<p>I've been finding some discrepancies in the different calculators I've been using. </p>
<p>I thought College Board's was pretty good and I had my dad plug in the numbers and I was ecstatic at the result. $11,500 EFC for institutional aid and about $15,000 for FAFSA. </p>
<p>I was confused why IM was so low, my parents were only expected to contribute $8,700...but my total family income is $100,100, have $95,000 in home equity...</p>
<p>And then I saw a thread on here that had a dad that made $62,000 and their EFC was $17,000 and I figured mine had to be higher. </p>
<p>So I ran the numbers into the finaid.org site and got the same FAFSA number around 15k. But the IM number was a little higher, like $19,200.</p>
<p>$19k is not that unreasonable and my parents said that they would pay about $20k, maybe a little more if need be. But, obviously, I'd rather have a number in the $11-15k range. </p>
<p>But I realize that this will vary from school to school, but can I realistically expect our EFC to be about $15-20k? </p>
<p>I have the basic breakdown of total income and home equity and my dad said they have about 12,000 in savings.</p>
<p>I got so excited when I saw College Boards calculator result, but I wanted to make sure it was legit...and it might not be haha. </p>
<p>Oh, and I think my family might get hosed because we have a lot of money in the stock market and I don’t think I put that into the calculator…not sure how much money we have. A good amount, but nothing exorbitant.</p>
<p>Have your dad do the numbers again with stock market money. That may also affect your numbers.</p>
<p>I think your FAFSA EFC number is low. </p>
<p>I put in 100k in income and got $17k…when I added in 100k in stock and it came up with $20,000.</p>
<p>I didn’t do IM method. I think the finaid website has been pretty good. I don’t see why the IM method would be lower…I would think it would be higher or the same.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that most schools don’t meet need, so you need to understand that those numbers are not necessarily what you’ll be paying. Most schools do NOT charge a “sliding scale” based on EFC.</p>
<p>You really can’t estimate for the majority of schools that don’t meet need. Any aid they give is at their discretion and is usually based on the desirability of the student.</p>
<p>One huge mistake people make is over-estimating taxes paid. It’s not the amount of all taxes withheld, but the amount of taxes paid per line 55 of the 1040. Other mistakes: Income earned from work should total the number on line7 of the 1040. If line 12 has a positive value, that is also reported as income earned from work. AGI is the amount at the bottom of page 1 of the 1040. </p>
<p>Make sure amounts on W2 in box 12 (not 12C, though) are put in untaxed income. If there is unemployment income reported, make sure the excess that was allowed to be excluded on the tax return (first $2400 for each person earning unemployment) is reported as other untaxed income. </p>
<p>Don’t make the mistake of saying the parent is “eligible” to file a 1040A or 1040EZ if any item on the 1040 could NOT be transferred directly to a 1040A or 1040EZ (so if there is business income, itemized deductions, etc it’s 1040 only). </p>
<p>If a family has a bunch of kids, the EFC will most likely be lower for them than it would be for a family with one kid, all other things being equal.</p>
<p>$100k should be closer to $19000-20000 EFC for 2 parents/2 kids.</p>
<p>Family income approx. 90k, non-retirement savings within protected limits for parents’ ages, no other assets, one kid in college, EFC approx. 20k </p>
<p>I’ll have to have my dad fill out a couple more, but pretty soon we will just have to wait and see. </p>
<p>The schools I’m really looking at for financial aid are: </p>
<p>Notre Dame
Georgetown
Southern California
Boston College
UVa
UNC
Northwestern
Cornell
Tuane (but also have a realistic shot at getting good merit aid from TU)</p>
<p>All of them claim to meet 100% of need (maybe not Tulane, I’m not sure about them), but I guess it depends what they determine my “need” to be and if it fits my parameters.
Those schools are mostly low reaches/high matches so I should hopefully get into at least a couple of them. Most of their endowments are also pretty hefty, so that will hopefully help a little bit. Maybe not as good as aid at Harvard or Princeton, but the above schools at least meet 100% of need. </p>
<p>Some of those schools are pretty competitive. I suspect you have great stats, but thos schools have many applicants and will look at lots more than pure stats. You may find it interesting to look at the MyChances website.</p>
<p>At this point in the year it is all guesswork. You really won’t know YOUR cost until the letters come next spring. Do fill out the FAFSA as early in January as possible (don’t wait until taxes are finished --estimate and then post updates later).</p>
<p>Yep, my stats are decent, not super-CC stats, but respectable.
4.2 W GPA 2110 SAT, Eagle Scout, grant writing for a non-profit, Class rep, worked two jobs (now only one job), over 300 hours of Community service, staff writer for the paper, and some other minor stuff. </p>
<p>So I certainly don’y expect to get into all or almost all of those schools, but I think I have a decent shot to get into a few of them.</p>
<p>Yeah, Olymom, you are right. The situation is kind of out of my hands at this point. Just gotta hope for a good package in April. </p>
<p>We’re in a similar financial situation as you, and found that the fin aid packages varied widely when DS applied last year. It’s really important to apply to a bunch of schools, from reaches to safeties, and not fall in love with any one school. In reality, all schools have their good points and bad points.
Once you have all of the packages in front of you in April you will have the information you need to make an informed decision.</p>