<p>I had no idea Tulane cost so much... Even with the 24k scholarship, I'd still be out 27k every year...</p>
<p>it's in the same price range as most top 100, private colleges. why would you be surprised it's not like it's a public school</p>
<p>half the kids are here with $$$ from the school and the other half are rich kids who need no financial aid whatsoever</p>
<p>nearly every private school is in the $50k range. Heck, even some publics (Cal, UMich) are close to that amount for OOS kids.</p>
<p>It should be almost free for me. 20k+ 5k valedictorian + 4k TOPS + good fin. aid averaging 25k a year...woo.</p>
<p>from the south- How do you know you will get 25K financial aid?</p>
<p>Fromthesouth - they will only give you financial aid up to your demonstrated financial need. So they'll determine your need and then subtract any other aid you have (including scholarships). So if you only need 25K, you've got it already. So no more need based aid for you. If you need 29K, you've got it already. If you need 30k, you'll only get another 1K. </p>
<p>Again, need based financial aid is NOT on top of merit aid!</p>
<p>If you're looking to pay under 27k, a state or community college is for you. Of course unless you get crazy merit scholarship from another private school.</p>
<p>Wait until you get your financial aid package back before you rule it out.</p>
<p>well i NEED 50k </p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>Your EFC is 0?</p>
<p>Financial need is based on the FAFSA and Profile. It's not based on what you say you need. It's a calculation that all colleges use based upon tax filing, assets and current income. If your EFC is 0, then you're right, you need 50K.</p>
<p>Well I always thought they paid on top of scholarships. That actually kind of sucks.</p>
<p>Now there you are right. It does suck!</p>
<p>It just doesn't make sense to me. So students don't really need to try hard for scholarships, they just have to be poor...</p>
<p>Arghhh.</p>
<p>I guess it is state school here I come, parents definitely can't afford 20k a year.</p>
<p>Merit works really well for those people with a very high EFC. If you weren't going to get need based financial aid anyway, then merit aid is very helpful. However, colleges will only give you the amount of your EFC as determined by need based aid calculations. The scholarship/merit money comes off the top. The actual need based aid is the amount left after the merit deduction. So you never get more than you need and it sucks.</p>
<p>What are you guys saying? If you get merit aid, you don't get need aid and vice versa??</p>
<p>If your merit money is less than your need based aid, then you'll get more aid. If you need is less than your merit scholarship, no more aid for you.</p>
<p>Because I guarantee yeah my parents make a combined 51K...no way that we can use half of that each year for my school alone. We hardly make it as it is.</p>
<p>Sounds like you'll get more aid than just merit. Don't worry now. Fill out all the correct paperwork (FAFSA, Profile). Congratulations on your scholarships and acceptances. There are FAFSA calculators online like on collegeboard. They're pretty good indicators of what your aid will be.</p>
<p>I have no clue how to do FAFSA..don't we have to wait until February?</p>
<p>Actually your parents should probably fill it out. It requires their taxes to be done first. If they don't know about it, it's time for you to educate them. Most colleges use the FAFSA primarily to determine your needed aid. </p>
<p>It's available beginning January 1. I'm sure there are many posts here on CC that will help you through it.</p>