<p>Does anyone have any experience in using the Financial Aid Early Estimate Program as far as how accurate the Early Estimate is compared to the Financial Aid that is officially offered in the spring following acceptance? We just received our early estimate and it was a real shock. I'm hoping that maybe I transposed some numbers on the form because it is not going to be possible for our son to attend with this kind of financial aid.</p>
<p>Anecdotes only, not staticial sample-- others can chime in here. For both my S and D – package was accurate within a few hundred dollars. We’re a middle class family with two in college-- we sell our blood and eat P&J (only kidding), drive old cars and take no family vacations.</p>
<p>Seriously, I recommend also submitting a FAFSA estimator. CMU is going by the FAFSA model. So if the CMU package was a shock, I’m not surprised as most families cannot believe the EFC that the FAFSA model generates. The number CMU generated will be the same for other schools on your list quite likely.</p>
<p>The FAFAA model assumes 5% of family savings, 50% of savings in a students name and 47% of gross income above and beyond the family income earned above $67,000 are contributed towards the family contribution in a give year. What that translates into roughly (this gleaned from numerous posts in the CC Financial Aid thread by moderator “swimcatsmom”) is about $30 - 35K for households in the $120-150 level. Astounding!</p>
<p>See some of my previous posts on financial and merit $ at CMU. They do not claim to meet unmet need but are exceedingly generous with students they seek to attract. If your S has great stats PLUS something very interesting about him- they will want to attract him. They are also upfront and take no offense to bargaining with you if you have competing offers from designated schools (see earlier posts).</p>
<p>Good luck-- I’m afraid the CMU early estimate is very accurate. But it is not going to differ from other schools either-- that’s your EFC.</p>
<p>Apply - and work it out later. You never know what kind of bargaining may be possible. They can have a weird yield and with a little nudge, we hear in this thread every year that people pull more money out of CMU.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information! The reason I was shocked was that I have done a FAFSA estimator and I have a student already in college for which the FAFSA was quite accurate to the actual aid received. The CMU early estimate just comes out about TRIPLE my FAFSA EFC and more than double the EFC calculators for both MIT and Rice. The CMU estimate is about $32K for my household in the $85-95K level.</p>
<p>There’s an easy answer here-- maybe they overlooked the “two in college” and the amount the EFC is actually about half. That seems the obvious reason. Although they don’t aim to meet unmet need- they don’t typically offer 1/3 of the amount either.</p>
<p>Worth a call perhaps?</p>
<p>That seems to be a plausible answer. I don’t believe that I need to be calling them yet. When we do the actual FAFSA and CSS Profile and hear from them next spring, if the numbers seem to be out of whack, then I think it will be time for me to call them. After all, it is only an estimate.</p>