<p>How often do final financial aid packages turn out to be very close to the FAFSA EFC? Are private schools more lenient (and hopefully generous) with this number? Thanks.</p>
<p>It all depends on the financial track records of the schools you have applied to.</p>
<p>% of need met
% of gift aid
% of self-help</p>
<p>These numbers tell what you can reasonably expect from each school you have applied to.</p>
<p>Some schools promise to meet 100% of need. Not many. As far as I know, only private schools do that. (Someone jump in to correct me if any state schools promise 100%.)</p>
<p>Most schools, private and public, will “gap” you. In other words, what you pay is in fact higher, or even much higher, than your official EFC. Or, or and, the percentage of your need “met” with nasty loans is way high.</p>
<p>So, you just have to apply, wait, and see what you get. Hopefully you have at least one acceptable option when all the dust settles.</p>
<p>University of Virginia meets 100% of aid.</p>
<p>Our FAFSA EFC was exact to the actual dollar at Rice U.</p>
<p>I f you got merit scholarship that is more than your EFC you might pay less, otherwise even if your school adheres to EFC number they still will expect you to contribute something from your summer earnings and will add loans which are money to be paid/now or later but still/. So if your EFC is low, you still might be expected to pay much more. All of it really depends on school FA tradtion packaging and school’s desire to have you there.</p>