<p>You ask for a financial review and show documentation as why this is not a good financial fit for your family. Unless there are really extenuating circumstances (loss of a job, unreimbursed medical expenses, taking care of a sick parent), your aid package will not change much as things such as we have $X in credit card debt, I pay $Y in mortgage, my parents refuse to pay $Z will not fly because those are life choices that you make.</p>
<p>Part of a family’s due diligence especially when considering ED is to run the numbers through many of the FA calculators. Keep in mind that the FAFSA EFC tells only part of the story and only determines your eligibility for federal aid as schools with deep pockets and instiutional aid to give will use either the CSS profile or their own aid form. The college board has calculators that you can use - run your numbers using both the federal and the institutional methodology.</p>
<p>There can be a big disconnect between what you feel that you can afford to pay and what the college believes you can afford to pay and at the end of the day in the ED process, the college is the one really holding all of the cards.</p>