<p>On another thread (quest for merit aid), someone suggested that I plug my numbers into the Dartmouth financial aid calculator. I did, and the calculator came up with a parental EFC of a little over $7,000.</p>
<p>However, the Dartmouth site gave this caveat: "If the parent contribution is higher under Federal Methodology (FM), as determined by the FAFSA Application, then Dartmouth must use the higher calculated FM figure. An estimate of the FM figure can be obtained by using the calculator on the CollegeBoard's website."</p>
<p>So I went to the College Board site and tried that calculator, using the same data. It gave me two numbers.</p>
<p>FM: $17,000
IM: $12,000, plus another thousand for the student's expected contribution.</p>
<p>How is a parent supposed to have any idea of an actual EFC when the estimates vary so widely? </p>
<p>Since I seem to fare so much better under IM, are there schools that don't use FM at all?</p>
<p>(My dd is not aiming for Dartmouth, by the way; we're just looking for some idea of our financial situation as she tries to decide which schools to put on her list.)</p>
<p>Lgreen, welcome to the crazy FA world! I would also suggest you try to the calculator here: <a href="http://www.fafsa.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.fafsa.org/</a> and read over some the other material provided. About all you can hope for at this point is a range, rather than a firm, fixed number. In addition, be prepared to find that "need" varies from college to college and even "100% of need met" is often an IM number that may make your head spin. And finally, if you're really feeling brave, head over to the College Board site and check out the Profile form. If any school calls for the submission of Profile, it's better to look at it early rather than later; at least you'll have a sense of what numbers colleges look at.</p>
<p>The FM calculators should return the SAME EFC number. The formulas are made public and subject to VERY little interpretation. The same cannot be said for IM and CA.</p>
<p>Hi LGreen - good for you, now you see why I suggested it - the whole system is a little nutty! Keep trying calculators, and you will get a good range for EFC. As Xiggi says, the FAFSA should come out about the same. Go straight to the government site for that - perhaps some of the colleges haven't updated, or don't make it clear that what you are using is influenced by the Profile or IM.</p>
<p>I tend to be a conservative person - after you have done the FAFSA, the Profile, and a few calculators, I would go with the highest number, that way you are more likely to be pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>We found the offers my d. received from so-called need-blind, 100%-of-need schools varied even more than the calculators did. And ours was a very simple financial situation.</p>
<p>When you say the offers varied, do you mean in the calculation of family contribution or in the type of aid (grants vs. loans) offered? Or both?</p>
<p>I don't think anybody agrees with those calculators. Our initial EFC was a little less than our income. how could that possibly be? we were told by the school though that if there were outstanding circumstances that they took them into account, like somebody loosing a job or taking a major cut in pay etc. But I would like to see that come to fruition.</p>