<p>Hi, I'm greatly confused by this whole process. Let me explain my situation.
I have a EFC of about 29000.</p>
<p>At st. johns I received a 25000 scholarship. Am I then not eligible to receive financial aid because then I'd be going "over" my EFC? I would only need to pay about 20000 a year (if the total is about 45000)</p>
<p>So at places like NYU and Boston college where they only really give out need based aid, will they only cover my EFC? so i'll only be probably looking at 20000 of aid?</p>
<p>Merit awards are different than need-based aid. It sounds as if the $25K scholarship would close the gap between COA and your EFC (which is your "need’) and effectively reduce your EFC by about $9K. That is, you would only end up spending $20K, or less, despite having an EFC of $29K.</p>
<p>The EFC stands for Expected Family Contribution so, no, NYU and BC will certainly not cover that. Unless you have great stats, it’s unlikely that they would cover your remaining need (COA-EFC) either. Afaik, NYU does give merit aid, but only to top applicants.</p>
<p>The EFC is your expected family contribution, not the amount of aid you will receive. Financial need is the school Cost of Attendance or COA less EFC. Need is further reduced by any scholarships you may have. So $45,000 -29000 = 16,000. That is your need. However after deducting your 25,000 scholarship you will have no remaining need. So you will not be eligible for need based aid. </p>
<p>For the other schools you first will be responsible for your EFC. So if a school costs 50,000 then your “need” is 21,000 (50,000-29,000). But, and it is a BIG BUT, just because you have need does not mean every school will meet your need. A handful of schools promise to meet full need with no loans. Some promise to meet full need but will include a lot of loans. Most schools do not promise to meet full need. So the EFC of 29,000 may not be all you have to pay.</p>
<p>FYI, NYU is well known on this site for really bad financial aid. There are occaional reports of students getting good aid packages, but mostly people report getting terrible aid. Like a 0 EFC student getting offered $30-40,000 a year in loans.</p>
<p>BTW, if it was me, BC would be well worth the extra $9K per year over St. John’s, but they’re two very different settings and it all depends upon your priorities.</p>
<p>BC meets need. Which means that you’d STILL be expected to pay your expected family contribution.</p>
<p>YOU are expected to pay your EFC. However, if that is too much, then you have to seek other options…</p>
<p>1) go to a school that has a COA that is less than your EFC</p>
<p>2) go to a school that will give you a merit scholarship that is SO BIG that it covers all your need, and then “cuts into” your EFC. Another benefit to this is that with a huge merit scholarship, you can use a fed loan to further reduce your immediate out of pocket costs by about $5k. </p>
<p>It sounds like getting as much in merit scholarships is your answer if you want to reduce your EFC.</p>
<p>Schools like NYU are not going to give you much aid.</p>
<p>If the Cost of Attendance is $45,000 and you receive a $25,000 scholarship, you no longer have any “need.” 45000-25000=20000. Need is COA-EFC, which for you is 45000-29000=16000; your scholarship means that you are receiving more money than you have Need. This means that you will not receive any need-based aid from the school. You will, however, be eligible to borrow $5500 unsubsidized Stafford student loan your freshman year.</p>
<p>Which, I now realize, is what swimcatsmom already said! :)</p>