<p>We are still working on gathering the needed info to complete our taxes and fill out a FAFSA after January 1st. In the meantime I am wondering what is the EFC amount that scholarships would most likely consider a student financially needy? For example, I believe I read in a post that KFC Scholars likes to see an EFC of $5,000 and under for their applicants. In general for all scholarships is that about the baseline? If your EFC is $7,000 should you forget need based scholarships? I tried to do an EFC calculator (which is hard till I get all of the info for our small business info together) but from my best guesses we look to be about $6,658.00. I look forward to hearing your opinions. Thanks!</p>
<p>it really depends on the terms of the individual scholarship. Gates Millenium, for instance, requires pell eligibility (which is an EFC below around 5200 ish.).</p>
<p>Does $6,658 sound high for thinking about going after need based scholarships in general? Alot of this scholarships require some heavy duty essay writing and I don’t want my DS to do all that work if we are too “rich” lol. He did apply for the Elks Most Valuable Student, but I understand that financial need is only part of their criteria. I know these private scholarships are not easy to win, but he is willing to put in the work if there is hope. He does have a merit scholarship from his college, but it covers a little over 1/3 of his yearly college costs…</p>
<p>Are these scholarships that he’s applying for good for only freshman year? If so, what are you going to do for the following years? </p>
<p>It can be a huge mistake to choose a school only because it’s affordable the first year because of some private scholarships that aren’t going to be there for future years. </p>
<p>* He does have a merit scholarship from his college, but it covers a little over 1/3 of his yearly college costs… *</p>
<p>How much does the school cost? Do you know if this school will likely give him any need based aid other than a $5500 loan? </p>
<p>If you add the school scholarship to a $5500 loan, plus your EFC, would you still be short of funds? Are you ok with paying more than your EFC?</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids you do have good points. It is an in state public university (Arizona State University) so he isn’t going overboard with costs thank goodness. So that is a good thing. He has researched a bunch of scholarships and is writing essays for them over his break. We know they are a long shot, but worth a try. Some are renewable over four years such as the Elks Most Valuable Student. If he does not get any scholarships then he will work like crazy over his summers and possibly work part time during the school year. He has a pretty hard major (bioengineering) so I am hoping he doesn’t have to work too many hours during the school year rather than be able to study. But I know alot of students do have to work. We will also have to scrape up as much as we can and pay the school on a payment plan, but we will make it work somehow!</p>
<p>mominaz…Great that your son is doing the work for these scholarships. I strongly believe that EVERY penny counts. Scholarships for one year are better than NOT getting those at all. </p>
<p>Have your son talk to the guidance department at his school when he gets back to classes. Often there are local scholarships and many of these do not have a need component. The applications for these usually become available a little later in the winter so he should keep checking.</p>
<p>Re: need and awards…it’s really up to the folks awarding the scholarship. Some are hard and fast EFCs (like in the case of the Gates award). Others are if the child has unmet need for the school he/she is attending.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son.</p>
<p>P.S. My daughter got her degree in bioengineering in the spring. She worked every term she was in school for 10 hours or less. She said it actually HELPED her budget her time. This may or may not be true for your son!!</p>
<p>My son is a Chem Engineering major and he works full time in the summer and part-time during the school year. He has straight As…so, no negative grade issues from working. As long as a kid doesn’t try to work too many hours during the school year (he works about 8-10 hours during the school year), it won’t hurt grades. After all, many kids have work-study financial aid, so those kids do work as well. </p>
<p>A student should be able to work a few hours on a Friday afternoon or eve, and a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday, and maybe a few hours during the week with no problem. It’s all about schedule. If a student tries to work too many hours DURING the school week, that could be a problem. </p>
<p>Some kids keep their Tues/Thurs school schedules light so they can have time to work and study on those days. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that college students are not in class for as many hours as high school students…so they usually can more easily work a part-time job.</p>
<p>A $7000 EFC will get more than $2000 in grants at the public U where I work. That is need based aid. While not all scholarships would consider a $7000 EFC “needy,” many will. Many scholarships cite a need component as being important … yet I see students who get them who are not especially “needy.” It’s one component, not the be-all-and-end-all for many scholarships. And if the COA of a school is $20k, an EFC of $7k is absolutely needy!</p>
<p>Don’t hesitate to go for those need based scholarships! :)</p>
<p>Thank you everyone all of the info and feedback has been very helpful!</p>