<p>i just got my final financial aid package back from my early action school, and the family contribution is nearly 3 times my efc</p>
<p>i don't know what to do, is it any use to argue? has anyone been in this position before? and if so, what did you do?</p>
<p>im stressing out, so much debt... thx for the help tho!</p>
<p>Financial aid CAN consist of loans & for some schools, unfortunately it can be ALL loans except for a federal government grant or two. You can talk with your GC about it & your can also consider other schools you have applied to & whether any of these meet your family's finances better. If you have other aid packages from similar schools, sometimes schools will consider re-evaluating your package as well.
If there are no schools on your list that your family can afford, you may wish to consider adding some before application deadlines pass. Some folks also go to community college or local Us for two years & transfer, which saves a lot of money.<br>
Many folks have been in your situation & likely more & more will be as prices of schools climb & salaries & money available for aid fails to keep pace.</p>
<p>thanks for the quick response himom, ill try to use other financial aid packages to get some more aid... otherwise im tempted to take a scholarship at one of my lower schools</p>
<p>My understanding is generally if the schools are not comparable in prestige, there is less leverage for negotiating than if they are seen as "peer" schools. Many have gone to "lesser" schools with more merit aid & done very well there, graduating with much lower debt burden. Many schools are higher in prestige in certain departments than others as well. It is something many families & students have to weigh together. It is something our family will have to work out as well.</p>
<p>Another factor to keep in mind is "merit within need," meaning that among folks who have demonstrated financial need, schools as a business can & do give different award amounts to different students, depending on how the students meet the schools' needs. Students with strong academic credentials that show the school is their top choice are likely to get the highest scholarship & grant amounts while those who barely made the school's cut-offs for admission & don't appear as likely to matriculate or succeed at the school are likely to be awarded a lot more debt in their FAid package.</p>
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just got my final financial aid package back from my early action school, and the family contribution is nearly 3 times my efc
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<p>Could it be that you were calculating your EFC based on information you got from your FAFSA? </p>
<p>Does your school also request the CSS profile? </p>
<p>If yes, than this will account for your increase in EFC because your EFC may show that you have considerable income/assets/equity which shows up on the profile that you don't have to indicate on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>The FAFSA is requested by all schools and is mainly used by schools that calculate FA using the federal methodology. </p>
<p>The schools that require the CSS profile often distribute their own institutional funds and use an institutional/ concensus methodolody. Like EK stated used the Profile to get a more complete picture of your financial situation.</p>
<p>Differences between the IM and FM models include:</p>
<p>IM collects information on estimated academic year family income, medical expenses, elementary and secondary school tuition and unusual circumstances. FM omits these questions.</p>
<p>IM considers a fuller range of family asset information, while FM ignores assets of siblings, all assets of certain families with less than $50,000 of income, and both home and family farm equity.</p>
<p>FM defines income as the adjusted gross income on federal tax returns, plus various categories of untaxed income. IM includes in total income any paper depreciation, business, rental or capital losses which artificially reduce adjusted gross income.</p>
<p>FM does not assume a minimum student contribution to education; IM expects the student, as primary beneficiary of the education, to devote some time each year to earning money to pay for education.</p>
<p>FM ignores the noncustodial parent in cases of divorce or separation; IM expects parents to help pay for education, regardless of current marital status.</p>
<p>FM and IM apply different percentages to adjust the parental contribution when multiple siblings are simultaneously enrolled in college, and IM considers only siblings enrolled in undergraduate programs.</p>
<p>The IM expected family share represents a best estimate of a familys capacity (relative to other families) to absorb, over time, the costs of education. It is not an assessment of cash on hand, a value judgment about how much a family should be able to use current income, or a measure of liquidity. The final determinations of demonstrated need and awards rest with the University and are based upon a uniform and consistent treatment of family circumstances.</p>
<p>Except in the most extraordinary circumstances, Colleges classifies incoming students as dependent upon parents for institutional aid purposes, even though some students may meet the federal definition of independence.</p>
<p>Students enrolling as dependent students are considered dependent throughout their undergraduate years when need for institutional scholarships is determined.</p>
<p>For institutional aid purposes a student may not declare independence due to attainment of legal age, internal family arrangements, marriage or family disagreements.</p>
<p>Your COA (cost of attendance) is tuition, room board, books travel expenses and some misc. expenses associated with attending college.</p>