<p>It's not so stringent as that. IF your family EFC comes to zero on the PROFILE or other financial process that a school has, or if the school uses FAFSA only (rare for 100% need met schools), she will get full need met if the school guarantees this if she is accepted, even at the lowest bracket of acceptance. What may happen is that she will not get as rich of a package in terms of loans vs grants. It depends on the school too. Some schools are truly generous to those who are needy. They do tend to be the most selective schools. But if she is a top student in the pool, many schools will load her up with more loans, and some may even give funds beyond the EFC as merit money even if they profess they do not give merit only scholarships. The problem is that until you go through the process, you don't know where you fall in all of this. I know two famiies who have kids who applied and were accepted to Colgate. Very close EFCs on their PROFILE, and only because they both have 2 kids in college. But one got a much better package than the other, with a sweetner. We think we know why, but just a guess. Colgate wanted one of the kids more. </p>
<p>Hopefully, you have a nice spread of schools, so your D will have a variety of choices. Until you go through all of this, you just don't know. Also, you have the issue of the other parent which can be a big one for PROFILE schools. </p>
<p>Take a look at USN&WR--you can look up your D's schools and in the financial aid section, it'll give you a breakdown of how it tends to give out its money. That'll give you some idea of how the school operates, and when your D gets her offer, you'll see where she falls.</p>