<p>Hi! I am a high school senior… it’s march and yeh…. After receiving acceptance and decline letters, I know that the only path is going to community colleges. I got rejected by most of my schools, even safeties. Well, the reason I got rejected by safeties is because of applying as a major. I am sure that if I applied as liberal arts major, I would have been accepted.</p>
<p>I did get accepted to three private colleges, but I cannot go to private college due to my parents. It cost too much money. Even though my EFC is 0, paying college is way too expensive. I can only take loans to pay my college fee. I'm sure i won't receive scholarships.</p>
<p>I am still waiting for a few colleges to reply back, I am pretty sure I’ll be rejected by them. But that doesn’t mean that I have low self confidence. I do have my hopes up for one college to accept me. These few colleges I can go to because they are public schools and they cost less. But if they reject me, my only path is community college. </p>
<p>Anybody can respond to this post and give me some advice.</p>
<p>even with a EFC of 0, that does not cover my entire full tuition. plus, i’m pretty sure that room and board, books, personal expenses, etc i have to pay for it on my own.</p>
<p>Well, i just read that a 0 EFC only qualify students for PELL grants. PELL grants gives 4,700 ever year. which is about 18,800 a year. Private college cost about 140,000 (everything in total for four years).</p>
<p>um… can somebody explain more about EFC / FAFSA to me?</p>
<p>i don’t want to say what schools i got reject/accepted to… sry haikumarukuchan!</p>
<p>If you sent the FAFSA to schools, with an EFC of 0, you’d essentially have a full ride. I got a FinAid report, and they factor everything (tuition room board etc) into EFC. since your EFC is 0, you are literally expected to pay ZERO.</p>
<p>haikumarukuchan, i will talk about Financial Aid to colleges, but i’m sure that i will also have to do loans… and i’m sure that loans will not be anything small, i’l sure it’s going to be a lot.</p>
<p>yea… I would also say that most colleges I know of give full rides (as in tuition+room/board+everything) to kids with EFC’s of 0, and to some that have higher EFC’s as well</p>
<p>lots of times when colleges say “tuition” they mean all costs combined</p>
Then you know of very few colleges. Only a handful promise to meet 100% of a student’s need. Of those, even fewer promise that there will be no loans involved. These are generally the top tier schools.</p>
<p>However, OP, you should still wait and see what the schools might give you. You could be surprised.</p>
<p>For people that have an EFC of 0, I’m almost 100% sure that MOST schools DO NOT give full rides – that is, unless you’re an outstanding student that they really want. Full rides are not that easy to get…many schools don’t have any policy that they will meet your full need (except, for example, ivys, stanford, and other top schools). When colleges say “tuition” they usually do mean just that…just tuition, not all costs combined. They either say tuition, room & board, books, etc or something like “estimated total cost.”</p>
<p>@OP: Keep up the hope. The tag price of the private colleges that you were accepted to may seem to be an insurmountable amount of money, but from what I know, private colleges are usually much more generous in giving out scholarships and grants. And so you might receive a few scholarships which may reduce the price to an affordable amount (may even end up cheaper than your public colleges). Regardless, I’m almost positive that your financial aid package will include some loans since only a small handful of colleges actually have a no-loan policy. But in the end, you just might be able to go. So don’t lose hope. Good luck!</p>
<p>Not all colleges meet full need without the use of loans.</p>
<p>Not all colleges meet full need even with the use of loans. (Some types of loans have limits.)</p>
<p>EFC = 0 means $5350 for Pell Grant.</p>
<p>Generally a person should not feel ashamed to go to a community college in order to save money if the colleges you got accepted to forces you to take out heavy loans to meet financial need.</p>
<p>I agree with haikumarukuchan. </p>
<p>Actually, I think it would help if you told us what colleges accepted you so we can give you more targeted information.</p>
<p>You should also talk to your school financial aid office.</p>
<p>Chedva, i really wish that i would be surprised. because i don’t want to go to a community college. as you guys may say, community college is good because classes are easier and i can then get a good GPA and transfer. but how can i get a good GPA when i am going to go to a community college that i hate?</p>
<p>please god! please don’t make me go to community college. at least hopefully get one of public suny’s that i apply to accept me.</p>
<p>Stevenson university, college of mount saint Vincent, and Gustavus Adolphus College.
i feel like there’s no point of telling you guys what colleges i got accepted to, because probably you guys never heard of it… maybe Gustavus…</p>
<p>if u dont want to go to community college take out a loan? at least ur getting 5grand at least year thats not i know u getting more then that. how about pple with high efc’s but issues like mortage and everything gives them nothing? i dont know wat ur crying about… ur never alone just understand that… by the time im out ill be 60-80k in debt</p>
<p>When it comes to debt, having a whole lot of people in the same boat as you is not necessarily a good thing. Those participating in sub-prime mortgage schemes were also not alone, and look at what’s happening now. </p>
<p>If the OP knows she won’t be able to repay $140,000, and live comfortably in the process, then community college might be a legitimate first-year option. You could also work for a year, and save money, or volunteer?</p>
<p>Your EFC from FAFSA just guarantees you PELL money and subsidized Stafford loans if the numbers meet the threshholds necessary for qualifying for those programs. Anything else is going to depend on the college and your state. Many states have additional monies that go to kids with a low FAFSA EFC and there are some other federal programs that some but not all colleges have that also give out additional funds based on the EFC. Examples are the Perkins and HEOGH. Schools that use FAFSA only for financial aid do not tend to be generous, and I don’t know any that guarantee to meet 100% of need. </p>
<p>So your EFC of zero guarantees you about $4700 in Pell Grant and $5500 in Stafford loans with some of it subsidized. In our area, that does pay the tuition for some schools, though it would be tough to pay room, board, etc, so if that is your only source of college money, commuting is probably the way to go. However, there are some private and public options that are 4 year colleges, not just community colleges. Look at what is available in your area. Also look at the Momfromtexas, full ride scholarhip thread and see if you have some possibilities there.</p>
<p>Most private colleges that tend to meet most of a student’s need require more than just the FAFSA, and the institutional EFC that generate from the PROFILE or other app may not be the same as the FAFSA EFC, and can differ from school to school. THat is the need number such schools will meet if need is guaranteed. How that need is met is often not guaranteed by most schools, either and can be in forms of self help like loans and workstudy. </p>
<p>It depends greatly on where you applied, as to what your possibilities are. Where do you live, and did you apply to state schools? There are some states where the cost is low enough that a FAFSA EFC of zero can cover the COA.</p>