<p>I had made a mistake on my FAFSA, but fixed everything and sent the changes to my schools. The change lowered my FAFSA EFC from 12k to 5k. </p>
<p>One school that didn’t give me any money at all at first now is giving me $5k, another school $28k to $32k ($4k), another one $26.5k to $28k (1.5k), but my top choice of school is saying that after reviewing my changes, the revision wouldn’t be worth sending me a whole new packet, but in my opinion, even if it’s $1,000, it’s a lot…</p>
<p>They firmly said at the end that there will be no more revisions…should I just take what I got and send in my deposit?</p>
<p>That up to you and your family. You will get more money now since you are PELL eligible with a FAFSAS EFC of $5K, I believe. That is an entitlement. You may also look to get some work study, and it’s possible that some loans issued to you may be subsidized rather than not. The WS, you can seek when you get there. The PELL you will get automatically, I believe.</p>
<p>@cptofthehouse </p>
<p>How do I go about getting this PELL grant? The only information I can find is “fill out the FAFSA”.</p>
<p>Which i did.</p>
<p>Also, when should I apply for a loan? Will I get more information once I commit to a school?</p>
<p>^If you qualify for Pell Grant (your Student Aid Report should tell you that), it should appear on your financial aid award letter.</p>
<p>
Yes, your school will give you more details later. In general, the first two steps for Direct Loans are
- Complete the Entrance Counseling
- Sign the Master Promissory Note (MPN)</p>
<p>See <a href=“Federal Student Aid”>Federal Student Aid;
<p>@ Your timeline is tight so I would suggest calling the schools again directly to discuss ensuring they have the revised FAFSA (takes a week to be sent sometimes). I’d ask for a revised shopping sheet (SS) if they use that format or whatever way they provide you the fin aid info. Then you can compare all the “new” aid packages. The SS is helpful because it already groups cost (COE), then gift money, then net cost (COE-gift aid). After loans & WS are listed as ways to pay the net cost. If you are in fact at $5k then you should be auto for a Pell Grant as an entitlement the school must award. Since you’re so close to the May 1st deadline you need to know to finalize. If you’re already leaning to one school this may make the decision a lot easier for you. Good luck!</p>
<p>@4kidsdad Just checked my SAR, nope don’t qualify for the Pell. EFC is 5600, so I guess it’s just over?
And for loans, around what month should my parents and I apply (first year student). For both direct and third party loans</p>
<p>@latteladyla They did receive the revised FAFSA. But they said that the changes are not significant enough to make a new package for me so there will be no revisions made. I have committed either way to said college- just sent my deposit. </p>
<p>I just find it upsetting and weird that my EFC is lowered by $8k, and I got $5k from one school, $4k from another, $1.5k from another. But this school isn’t giving me anymore.</p>
<p>That should not be weird or upsetting. Different colleges have different budgets and meet different percentages of need. It is not uniform. For that college, the budget may be gone already for this year, or they just decided not to meet more of your need, if they aren’t a “meets full needs” college, or you final package will have a small adjustment.</p>
<p>If you want to take student Direct Loan or the Plus loan, send them an email so they will have that ready for you in the fall.</p>
<p>I agree with other posters. You have few hours to do this.
In addition, it would have helped to list the schools, your intended major, total COA, and total awards.
That will get you a more direct advice from experience members from those institutions or based on their related experiences. Some schools are worth paying more to attend than others. They are NOT all the same.
Hope that helps.
BEST OF LUCK TO YOU.</p>
<p>You are not entitled to ANYTHING other than PELL if you meet the cutoff,which you appear to miss and the Direct loans. There isn’t a school I know that GUARANTEES to meet need defined by FAFSA EFC, so if a school decides to ignore the recalculation at this point, then that’s that for you. It might just mean that more of your Direct loan is subsidized which is between you and the federal government and will be processed when you apply for that loan. Doesn’t involve the school at all. They are saying, they don’t care if you have more need, that you get what you got at this point in time, good by. And yes, they are completely allowed to do that. They can do as they please with their own money. In fact, if you did get some PELL and get some direct loan money they haven’t got into, account, they are entitled to integrate that into the package they gave you and take back any of their own funds they have. You are only guaranteed the amount that the school has offered to give you in that fin aid letter. Outside scholarships are often just integrated right into the package and reduce it (though usually first applied to self help like loans). So, no, the school doesn’t have to do a danged thing with their own money.</p>
<p>No school is obligated to match or do as another. You can get packages that are all over the map and, yes, some may adjust with new info, some may not, as you find out.</p>
<p>This is a terribly busy time for the fin aid offices as they are under this deadline just as you and all the students looking for aid are. It may be that if you go to the fin aid office, later, or bring this up this summer when things have calmed down–ask for a different officer than the one you talked to now, by name, and that person might go over the numbers with you and MAYBE make some adjustments if there is any money in the pot to give. Some students will be turning down this school and the packages put together for them, and the fin aid office will have that to work with at this time. Right now, they may well be maxxed out with no idea who is taking them up for how much. So you are talking to people truly under the gun and they don’t want to be bothered with you. Also, there might be work study funds available and you can discuss options with them. What they are saying to you now, is that they don’t care what other schools are offering, or the changes in your EFC, they are done right now. Take it or leave it. </p>