<p>"What about the family EFC? Does that matter?"</p>
<p>It does. At Smith (hardly a "weaker" college; where full freight plus expenses is approaching $50k), each year we have paid well less than half what it would cost to send my d. to the University of Washington. But most of that is based on having a relatively low EFC (although we are not poor; well over the Pell Grant level, with income at 67%tile or so of U.S. families.)</p>
<p>You need to be aware that even at so-called "need-blind" (doesn't exist) 100%-of-need schools, even those claiming to use the same methodology, the range of financial aid awards get vary very widely (in our case, lowest to highest was $47k, or a full year of expenses.)</p>