<p>My parents pulled in a little over 80K last year.</p>
<p>I made 6700 from my part-time job.</p>
<p>Our EFC is ~17000, with about 16000 from them and 1000 from me.</p>
<p>First off, is this normal?</p>
<p>Then:</p>
<p>The offer my school of choice - the University of Kansas - made to me is less than appealing.</p>
<p>Federal Direct Parent Loan - $12,391
Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan - $3007
Scholarship - $2500</p>
<p>I was a good student in school. 3.8 GPA, 29 composite ACT. I only had a couple activities, but I was very active in them for all four years.</p>
<p>My parents want me to go to a different state school (one I didn't apply to, but it's within driving distance) for two years (living at home) and then transfer. I personally don't see how it's going to help.</p>
<p>They're freaking out about this and it's starting to affect me too.</p>
<p>You need to apply asap to the school your parents like, so you have a fall back position. Then you have the rest of April to work it out with your parents.</p>
<p>Pretty bad finaid offer. Hope you have a financial safety school lined up. Best to apply to a variety of schools, and then make the final choice based in part on affordability considering the finaid offer each makes.</p>
<p>It seems that your parents are willing to pay the EFC. Your cost to Kansas University is (16.9-2.5)=14.4 k. How much are your parents willing to pay?</p>
<p>you ask if 17k efc with 80k income is normal. It depends on your family size and the assets they have.</p>
<p>your efc sounds normal (actually, it sounds a little low for the income your parents and you show) so that is on target.</p>
<p>KU is under no obligation to provide more financial aid -- your EFC (expected family contribution) is just about $500 less than the Cost of Attendance. Just about any school would have a similiar package if it was need-based. Merit awards are based on your schools stats and they might vary at other schools -- but your stats aren't really all that high. </p>
<p>Just for financial reasons, I can see why you parents want you to go to Wichita State University -- the cost there, with you living at home, will be $8,000 and that is quite a bit of a difference.</p>
<p>EFC certainly sounds about right for the income - in fact the student portion sounds a little low - with an income of 6700 less income protection of @ 3200 = 3500 x 50% = $1750 which is the figure I would have expected to see assuming there are no student assets (which would make it higher).</p>
<p>Your problem is with that EFC you are not considered to have financial need at that school. I am assuming the the scholarship is ACT/GPA based? Oklahoma State schools have a similar ACT based scholarship ($2500 for 30 ACT at OSU or for a 31 ACT at OU)). In Oklahoma some of the smaller regional schools offer better merit scholarships for the same ACT/GPA so that may be something to look into for Kansas - though you may have missed the deadline for scholarships. Look at the website for your school of choice and see if a higher ACT would make a difference - they should have a list of scholarship opportunities with the requirements. Also check whether you would still be eligible if you took a year off. For instance Oklahoma has a good scholarship for a total ACT score of 133 (adding together the subscores) but you have to have the score before starting college and you have to start college the fall after you graduate high school.</p>