<p>FA looks at your income before tax, right?</p>
<p>and if you get some merit scholarships that amount is subtracted from ur FA??</p>
<p>i wonder if i will get any FA but probably not</p>
<p>FAFSA looks at your income before taxes, but asks for how much you paid in Federal taxes. I believe there’s also a formula used to determine how much you should have paid in state taxes. Many schools also request your Federal tax returns, so all the information is available.</p>
<p>Financial non-merit aid is based on how much you “need” (by the school’s definition) to attend the school. If you get money from another source, be it merit or otherwise, you “need” less and so will get less aid. Merit aid is most useful to students who otherwise would not have gotten need-based aid.</p>
<p>will i get any FA? my before tax income is like 20k-25k</p>
<p>probably not right</p>
<p>You didn’t give us enough info. Is that your income or your parents. Are you filing the FASFA as a dependent or independent (over age 24, married, have dependents of your own etc)</p>
<p>my parents; i dont make money. and no, i’m 16 so dependent</p>
<p>If your parents have an EFC of 20-24K you should have a low EFC(estimated family contribution), probably zero depending on what assets you parents have, and with an income in that range, I am going to guess that assets would be minimal. </p>
<p>The EFC is what the government calculates that you parents are able to pay. With an EFC of zero, you would be eligible for the Pell grant which is over 4000K, and possibly a SEOG (supplementary educational opportunity grant) which is disbursed by the school, and is given on a first come first serve basis - when the money is gone it’s gone. This amount also varies depending on how much the school decides to give, and I forgot what the maximum is. . You would also be eligible for a subsidized stafford loan (interest not calculated until you are no longer a student). Right now the maximum for that is $3500. Depending on what state you are from, you would probably be eligible for a state grant if you go to school in your state. </p>
<p>Some schools only look at the FASFA while others use the CSS Profile which asks for additional info (value of home is usually the big one that changes eligibility for aid at these schools) </p>
<p>These are just the basics, and you can look at a bunch of threads on financial aid to fill in the gaps. </p>
<p>Your major job this year in selecting and aplying to schools that do a good job of meeting need. State schools (with the exception of a few - UVA to think of one) typically have poor financial aid. If you apply as an OOS student to many of these schoolsyou can expect to pay a LOT. Check out these boards and find private schools that you are interested and see how need was met. USNews also posts average percentage of need met as does another site (someone help me here). USnews needs a subscription, but if you post the schools you are interested in I will look it up. </p>
<p>But, first go to the calculator and figure out your EFC - use both the federal and institutional methodology to see if there is a difference: Then post any questions and there are lots of people here who love to answer questions</p>
<p>[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator - Finaid)</p>
<p>asdfjkl; OOOOPS im so sorry i forgot a 0 :p</p>