<p>Is there going to be a significant difference?</p>
<p>There could be a difference. When DD got her estimated award a couple of years ago, one school decreased her need based aid by $9000. The other three schools didn't touch her financial aid package. Depends on the school and their formula for awarding institutional aid...those vary wildly.</p>
<p>It also depends on how much of a difference there was between your estimated income and the final income reported (when you amend, you do not chance assets). If there is a huge difference...the difference in need based aid may be larger. I will say...our difference was an increase of only $3000 AGI.</p>
<p>My brother's aid went up like $5000 from junior to senior year when my sister started college. Probably doesn't matter for you right now but if you have any younger siblings you can count on some more dough a few years down the line.</p>
<p>I think there are differences of $2000 in our estimated income and final income, will that make a difference? And by that time NYU will have sent Emory the form saying that my sister attends their school. </p>
<p>(This is Emory, btw)</p>
<p>My final award went down $4000 in grants</p>
<p>My final award also decreased by 6000. But I was depending on the estimated money they were offering to pay for my room and board. Now my parents have to pay for half of the bill and all my other school supplies. We really can't afford it. We're a low income family. Is there anything I can do to change their minds? I really need the money.</p>
<p>My actual fin aid from Caltech that I got in April/May dropped $13k/yr from the estimated they sent in Jan/Dec. Go figure.</p>
<p>Those of you whose actual aid dropped from the estimated - were final income or assets reported higher than initially reported when you applied for aid?</p>
<p>SCM,
This year we had a 4k drop in actual aid from what was stated in the estimate, and our final income and assets were exactly the same as what I had originally submitted on the Profile in March. </p>
<p>Between the time we got the estimate and the final package, we were sent a verification form which asked for a few numbers, all of which I filled in with exactly the same amounts as I had earlier as I only submitted a final Profile with no amendments. So, when we got the final package, I called them up to ask why our EFC had increased even though I submitted the same numbers both times. As a result, they asked for some updated numbers (eg. current assets, which were almost exactly the same as what I'd given on the Profile in March). </p>
<p>In the end, our revised final award is 2k less than the estimate. I think someone made a mistake and gave us an estimate that was too high, but they probably felt badly since it was their mistake and so they ended up splitting the difference. Another example of "professional judgement" I think.</p>