<p>Are you guys all EAs?</p>
<p>Kamikazewave and I are, Ben Golub certainly is not, and I dunno about the others.</p>
<p>I've always heard about how great the financial aid from Caltech was, but all I'm seeing lately is that the aid packages are horrible, with mine being 15k higher than my FAFSA estimate.</p>
<p>But how is your package compared to other schools? People often feel that they don't get enough from financial aid, but the real comparison is how much you get from different schools.</p>
<p>Well, as I was an EA candidate, I really don't have any other schools to compare to package to...if I end up only having been accepted to Caltech, that would suck financially...</p>
<p>And honestly, I've only heard of the elite schools requiring LESS than the FAFSA estimated payable, not 15k MORE...</p>
<p>They didn't meet the FAFSA need? You should call up financial aid and talk to them -- in the past, Caltech has always more than met every student's need. We've had recent budget cuts, but I can't imagine they'd wouldn't at least meet that amount. There's probably something else going on -- either an error somewhere or changed circumstances. (Or were you someone who got your application in late? Because that could do it too.)</p>
<p>My application was turned in over an hour before the deadline...actuallly 13 hours because Caltech allows to 12 pm the next day...</p>
<p>And if they accepted me, why would my application being late or not matter to my financial aid package?</p>
<p>And yeah, I am going to call them up soon...talk to them about it....</p>
<p>The only thing that's changed in my FAFSA from CSS is that my parents put any cash they had into money markets since my mom read that in the "fafsa hints" section or w/e of the fafsa website.</p>
<p>Kamikazewave,
My sense is that for colleges in general (not just Caltech) there's often a big difference between FAFSA & Profile. You might want to post a new thread in the general Financial Aid section of CC and I think you might find that such differences between the EFC calculated by FAFSA and the EFC calculated using Profile aren't unusual(though it really sucks). And if I remember correctly Profile takes in to consideration any real estate owned. And though I don't know your situation, if your parents are separated or divorced there can be huge differences between FAFSA & Profile since Profile requires the non-custodial parent to contribute while FAFSA doesn't. There's a lot of parents that frequent the Finaid section who might be able to give you some advice. Hope it works out for you.</p>
<p>The thing is, none of those apply to me. My situation should produce almost same results from each, because...</p>
<ol>
<li><p>My parents don't own property, which should be another indication that we're POOR. Or at least not as rich as they assume we are.</p></li>
<li><p>My parents are still together.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>But yeah, I will take your advice and post in financial aid forum...</p>
<p>The Profile is very different from the FAFSA. </p>
<p>The primary differences between the FAFSA and PROFILE applications and need analysis formulae include the following:
bullet The IM need analysis formula derived from the PROFILE uses a family's home equity in calculating their EFC. The federal formula (FM) does not use a family's home equity (market value less mortgage) in calculating their aid eligibility.</p>
<p>The IM formula generated from the PROFILE assumes a minimum expected student contribution (SC), ranging from $900 for freshmen to $1,500 for seniors and graduate and professional students. The federal formula (through the FAFSA application) does not assume or expect a minimum amount from a student to contribute but instead, uses the previous year's income of the student to determine if there should be an expected contribution from the student's earnings. For example, if a dependent freshmen earned less than $2,200 in 2002, no expected contribution would be assumed for federal aid consideration while the PROFILE methodology would assume a minimum of $900 from the student to contribute, thus reducing the student's eligibility for school-sponsored aid by $900.</p>
<p>Some private or independent colleges who use the PROFILE application only require it for their first year students. Other schools do not utilize the same IM need analysis results as other schools who use the PROFILE. For example, Princeton, Yale, and Stanford publicized they will not use the equity in a family's primary residence or home for some of their applicants (based on income ceilings, etc.). Other schools may use a different minimum expected student contribution than the $900-$1,500 range recommended by CSS.</p>
<p>The income protection and asset protection allowances between the PROFILE (IM) and FAFSA need analysis formulae are not identical. Usually, the differences are less than 5 percent for most families. The PROFILE income protection allowance and asset protection tables are based on the consumer price index (CPI) while the FAFSA formula is based on the Bureau of Standards (low standard of living). For a detailed review of the tables used in both methodologies, see the Federal Methodology (FM) (PDF) and Institutional Methodology (IM) tables.</p>
<p>I just stated however, that I lack any real estate, so according to what you said the CSS should be lower for me...meaning that I should have gotten a much better offer from the college.</p>
<p>Also, the amounts I quoted was expected family contribution, not [total]-[grant money]...</p>
<p>I'm hoping they made a mistake somewhere. I think I'll email them once my internal assessments are finished, and hopefully talk with them during pre-frosh weekend.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, lacking property does not lower the Profile, it simply does not increase it.</p>