<p>What type of packages do they typically give out... who helps out most?
I am a California resident..
any help is appreciated...thank you!!</p>
<p>USC and Cornell tend to to better with aid, generally.</p>
<p>NYU is probably the worst of decent sxchool financial aid wise. The gap big time. UCs are loan heavy.</p>
<p>Perhaps my son's situation was unusual but UCB met 100% of need. Loans were about $5K; everything else was workstudy and grants.</p>
<p>thanksf for all the comments...keep em comin!!!!!11</p>
<p>Cornell should be pretty good, I'm pretty sure they guarantee to meet 100% of need, and since they're an Ivy, they're pretty rich, so they should be pretty generous with grants. NYU is the worst for financial aid, in fact it ranked 2nd or 3rd in Princeton Review's "Students most unhappy with their financial aid package" list. You won't get much from NYU, unless you're super brilliant, and they want to lure you away from the ivies.</p>
<p>Interesting on fresnomom's comments on UC, in our experience, UCs meet 100% of need for in state students, but the grants seem to be about $11k-$13k, plus work study and loans to total out the $20k-$24k annual amount, so more in loans than FM said for low EFC. </p>
<p>For my D, we made a spread sheet with 6 schools, some private, some public, some local, some far away. Most of them were within a very close range on out of pocket to be budgeted. I counted only aid which did not have to be repayed and did not include WS, as that is not guaranteed, then adjusted all realistic travel costs and it was amazing how similar the packages were...not exact, but close enough that other than the strict profile schools, we did not choose any one on just money.</p>
<p>I have always heard NYU is weak on aid and I have heard on several occasions that USC gives stronger packages at the beginning and that grants DO become LOANS in alter years. I heard this many years ago when USC was one of our choices and I heard it a few years later (on this board) when the packages changed for people in year 3! So, ask about the longevity of the package.</p>
<p>In our experience with three UC finaid packages, they met 100% of need (we're in-state). % of loans to grants varied from campus to campus.</p>
<p>NYU's finaid package was the worst we received.</p>
<p>'SC is great for NMF's -- $15k discount</p>
<p>I was very pleased with the UC financial aid offers for both of my kids. I don't remember loan amount being particularly high for my son when he applied to Berkeley. My daughter had offers from UCSB and UCSC with vary generous grant awards -- definitely larger than the grant she was offered from NYU! </p>
<p>Reported stats for Cornell show that they generally require a lot of loans. </p>
<p>You can get some stats from the college board site. Example:
Cornell: average need-based loan: $6300; Average percent of need met: 100%; average financial aid award: 70% grants, 30% loans/jobs;</p>
<p>USC: Average need-based loan: $3,781; Average percent of need met: 99%; ave. financial aid ward, 75% grants, 25% loans/jobs</p>
<p>NYU: Average need-based loan: $4,377; Average percent of need met: 68%; ave award: 59% grants/ 61% loans/jobs</p>
<p>UC Berkeley: Average need-based loan: $4,254; Average percent of need met: 90%; ave award: 67% grants/ 33% loans/jobs</p>
<p>Keep in mind that as a Calif. resident, costs are less overall, and that the UC "need" is based on the FAFSA only, whereas private colleges are usually defining need using the CSS Profile -- so for example, Cornell may say it meets 100% need, but it may also be using a much higher EFC. In other words, what would you rather have: 90% of your need met at a school that costs $24K a year and says your EFC is $5000 -- or 100% of your need met at a school that costs $48K a year and says your EFC is $15,000?</p>
<p>Thing to keep in mind about California also, that if you have a low EFC and your a state resident you qualify for the CAL GRANT< which is full tuition paid. Aside from that , all the UCs i was accepted to offered me roughly the same financial aid package, it will just about always include a percentage of loans, even though my loan amount was not that bad 5500, from a 22k aid package.</p>