<p>I'm going to be a senior next year and i was calculating costs and stuff because i know the college i want to attend - SUNY Oswego which is 18 thousand a year. i was filling out a FAFSA to see how much it'd help me </p>
<p>well my dad has like 120 thousand in real estate, 75 thousand in savings for everyone in the house.. and my parents make about 56 thousand a year.. i filled out the FAFSA</p>
<p>all the FAFSA told me is that the EFC is 9480 and that i'm eligible for receiving other federal, state, or institutional grants, scholarships, and/or work-study.</p>
<p>all i know is that.. my parents aren't going to helping me thattt much with college</p>
<p>what does it mean? cause dad said it probably won’t help… and does efc like determine whether or not yer eligible for a federal work study program?</p>
<p>The FAFSA EFC determines your eligibility for federal grant programs. Currently, students with EFC’s of $5273 or less are eligible for Pell grants (these are awarded on a sliding scale) and would normally be given first priority for SEOG and work study funds, which are federal aid programs awarded at the school’s discretion. You can have a work study grant even if you’re not Pell eligible or you can simply work at non-WS jobs on campus…the only advantages that WS provide is that those jobs are not subject to FICA/Medicare tax (but they are subject to income tax) and they do not impact your FAFSA EFC (but you would have a student income protection allowance anyway for the first $5K or so of any income you earn). You will, of course, qualify for federal loans and the freshman max is $5500.</p>
<p>Have you estimated your TAP award yet? TAP has a higher cutoff than federal programs ($80K of NY taxable income) and should qualify for an award there - check the HESC website for the calculator. What are your stats? Oswego seems to have some decent scholarships. Are you close enough to any SUNY or SUNY CC to commute if you had to?</p>
<p>Finally, is any of the $75K savings in retirement accounts? If so, that will not be reported on FAFSA. And if any of the $120K in real estate is comprised of the home you live in, that should be excluded as well. Make sure that the value of other real estate that you report is net of any loans/mortgages, and potential repair/selling costs, and is based on current market conditions.</p>
<p>I just checked your post history and see that you’re taking dual enrollment classes from MVCC and Syracuse…so I’m assuming you live in CNY and want to stay in the area. You should definitely apply to Oswego - apply early and get your FAFSA filed as early as possible in January for the best chance at aid - but also consider applying to SU and Utica College. SU is fairly generous with need based aid and academic scholarships. I think Utica offers quite a bit of merit aid as well and you would be able to commute, which might actually make it less expensive than a 4-year residential SUNY. Hamilton or Colgate would also be excellent options if your stats are high as they both meet need with no/low loans.</p>
<p>well i live in Oneida so it’d be easier living on campus and Utica and Syracuse are a little out of my price range. i know i’ll get a 2000 dollar scholarship from Oswego (for all four years)</p>
<p>How much are your parents planning to contribute to your education per year? If you have a $2K scholarship, $5500 student loans, and maybe $2K in other aid, will they cover the remaining $8-9K/year? What is your plan if Oswego isn’t affordable?</p>
<p>Never assume that the “sticker” price of a private school that offers need-based and merit aid is what you will pay…especially if your stats are in the upper 10%-25% for the school! I know a boy who was offered a $68K scholarship by Utica this year and, although he was a fairly good student, he was no academic superstar (he was a recruited athlete, but at a D3 school this should not have been a factor). Worth have a convo with your GC about…they likely have a good handle on merit aid at the “local” schools. Tuition is $27K, but a good scholarship may actually make it less expensive than a SUNY and the online app is free.</p>
<p>You will not know what your cost is until you 1) apply to the college 2) are accepted 3) fill out the FAFSA (on time and completely) and 4) it is late March or April. </p>
<p>Colleges play their cards close to their chest. They will make vague statements like “We try to make Happy College an affordable choice.” But, in February, they will start building the next class. Suddenly it starts to shake out that they have a ton of math majors but few chemistry majors (or vice versa), or the music director says “I have a ton of flute players but all my trumpet players are graduating in June. Get me some trumpet players.”</p>
<p>So, if you happen to be applying as a chemistry major who is also planning to minor in music (in trumpet), suddenly you are a very desirable candidate. (Particularly if you have strong grades, strong SAT scores and strong letters of reference). </p>
<p>There is absolutely no way for you to know where you will Bingo. That is why it is stupid, stupid, stupid to decide in September 2010 that only one college will make you happy in September 2011. Find several colleges that can make you happy. Apply to all of them. Then compare packages in early April. SUNY Oswego with no aid may not be as attractive as Happy College with a strong aid package. </p>
<p>We see lots of students and parents sweat from September to April. Not knowing the costs is very frazzling. Don’t worry. You have lots of company. </p>
<p>Do visit several schools and take your parents with you. Ask them to sit in on the financial aid talks that are often an option on the tours. They may change their minds on how much they can do – or pick up some clever cost cutting tips that make all of you happy. (“She can stay in the dorm with the ugly lineoleum for half of what the dorm with the sauna costs!”).</p>
<p>Question: I know this probably varies somewhat per school, but if you apply EA and fill out the FAFSA within the first week of January, when would you usually find out what your financial “package” for a school is going to look like? Is it still late March or April? If there are merit scholarships involved, would you at least see those earlier?</p>
<p>Merit scholarships are often awarded with the admissions offer or shortly thereafter. But the full FA award usually comes early in the normal cycle (ie whenever the college says they start mailing their award letters), which is March/April.</p>
<p>Are you serious that’s as high as they come. Sorry to say but if your EFC is that high expect to get loans for the school and maybe something from the Pell Grant and if your lucky (seeing how you live in an expensive state) you’ll get some NY grant too. Yes this number helps determine if you get work study too. I.e. mine was 750 (now that’s low) yet I still didn’t get it because it’s set by the school but I got a lot of money from the government about 8,000+.</p>
<p>With that EFC the student isn’t going to get anything from the Pell Grant. And no, that EFC isn’t “as high as they come”. The highest EFC possible is $99,999.</p>
<p>Nutz4Bucks, well since my EFC is 30k+, yeah 9480 is low. Basically all my friends have EFC’s higher than 9480. 100K+ income you can easily find EFC of 30k.</p>
<p>So no, when that’s not even 10% of the max it’s not as high as they come.</p>
<p>okay some of you guys are being asses about me saying 9000 is a high efc
what i meant by that is that its too high for me to get help for the government.
no need to be hostile</p>
<p>Marie,
I would reiterate what others have said - a private college may turn out to be less expensive after financial aid is factored in. I would encourage you to expand your search to include some schools that may award merit or meet full need. If your EFC is @ 9k and the school is 50k and meets full need you may still need to pay 9k. The ideal is a school that meets full need with no loans then you could use loans to apply towards the EFC. OR a school that awards merit would be a good idea as well. You could look at Project on Student Debt to see if there are schools that would be a financial fit for you. Good luck and don’t stop asking questions - there are a lot of people here who have good information.</p>