<p>Wow, I'm kind of confused. I just checked my SAR and it said that I don't qualify for the Pell Grant. But then two years ago, this girl from my school got the scholarship and I don't know how she was able to qualify for it...she and her family live in a single-family house pretty comfortably, they're privileged enough to send their kids to various classes/activities like music lessons, tae kwon do, all that stuff...etc. I can't claim to know their whole family situation, but it's just kind of weird. So does GMS really look at the FAFSA stuff or just the difference between your EFC and the amount of aid your school's giving you. Because I know that the difference between my EFC and the amount of aid I'm getting from Columbia is huge.</p>
<p>How does GMS even know the amount of aid my school is giving me? I don't even have that information.</p>
<p>My EFC was a little too high for qualification when I completed my FAFSA using estimates from 2004 documents, but I just did a correction on my FAFSA today (based on the 2005 tax returns) and the EFC went down into a safer zone (2500 or thereabouts).
So has GMS already overlooked my app because my EFC was too high, or have they not checked it yet?</p>
<p>They will only check it during verification where in which they select you and ask you for some important documents. Not everyone who is selected makes it to the next round because some people applied and then find out they are not elgible for pell grant. The reason they say complete FAFSA by Feb. 1 is because it gives your school time to prepare a institutional aid report.</p>
<p>THEY JUST ANNOUNCED THE GMS FINALISTS!!!</p>
<p>I was selected as one. Apparently they sent a mass email out notifying you. There have to be hundreds of addresses on the list. Good luck to all who applied</p>
<p>Did anyone else get an email? I didn't...</p>
<p>I got the e-mail too. I'm so lost. I have no idea what my EFC is.</p>
<p>So how do they narrow students down now that they've moved on to the second stage?</p>
<p>btw to clarify on the pell grant....</p>
<p>how much money you make does not matter. the government has a system to determine the amount of money your family can provide. this serves as an equalizer for families that make more money but have 10 children/multiple dependants/own their own business/have kids in college, etc that families who make less money but have less to provide for. there is some random formula that calculates your financial situation and then determines your expected family contribution (EFC). to be eligible for a pell grant, YOUR EFC CAN BE NO MORE THAN 3850. there might be exceptions.......but thats hard to tell at this point.</p>
<p>the above link makes what i said pretty clear. at this point, you should be working with the taxman (cpa) to find deductions for your family. that would lower your gross income, thereby possibly increasing your chances of having a lower efc. find all the deductions you can, bc if your efc is high, you need to lower it as much as possible in order to win this scholarship.</p>
<p>good luck to all</p>
<p>btw, if you dont know your efc, you can calculate it through the college board site. they have an online calculator. you need to have a pretty accurate estimate of your financial status in order to get a decent estimate of what your efc will be. keep in mind that if it is under 3850, you should be fine.</p>
<p>here is the link</p>
<p>sigh... i didn't get an email... all that hard work :(</p>
<p>I Got It Too</p>
<p>I QUALIFY FOR PELL ..does that mean i get the scholarship??</p>
<p>Maybe..... : )</p>
<p>my efc is326c gpa 3.8...how do they choose?</p>
<p>Take a deep breath, do what you have to for school. You must not be too much of a slacker.</p>
<p>lol..i'm not. y efc is 3260..i just want to know if this means i have the schollie..and how they narrow down the finalists.</p>
<p>y=my haha....</p>
<p>My guess is that they already have an idea of who they want to give the scholarship to... if grades stay constant.. and they are eligible for the pell grant.... I'm assuming those people will get it... if not it probably goes to the next person in line..</p>
<p>HI, I'm new to finding this site but it seems that there is a lot of valuable information on here from what I have seen. I received my Gates finalist e-mail yesterday and am eligible for the Pell Grant. Now all we can all do is send in those forms and wait!!</p>
<p>Also, I am just wondering, where has everyone been accepted into so far? I live in OH, so I've been accepted into OSU and into the University of Michigan.</p>