<p>So Vanderbilt is one of my top schools, but I need good financial aid before I can even consider attending. My parents and I filled out the FAFSA and CSS this past weekend and it says that our expected family contributions should be $41,000 a year, which is absolutely insane. My family does not make that much at all, and I can't believe the prediction would be that high. We're just a middle class family who definitely needs aid for college. I guess what I'm asking is whether or not Vanderbilt would still help me out. I know their institutional financial aid is great, but i dunno if I'll be able to get enough. Any feedback would be great, Thanks!</p>
<p>they would definitely help you out! just apply. they are very generous and I think families that make over 200K still get aid</p>
<p>I think families that make over 200K still get aid </p>
<p>errrr…that is perhaps a “too high” bar re income since FAFSA is very income driven. Vanderbilt gives excellent merit aid and some students will find smaller grants for merit in their envelopes even if they don’t win a signature merit scholarship.</p>
<p>also…like most peer institutions Vandy requires your CSS Profile and this gathers another whole layer of information about a family’s assets not addressed in FAFSA. ie if you own a farm, land, part of a business etc…these things are reported.</p>
<p>each college makes its own determinations. you can of course spell out extenuating circumstances such as job loss or care of extended family members…</p>
<p>APPLY and then worry about this in April but have your eyes open that you may be asked to pay similar to your FAFSA…</p>
<p>our son applied in the middle of last years financial crash and we had to tell him that he would not be attending without some discounts of significance…he had a couple of affordable options where he would have been proud to attend elsewhere so anyone applying to Vandy should also have a financial safety plan. Every family faces different details in their financial picture.</p>
<p>^My family probably makes about $160-170,000, and I’m here at Vandy on significant financial aid grants (without which, it would’ve been too expensive for me to attend).</p>
<p>Thanks everybody for the responses! It’s nice to know Vanderbilt helps so much with aid.</p>
<p>Sorry to jack your question but this is sort of related. If my EFC is 12000 and I have a twin that will be entering college the same year as me, will Vanderbilt cover close to everything but about 6000 or is that just ridiculous?</p>
<p>The FAFSA and PROFILE will ask how many members of the household are attending college and that will be factored into your EFC. My advice would be to try one of those finaid estimators and enter “2” for the number of household members attending college to see how much of a difference it makes. Your and your twin will each have an EFC and you and your parents will generally be expected to pay at least the total of the two (I say “at least” because you didn’t say whether your twin planned to attend Vandy or some other school that doesn’t have a “full need” guarantee).</p>