<p>I filled out the financial aid calculators for Stanford and a few other Ivy league schools and found that my EFC is around $15,000 - $20,000. However, my EFC for UChicago is around $40,000.</p>
<p>I really want to apply, but there is no way that my family could possibly pay $40,000 a year for my tuition. Is the EFC provided by UChicago's calculator similar to the aid packages they give students? Are merit scholarships - relatively easy to acquire (I have a 2310 superscore SAT and a 4.0 UW GPA with the most rigorous courses my school offers)?</p>
<p>The financial aid calculator’s output means approximately nothing. Save this question for when you are A) accepted and B) given an official financial aid package.</p>
<p>Chicago’s net price calculator resulted in one of the lower net costs for my daughter. Not as low as Stanford, Harvard and Yale, but comparable to Princeton and less than the other Ivys. I do not know why yours should be so high. Perhaps you should check to make sure you did not make some mistake.</p>
<p>@CountMonteCristo: I think it might be because we “own” a corporation. Even though it’s only 20%, and it doesn’t make much money at all. However, other schools took this into account, and my EFC was MUCH lower.</p>
<p>@Oxalis: I’m asking to see if students currently at UChicago can attest to whether the calculator is accurate. If it is, then I don’t think I’ll apply because there is no way I would be able to matriculate.</p>
<p>in general top tier elite schools do NOT give out merit scholarship. They attitude is, all of our students are extremely qualified, and there is no discernible additional merit. That’s why top schools only give out need based financial aids. Usually merit scholarships are given by schools below the tippy top layer as a way to steal tippy top students. </p>
<p>However, there is a very small number of merit scholarship for U Chicago students: I believe this was created because a donor gave the school money to create it. If I remember correctly, something like 30 students get it and the faculty group selects students, NOT the admissions officers, and the results come out some time AFTER the initial admissions decisions are published. There is no negotiation or give and take between the students and the school. It’s unilateral. Rumor has it that the faculty picks students that sound intriguing to them, whatever that is.</p>
<p>My son (SAT 2400, top grades from HS rated as one of the top 5 in the nation when he applied) did not get the merit scholarship. So, the scores and grades are not a good indicator. By the way, top 25% of U Chicago students score 1560+ out of 1600, so you can see that the scores are not going to be a very useful selection tool.</p>
<p>My recollection is based on what I remember to be the case of the class of 2013, so things may be different now.</p>
<p>Apply. You never know what will be the final outcome unless you apply.</p>