<p>If there is a bright side to 0 EFC it is that the student is forced to make realistic decisions. At some point even much wealthier apps have to make some decisions based on their finances. For low incomes college application is that time. My oldest D wanted to go to a large college and study journalism/broadcasting but at our income level her choices were very slim- kind of like this op’s. Towards the end of the process we all became realistic about our finances and she ended up getting a very good finaid package from a LAC. Turned out fine. My youngest D wanted to go to a large state school - football, frats etc. No could do. She had to face up to things and went elsewhere, so far so good. The important thing when you are low income is to make sure you carefully choose your colleges of application. Don’t waste time and money on places you are not likely to get into and don’t waste time on schools whose aid profiles indicate you can’t afford to go there. For D2 we ended up with a list of schools that seemed like good financial/academic possibilities - the beauty of the internet and sites like this. When the dust settled she had several options and made her choice from them. At 0 EFC that’s the goal of the process - to have several sensible options come May. Without super stats, at 0 EFC that’s quite a challenge</p>