EFC is majorly different from one school to the next

Paying for College
1

<p>I have been checking financial aid calculators for a variety of schools. I wanted to stay close to home. However, the far away schools have the lowest EFC and the lowest student loan expectations. And it is not be a small amount. Rice University has an EFC of 3 times higher than Yale. I doubt I could get in to Yale, but, I was comparing. I am also maybe going to apply, I have not decided yet. But looking at this, I feel like I have to at least try. Yale will meet all need, with grants and scholarships and work study. Rice, on the other hand, has an EFC that is 3 times higher than Yale and I would need work study and student loans. I do not mind work study, I WANT work study. Washington University does not even meet need. They never actually said what the EFC would be. But, the left over net cost was 4 times higher than Yale. And WashU expects me to take out $5500 in student loans. I am not saying I am entitled to anything. I am just very surprised at the huge differences from one school to the next.</p>

<p>Oh, and forget UT Austin. That one says I qualify for nothing but student loans, not even work study, even though they cost over $25,000 a year. </p>

<p>I think I need to seriously rethink where I might be applying.</p>

<p>I am very sad and depressed. I have been crying about this today. I really do not want to have to move far away. And I did look at many more schools than the ones listed. It seems as if the further away the school, the better the financial aid. And if I stay in-state, or within a few states of home, I am out of luck.</p>

<p>Can anyone help me? Am I missing something here? Do I just need to suck it up and accept that I will need to move far away? My parents did say they can pay the EFC for Rice, but not UT Austin at all. If I make National Merit, that will help, but I don't think I will. I heard the cut off is expected to be higher than usual and I am on the border.</p>

2

<p>You are comparing costs at some colleges with the highest endowments and some public Us which are funded with state funds. Of course the net cost calculators will vary a bit. What is your home state? UT won’t give $ to an OOS student. What have your parents said they can afford? What are your stats? Rice and Yale have very high bars to admission.</p>

3

<p>Okay, let’s break this down a bit . . .</p>

<p>You’re going to find three types of colleges: those that meet full student need without loans; those that meet full student need with loans; and those that do not meet full student need.</p>

<p>The schools that meet full student need without loans are listed [here[/url</a>]. They include some of the most difficult schools in the country to get into.</p>

<p>The schools that claim to meet full student need (with or without loans) are listed [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2012/02/16/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need]here[/url”&gt;http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2012/02/16/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need]here[/url</a>]. And, yes, these schools all calculate need differently, according to their own formulas, so it’s possible you will see significant differences in the results you get on the schools’ net price calculators.</p>

<p>The schools that don’t meet student need are all the rest. If you look up a school on [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/schoolsearch.aspx]Princeton”&gt;College Search | The Princeton Review]Princeton</a> Review](<a href=“http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php]here[/url”>http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php), it’ll tell you the average percentage of student need met by any one of these schools. Keep in mind, though, that the percentage you’re looking at is an average. So, for School X, it if’s 80%, that doesn’t mean that you’ll get 80%. You might get zero, and someone else might get 100%.</p>

<p>The trick with the schools that don’t meet need is to be one of their strongest candidates. If they really, really want you, they’ll give you more money. If you’re just average, or below average for that school, though, you could get close to nothing. So, focus on schools where your GPA and SAT/ACT score put you at the very tippy-top of their pile of applicants. (And if you haven’t yet done the SAT or ACT, do it now - in June! - so you know where you stand. You cannot pick schools if you don’t know what your scores are.)</p>

<p>Still need help? Then look at schools that offer merit aid. Start with these:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-7.html#post15743177[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-7.html#post15743177&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“Competitive Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Competitive Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;

<p>The first thread focuses on schools where the merit awards are automatic. If you have the qualifying GPA and SAT/ACT score, the award is automatic - no questions asked, nothing else needed.</p>

<p>The second thread focuses on merit awards you’d have to compete for. These can be much harder to get.</p>

<p>There are also schools that offer automatic awards that are smaller than full tuition. This thread looks at all automatic merit award schools, including the ones with smaller awards:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You want to find a school close to home? After looking through the threads above, do a geographic search with Princeton Review . . . and look at every school in your home state and neighboring states. Identify those schools where you would be a competitive candidate - and focus on those.</p>

4

<p>You are getting good advice here. Let me explain a few things to you that had me stumped when I was a college applicant and student in the Dark Ages.</p>

<p>EFC stands for Expected Family Contribution and is the very specific term used for what FAFSA (a government form and calculator) uses to determine your eligibility for federal aid. Some colleges will use this figure to determine what aid they will give, as well. Some states and scholarship agencies (generally those that have need as a component to them) may use this as well. But using the FAFSA estimators for EFC give you some idea of that number. The EFC tells you what the MINIMUM is that you and your family have to pay before federal aid kicks in. So that is a calculator in itself that most schools require so that you get access to federal fund.</p>

<p>When it comes to money that any individual school is going to give you, it depends upon the schools individually. Your EFC will be the same at each school. But what each school gives you can be quite different. You could get a full merit award regardless of need from some school, and nothing but what you can get from the government in others, and if your EFC is too high for you to qualify for PELL grants, it comes down to loans and work study from the government. But any school is free to give you scholarships regardless. There are some schools that tend to focus a lot on scholarships and put most of their money there. In such cases, a good student will get money if s/he meets their parameter regardless of need. A good example of a school like that is Fordham U. </p>

<p>Some schools guarantee to meet full need. Those tend to define their own need through PROFILE or forms of their own. So you can have the EFC, and the Expected Individual Instutional Contributions. Some differences are that FAFSA does not take into account primary home equity values, non custodial parent financials, gives small family businesses wide leeway, does not take into account sibling accounts. Many PROFILE chools have some required Student Expected Contribution for everyone whereas FAFSA’s is based purely on the Student’s financials. </p>

<p>So with a family income of say, $60K, you can have an EFC of about $12K, but pay nothing but maybe a $2K Student Contribution at schools like Harvard, Yale, etc. At some schools, with home equity, a family business in the picture, a non custodial parent who has remarried and a step parent making money too, you can end up with Expected Instutional Contributions of the full Cost of Attendance,</p>

5

<p>Yale is saying that my EFC is about $3500 and Rice is saying it is about $9000. I am going to try to copy and paste…</p>

<p>Yale…
Congratulations on completing the Yale University Net Price Calculator!
Below you will find a summary of the estimated costs for the 2012-2013 academic year and your estimated eligibility for student aid.</p>

<p>Estimates for the 2012-2013 Academic Year</p>

<p>Cost of Attendance:
Tuition & Fees + $42,300
Room & Board + $13,000
Books & Supplies + $1,000
Other Expenses + $3,300
Total Cost $59,600
Your estimated need:
Total Cost $59,600
Expected Family Contribution (EFC) - $3,539
Total Need $56,061
Your estimated financial aid package:
Yale Scholarship - $53,361
Student Job - $2,700
Total Aid $56,061</p>

<p>And then Rice</p>

<p>Congratulations on completing the Rice University Net Price Calculator!
Below you will find a summary of the estimated costs for the 2012-2013 academic year and your estimated eligibility for need-based aid.</p>

<p>Estimates for the 2012-2013 Academic Year</p>

<p>Cost of Attendance:
Tuition & Fees + $37,287
Room & Board + $12,600
Books & Supplies + $800
Other Expenses (Personal, transportation, etc.) + $1,800
Total Cost $52,487
Your estimated need:
Total Cost $52,487
Expected Family Contribution (EFC) - $8,908
Total Need $43,579
Your estimated need-based grants:
Rice Tuition Grant - $38,579
Total Need-based Grants $38,579
Your Estimated Net Price
$13,908
Your estimated eligibility for other aid programs:
Student Employment
Federal Work-Study - $2,500
Loans
Stafford Subsidized Loan - $2,500
Estimated Remaining Cost after Financial Aid
$8,908</p>

6

<p>HYPS give super aid, so you can’t really compare their aid to what other schools give. Rice and similar schools that meet need will likely have similar family contribution expectations.</p>

<p>Of the schools that you mention, making NMF won’t matter since those schools don’t give NMF scholarships. If you do make NMF (what was your PSAT?), then there are other schools that will give you scholarships…like Texas A&M and others. </p>

<p>What are your stats?</p>

7

<p>Thank you so much for your help everyone. </p>

<p>My parents say they can afford Rice, based on the calculators. I am printing up what I have to show them, but I have already shown them some. </p>

<p>Here are my stats:
Top 10%
PSAT was 216
I have not taken my SAT this year, but I did at beginning of last year when I was applying for a high school program, so that is not what I will be using. I only scored 1900 something. But since it was beginning of 10th grade, and it was to get in to a high school GT program, I would hope my score would be much higher now. I think it was 1970, but, not positive. But it was 1900 something.</p>

<p>I am in varsity Orchestra and city orchestra and I am quite good at this. I have also played in various fundraisers, for example, to raise money for Joplin and another time to raise money for the Japan Tsunami.</p>

<p>I am in Fencing. I am not as involved as I used to be, as my other activities have taken over. I actually did not do very well anyway. I did do a lot of volunteer work around this though. In the volunteer work, I helped with wheel chair fencing. I volunteered at junior olympics. </p>

<p>I am in Friends of Rachel. This is a community service group through my school where we just try to do nice things. Last week, we were collecting items and raising money for West, Texas. I have a mentor younger student from the middle school.</p>

<p>I am in NHS. I am president of the French Honor Society too. </p>

<p>And, I will have 7 APs at the end of this year (assuming I pass) and have 4 more planned for next year. I have taken a class through EPGY. I have also gone to Interlochen (on scholarship) in the past. </p>

<p>I almost forgot! I have been working at an environmental center/area for a couple years now. I am a volunteer there. I have a lot of hours! They wanted to switch me in to the research division, but they only let college students there. I will be doing that full time again this summer.</p>

8

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</p>

<p>Well, that’s peachy! Now all you have to do is get in . . . :rolleyes:</p>

<p>Do some research, and find at least one school that you’d be happy to attend, that your parents can afford, and that you are guaranteed to be admitted to. Rice isn’t it. (Rice isn’t a guaranteed admit for any student!)</p>

9

<p>I have a lot of schools on my list. I just feel like my head is spinning trying to figure everything out. I have not thoroughly checked all these out, but everything on my list either I have checked out, or will check out.</p>

<p>Rice, UT Austin, Texas A&M, Baylor University Honors college, Austin College, UNT honors college, Rhodes College, OU, U of MN, Macalester, Carleton, St. Olaf, U of Chicago, Northwestern, Oberlin, Haverford, Swarthmore, Williams, Yale, Washington and Lee, William and Mary, Vanderbilt, Davidson, Washington University, Texas Tech, and adding…</p>

<p>I am still in the research phase of course. I do not plan to apply to all of these. I forgot, Harvey Mudd and Pomona are still on the list.</p>

10

<p>Just my humble opinion here…you will have to bring that SAT score up considerably to be a competitive applicant for the more generous (with need based aid) schools on your list. Their generous financial aid policies don’t do you any good unless you get accepted!</p>

11

<p>One thing to note about the calculators: They do not work very well in general if either of your parents is divorced and remarried or if anyone owns a business or is self-employed. If any of those apply, you will have to run the numbers to see if you are better off targeting FAFSA-only schools even though they don’t meet need.</p>

12

<p>The SAT score that I gave was not one taken in the last year even. It is an older score from early high school to qualify to get in to a GT STEM program. That is it. It was never intended as being for getting in to college. I am taking the actual SAT for college in a week. I mean, unless high school is completely worthless, I would think after 2 years of high school, my score will have gone up. Obviously, I don’t know for sure. If it does not, I will feel like I wasted my time academically here.</p>

13

<p>No matter what your new SAT score ends up being, you need to have some financial safeties on your list. You’re a Texas resident and Rice gets many apps from Texas, so Rice can be very picky. It’s a private and wants regional diversity.</p>

<p>UT admissions may not happen either if you’re not top 8%. Plus, it may not be affordable.</p>

<p>What schools do you know FOR SURE that you’d get admitted to and you know FOR SURE that you have all costs covered (and you like those schools)???</p>