Should I get a job?

Paying for College
1

<p>I've worked in the past but since the start of my Junior year I decided to dedicate myself to my studies. This year I didn't have to file taxes and had no income (or money in any of my accounts). The EFC for my family was around 18,000 and since I didn't make any money (other than some tutoring and video making I didn't really declare) it didn't include a contribution from me (or at least I don't think it did). </p>

<p>Recently I have found myself with a lot of spare time and I was thinking of getting a job. However if I'm planning to attend a University that meets 100% of need and I have scholarships that will take care any of the loans the school might give me wouldn't having a job raise my EFC unnecessarily? I need the income for my personal expenses next year (transportation, clothes, etc.) and some travel I want to do this summer, however I'm not sure how much of this money will be expected to be used to contribute to college. I don't want to end up spending it all and finding out next year that my EFC went up. Is it worthwhile for me to get a job under these circumstances?</p>

<p>Also on a slightly unrelated note, Is any of the money I make viable to be used in order to help my parents with the 18,000 EFC without raising it?</p>

2

<p>Schools will impute Summer Earnings whether you earn it or not. As such, I don't think your earnings are taken into account for EFC purposes (unless you have a really great summer job). Higher savings account (from earnings) will affect EFC.</p>

3

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<p>Most of these very generous schools DO expect a student contribution that can be several thousand dollars.</p>