<p>so, my efc was like 3700, and like is that good? will i get enough aid?</p>
<p>You will get quite a lot of aid from any school, including some of the more expensive state schools.</p>
<p>my efc was 975, but my mom only makes 25k a year, and I think I messed up on some of the info is this a good number? for a community college</p>
<p>Your efc is good if your parents can and will be able to pay it AND the schools give you enough aid for it. If its too low, a lot of schools may gap you or give you a lot of loans but if its really high, you won't get anything but maybe a loan. Then it all comes down to merit scholarships. </p>
<p>But is an efc ever good? Who wants to pay money and if you have an efc of 0 its usually because you're poor and that's not a good place to be in.</p>
<p>A good EFC is all relative.</p>
<p>Can your parents afford to pay the EFC as there can be a big difference between the amount of money the school says you can afford and what your family thinks that they can afford.</p>
<p>Not all schools are need blind and not all scholls meet 100% of your demonstrated need.</p>
<p>Having a low EFC at a school that gaps is not going to help your cause because you won't have the money to make up the difference.</p>
<p>having a low EFC at a school that is not need blind if it is a toss up between you and a similar candidate who can afford to pay you are on the down side of the power dynamic</p>
<p>Low EFC means low income and such person should apply to many and variety of schools for the reasons posters above were stating. Every school is obligated to give federal need-based aid by law and no more than certain amount-4K Pell grant, FSEOG no more than 4K/ and it is absolute rarity, usually it is less than 2K/, than Stafford subsidised loan $2,675, then maybe Perkins loan for 1-2K. If you lucky your state will chip in with something- $500-5K grant possible. For school that cost 40K it does not do anything if school does not give you lots of their own scholarship/ grant aid. If you are going to state school and school is not expensive- such option becomes doable. Problem is if your EFC is 0 and school gives you lots of aid but still gaps you at 10K where you going to get it? and how much debt you can afford?</p>
<p>Maybe I am not undertanding the whole EFC thing. My EFC was 1304... I was told that is how much they are expecting me to pay out of pocket for the year or maybe the term? I am not relying on parents for any of it and have to do it all on my own. I don't know $1304 doesn't sound too bad all in all, but, am I undertanding this?</p>
<p>You would have to look over your FA award letter. Is it broken out by the term of by the year.</p>
<p>IF it is by the term, your EFC could be 1304 a term or 2608 per year</p>
<p>If it is by the year, your EFC could be 652 per term or 1304 per year.</p>
<p>Thanks for that, it gives me something to think about. I've not yet gotten my FA award letter yet. Not supposed to get it for a couple of months after it's gone through a billion reviews, or something to that extent.</p>
<p>Zero is the best number for an EFC.</p>
<p>No, zero is a terrible number for an EFC. A great EFU is $80K, meaning your parents can easily pay for any college.</p>
<p>MOST schools do not meet need. That makes them hard or impossible for a kid with a zero EFC to attend.</p>
<p>In my case, well-endowned schools do.</p>
<p>You could have your parents pay for any college, or you could go there for free. I don't know about you, but I think the latter option is a lot more preferred.</p>
<p>^I don't think you get this unless you can get into Princeton, and even there, it's not free for anyone. The very lowest income kids must pay much of their summer earnings and work during college. That's just to meet COA. I find most low income students work more than what they must for work-study to be able to socialize with kids whose parents give them money.</p>
<p>I've been poor and I sure hope my kids have a super high EFC!</p>
<p>You think it would be fun to be poor just to get aid? Far as I see the high EFC kids tend to be living better, have better job connections and parents to help them when they get out of school.</p>
<p>That's not true at all. I'm paying $75 dollars for Stanford. My EFC is $0. Had I not received the Gates Scholarship, I'd be taking out a $2,000 Perkin Loan and I'd have done work-study for another $2,100. So yes, I'm not paying anything. This was my case for MIT, Stanford, Columbia, CAL, JHU, and Williams.</p>
<p>
[quote]
That's not true at all. I'm paying $75 dollars for Stanford. My EFC is $0. Had I not received the Gates Scholarship, I'd be taking out a $2,000 Perkin Loan and I'd have done work-study for another $2,100. So yes, I'm not paying anything. This was my case for MIT, Stanford, Columbia, CAL, JHU, and Williams.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Staticsolioquy,</p>
<p>It is wonderful that you got admitted in to some amazing schools and the $$ came through for you. However, your sitiuation is more the exception rather than the rule because:</p>
<p>The schools that you have been admitted to are amongst some of the most competitive as far as gaining admissions. So yes, if you get admitted they will certainly come through with the $$. But the operative word here is IF. Every low income student is not going to have the grades, stats or sometimes the sheer luck of the draw to be admitted to the list of schools you've mentioned.</p>
<p>What you also have going for you is a great financial safety in CAL as an in-state resident. The a low income student from OOS is not going to get the same $$ deal at CAL.</p>
<p>You received a gates scholarship which absorbed your self help aid. Every single low income "0" EFC student is not getting a GMS.</p>
<p>I agree with collegekid that we would be remiss and totally irresponsible in stating that the student with a "0" EFC has a great thing going for them and they are bound for a "free ride" when quite the opposite is true. With the exception of about 50 colleges which are some of the most difficult to gain admissions, the statement is far from being true. </p>
<p>Even for the schools that have deep pockets, they ask for the CSS profile or their own FA forms. FOr some students this could radically change their "0" EFC once their non-custodial parents/ steparents income or home equity enters into the equation (yes, there are many people especially in CA that are cash poor and house rich).</p>
<p>The only thing a FAFSA "0" EFC does is determine that yes, you are eligible for federal aid:</p>
<p>3500 in a subsidized stafford loan
4310 in a pell grant
~2000 in SEOG (if the funds are available)
4000 in a perkins loan (the school decides this)
750 in an academic competitive grant
Hopefully state aid from your home state</p>
<p>The overwhelming majority of colleges in this country</p>
<p>Are not need blind (they are need aware/need sensitive) an will give you an admit deny (academically you make the cut the the financial aid package is so onerous that you cannot afford to attend).</p>
<p>Fo not meet 100% of demonstrated need using large amounts of insitutional aid , but are heavy on loans (which is also considered FA). </p>
<p>Students with "0" EFCs should still shoot fort the moon if they have the grades and stats to be considered a viable candidate. However, this group should be especially diligent in building a list from the bottom up that includes a financial safety.</p>
<p>I just love it when posters recommend the persons with EFC of 0, have an adequate supply of schools. ALL applicants need an adequate supply of schools, regardless of ability to pay. Admissions have tightened at all universities over the years. Since beginning daughter's search two years ago, more and more schools have looked into ther financial aid policies to find a way for lower income students to afford college. Every year, more institutions are added to this list. If parents earn below X dollars, the tuition is paid through grants and scholarships. </p>
<p>Certainly, it's not great to be poor, but it one truly wants to attend college, more and more opportunities are becoming available.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Every year, more institutions are added to this list. If parents earn below X dollars, the tuition is paid through grants and scholarships.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, all students need to have a college that is a financial saftety however, those who have a little more $$ to spend or assets to draw upon do have a little more choice and flexibility when it comes to looking at schools. A student/family with a "0" EFC may not be in the best position for the parent to pull out some home equity, to borrow from their retirement account or take out a line of credit to pay for college if the aid is not sufficient.</p>
<p>When you take into consideration that there are close to 4000 colleges in the country, this acutally happens at less than 2.5% (most are part of the top 100 schools and the most competitive as far as gaining admissions in the country). The truth is still that the majority of the schools in this country do not have the state, institutional funds or the endowments to meet 100% of demonstrated need giving large amounts of grant aid (and as a result, there are a large number of kids caught between a rock and a hard place because they have been admitted into a school that they cannot afford. You can do search right here on CC of students asking how they are supposed to pay for some college with the package that they have received).</p>
<p>Yes, while it is true that more colleges are trying to open doors to low income students but the the actual number of pell grant recipients attending is still very small (I would recommend that you search post by Mini, he has posted a great deal of data on this very topic or you look at the common data sets put out by various colleges).</p>
<p>So the OP's question was "whats a good EFC?...is that good? will i get enough aid?"</p>
<p>He did not preface it with which schools he's applying to or whether or not he has the capacity to gain admissions into said competititive schools. I'm just answering the OP question from my experience and you are correct to point out that I should have preface my answer with, "This is a rare exception, not an established truth." </p>
<p>To be quite honest, the system rewards the low-income students who diligently worked and make opportunities for themselves. They are the one that deserve a break. Stating that "they are the one that deserve a break" does not imply that the other students don't. It's a poor and unfair design, but it's the reality.</p>
<p>Aren't Gates scholarships only for URMs?</p>
<p>People need to understand just how rare your situation is or they just apply to the wrong schools because they don't understand most don't meet need.</p>