest is factored in)</li>
<li>we try to save a bit, but we don’t have hoards of cash… Just a reasonable amount in case the working parent’s job is lost. However, since the working parent is 56 now, we are starting to save even more as retirement approaches in the next decade.</li>
<li>I have a college fund, but it is for if I attend a public institution. If I choose not to (like for Rice), the money will be refunded in full.</li>
<li>No major assets other than the house we live in, which has been paid off for. </li>
</ul></li>
<li><p>I don’t care so much as to the ‘best financial package’… I just want to attend Rice with minimal concern for any loans/debts, not have to watch every penny I spend, and not make my parents survive on cans of beans at home. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>(5. I’m a Texas resident, which can be a bad thing… So I don’t even know at this point if Rice would want me… I’m just assuming at this point that by some miracle, they do! AHHHHH!!!)</p>
<p>So… Given the updated process of thought that I’m having, would ED be a good choice? The predicted EFC can be met, I’m just wondering if there is anything major that could potentially spike the EFC… or perhaps something that could raise the FAFSA predicted… ;)</p>
<p>well given your updated situation, I would say ED is a good option. (and that means something, because I will be applying ED and I don’t particularly want the added competition!) But seriously it sounds like a good option, especially since you can meet the EFC. Good luck!</p>
<p>If you are sure about going to Rice, definitely apply ED. I was in the top 0.55% of my class, had pretty good essays, normal EC’s and and a good ACT score, applied RD and was rejected. Make sure you spend plenty of time on your essays and give the best work possible! That’s probably the main factor since you’ve met grade criteria. Once again, good luck!</p>