i live in NY so the CUNY schools at full price are affordable for me. another question, why is EFC so inaccurate?? it’s not fair that schools see that number and think you can pay that price when all it will do is put you in enormous debt???
Your EFC is NOT inaccurate based on your family income and assets.
Your issue is your family has a lot of consumer debt. That is NOT taken into consideration when need based aid is calculated…nor should it be in my opinion.
And no one…read that again NO ONE is required to attend a college with a $60,000 a year or so price tag. If your family can’t afford that cost, there are plenty of colleges that are less costly, where they won’t have to become more in debt.
And as an aside, you can see how significant debt is impacting a choice for you now (college). Think about that before you go into debt yourself…because that debt WILL impact future decisions for you. Your parents already have significant debt…are you expecting them to assume more debt for your college choices?
Use this website’s loan calculator to see the impact of your future debt and learn more about student loans before you decide to go take on debt. You need to look up current rates since these keep rising. Below the calculation will be the annual income needed to support the debt.
If parents could pay whatever they want for college, nobody would pay a fair price.
That being said, it’s true EFC’s rarely bear any resemblance with what parents can pay. 
What kids with unaffordable EFCs do is train for the SAT or ACT like athletes for the Olympics. The higher the score the better the odds of making college affordable.
Did you register for the December SAT/ACT as was suggested several days ago?
If not, see whether you still can, although I’m afraid the deadline was Friday.
What’s your EFC v. What your parents CAN pay?
Beside EFC, there’s the NPC, which shows you how much each college expects your parents and yourself to pay. This typically differs from the EFC since the EFC is the minimum expected.
Run the NPC for BU and NYU for instance - if you can’t find them, look up BU+NPC, NYU+NPC, Northeastern+NPC…
(Check Excelsior criteria though - the income threshold may take number of children into account).
Colleges don’t subsidize the lifestyles of their students’ families. They can’t afford it. Paying for private high school and sending your siblings to private colleges is a choice. Schools don’t really take the cost of living into account because where you live and how big a house you buy is a choice too. Colleges aren’t responsible for how much your family spends, your parents are, so it’s not their fault if your parents can’t afford to send you to an expensive university.
You need to work with the budget you have, as all students do. You can afford tuition at our NYS colleges and you’re close enough to commute to some of them. Those are great options. You need to develop a realistic list that includes colleges your parents can afford. Look for schools that offer merit for your stats. Are you working? If not, get a job and start saving because every little bit helps.
Are your siblings at a Catholic school? I wonder if a Catholic university would take parochial school costs into consideration.
^very good question, very good point .
It would be worth it for you to run the NPC on Fordham, sju, LaSalle, St Joe’s (Philly), Siena, St Bonaventure, St Anselm, Mount St Mary’s. It would make sense also to email admissions about their fa policy for applicants who atrend Catholic schools as well as have siblings in Catholic schools.
But remember…the colleges that do NOT meet full need for all might consider private school costs…but that doesn’t mean that your need based financial aid will be higher…it just doesn’t.
If your family can afford these additional tuition costs, perhaps they can afford college costs for you at a reasonable priced college. How much ARE they paying for you to attend a private HS? Next year, that money can be used for college costs.
As noted above, need based aid is not designed to subsidize consumer spending choices families make…and debts they accrue.
Good question- if the parents are paying for private HS… could that tuition be applied to college? Or… is that where the $8500 a year contribution fits in?
I urge you to take a look at HBCUs. Prairie View A & M University has an automatic full ride for your stats. You likely qualify for merit scholarships at most HBCUs that will cut the cost of attendance.
You have too many expensive private colleges on your list. I think your SAT score is not high enough to qualify for merit scholarships from these schools.
How about Fisk?
https://www.fisk.edu/admissions/scholarships
Priority scholarship deadline was Nov 1 but maybe you can call and see if you can still apply and be considered for merit
My EFC vs what my parents say they can afford is 35k vs 8.5k. And I have a lot more schools on my list than what it looks like! I just posted the schools I wanna go to the most here it is in full: (no particular order)
Fordham (commute)
UMiami (dorm)
Binghamton (dorm)
Tulane (dorm)
USC (dorm)
BU (dorm)
St. John’s in Queens (commute & my sister goes here so i expect a lot of financial aid)
NYU (commute)
Syracuse (dorm)
Northeastern (dorm)
Baruch College (commute)
Brooklyn College (commute)
York College (commute)
Queens College (commute)
Adelphi (commute)
Molloy (commute)
Hofstra (commute)
Quinnipiac (dorm)
don’t mention the application fees, ive got that covered. and i do have a job, but i don’t nearly work enough for it to even cover the smallest expenses of college. I hear everything everyone is saying about checking out other schools, but my parents have a huge influence on what they believe is fit and they don’t want me applying to schools they’ve never heard of because they don’t think they’re good schools. Ive tried convincing otherwise but it’s pointless so forget that.
Another question: I know early decision is restrictive. But, I read somewhere that if I can’t afford the price I don’t have to put a deposit. In my circumstance, would that work? Or do I have too much consumer debt that the school would not care? And another thing, hypothetically if I were to apply ED and get accepted, would that mean more financial aid or less? I am not applying ED anywhere, but if this is true I will seek more information about it.
If you’re a senior, you’ve already missed early decision deadlines.
It is not appropriate to apply early decision in your scenario as you need to be able to compare financial aid offers.
Schools don’t care about consumer debt.
Can your parents add to the $8500 once you graduate HS? Can they add the cost of your school… or is that represented already by the $8500?
Most of the schools on your list will be unaffordable. Please sit down right now with your parents and complete the net price calculators for every school on your list ( example: Boston University net price calculator). Show them the number and ask them if they are willing to pay that cost.
It is 8500 after graduating high school, so no they can’t add any more on top of it. I already have so many schools on my list that are affordable/ i know they will give me merit scholarships. I am NOT worried about not going to college and there are not any more safety schools I can really apply to at this point that are good enough to the point that my parents would be okay with me attending. I am worried about not going to my top choice which upsets me.
Unfortunately there are many students who can’t afford to attend their top choice school.
Questions/Comments-
- Some of the schools on your list may (?) give you some financial aid because you have a sibling in college... but you won't get enough money to bring the cost down to what your parents will pay. Or you may get merit- For example..if Hofstra costs $45,000 a year in tuition and you receive $20,000 in merit.... you will still have a bill for $25,000 - not including books etc. How will you pay this?
- You can afford to spend $17,000 a year on college ( parent contribution + $5500 loan + job). What schools do you currently have on your list that fall within this cost? The CUNY schools? Baruch is not a safety. You should get into Brooklyn College but the commute will not be easy - traffic, weather etc.
- What are the affordable schools on your list that you know will give you merit?
There is no magic money tree… again… unfortunately.
I’m sorry, but you are wasting your time applying to schools your family cannot afford and hoping for the money to magically appear.
Run the net price calculators for a reality check, and learn to love the schools that are available to you.
- The CUNY schools fall within this list. I know that if financially I cannot go to ANY school on this list except one, it will be Queens College and I am okay with that. I would just prefer my top choices as I said.
- I know that Molloy, Adelphi, St. John’s, and Hofstra will give me scholarships. I got my acceptance from Adelphi and I am awaiting the financial aid package.
Did you run the NPC on each of their websites? ^ What did they say?