<p>Looking for someone to explain 'need met' and financial aid packages to a newbie!</p>
<p>My daughter is a Junior this year and has one private college on her list (Randolph-Macon College in Virginia).</p>
<p>The only way we can afford to send her there if we receive really generous financial aid!</p>
<p>According to collegeboard, Randolph-Macon's tuition is $26,830 and their room & board is $8,180. That's a total of $35,010. Also according to collegeboard, they meet 87% of her need. We have a fairly low income -- $60,000 for a family of 6, no second homes, supplemental sources of income, and no savings to speak of (my hubby is self-employed). Would our need be 100%?</p>
<p>If so, then 87% of $35,010 is $30,459, leaving us with a bill of $4551 to pay ourselves each year.</p>
<p>Did I figure this out correctly?</p>
<p>If it helps her case any, academically, she's been homeschooled since Kindergarten and started attending the local community college this year (and will continue next year for her senior year). She's taking the SAT in March and expects to score around a 1750+ (if the practice tests in the book are correct!) -- According to colleboard, Randolph-Macon's average SAT score is a 1620.</p>
<p>In my (admittedly limited) experience going through this with my D last year, it seems that there is no real correlation between your actual numbers and the awards that you may receive. You need to submit two forms, if you are applying to private schools-- College Board's CSS profile (find it on their site) and the Federal Gov't's FAFSA (available online after Jan. 1, but you can study the site, I believe it's FAFSA.org, now). They will compute your figures and feed back to you and to the schools to which your child applies. However, the resulting packages will seem to be quite disparate. At least for us, I was really amazed at the wide variations in the financial aid packages that my daughter was offered. I know that it also depends on each school's policies and bank accounts, etc. etc. Be prepared to do some head-scratching and maybe even some hair-ripping during the process. It's a pain in the ****. Good luck!</p>
<p>I kind of agree with franglish. I wish that one would know if one applies to college "x", what "x" will cost given a family's income and assets. It does not work that way IMO. I made sure that my son applied to both private and public Us. I told him not to fall in love with any single school, but not to apply to any where he could not make it work. He did that, and in the spring he had 10 acceptances, but only 5 (so exactly half) were financially even remotely posssible. As an example, my son applied to one school that met 91% of financial need, and another school that met 85% of need. The school which met 91% of need was thousands more than the one that met 85% of need. The school that met 85% of need did NOT award merit aid, so this was not the reason for the discrepancy. In fact, it was the school which meets 91% of need that awarded my son merit aid, but nothing more. It was just too expensive.</p>
<p>Actually, Randolph-Macon is a FAFSA-only school; the Profile isn't necessary. However, the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) that FAFSA derives is still not carved in stone for anything other than eligibility for Federal loans. RMC can still decide that your "need" is less than your EFC shows. Need=Cost of Attendance - EFC as they calculate it. They do not have to abide by the FAFSA EFC for their own loans or grants. But using one of the FAFSA calculators (<a href="http://www.finaid.org%5B/url%5D">www.finaid.org</a> is a good one) can give you a general ballpark of what your EFC is.</p>
<p>Now, on to the 87% figure from College Board: Please understand that that is an average figure. The average student receives aid equalling 87% of need. Some kids may get 100% of need, some may get only 10% of need. There's no way to determine what a particular student will get if a school doesn't promise to meet 100% of need, which this school doesn't.</p>
<p>Finally, please remember that "need" can be "met" by a combination of grants, loans and work-study. If your need is $15,000, for example, and the school awards you $15,000 in loans, they have met 100% of your need. That still might make the college unaffordable.</p>
<p>In short, the best you can do is submit the forms and hope for the best, realizing that this particular school may end up being out of financial reach.</p>
<p>(Oh, and the FAFSA webite is <a href="http://www.fafsa.ed.gov%5B/url%5D">www.fafsa.ed.gov</a>. There is no fee for filling out the FAFSA (the first F stands for "Free"). If you find yourself on a site that asks you to pay, you're in the wrong place.)</p>
<p>Chedva explained it very well. I just wanted to add that some schools require additional financial aid forms of their own. To check this, you should go to each school's website, or check with their financial aid office.</p>
<p>If you go to the FAFSA4caster (fafsa4caster.org) you can get an early estimate of your Expected Family Contribution and also an analysis of the federal grants and other aid you would be eligible for. For some reason, the 4caster is still asking people to estimate their 2006 income and taxes, so you need to mentally replace their 2006 references with the current year.</p>