<p>NorCalDad, I'm not going to argue with you. You got lucky. If you had been unable to negotiate successfully with Emory on financial aid, then either you would be paying more money than you planned, or you would have been looking for ways to get out of the ED commitment. All the "research" in the world into financial aid practices means nothing unless you have the exact formulaes and policy manual that the college is using, especially for anyone who claims to have a "special circumstance" requireing re-evaluation of the award.</p>
<p>I happen to have seen a lot more financial aid awards, and the results of submitting the exact same financial data to multiple schools. I've seen the ways the colleges fudge the data, in ways that can help or harm the candidate. I know that any college that claims to meet "100% need" but also uses "Institutional Methodology" is simply playing a game with words -- including the college that my daughter now attends. I'm happy with my daughter's financial aid, but that doesn't change the fact that the EFC to attend Prestigous East Coast U. is $12,000 more than EFC to attend Ordinary State U, or why the EFC would be would have been almost double that to attend the coveted 568 Group U. Is that 568 Group school providing 100% need? They say they do... but where is a needy family supposed to come up with an extra $20,000 a year above and beyond the FAFSA EFC?</p>
<p>The FAFSA itself may not reflect true need, but at least it is a consistent standard determined primarily by an independent, third party. (There's wiggle room in that, too -- and colleges go right ahead and fudge with the FAFSA data too once a kid is admitted, but at least you can see what the've done).</p>