<p>The thing about Profile is that different schools look at different info. Some schools want to know about cars, etc. At the end of the form there may be some school-specific questions you have to answer. At such schools, your Profile EFC may vary from other schools.</p>
<p>Sorry to bump old thread, but I had a clarification question -</p>
<p>My parents and I are about to file the FAFSA (would have done it earlier but my mom's last pay stuff from 2007 hadn't come yet). I think our EFC will probably be around 30k. For the sake of this hypothetical scenario, let's say it is. I was offered a great academic merit scholarship that, with the EFC, would surpass the cost of attendance. The school can't cut into my merit scholarship, right? So my family would in this scenario pay less than the EFC?</p>
<p>I would think so...a school can't take away your outside scholarship money. So if your money + EFC exceed the cost..I would think the EFC would go down. Like another poster said...colleges can adjust your EFC as long as they document everything. My EFC according to FAFSA is $17,000 but at Cornell they asked for $9,600</p>
<p>Merit scholarships that have no need based component have nothing to do with the EFC. The only time a merit scholarship would come into play is if the student is awarded some need based financial aid that would be adjusted because the merit scholarship takes away the need.</p>
<p>The EFC isn't the amount you HAVE to pay. It's just the amount you would be expected to pay, used only when needed (that is, to award need based financial aid). So you would just owe whatever the difference is between your COA and your scholarship.</p>