<p>thats something families don’t realize or forget indmom
while some schools do meet 100% of EFC- that can be met with loans, grants as well as work study.
Other schools may also have a package of loans/grants/workstudy, but not meet 100% of need- so if the school costs $40,000- your EFC is $10,000, your package may only be $10,000 which still leaves $20,000-
not a workable arrangement for most families.</p>
<p>EFC calculator said - $122k
Didn’t do Fafsa (obviously)</p>
<p>We told our kids a long time ago we’d pay for the full cost of state school which our daughter is doing next year (U of MN - Honors). She just has to pay for books (we might help) and her expenses. She’ll graduate debt free - she is really happy with her choice and we’re happy she’ll be close to home.</p>
<p>haha, i shouldnt have done fafsa either. (well, i did it for fun anyway)</p>
<p>result: 99,999</p>
<p>only thing missing is the “and 99¢…”</p>
<p>i hate fafsa!!!</p>
<p>“yeah, but my parents have only agreed to shoulder $20,000, which means that i have to get some massive scholarships, or go to a state school.”</p>
<p>hotpiece, I am just about in the exact same situation as you (except my EFC is $68,000, not $99,999. </p>
<p>where do you think you’ll end up? i’m interested to see what will happen to people like us…if we don’t get scholarships at the caliber of school we are looking for, then…pay or settle for a lower school</p>
<p>My EFC is 0. Yay for me?</p>
<p>^ i am jealous</p>
<p>I don’t understand those who are jealous of others with a 0 EFC
First- a zero EFC does not mean a free ride.
Say the school costs $25,000 to attend
the school ( if they meet 100% of need) may have a package of $10,000 loans- $10,000 grant and $5,000 workstudy.
Or they may not meet 100% of need and leave a $15,000 between their aid package and what you need to attend.
Additionally, for a family to have such high need means that they have few financial resources. They probably have been poor for a while, with no assets and little income to speak of.
A low EFC is not something to wish for.</p>
<p>in addition a person with a low income is really going to hard a hard time meeting the incremental cost that come with attending college: obtaining a computer that meets the schools requirement, outfitting a room (sheets, linen, lamps, etc), you must still get to the school, luggage, depending on where you live you may need a winter wardrobe, you need start up money when you attend school (as you must first apply and get your work study job and then you work for about 2 weeks before you see a paycheck), you will be very limited as far as the amount of stuff you may/may not be able to do once you get to school, dinner off campus with friends, shows, lift tickets. </p>
<p>For people with zero EFC’s, they are probably stuggling and are very appreciative for the things that many people take for granted.</p>
<p>whenwillitbeover, i have no idea where i will end up. my dream school is Columbia, but if i don’t get enough scholarships, i will probably end up at my state school.</p>
<p>you’re lucky then that your state school is good enough to even consider.</p>
<p>I didn’t even apply for the ones in Mississippi</p>
<p>EFC was at the max. But my parents and I have saved up enough money for me to attend state school (University of Michigan)</p>
<p>I suppose the only upside is that any scholarships I get will be applied directly to my expenses. No worries about them replacing grant money or loans. If I can manage to get a little in scholarships and work while at school, I might even graduate with some money to my name.</p>
<p>But if I get in to a private school now, it gets tough. I think I’d like to attend an elite private school, but it will be a tough choice about taking on that kind of money in loans.</p>
<p>About $16,500. That is over a quarter of my father’s income, and my mother cannot work due to health problems. We don’t have very much savings, but we have about half of our house paid off. My dad works for state government and also teaches at a CC part time. We have always lived what I consider to be simply (no vacations, new vehicles, or frills), but we are comfortable. I learned in elementary school to pay for anything extra (new clothes, outings, things like a personal computer) myself, which has made me industrious. My parents can string together about a quarter of my EFC, and I don’t yet know what I’ll do about the rest. My grandparents may help down the road. I want to attend private school, and it won’t be altogether steeper than a UC, for the most part. </p>
<p>I’m very fortunate to have what I have, and to be able to make things work. I don’t know if my choice will come down to money or necessity, based on where I get in. I got a 1/4 tuition ($9000) a year merit scholarship at a school I really like, so we’ll see.</p>
<p>reading:</p>
<p>If your parents income is around 60K (which I surmise from your statement) and they don’t have much in savings, the $16.5K EFC is pretty high. About 40K or so of their income should be protected by an income allowance, so there’s no way that the $16K EFC is coming mostly from their income (or assets, since you say there are few).</p>
<p>That leaves your income and assets. Do you have significant savings or investments in your name? If so, that’s driving your EFC up. See if there’s anything you can do to spend that down, pre-pay some expenses, or pay off debts before you file the FAFSA (or before you file a FAFSA correction).</p>
<p>I have about $5000 in personal savings. (As I said, I’ve always worked to be able to pay for things). I’ll have to use the money next year, and my dad explained to me how it affects our EFC. Oh well. We don’t have any significant assets, except for my dad’s state government retirement account and our house. We also have the problem of living in an expensive area. In many other places our income would go further. </p>
<p>My dad already filed a FAFSA correction for this year, and our EFC went down by $2000. We had a lot of dental/medical expenses this year that over-offset my dad’s earnings from his second job and brought down our AGI. During college, he’s going to try to teach a second class, but the income may just raise the EFC, so before he teaches it, he’s going to see if it would hurt us in the long run.</p>
<p>“you will be very limited as far as the amount of stuff you may/may not be able to do once you get to school,”</p>
<p>Yea, that’s exactly my problem. Between my grants, scholarships, and workstudy, the full expense of tuition, fees, dorms, and meal plan are covered, but they want it all paid before the semester starts, and the work study comes in throughout the semester. That leaves me oweing (sp?) several hundred dollars each semester, because they only do a 10 month payment plan for amounts over 5,000. The accounting office must hate me, and I always have to borrow books from my professors, because I don’t have the resources to buy them until the last few weeks of the semester, when workstudy has finally paid off my account. By that time, its worthless. My roommate had to keep getting me visitor parking permits for the first 4 months, because they won’t charge a permit to an overdue account. </p>
<p>-Please don’t be jealous of me.-</p>
<p>Ive read through this forum and i think the real problem is the actual college costs. they’re ridiculously overpriced and it is such a great business that more and more colleges keep opening up. The rate of inflation on college tuition is so crazy that if something doesnt give in the next 30 yrs, i dont know how the students of today will be able to pay for their kid’s college education. And for people with college expense problems(most of us) consider co-ops in college as well, that is what i will do to try to pay off my debt.</p>
<p>State schools are a bargain for in-state students. UCLA tuition is about 9K a year.</p>
<p>More than half the costs many places are living expenses.</p>
<p>Yea funny enough for me an out of state gave me a better scholarship than my in state. So my out of state is cheaper :D</p>
<p>i just filed it online and i’ve gotten an EFC of 14.
what does that mean?</p>
<p>It means that you’ll probably receive some financial aid packages that cover nearly the full cost of attendance (these will include loans and work study, though).</p>