<p>My FAFSA said my EFC would be $0. Northwestern offered me $58,840 in scholarships/grants/work-study, and said my family contribution is $2000, totaling $60,840. </p>
<p>If my EFC is 0, why is my family contribution $2000? I'm still thankful for what I received, but I don't want my parents to have to pay something they're not required to... any thoughts? Should I call them and "repeal"? How would I do that? </p>
<p>Also, if I win MORE than $2,500 in outside scholarships, then would it overflow onto next year's work-study amount, or would it decrease my Northwestern scholarship? If the latter, I should probably stop applying for these scholarships so other people can get them...</p>
<p>Totally understand how you feel! I was a little less fortunate, however. My EFC was calculated to be approximately $6,000 and NU somehow figured it to be $22,000.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t think you have to worry all too much! I’m pretty sure NU overestimates the tuition (as in, I don’t think housing will be as costly as it states it will be especially if you get a roommate).</p>
<p>Secondly, Northwestern’s general financial aid policy is to provide 100% of COA-EFC. If your EFC is 0, then your financial aid package should cover everything. The $2000 could possibly be a reference to the federal subsidized loans that you can take out to pay for your education. Since they don’t run through Northwestern, they don’t count towards Northwestern’s financial aid offer. </p>
<p>Adding on to helloahmy’s reply, Northwestern released tuition and average room and board numbers a couple weeks ago, and COA for next year looks to be around 57-58 grand, so I think you will be just fine.</p>
<p>@TheBaron19 – “Northwestern’s general financial aid policy is to provide 100% of COA-EFC. If your EFC is 0, then your financial aid package should cover everything. The $2000 could possibly be a reference to the federal subsidized loans that you can take out to pay for your education”</p>
<p>That’s incorrect. Like the OP, my Northwestern’s EFC is about twice my FAFSA’s EFC. This is because Northwestern calculates their own EFC using not only the FAFSA but also the information provided on the CSS Profile. (Think about it. The CSS goes MUCH more in depth). Colleges and Universities are not obligated to go by the FAFSA’s EFC. Depending on what the OP entered on her CSS, there could have been additional assets or something that made Northwestern decide that her “institutional EFC” is $2,000. It is NOT the federal loans. </p>
<p>I’m almost 100% certain she didn’t receive loans. Part of NU’s policy is to not provide loans to the neediest families. Even with an EFC of $2,000 she is still considered needy.</p>
<p>Where did I mention the FAFSA? I know Northwestern uses the CSS profile as well for calculating the financial aid offers (I just finished filling mine out last week). I also know that Northwestern’s EFC is often drastically different from the FAFSA’s (I thought I got shafted with my financial aid offers for the first two years).</p>
<p>That is for what NU expects from summer employment. My S is a sophomore. You have a terrific offer…congratulations… for your hard work in high school and being admitted (to one of this country’s very best colleges!) Your next 4 years will be amazing. Period.</p>
<p>We haven’t received anything yet! We’re really on pins and needles.
soprano, almost all schools I know of require students to pay something. As others point out, $2000 can be covered by work study, a summer job, or very small loans. It’s a huge award, so congrats! My EFC was 0 a few years ago, and most schools didn’t care at all; many gave no aid to my son. NYU at the time had the most generous offer, and it still asked us to pay $7000. So consider yourself very very fortunate!</p>