<p>I have no idea how it is this high. My parents make $120,000 together (which is comfortable but not lavish).</p>
<p>They are very conservative with their money but they've been mentioning colleges that are $60,000 a year. Although many of these colleges meet 100% of need, my EFC is more than tuition.</p>
<p>Before I completely rule out these universities (I'm particularly interested in Notre Dame), do I have any options?</p>
<p>NOTE: I am a good student, but I won't be in the 1-2% that get scholarships from these universities.</p>
<p>If your parents had assets less than their asset protection allowance, then an income of $120,000 would generate an EFC of around $25,000. Every dollar in assets over the protection allowance adds to your EFC. Does your family have very high assets? This would explain your high EFC. If they prefer not to spend $250K on college for you, it’s best that you know that now while (I assume) you’re just starting to look into options. You’ve got a great state flagship - have you looked into its programs?</p>
No, every dollar in parents assets over the protection allowance adds 5.64 cents to your EFC. Every dollar in student assets adds 20 cents to your EFC.</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying, 4kidsdad. I didn’t intend to imply that assets over the protected amount are added directly to the EFC; instead there’s a marginal increase in EFC of 5.64 to 20%, depending on who owns the assets.</p>
<p>If the OP’s family has a million dollars in assets, this would add $56,400 to her EFC.</p>
<p>I hope your parents have identified how much they * can spend* from savings, loans & current income. Maximum Staffords are a reasonable amount of debt for students and you may be able to earn enough summers to pay personal expenses. Even if your EFC was lower, schools would be expecting students to contribute $2,000+.</p>
<p>Many threads on schools that offer merit for students who could gain admittance to schools that meet 100% need, they just have an EFC that disqualifies them from need based aid.</p>
<p>What s it that attracts you to Notre Dame? Perhaps we can suggest some alternatives.</p>
<p>You can double check the EFC and see what is inflating that number since the income you state does not generate that high of a number. There might be a mistake. Did you include the value of your home which does not belong there? Does your family own a second home or property?</p>
<p>Also take a try at the NPC at Notre Dame and see what you get. Most PROFILE schools do use primary home equity values, do keep in mind, a major difference between that the FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>Though Notre Dame is highly unlikely to give you any aid, merit or need based, schools like Fordham, Marquette, De Pauw certainly might.</p>
<p>If your family gross income is $120,000 and that is IT for income, your EFC would not be $75,000. Where did you GET that number?</p>
<p>Notre Dame, and all other colleges, have a Net Price Calculator on their website. Run your figures through THAT and see what you get. Many of those $60,000 a year schools require the CSS Profile for institutional aid. The FAFSA EFC isn’t the main thing they use.</p>
<p>Be very careful to enter the numbers accurately. The results on the calculator are on,ynas good as what you put in.</p>
<p>Things that could raise your EFC per FAFSA…rental property or any other real estate BESIDES your primary residence, large savings in non- retirement accounts (the balances IN your parents retirement accounts like TSA and IRA are NOT included…but any pretax contributions for the tax year are added back into the income part by the formula), investment income.</p>
<p>Mistakes that are common…entering parent income into both the student and parent sections, including IRA and TSA account balances as assets.</p>
<p>By chance…did your parents both make huge contributions to their retirement accounts??</p>
<p>I’m wondering if the $120,000 is after taxes. It is a surprise to many that the 1/4 to 1/3 of income that is expected to be available for educational expenses is actually based on income before taxes & deductions.
They may also have a small business or assets like a 2nd home or rental income that can skew it more than usual.
Is the EFC from the NPC?</p>
<p>In post 2, the OP states parents have savings they don’t want or can’t afford to use. That is probably where a significant part of the EFC is coming from.</p>
<p>Yankeebelle…they would need to have savings in the one million dollar range (and I’m talking NOT retirement accounts) to add $50,000 on to their EFC per FAFSA.</p>
<p>It is possible that the parents have very large assets. They may have received an inheritance, they may own other properties, they may be very good savers/investors.</p>
<p>And, it’s also possible that the student is talking about “take home pay.”</p>
<p>They are very conservative with their money but they’ve been mentioning colleges that are $60,000 a year. Although many of these colleges meet 100% of need, my EFC is more than tuition.</p>
<p>Sit down with your parents and have them run the Net Price Calculators on the various websites.</p>
<p>Also, have your parents determine how much they WILL pay each year.</p>
<p>If the amount that your parents will pay is less that what colleges will expect them to pay, then those schools that your family has been mentioning will not work. You’ll have to come up with another list of schools that will give you merit scholarships to bring the total costs down to what your parents will pay.</p>
<p>(also…the student may have run the EFC calculator and may have put the parents’ income in the student area).</p>
<p>I asked my mom and she said it was correct. I looked at the numbers from my dad’s database (he keeps all savings/income in a very organized matter and I checked all the numbers: it was accurate).</p>
<p>I do live in Wisconsin, and I have UW-Madison in-state tuition. I realize that I would be very lucky indeed to go to this school.</p>
<p>However, Notre Dame attracts me more.
It attracts me because it is competitive but not cutthroat, in a smaller town that would feel more like home, fun but still religious, has a great Political Science department and a good Econ one (and a great alumni network). It is also football crazy (which is awesome).</p>
<p>Madison, despite being great, does not have this “family” feel to me.
When I visit, I just can’t see myself there. I know this is a stereotype but I don’t want to have to clean puke out of my room because I get a party-girl roommate or see a scarf on my door and sleep in the library.</p>
<p>I know I sound very selfish…and am…but I was just wondering if a chance existed for me to knock down the cost.</p>
<p>Thank you: I’ll talk to my parents more about finances and use the Notre Dame calculator…</p>
<p>Notre Dame gives NO merit awards and only offers need based aid. I know someone who attended while having two sibs–one in college and one in law school. All she was offered was work study. Run their calculator to get some idea.</p>
<p>You’re not likely going to get any aid from schools like ND. </p>
<p>Use the ND Net Price Calculator and then have a conversation with your parents. It will be in their hands then. IF they say, “we’ll pay the $60k per year”, then fine, apply.</p>
<p>However, if they say “no,” then ask them how much they’ll pay and find schools that will work. </p>
<p>You can also look for schools that will give you merit based scholarships for your stats. IF the awards are large enough, they’ll bring the costs down to whatever your parents will pay.</p>
<p>Ask your parents how much they’ll pay.</p>
<p>What is your ACT score? </p>
<p>What is your M+CR score? </p>
<p>What is your major and career goal?</p>
<p>I know I sound very selfish…and am…but I was just wondering if a chance existed for me to knock down the cost.</p>
<p>Not likely unless your parents are going to pay for 90% of the ALL COSTS. IF they’ll pay for 90%, then you’d be able to knock down about $5k per year.</p>
<p>4.00 UW GPA
4.40 W GPA
SAT: M+CR= 1470 (First time, very low: I was sick when I took it and the time kept getting cut short)
ACT: Projected: 32+</p>
<p>I’m really interested in an Econ/Poli Sci double major. My parents want me to minor in Spanish.</p>
<p>It will probably depend on how many AP credits I’ll be able to use but ND does not give exact amounts.</p>
<p>The amount of AP credit that a student can receive depends on the program and major selected. You should consult with your First Year Advisor to determine your applicable AP credit.</p>
<p>Based on your family’s income, they either have quite a bit in assets somewhere, or a family business. But if the consensus is that all the info is correct, then it’s pretty clear that you don’t qualify for financial aid. Merit money, maybe, but highly unlikely at ND. You have to be at the top of top students to get merit money. Look at the common data for the % of students getting merit aid at a school, and that will give you an idea as to how many kids get scholarships, not fin aid but scholarships. Then you have to look at what the amount of those scholarships are. Doesn’t help much if the amounts are small. My one son got a whole lot of merit awards, under $5K a year which was a drop in the bucket off the cost of those schools. It’s a waste of time to apply to schools that offer no merit money or only small amounts when you are looking for a big award. Those highly selective schools that do give merit money tend to give out only a few and you have to really be a student they want to get them. The odds are not good, though if you have such a school in mind, and want to take a shot, do so. </p>
<p>You have a great state school that is affordable, so you can afford to “buy some lottery tickets” and see what pans out. Maybe you’ll get a hit. Good luck.</p>