<p>I'm a rising senior. Should I worry about financial aid right now? When to worry about financial aid? Sorry if I'm ignorant or newb. Thanks.</p>
<p>Yes, figure it out before you apply or you can waste a lot of time on applications for schools you can’t afford. Step one: figure out your EFC for both FAFSA only schools and schools that use Profile too. If you’re family can’t afford it’s EFC, that really limits you and hopefully you have the stats for merit aid. If it can, you may want to focus on schools that meet 100% of need, especially if you’re a strong student.</p>
<p>Use Calculators on this site, College Board and finaid.com to start seeing what colleges will expect you to pay.</p>
<p>Step ONE…you need to talk to your parents about college finances ASAP. You need to find out how much they WILL be contributing to your college costs annually. Once you know that, you will be in a better position to know IF you need to worry!! Also, this financial talk will hopefully help you choose schools that are financially attainable for your family. You can still apply to more costly schools but your family may say that you can’t attend if the financial aid doesn’t work out. BUT at least you’ll know going into the application process what the finances from the family will be.</p>
<p>It’s good to know your EFC…but honestly, it’s MORE important to know what your family will contribute. If your EFC is $20,000 and your parents say they will only contribute $10,000…you have a bit of a gap to fill yourself (nevermind any gap the college might leave you). If your parents say that they will pay $40,000…that’s good!</p>
<p>If financial aid is a concern, you need to start researching NOW – before you even apply to colleges, so that you can target schools where you can afford to go if you do get accepted. </p>
<p>As others have posted, the very first thing you need to do is have a serious talk with your parents about how much $$ they are willing (and able) to give you for your college education. Then fill out FAFSA and/or some of the on-line calculators to get a rough idea of your EFC. Then compare that EFC (what the colleges expect your family to pay) with what your parents have told you they can give you. Any difference between the two numbers will likely be your responsibility – to come from scholarships, part-time work, loans, etc.</p>
<p>If you have strong academic credentials (top of your class, high GPA, top test scores), then look for schools that are generous with merit aid (there are several CC threads that list these) and where you are in the top 25% of applicants so that you will be competitive for available scholarships and grants. Also look for schools that pledge to “meet 100% of financial need.” </p>
<p>Get your applications in as soon as possible to make sure that you do not miss any financial aid deadlines. At many schools, especially those with rolling admissions, the aid money runs out early.</p>
<p>And make sure you apply to at least one or two “financial safety” schools – low-cost schools where you know you would be able to attend even without financial aid. (These are usually your in-state public schools.)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you, your answers are very helpful. So we sat together yesterday and figured out our EFC through various sources (about the same). We discussed and they said they could contribute that amount. Then I talked about the gap the colleges might leave. We all agreed that finance SHOULD NOT be a factor in college selection and application FOR ME, even we have to get loans, because a good college education is too important. We will still apply for aids though.</p>
<p>All right, so after all that, what do I do regarding financial aid now? Do I fill out the FAFSA? Do we request financial aid before, with, or after admission?</p>