<p>speaking of Univ. of Chicago, wouldn’t the financial aid structure of a top 20 school like this for a $5,000 EFC student look something like this (assuming $52,000 in total costs):</p>
<p>Scholarship - $38,500
Student Work study - $3,000
Student loan - $5,500
Parents’ contribution - $5,000</p>
<p>total - $52,000</p>
<p>John…</p>
<p>The dirty secret is that big aid isn’t based totally on “need,” it’s also based heavily on stats. Schools are more generous to those with need AND high stats.</p>
<p>JohnAdams, no and no. First it is next to impossible to draw that direct a conclusion from "average aid"statements, it can give you an idea regarding the particular college but not enough information to make an assumption relative to one’s particular situation. To your second post University of Chicago utilizes CSS so meets 100% of need, but they determine need. The FAFSA EFC is used only for awarding federal aid.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Agree…“average aid” tells a family very little. Half the need students can receive about $30k and the other half can receive about $2k…but the “average” will be about $16k (which is an amount that no one received).</p>
<p>I’m not sure why that would be a “dirty” secret, since it seems so obviously fair for them to do that…</p>
<p>Please dont expect a good package from St. Johns. They expect me to pay $20000 in loans each year Whhhhhaaattt? lol (EFC=0) </p>
<p>But you cant really decide which school is giving you a good package until you have the packages from all your schools. Best of luck:)</p>
<p>*I’m not sure why that would be a “dirty” secret, since it seems so obviously fair for them to do that… *</p>
<p>Because many people think their aid packages are going to be based purely on “need.” Therefore, a student with nice, but modest stats, may not realize that his FA package may not be as good as another student who has better stats.</p>
<p>Which again, would just make it unexpected and maybe even a secret, but certainly not a “dirty” secret.</p>