<p>@giterdone For low income students, the differences in NPC results can be stark. For our income, net prices have ranged from $0 to over $30,000.</p>
<p>I have a list of NPC results from about 40 60kish private schools, and I agree with others that the differences can be huge- as much as 20k-most don’t give any merit aid, and if they do it is highly competitive so merit does not play into these discrepancies. Every school can define “need” as they see fit…oh, and the most expensive school on the list “meets full need” btw.</p>
<p>Merit aid is a tool used by schools to attract students and is subject to market forces. Lesser known schools need to have a lower COA to compete with more well known schools to attract the same student. Hence the wide disparity in merit aid and COA among schools for an individual student.</p>
<p>Part of the very large difference in need-based aid for us comes from having 2 in school at the same time. Some of the privates take that into consideration, and some don’t. The difference from the NPC with the exact same numbers is about $25K for us. And then there are merit considerations.</p>
<p>@kidzncatz same for me. Single parent in a low paying but otherwise fulfilling job. I actually have two jobs and I’m still pretty poor, especially since we live in a state with a high cost of living (Connecticut). We only had one NPC of $0, but it was too far away (Mississippi) and too religious for my daughter (Baptist school). She wants to study Music Therapy and there are no schools in CT that offer that at the undergraduate level, and she would rather graduate with a Bachelor’s that allows her to start working in her chosen field than have to get a post-grad certificate/master’s before she could work in that field. </p>
<p>I think we’re talking past each other.</p>
<p>FAFSA is a formula. CSS Profile is a formula. Pell Grants and any other grants are based on information delivered in the FAFSA.</p>
<p>Now, I don’t have experience being dirt poor. We’re full pay minus merit, everywhere. Surprisingly (or not) every private FAFSA only school provided merit down to roughly (within 3k) our EFC. And every CSS Profile school dribbled out a little merit (kids are strong, but not “rock stars” by CC standards ~ low 30’s composite on the ACT) making them about $15k + more/year than the FAFSA only schools.</p>
<p>I don’t consider loans of any type, aid. And they aren’t factored into this conversation.</p>
<p>There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult. ~ Warren Buffett</p>
<p>One thing we haven’t taken into account much is schools that allow merit aid on top of need aid. Emory is one, but are there others? </p>
<p>DS has 3 apps in, 3 in the works, and 2 more on his list. This is the shortest his list has been in a long time. I’d like to see if we can look more at places that will be very generous with aid.</p>
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<p>Well, bully for you, sir. The discontinuities others are reporting stem from two things, I think:</p>
<p>(1) While FA is formulaic, different schools use different data sets, and it’s no mystery that FAFSA and CSS can produce quite different results on particular fact patterns.</p>
<p>(2) Many schools intentionally “gap” students from the level of need produced by said formulas, and the net price charged by schools can vary significantly. </p>
<p>Being dirt poor is fun, you should join us! </p>
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<p>S’12 had offers with a $13K range COA after grants and before fed loans. The instate public he applied to actually came in around the middle - the two best offers were from privates where he was high stats for them, the worst came from privates where he was middle of the road, squeaked in and in one case, high stats but the school isn’t on super sound financial footing. None were meets-need schools and I didn’t have to do the Profile for him. </p>
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<p>Pell certainly. But state and SEOG grants varied a lot by school for S’12. I think it had to do with how much of those funds that school had, and how much they wanted to give to S.</p>
<p>His best offer was from a school he didn’t really want to attend. His second best offer was his first choice. I contacted his first choice and asked if they could meet the other offer. They did, more or less, and did that in part by increasing the federal SEOG portion, and partially with their own institutional grant.</p>
<p>Thank you to those who suggested calling re: missing merit scholarship info from D’s top choice - apparently the paperwork was mailed out Oct. 28th! So I told them it never arrived and they are re-sending a new letter/package. Relieved to finally have that question/concern answered. Now on to FINALLY finish the last app!</p>
<p>@Irishmomof2 Pretty much the same here (single mom). Of course, the schools at which my son has a chance of admissions and which have his major (nursing), all gap to one degree or another. The $0 net price schools are not actual possibilities.</p>
<p>bully? :-/ </p>
<p><a href=“Bully for You - Idioms by The Free Dictionary”>Bully for you</a>!</p> - Idioms by The Free Dictionary;
<p>I know that SOG is our DJ, but the song that keeps running through my mind today is this one:</p>
<p><a href=“Animals - Don't let me be Misunderstood - YouTube”>Animals - Don't let me be Misunderstood - YouTube;
<p>@PhxRising Chicago is a need-blind/full-need school with a limited number of merit scholarships on top of that. </p>
<p>On another topic, my son received notice that his GC hadn’t signed off on his ED agreement on the common app. She has been in the business for a while, and had never heard of such a thing. Couldn’t find it on the CA, but she contacted admissions and they accepted an email from her. </p>
<p>Fortunately, this goes under the category of if the applicant makes the deadline other stuff can trickle in later. </p>
<p>I’m speculating this is a check against the applicant doing more than one ED or signing the agreement for parents without them being aware of it. </p>
<p>Anyone else ever hear of GCs needing to sign off on EDs?</p>
<p>Yes, GCs need to sign off on ED. That’s one way they enforce the single ED application and prevent bad behavior and “catch me if you can”. The GC and the admissions offices are a repeat players, where most applicants are not.</p>
<p>^^Makes sense, but the GC, who seems reasonably experienced, said she had never heard of this, and neither had a couple of her colleagues. They were unable to find where on the Common App she would sign, although the school accepted an email attestation. And none of the other schools where several of her advisees applied ED made this request. </p>
<p>Odd. </p>
<p>I thought it was always the case that the GC had to sign something for ED… Both to say that the student and parents know what they are doing and also to make sure that several ED applications weren’t going out from the same student.</p>