I have a question about financial aid and need. If my EFC is 0 and i’m admitted to a college that says they cover 100% of financial need, does that mean i would get a full ride? Probably not but i’m wondering how this works haha.
Typically when a school says it meets need, it uses CSS Profile, not CSS to determine need.
Do you have a noncustodial parent? If so, then likely his income will also be used.
Do your parents own a business or take business deductions?
What schools are you looking at?
Depends on if they package loans or not. They may cover a portion of need with loans instead of grant money. Also, the EFC may be a bit off from what financial aid calculators calculate, so keep that in mind too. Also, federal work-study will likely be included in your package which you would have to work for, but other than that, yes it should cover most of it.
I do not have a noncustodial parent and my parents do not own a business or take deductions. I’m looking at USC and Berkeley for reaches (USC says it covers 100% of need and Berkeley 97.5%). I’m applying to USC through questbridge though.
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Berkeley 97.5%
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that would be for instate students.
Are you a Hawaii resident? If so, then you would not receive ANY aid for the $23,000 per year for the OOS portion of tuition.
USC does cover 100% of need, but that is not all with grants. It will be a mix of grants, work study and loans.
@mom2collegekids How do you know I’m from Hawaii lol…
But wow that sucks for the UC tuition for OOS. 23,000 x4 years doesnt seem very realistic to me then.
As for USC, I would be more than willing to take some loans and work study to complete the payment as long as it isnt unreasonable.
You mention that you’re from HI in another post.
Yes, the UCs are not affordable to many OOS students because they’re required to pay $23k plus EFC. So, even someone who has a middle class income and maybe a $12k EFC, they have to pay $35k.
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Typically when a school says it meets need, it uses CSS Profile, not CSS to determine need.
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oops…that should say : Typically when a school says it meets need, it uses CSS Profile, not FAFSA to determine need.
If you are in Questbridge, you really, really out to stick with Questbridge partner colleges. In addition to the scholarships/aid of course, Questbridge also gives you a group of friends who are also going through what you are going through for support. And every single partner college for Questbridge is an excellent, fairly selective college with support systems in place for low income, first gen, people of color, etc.
As for UCs, they’re not even that affordable anymore to in-state students with all their tuition hikes, and chances are it’s going to increase even more while you are there. Most of my friends went to UCs, and no matter how dire their financial situations, no one got more than federal money and maybe a tiny amount of grant money from the colleges. In terms of merit, one can get few thousand, but most don’t offer much more than that. They’re so overcrowded that they don’t need to use money to entice people to go. So if money is an issue, UCs are not a good option.
Do you qualify to apply for Gates Millenium?
@Madison85 No. Apparently Caucasians need not apply. 
@Scrippsie I suppose the UCs really arent good options atter all. Unfortunately i’m interested in only a few of questbridge’s partners. I was looking to go to the west coast, but Stanford id far too selective and Scripps is womens only. Thus, USC seems like my only option. (I’d be more than happy with USC, but having only one “good” option is very unsafe.) Maybe I’ll look to the east coast or to other private schools in California/Oregon/Washington
@scrippsie please be careful not to spread information. For UC if you are instate and EFC 0 you will get a very comprehensive aid package. You will only have reasonable student loan and some combo of work/study and summer earnings. I have seen several packages like this personally. The situation you are talking about is higher income than 0 EFC or OOS students. But OP, no you are not going to be able to afford a UC as an OOS student because of the tuition surcharge and the uncertainty if they will give you enough for the rest of it.
Also there is no reason to limit to Questbridge schools. Although it is worth serious consideration. Pomona admits quite a few but that is a very top school and hard to get into. Rice and Colorado are Western. It is hard to think of ‘meets 100% need’ schools in the west, Stanford, Claremont-McKenna. But they are some who may if you are a very strong student compared to the rest of admits.
There is a questbridge forum here if you want to see what others are doing.
Not sure where you are getting your information from. I picked a random UC, and what you’re saying doesn’t match anything on their website. They seem to rely heavily on the government helping the student out, which is possible for any college. And most of the people going to UCs that I know got first-year, nonrenewable scholarships, so some of them did in fact get reasonable package for the first year, but not following that, especially for those trying to live on campus. And then there’s the fact that it’s becoming the norm to take more than 4 years to finish unless you have enough AP, IB, and other college credits to skip courses and get higher priority registration. I know a lot of people, from students to government officials, are trying to get change to happen in making the UCs more affordable, but I wouldn’t bank on change happening fast.
CMC actually has switched to packaging loans in their meet your need policy. Although they do still cap it. At four thousand I think. And as far as getting in, CMC and Pomona are about the same selectivity, but look for slightly different things in their applicants (although both would hate me for saying that since they each think they’re the more selective college)
I am getting the information from my own family package as well as several kids I have assisted, plus many students that post here. They receive Pell grant, Cal grant and university grants which will cover the COA with the student loan and reasonable student contribution. Again we are talking about EFC 0 students.
Pomona is a partner and selects a good amount of Questbridge students RD. CMC is not but is on the West coast which is why I mentioned it.
Thank you @BrownParent and @Scrippsie for your input. Can you think of some slightly safer private schools in the west? USC, Pomona, and CSC are all good but all reaches for me.
What do you want to major in?
actually what you described is Posse
@Sweetbeet currently undecided and i’m more than likely going to apply undeclared, but i guess i’m leaning towards prelaw.
That is no such major as “pre law”.
For a school to be a safety, you have to know that you’ll get accepted AND that you’ll have your costs covered.
You have an ACT29, I believe. You’ve recently taken the June SAT, right? And you’re a resident of Hawaii.
It would be hard to identify any west coast schools that would be safeties for you for a couple of reasons…none of the OOS publics on the west coast would be affordable, and none of the “full need” schools are even a match for you, much less a safety.
You also have to consider the very high travel costs to and from Hawaii. Schools don’t typically figure in those costs.
What schools in Hawaii are you applying to?
Why don’t you like many of the QB schools?