<p>If I apply to Brown ED (next year) I won’t know financial packages from other schools. To all those that have been admitted how much financial assistance did Brown provide you? Or are you relying solely on scholarships?</p>
<p>Plug your financial information into an EFC calculator. Subtract your EFC from the total cost of Brown and you’ve got a pretty fair estimate.</p>
<p>That’s a good start, but as I’ve recently learned thanks to a lengthy thread in the parents forum, online calculators can be way off. </p>
<p>Be very wary of applying ED if you need financial aid. Have a long talk with your parents about what they can afford. If there is anything that is not straightforward about your finances (like noncustodial parent, self-employment, large assets) then online financial aid calculators may not give you a figure that is close to Brown’s EFC. </p>
<p>Every family’s situation is different. Some are quite happy with their financial aid from Brown and others aren’t.</p>
<p>The more “typical” your family situation the more accurate the calculator. If you don’t have multiple homes, large amounts in savings, own a business, etc, than EFC will work fairly well, according to what I’ve been told.</p>
<p>Brown has a very nice financial aid situation compared to most private schools. However, the only situations where you can be assured of the aid you’re going to receive is if:
- Your family doesn’t apply. Then you’ll receive nothing, or
- Your family’s total combined income is less than 60k/year, and your total assets (house, savings, stocks, etc.) are less than 100k. Then your family won’t be required to help pay for your education at all (but you’ll be expected to pay ~2.5k/yr with work, outside scholarships, or loans). Now, from what I gather, if your family’s assets are only a bit over 100k, or your family’s income is only a bit over 60k, then your family’s contributions will be relatively small.</p>
<p>However, if your family’s income approaches or is above 100k/yr, then you have absolutely no guaruntees about FA. Expect to pay more than a FAFSA EFC calculator says you will, because Brown uses a slightly different methodology that, at this income level, ensures that your family will never pay less than the FAFSA EFC, but could very well pay more.</p>
<p>I applied RD, and wasn’t given enough aid. I appealed, and got more than originally (because my sibling is in college and I didn’t calculate those expenses correctly), but not enough that I could escape large amounts of debt. Some things that will skew a FAFSA estimate from actual aid:
If you have a sibling in college, the FAFSA assumes your parents are paying the same for you both. But Brown expects your parents to pay less for a college education that costs less, so if your sibling goes to a cheap state university, don’t expect too much FA help from that.
If your parents’ assets are unusually high, Brown will expect them to pay more. And some assets (like retirement) are more protected from the federal methodology than from Brown’s methodology.</p>
<p>I will definitely try the EFC calculator. But I will call Brown and talk to them more about this. Thanks to all!</p>