Swallows to Capistrano ( Financial Aid Myths and Realities )

Parent Cafe
381

<p>As much as you can try to be prepared, it is sometimes hard to figure out how much merit your kid will receive unless it is guaranteed merit. Even if you apply to schools where you are in the top 25% you sometimes don’t know how much if any you will receive. My S received the full tuition from the school that was guaranteed, an oos public, he received merit offers from others-privates, some generous, but none making the cost affordable. $20K per year is great, but not when tuition is $50K. He received 0 merit from some privates which surprised us since he was in top 25% and they have a history of awarding good merit.
He also received a full tuition scholarship from another oos public, not guaranteed, in late April, not sure about the timing there.</p>

<p>But I agree- financial & admission safety is the most important piece of the puzzle and I would suggest you find a #2, just in case. I had no idea by the time all the applications were in that I would have lost my job. I would have been devastated if S didn’t have a financial safety that he was happy to attend.</p>

382

<p>

</p>

<p>I usually figure that to be competitive for a substantial merit scholarship (maybe half tuition and definitely for full tuition to full ride), one should to be in the top 5% of applicants. And even then, I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t come through as it’s very difficult to know all of the factors that are involved in scholarship decisions.</p>

383

<p>Wow-- this thread is a blast from the past! Things change, but they stay the same—</p>

384

<p>College don’t offer financial aid. That’s right. They made up this phrase to refer to “tuition discounts”. They set the so-called “list price”, and then figure out how much/little they can offer your family and still get sonnyboy to attend (and have you foot the bill). A really good scam (the Ivies in particular like this, but others do as well), is to raise the list price $5,000 and then offer a $5,000 “scholarship” or “financial aid”. It looks like they have done you favor, and it hasn’t cost them a dime (but it goes into the statistics as reflective of their so-called “generosity”.)</p>

<p>Don’t get scammed. Look at the actual first year costs, add 5-6% a year for each of four years, and then add together, and you know pretty well what you will be paying.</p>

385

<p>And it happens again this year. Always.</p>

<p>Bumping this for all the new people frustrated with financial aid.</p>

<p>Happens every year.</p>

<p>Kat</p>

<p>Can somebody link this over to the Financial Aid Forum?</p>

<p>My copy/paste/link function isn’t working on my old computer. I am sure there are folks over there that could really use this info bout this time of year.</p>

386

<p>So glad you bumped this up kawkittens, what a timely reminder this time of year.</p>

<p>Always remember curmudgeon’s EFC, every f-ing cent! I miss that guy and his wise advice.</p>

387

<p>I would love to know how some of these old posters faired… And it’s funny to read the initial posts about the “no loan” schools in 2008 who now, surprise, add in loans. </p>

<p>I actually felt bad for a friend of mine when everyone was bragging his daughter got a “full ride” at princeton. Yes, the girl is very smart. But her Dad used to be a huge real estate developer and sold his summer cottage under the guise that they were thinking of spending their summers in France. So when I hear full ride at Princeton, I know he’s fallen on incredibly rough times. Not that I am telling people that, but they had to hear that version from somewhere.</p>

388

<p>Deb-</p>

<p>he is still around on the pre-med forum. His daughter is a medical student at…wait for it…YALE!</p>

<p>He has tons of info about med school admissions and financial aid (or lack thereof) for medical schools.</p>

<p>And yes financial aid for med school is scarier than undergrad. My middle son is also a med school student!</p>

<p>Kat</p>

389

<p>so timely.
Just submitted the FAFSA and Profile (IDOCs) for a rising soph.
:rolleyes:</p>

390

<p>This is a 4 yr old thread. Flashback!!</p>

391

<p>I remember this thread! Fun!</p>

<p>I posted here when my college junior was looking for schools.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>^I am one of the lucky parents. My kids fared very well. Their really great scholarships actually increased over time to absolutely amazing scholarships – and opportunities. It does happen. But in both my current college kids’ cases, they chose one of their schools that offered them the most money – and they began their search with a strategy that was fairly ‘scholarship-centered’ from the start.</p>

392

<p>Hoping for some wisdom here on what to look forward to in the future. Our Fafsa EFC is about 28k. D received merit money and need based aid (small loans also) at a private LAC which brings our COA to 25k. In two years when our S goes to college, what can we expect? If he goes to state school, I would guess there would be no adjustment for his tuition. Would the LAC make an adjustment? How does this work? Thanks!</p>

393

<p>Curm is also a moderator on the College Admissions forum. He likes to lock all the chances threads there and tell the posters to move to the chances forum. :)</p>

394

<p>@moonrise,</p>

<p>^^Typically, if everything else income/money-related stays the same, when your son goes to school, your D’s current EFC will be split in half while both kids are in college. When your son does his first FAFSA, your D’s EFC will likely be about 14K, and your son’s EFC will likely be about 14K.</p>

<p>Taking your last question first – Your D’s LAC will see her new EFC as $14K instead of $28K when your D enters your S’s impending college attendance on her FAFSA application… and yes, the LAC will likely adjust your D’s FA package accordingly. It may be adjusted solely with loans – or it may be adjusted with additional scholarships or grants. But yes, she should see some adjustment.</p>

<p>Now onto the general picture regarding your son:</p>

<p>We’re talking about the FAFSA whenever we’re talking about the term ‘EFC.’ So it doesn’t matter which school your son or daughter attends – state school, private school, or whatever. Your child’s FAFSA EFC is independent of your child’s school of choice. The EFC is just a number that is computed by a formula based on the entries on the FAFSA. Same entries on the form = same EFC. The fact that your D is also going to college, and how much she pays, will be entered on your son’s FAFSA – and that end-number (the EFC) will adjust accordingly. But that end-number will be the same end-number no matter where your son decides to go to school, and if all else stays roughly the same, it will be around $14K.</p>

<p>A student lists his/her school(s) on the FAFSA, but that’s just so the schools s/he’s attending/applying to can access the electronically transmitted EFC in order to make their FA calculations. Taking a student’s EFC into account, each school will calculate that student’s FA package using their own formulas and adjustments to determine what they think your child’s contribution should be. </p>

<p>Private schools often have formulas that may modify the FAFSA EFC – sometimes to your student’s advantage, and sometimes to your student’s disadvantage – it just depends on how the school weighs certain elements on the additional forms. Privates will often require the CSS Profile, and possibly even their own FA forms, from which they’ll draw information and, taking your child’s FAFSA EFC into account, they’ll come up with an Expected Contribution that may be higher or lower than the FAFSA EFC, but often in the same general ballpark.</p>

<p>If your son goes to a state school, and the state school uses the EFC straight-out, and that school awards need-based aid based on the EFC, and your financial situation stays the same between now and then, then his Expected Contribution at the state school will likely be around $14K. If the state school costs $21K (and if all the other statements at the start of this paragraph apply), then he will likely get some sort of aid in the amount of the difference, or $7K in this example (which may come in the form of loans, or some conglomerate of loans and scholarships/grants, or all scholarships/grants).</p>

<p>If your son goes to a private school, same thing – except for the fact that many privates use other sources in addition to the FAFSA (like the CSS Profile or their own FA forms) to come up with a number that’s often in the general vicinity of the EFC, give or take some indeterminate amount. If the private school determines that your son’s Expected Contribution is more like $12K (instead of $14K, let’s say), but the cost of that private is $38K, then your son’s FA package may well be in the vicinity of $26K. That sounds pretty good, right? $26K in ‘awards’ compared to the state school’s ‘mere’ $7K?? But again, that $26K might contain loans, or scholarships, or a mixture of the two. So, the private school may (and probably will) still cost considerably more, even though the EFC or private school’s computed Expected Contribution remains the same or less!</p>

<p>If your son is a contender for huge scholarships, then all bets are off! No school – state or private has to abide by the EFC. If they want really want your kid to attend, they can offer the whole price of admission, and then some, in Financial Aid, even if the kid’s EFC says he can afford $36K a year to attend. And they can call that aid ‘need-based grants’ if they desire.</p>

<p>If your son is not a likely contender for huge scholarships, and if your financial situation remains roughly the same between now and then, then you can expect your overall EFC, for both kids’ schools combined, to remain roughly the same at $28K. However, since schools can give need-based aid in the form of loans, your total costs may or may not be higher than $28K – because the amount that one calls ‘Cost of Attendance (COA)’ should naturally include not only what you are expected to pay (your EFC or a private school’s computed Expected Contribution), but also any loans that are ‘awarded’ in your kids’ need-based FA packages!</p>

<p>And finally, as someone pointed out a few years ago, the EFC can be virtually meaningless, as schools are not required to award your student the difference between published Cost of Attendance and your student’s EFC.</p>

<p>I hope this helps! It can be really confusing when you first try to soak it all in!</p>

<p>Best of luck to you! :)</p>

395

<p>I’m from 2009/2010, not <2008, but I guess I’m an old-timer by now. :wink: And I’ll give my usual spiel about applying to schools that meet full need, especially those that have no-loans or capped-loans policies, IF AND ONLY IF you have an affordable EFC and equivalent PROFILE family contribution.</p>

<p>It’s always nerve-wracking to fill out FA forms every year, but for the past two years (1 first-year award + 1 returning-student award) my extremely generous top LAC has calculated an expected family contribution a few thousand dollars BELOW our FAFSA EFC. We have a straightforward financial situation–mortgage on primary home, non-self-employed, assets almost entirely in retirement savings–plus some special circumstances that my college accounts for beyond FAFSA/PROFILE. But we started with an FAFSA EFC in the 18-20k range, affordable for a middle-class family that worked its way up from nothing (meaning, we have never been remotely upper-middle-class), and in the end it was the right decision to aim at need-based aid rather than the very large merit scholarships I would have needed to bring a 55k/year school down to 20k.</p>

<p>My parents have paid for the first two years without any loans, on their or my part, which is a HUGE burden lifted. If your plan for paying for college involves more than 30k of debt at graduation, and it’s not your absolute cheapest option, please reconsider. I was lucky enough to get the best of both worlds with “typical” family finances and the stats to get into a full-need no-loans school that I love, but my extensive post history will show that I spent a LOT of time considering backups.</p>

396

<p>Thank you so much for the detailed answer SimpleLife! I was in the right ballpark in my thinking then :~) My S probably won’t be eligible for much in the way of scholarships. He’s going on foreign exchange his junior year and will have to take his ACT early and his SAT after he’s back and hasn’t been speaking English for months. He will be fluent in Portuguese however…maybe there’s a scholarship for that?!</p>

397

<p>^Oooh. Fluent in Portuguese? Foreign exchange? Those are all good things! For him personally, and for his resume!</p>

<p>Good for him! :)</p>

398

<p>He will be in Brazil…hopefully he focuses on his studies more than the beach babes. But in any case I dont think his tests will end up being stellar due to the timing. He’s fine with state school but scholarships are always nice too!</p>

399

<p>^Well, state schools sometimes give scholarships. One of mine is at a state school on HUGE scholarships. It happens. But you would know whether he’s a contender … and you don’t seem to think he is, lol! ;)</p>

400

<p>I remember reading this thread years ago. Why oh why did I not heed curm’s advice?! </p>

<p>D2 accepted everywhere, no merit/grant/scholarship money anywhere. Coffers are dry. Do we go $120K into debt for four years at that top-choice (and in-state) school? Encourage her to re-develop a fancy for her safety, which thoroughly paled after seeing better schools? And even the safety is no bargain. </p>

<p>They say when you know better you do better. Hah! We buried our heads firmly in the sand and prayed for a financial miracle. Clearly, the FA gods were neither pleased nor impressed. </p>

<p>I’m just sorry that my daughter is the one who will have to pay the price for our stupidity. Poor kid – such dumb parents!</p>