<p>Hey, What happens if you apply ED to a college and they ask you to pay an absurd amount of money that I can’t afford. What do you do then? Are there colleges that guarantee at least $(tuition - EFC by FAFSA)?</p>
<p>More specifically, does Yale, Stanford, Dartmouth, or Columbia guarantee at least this much money? I really want to ED Yale but I do not want to be stuck in a position where I cannot pay the amount they are asking for.</p>
<p>Firstly you didn’t mention loans and thus your comment about the college asking you to pay money you don’t have is well…unclear. IF you are saying that you are unwilling to take loans then you must be low income…
Your financial aid package will most probably include: Grants, Loans and work study. The schools you mentioned will meet your need.</p>
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<p>main reason that you should apply RD. Financial aid is based on your family’s income and assets. Most schools have financial aid calculators. I suggest running your your parents income and assets through them so you can have some idea as your EFC.</p>
<p>If you need financial aid and need to compare offers you should NOT apply Early Decision. The reality is that the Ivies and equivalents cost a lot of money per year and applicants KNOW that in advance of applying. While these schools do meet need, the need THEY calculate and what YOU think you really can comfortably pay out of pocket are not always the same number. I agree with Sybbie…run an EFC calculator for an estimate (and remember it is only an estimate because many of these schools also use the CSS Profile). And remember too, that the schools in your OP include loans as part of their finaid package.</p>
<p>Isn’t Yale SCEA? So it’s not binding, and there would be no risk to applying early.</p>
<p>It is surprising how many students about to embark on the I need to apply early tour STILL do not UNDERSTAND the rules involved. They seemingly still do not know what each school’s policies are and how they are enforced. They don’t understand that they can contact the Financial Aid Ofiice at each school and get an idea of their EFC…which schoools require loans v. don’t require loans…it is a sad commentary.</p>
<p>Hazmat,</p>
<p>Somedays it is scary to me too as most of the questions asked on CC by students can be answered with a little research and some reading. This is one of the biggest decisions of their lives to date. what is going to happen to them at all of these elite schools which they are applying to and researching a topic becomes necessary?</p>
<p>EA Yale is perfect for someone in your situation, because it’s not binding and you can apply to other schools even if you get into Yale early; then you can compare their financial packages later on. You should apply to a “financial safety” like a state school or a school that gives a lot of merit aid. The schools you listed (Stanford, Columbia, Dartmouth) will give pretty similar packages because they are all need-based. Even if you get in EA Yale, I suggest you get a good safety under your belt.</p>
<p>Stanford is my first-choice school and I want to apply early, but Im also interested in another school that requires I apply early there. Are there any exceptions to Stanfords single-choice restriction?
Yes. We recognize that some state universities and some special programs require you to apply early, so we have determined that you may apply early to Stanford and apply early to another school under the following conditions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Any school, public or private, under a non-binding Rolling Admission option</li>
<li>Public colleges or universities under a non-binding Early Action program</li>
<li>Foreign colleges or universities on any application schedule</li>
<li>Schools whose early application deadlines are a requirement for consideration for special academic programs or scholarships only if the notification of admission occurs after January 1</li>
<li>Schools under an Interim Decision program only if the notification of admission occurs after January 1.</li>
</ol>
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<p>This is definietely not true because each school uses its own formula for calculating aid so there could be variables of thousands of dollars in the following ares;</p>
<p>EFC
work study Obligations
Loans (one school may only give a subsidized stafford, another may give a stafford and a perkins loan)</p>
<p>Being from NYC if accepted to Columbia student may be eligible for a NYS Tap award</p>
<p>Lets look at this scenario:</p>
<p>Columbia’s Cost of attendance is $42,898</p>
<p>They state the average award for someone in the 30,000 income bracket is $36,154</p>
<p>$42,898- 36,154 = $6,744 (EFC) In this EFC they are probably looking for student to earn $2500 leaving $4,244 for the parents</p>
<p>The aid package will have the following components:</p>
<p>Pell grant
Tap award
Subsidized Stafford Loan $2,625 Max
work study
Perkins Loan given to those with extreme financial need up to $4000 max
Columbia scholarship/grant.</p>
<p>what happens if the family does not have the EFC ? This would not be unusual for a family making $30,000. Then parent(s) need to apply for a PLUS loan to make up the EFC. IF they get turned for a plus loan, student will have to take an unsubsidized stafford loan for $4000
to meet the EFC)</p>
<p>Given the worse case scenario (student getting the maximum amount of loans), this student could have 10,625 in loans the first year.</p>
<p>Same student gets accepted at Dartmouth and family makes under $30,000. At Dartmouth students whose family incomes are less than $30,000 will receive financial aid packages without student loans. The portion of the package that normally would be composed of loans will be replaced with additional scholarship funds. Barring significant changes to family financial circumstances, this no-loan financial aid package will be renewed each year for all four years. </p>
<p><a href=“Home | Dartmouth Admissions”>Home | Dartmouth Admissions;
<p>Given the same worse case scenario, the student is better off attending Dartmouth because they have already saved $6,625 -no perkins or unsubsidized stafford loan, because s/he will get this money as scholarship aid. The EFC would most likely be lower.</p>
<p>If they were to apply to harvard under their newf financial aid plan , this same student who makes under 30,000 if gets admitted would attend school for very little money because parents with annual incomes of less than $40,000 would no longer have to contribute to the cost of their child’s education at Harvard. This is probably a cost savings of atleast $4000 from Columbia because there would be no parent EFC.</p>
<p>Yale recently announced it would expand aid for low-income students, eliminating the required contributions of parents earning less than $45,000 annually. So the same cost savings of about $4000 from the parent’s EFC, would apply if student attends yale </p>
<p>Boston Globe: Elite Colleges Go After Low-Income Recruits</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/educatio...ncome_recruits/[/url]”>http://www.boston.com/news/educatio...ncome_recruits/</a></p>
<p>I am low-income and I applied early decision to Pomona College. I did ED because I knew that Pomona would pay for me if I was accepted and they did. I have a fantastic package. I suggest that you do your research before doing ED if you know money is an important factor. If your school is known to be a bit miserly on the aid, then don’t apply early.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to say that the packages from those schools would be identical, but to suggest that he apply to some lower rated schools even after being accepted early. There may be a few thousand dollars difference between those schools, but the difference between a state school and Yale, or a school that gives a $10k scholarship for merit, may be much more.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you think about what school you REALLY want to attend. I agree with Sybbie that going to one ivy over another may save you 4,000 in loans a year, but you really have to consider what is more important- going to your dream school where the environment suits you best- or graduating without loans. I am from a low income family but I would rather have 16,000 in loans than attend a school that wasn’t right for me.</p>