I come from a family with one source of income(60k). However, we live off each check, leaving very little for current assets (3k at max). My efc for fafsa was an estimated $6,000.
As I am applying to schools such as northeastern as a match, and stony brook as a safety, what numbers should I be prepared to receive for my package? Are net calculators and efc as accurate as people say they are?
(For northeastern my net calculator showed that I would have about 10k family contributions.)
The net price calculators may not be accurate if your parents are divorced or own a business. Otherwise, I think they’re pretty good. The information you input has to be accurate though.
What are your stats? Do you qualify for merit at any schools you applied to? If you’re a NYS resident you may qualify for the Excelsior Grant based on income. Where else did you apply?
I have a weighted gpa of 4.0 and 1540 sat. I’ve taken all aps available for the core curriculum (not including art ap classes). My senior course load is advanced chamber orchestra, Syracuse public affairs forum, ap bio, ap calculus ab, suny Spanish 2, and public speaking and speech.
I believe I qualify for merit to most of my possible schools.
I also applied to nyu, rpi, and tufts.
Applied ed2 for northeastern. How would this affect my package if I get accepted?
Would I expect to receive any merit aid? Others in the financial aid sub-category say that some colleges may reject or defer applicants if they need a lot of FA. Is this true?
Are you a NYS resident? With that income you would qualify for free tuition at SUNY/CUNY with the Excelsior scholarship.
No Pell Grant with a $6,000 FAFSA EFC.
You can only borrow $5,500. Fees, room and board at a SUNY is probably around $15 k.
Can you commute to a SUNY or CUNY?
If I were to go to a suny school, it would probably be stony brook. I live upstate New York so commuting wouldn’t be an option.
Right now you really have no financial safeties on your list. NYU does not meet 100% demonstrated need.
You will not be eligible for Pell, but you will get a Few $$ in TAP. The Max Excelsior scholarship is $5500
If your family lives paycheck to paycheck, how will you pay for Stony Brook (a few dollars in TAP, Excelsior and a loan?) What about room and board?
What is your class rank? Are you eligible for a STEM Incentive Scholarship.
@sybbie719 I forgot to mention I have a backup for Hudson Valley cc, where I can commute, so I wouldn’t have to pay much. I am in the top 100 in my class of 859. Unfortunately, this is about the top 11% so I wouldn’t be eligible.
With that SAT, did you apply anywhere that would give you huge merit?
Are you a NMSF?
A school can only be considered to be a safety if you know you’ll be admitted AND you know that you have all costs covered.
Is the cc your only safety??
Are your parents saying that they can’t contribute anything? They live paycheck to paycheck. So how will you cover your net cost?
Sorry for any misunderstanding. What I am trying to say is that at this time, we have around 3k, but we should be able to pay any costs around the given EFC of 6000 later in the year(probably at most 7000). I have used the net calculator and stony brook’s website for certain merit opportunities and I have a strong chance of receiving a good sum of money(calculator came out to be some value between 6000-7000, I forget). In addition, I am eligible for the Excelsior scholarship with may contribute to most of the tuition costs.
As questioned at the beginning of the thread, should I expect a private school such as NU to come up with a similar package to what I received with their net price calculator, or should I expect close to double the net price calculated?
Please remember that Excelsior is a last payer score that can only be used for tuition. It will pay the balance after all other sources (federal aid, state aid and scholarships are applied).
Should you get merit money from Stony Brook, it will be applied to qualified educational expenses (tuition) first. For example, the cost of tuition is approximately $6700. If you get a $3000 scholarship, you will get $3700 in Excelsior (minus any monies you receive from TAP) to cover the balance of your tuition.
If you get a 6k -7k scholarship from Stony Brook, you will not be eligible for Excelsior because your tuition is covered.
Room and board is still $13k or more. What your parents can pay and your loan will barely cover it. You also need books.
If the costs for one semester are not paid, you cannot register for next semester.
For Excelsior you have to pass 15 or more credits per semester which should be your goal anyway to graduate in 4 years.
What other schools are nearby?
Did you apply to UA Huntsville honors college? You might get free tuition and housing there.
If you’re near Hudson Valley CC you’re also near RPI, SUNY Albany, Skidmore, Russell Sage, and probably others. Did you run the NPC on any of them? Is SUNY Albany within commuting distance? You could cover most of the commuting costs with the Excelsior and the federal student loan.
@mommdc I did apply to SUNY Albany honors college and it is about a 40 minute commute distance(I also share a vehicle with my parents so commuting would be complicated). However, I don’t really plan on going if I don’t get a significant amount of money.
@austinmshauri I applied to RPI; I ran a NPC on RPI but it came out with almost 30k-40k, which wouldn’t be a viable option for me, unless I inputted something invalid(I doubt I made a mistake filling in information).
I was talking about U Alabama Huntsville. Your stats might get you free tuition and housing there. Then you would have meals, flights, and books left to pay.
@mommdc are applications still allowed for u alabama huntsville? If they are I might take a chance.
Run the NPC on Skidmore, too - deadline is Jan15.