Hi everyone! So I was just admitted to Smith’s class of 2024! I was super excited until I checked my financial aid offer. They’ve offered me $5,000 in loans and $2,000 in work study, bringing my EFC to a massive $70k. My family can not afford this at all. By a long shot. My FAFSA EFC was $27,000, and I really don’t see how they could have missed this EFC by such a long shot. I totally expected it to be higher than my FAFSA EFC, but not this much. I’m going to appeal of course, and I have a few questions.
Should I reiterate my FAFSA EFC in the process or will that seem rude, as they’ve already seen it?
My oldest sister will be in law school, which I technically didn’t mention because it isn’t a 4 yr undergraduate institution, but my parents will still be paying for a lot of it. Is it worth telling them, or will it be seen as a nonessential cost?
Is it worth telling them that Smith is one of my top schools and it would really be heartbreaking if I couldn’t afford it? Would they take this into account, or take it as that I’ll pay no matter what?
Thank you guys in advance and good luck to you all too!
When you ran the NPC for Smith, what did that result say? If you remember, I would bring up that difference, rather than your FAFSA EFC, which uses different methodology.
Also home equity. If your family owns a house that they bought long ago they probably have a good amount of home equity and that will dramatically change what colleges think you can afford to pay.
Go ahead and ask for a review in case there was a mistake. But if there was not a mistake I doubt they will go from no aid to a lot of aid. Colleges might adjust for a small amount but in your case you are looking for a large sum and I doubt it. Unless of course there has been a mistake.
Your EFC really does not matter at most schools sadly, as mentioned above did you run a NPC for Smith? What can your family afford? It seems they really offered you nothing in merit or FA just a fed loan and work-study. I do not see Smith giving you over 40k in aid on a appeal and that is with your EFC
Did you run the NPC? If so what did that show for an estimate? Did you keep a screenshot of that?
What explains such a difference between the EFC and Smith-calculated contribution based on the CSS Profile? Are your parents divorced? Own a business? Have significant home equity and/or other real estate?
The more you can understand before you approach the Smith FA office the better. Unless there was a mistake, I don’t think they will come up with much more aid.
What can your parents pay? Have you been accepted to any schools that are more affordable?
Thank you for the replies. My NPC estimated my cost to be 36k a year which is very far off from their offer. I will be mentioning it in my appeal, but I’m not sure if I should ask directly why there is such a discrepancy. Do you think sending them the information with which this was calculated would help as well?