<p>I'm not too familier with the way financial aid works, so please bear with me. </p>
<p>I live in a rich community. Can't really say much other then my family is relatively well off, and my school has a reputation for being the 'spoiled and wealthy'. </p>
<p>Anyways, is there any chance that I can get financial aid? I don't want my parents to pay for my schooling if I decided to go to an expensive school or something. I realize that undergraduate schools aren't so important, but there are a couple of schools with high fees that I'm looking at. </p>
<p>What financial aid you get (if any) will be determined by how much money your parents and you make, and your parents' and your assets. Whether or not you want them to pay has nothing to do with it. The only other variable will be if you qualify for a merit based scholarship - these are not dependent on your financial circumstances, but are awarded by schools to certain applicants. Does that help answer your question?</p>
<p>Estmated Family Contribution. When you apply for financial aid you fill in the FAFSA and/or CSS profile which ask you a bunch of questions about parent/student income and assets and come up with an estimate of what your family can contribute to your education. A website called finaid has calculators where you can plug in numbers and get an idea what your EFC would be.</p>
<p>You apply for financial aid your senior year before you are going to college. FAFSA cannot be started until Jan 1st, CSS varies. Deadlines for applying for Aid vary by school and it is important to not miss them. Financial aid is based on the previous yeards income. So for school year 2007/2008 income for 2006 is entered in FAFSA. CSS is generally for more expensive private schools and asks for information on a lot that FAFSA does not (retirement accounts, value of family home etc).</p>
<p>EFC is "Estimated Financial Contribution". One measure of it comes from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It is what the Feds determine that you and your family should pay for school. The difference between the EFC and the cost of attendance ("COA") is your "need." There is also the CSS Profile form, which many private schools use, which has a different methodology for determining the EFC.</p>
<p>You apply for financial aid according to the deadlines set by each school you are applying to. They list the deadlines on their websites.</p>