Hey guys! So I got in UCSD ( still can’t believe it) and I qualified for instate residency which amounts to 34k / yr COA. My EFC is 33k /yr and while my family could possibly make it work, it would be financially stressful for them and i would feel terrible if I made them pay that much. My finaid on the portal was only loans, but I saw that UCSD( and other UCs) offers soemthing called the middle class scholarship. I think we would qualify for that, but I’m not sure. Does anyone have any inights on what EFC range is eligible for this scholarship? Ot has a high chance of recieving it? How much would I qualify for?. UCSD is my top choice now ( and essentially my dream school, followed my UCSC, where I also only recieved loans), and I want to attend really badly but not at the cost of my family suffering. I would love any insights. Thank you :))
And also, is there any way I could appeal for more aid, that’s not loans or take on more student loan? I know my EFC and COA is very close, but I would love to help my family out
Did you run the Net price calculator prior to applying?
An EFC of 33K/year pretty much covers the cost of UCSD so highly unlikely you would be eligible for more aid.
Does your family’s income meet the MCS limit? For students with family income up to $184,000, and household assets of no more than $184,000: MCS will cover between 10 percent and 40 percent of systemwide tuition and fees.
The MCS is on a sliding scale so the higher the income, the lower the award. It also only covers tuition so you might be looking at around $1400 for the year.
What is you and your parents budget? If you cannot afford close to full fees, then UCSD is unaffordable.
Usually the MCS is not awarded until the summer so there is no guarantee that you would get this scholarship. With your EFC, you have no grounds to appeal for more financial aid, but you never know unless you try.
Both my son’s EFC is around $30K/year when they applied for the UC’s and they did not receive the MCS or any additional financial aid.
Yeah. It said that my COA would be around 27k, and I would possibly get 6K in Grants but I dont know if I inputted the wrong data or soemthing because the final offer is obviously different. I do think our income and assets fall in that bracket as of the fafsa we filed this year.
My dad said he’s ok with paying berkely fees ( assuming get in) which is like 39k+ per year, but I know that is going to be financially stressful for us so I rather not pay so much. Even ucsc which comes to 38k per year, they didnt offer anything but loans despite having a 5k difference between efc and COA. If I had to appeal, what exactly could I say for them to offer more non loan options?
Would the finaid department be able to tell me the likeliness of getting MCS if I emailed them now?
The 6K in Grants could possibly come from the MCS but also the difference could be made up with $5500 Federal student loan you are eligible as a Freshman.
Based on the information below, UCSD FA department would not be able to tell your chances for the MCS.
** MCS scholarships are not set amounts and may vary by student and institution. The award amount is determined after you are awarded any federal, state, and institutional need-based grants for which you are eligible. The final award amount will be based on the number of students eligible for the MCS statewide and the funding allocated by the State Budget. Pursuant to Education Code section 70023, MCS award amounts may be reduced at any time during the academic year if is determined that the funds appropriated are insufficient to cover the cost of the projected MCS awards.**
Oh ok thank you. I think my family’s finances should make me eligible for MCS. But another question. I just ran the net price calculator again and the COA comes to 26k which is a huge jump from 34K. And it says my EFC would be 17k which is a jump from 33k. Is there something I’m missing? Why is there such a disparity?
If there is a disparity, then I would double check the numbers from the first time you ran the NPC. NPC is just an estimate so the actual FA package would be the more accurate number.
Your EFC is determined by the FASFA and this should not change since you have already submitted it to UCSD. Unless you made a mistake on the FASFA, you may need to go over the numbers again with your parents.
The EFC calculation is only used to determine your eligibility for Federal aid and neither EFC number you post, makes you eligible for Federal Aid.
You can PM me the FA package from UCSD and I can try to help you decipher the information.
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Ok thank you I will do that!
If there was some mistake in the FAFSA, would UCSD accept the changes and revise my finaid package?
I am a little confused about your status. Did you say that you were an international student?
If that’s the case, then you wouldn’t qualify for the MCS -middle class scholarship since it requires US citizenship or a green card.
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@Anxiouscollegestuden So excited for you again! I know it doesn’t help that much but if your family has health insurance, you could save about $1800-2000/year on student health insurance since you should be able to waive the required insurance. We have Kaiser so I’m really glad that the two UCSD and UCI he is deciding both have Kaiser nearby :). Saves me almost $2k/yr!
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I’m an international applicant but I have US citizenship and my dads in cali so I qualify for in state tuition 
Thabm you!
Oh ok! I will definitely look into that. Even a small amount makes such a difference!,