<p>I am and identical triplet (we are all girls + we all do very well in school). What will are financial aide probably be like? Will our EFC be divided in three (estimated 11,000) because we will all be going at the same time? Does anyone else have any experience with multiples going to college at the same time? Thanks! </p>
<p>Your parents’ contributions will be divided in three. However, EFC = Parents’ contributions + student’s contributions.</p>
<p>Thanks, I know that I will pay for almost all of the EFC in student loans because my parents weren’t able to save money for us due to a financial issue at home</p>
<p>the max student loans that you and your sisters will receive as freshmen is $5500 each. Since most schools have student loans as part of their financial aid packaging, I would not count on using loans to pay your EFC. What I do recommend that you look at the thread at the top for automatic scholarships, look at schools where you can get free tuition or tuition/fees or tuition/fees/stipends. Use a bottoms up approach and make sure that you apply to a school close to home in the event that you may have to commute to school and live at home.</p>
<p>I don’t know a single school that guarantees to meet full need as defined by EFC. So that your EFC is a certain number doesn’t necessarily mean much. It guarantees to you for PELL if each EFC is low enough, and for the $5500 loans as Sybbie mentions. The rest is up to your homestate and school. </p>
<p>For those schools that tend to guarantee to meet need, they define it themselves. Many of such schools use CSS PROFILE to come up with what your contribution should be. Instead of parental contribution for one student divided by three, it usually will be multiplied by .4. </p>
<p>You all need to do a sit down and figure out how much your parents are going to be able to contribute to each of you, how much you can contribute to your education, and then start looking at schools on your list and the NPC for what it might cost you The FAFSA EFC is generally teh absoutel minimum you have to pay before getting aid. </p>
<p>EFC doesnt mean what you think. Do not think that your EFC will get divided by 3 and then the schools will giv you the rest. Most schools cannot do that. The feds cant require schools to give you money.</p>
<p>You need to use the NPCs on each schools’ website.</p>
<p>Apply to some schools that will give you large merit for your stats.</p>
<p><<<<<
My scores/projected scores
GPA: Unweighted 3.8, weighted 4.15 with a lot of AP (Chem, Physics 1, Physics C, Statistics, Calculus AB, Biology) and honors (All English and Social Studies classes)
SAT projected (without writing): 1400 or higher
ACT projected: 30+
<<<<</p>
<p>If your sisters have similar stats, be sure to apply to schools that will give you large merit for your stats.</p>
<p>When you look at schools. make sure you have some that you know will be affordable and that will take you. Those may well be the local commuter state schools. If your parents can afford to send you all to your state schools without any maybe aid or awards, that opens up more options. Make sure you apply to schools where there is a decent chance of getting financial/merit aid that makes it doable. </p>
<p>Your FAFSA EFC should be viewed as the MINIMUM your family will be expected to pay for college. The vast majority of colleges do not guarantee to meet your full need.</p>
<p>Look at the thread for automatic full tuition and full ride scholarships. You have excellent stats and are likely eligible for something from some of those schools.</p>
<p>I have triplets who are now sophomores in college. The parents protected income as calculated in the FAFSA decreases by about $3000 for each person in college. So its not exactly EFC divided by three. There are big differences in the way each school meets our financial need. The private school covers 100% of their calculated need which includes our home equity so we don’t get a large amount. One state school, a UC, covers a good portion of our need and doesn’t include our home equity. The last school, a Cal state, covers about 60% of our need. You can research on line how each school calculates your need (in general) and the approximate % of need that they meet. (That approx. % of need met may require a bit of research)</p>