<p>Lets say you have an EFC of 25000 and Cornell costs 43000. Is your financial aid package mostly grants (ie 43000-25000) or is it mostly loans. I would still have to take out loans even if I got all grants. If it was all loans then by the time I graduate I would be $100,000 in debt. That is ridiculous. No school is worth that. Whatever, so even if I work my ass off to get in, I still cant go because my family is middle class. I guess Cornell is filled with extremely poor people and extremely rich people.</p>
<p>Well, mine was somewhere in the neighborhood of that EFC, and I had slightly more grants than loans, plus some work-study, which really falls under neither category. I was surprised, though, really surprised. I thought it was going to be just a federal Perkins loan, and that would be it.</p>
<p>The loans are all interest-free, I believe, until a certain period after you graduate. I doubt you'll be 100,000 in debt. Did you get your FA letter yet?</p>
<p>the average debt for a cornell student is $22000 very managable. i know ur situation im middle class and get crap for aid</p>
<p>I still haven't recieved my FA package yet =.</p>
<p>i got a fantastic finaid package
our fafsa EFC was 38 grand, cornell calculated it to be 25
they gave me 16 grand in grants and offered me 4 in unsubsidized loans</p>
<p>NYU and bowdoin both wanted me to take 40 grand in unsub loans, and SCU wanted me to take 30</p>
<p>i can't believe cornell, where i'm not as competative as i would be at those other schools was so much better about financial aid</p>
<p>however, i have heard that cornell can be more rough on finaid soph year and on, since they count on students not being able to simply choose a different school; is this true?</p>
<p>No, unless ur sistuation changes you can count on the package being nearly the same from year to year.</p>
<p>You can always talk to the fin aid counselors directly and explain something in more detail. I did and managed to move some stuff around (not more grant money, but stuff that was better for me and my family), so it's worth a shot. Can't hurt.</p>