<p>Hi, I am an upcoming senior and am concerned about the price of college. My parents make enough money that their EFC is pretty high, but they don’t make enough money that it is comfortable to pay for college. SO is there any way to lower my EFC?</p>
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<p>Your family contribution is largely based on your parents’ income. If their family contribution is “pretty high” then it is what it is.</p>
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<p>The above stats were from another thread you posted. Are you considering applying to Ohio State and for admissions to their honors program? I believe OSU offers excellent financial aid to VERY high achievers in their state. Try that.</p>
<p>I also see that you are interested in medical school. That being the case, you definitely want to keep your undergrad debt to a bare minimum.</p>
<p>You can look for schools where you would qualify for significant MERIT aid that is NOT tied to financial need. You might actually qualify for more merit aid than need based aid which would reduce your total out of pocket cost to the university. That is really what you are looking to do, right?</p>
<p>Have you looked into any of the smaller private colleges in Ohio? There are a bunch of them.</p>
<p>To piggyback on Thumper’s excellent advice; many of those smaller private colleges in Ohio (and elsewhere) would offer a TON of merit aid to someone with your stats. You’ll also have the opportunity to get an excellent education and qualify yourself for admission to medical school. You need to forget the useless USNWR rankings and the people who will certainly be urging you to go to the most prestigious college you can get into. Look for a school where you’re well above the 75th percentile (which won’t be hard for you to find) and where you think you’d fit in. Fall in love with it, go there, and excel.</p>
<p>There really are only a few ways to “somewhat” lower your EFC.</p>
<p>1) Choose a college that costs less than your EFC.</p>
<p>2) choose a college that will give you large merit scholarships for your stats…that way, your remaining costs are lower than your EFC.</p>
<p>However, if your dream is to go to a prestigious school that doesn’t give merit scholarships (or gives very few), then your parents will likely be expected to pay for all costs.</p>
<p>Since med school is in your future, I would highly advise against loans for undergrad. Med school usually requires loans, so you don’t want to rack up too much debt. </p>
<p>Any good school can prepare you for med school.</p>