Attention SDNers who've completed fafsa...what kinda #s did u see?

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I just got a copy of my online SAR after completing it. I'm a senior now and the program ended up putting me as 'independent' since i marked down a professional degree for med school. i'm looking through it and on the months section, primary and secondary EFC, I just see a bunch of 00000. Is this common? I think I saw a bunch of difference numbers on past fafsas. I'm wondering if I marked something wrong.

Hey Yogi,

I know what your talking about. Since we are now pursuing a doctorate degree the government considers us independent. That is why your EFC is so low..mine is $17. Medical schools will look at your parents income and determine your need. At least this is what I think..can anyone else comment?

if you didn't work in 2002, a bunch of 00000's is to be expected. your EFC is now solely based on your income since you are a professional student and independent. past fafsa's would be different because they included your parent's income.

Ok..thanks for response! i did work in 2002...ended up making 5k. i guess i don't need to contribute anything from that.

I got zeros as well; I was told by financial aid officials at my future school that it's a good idea to include parental information because some of the money they have (some grants and scholarships) can't be distributed w/o parental information.

It's interesting that they base your anticipated income for 2003 on your 2002 income, when everyone plans on becoming a full-time student (no income) in 2003. After all, are you expected to keep earning at 2002 levels when you will be in school full-time?

Originally posted by carrigallen
It's interesting that they base your anticipated income for 2003 on your 2002 income, when everyone plans on becoming a full-time student (no income) in 2003. After all, are you expected to keep earning at 2002 levels when you will be in school full-time?

There's a thread about this in the financial aid forum....there is apparently some form you can fill out if there will be a huge change in your income next year.

Some schools request you to fill out a seperate form (one is called Need access, I know Duke requires it) which asks questions about next year for both you and your parents.

If you're married... do med schools still ask you to put down parental info?

My goodness, my EFC was like $707. I thought that was good til I saw this post. That makes me kind of sad cause I am assuming that I have a higher EFC cause I worked during school. The sad part is that almost all that money went straight to tuition, so I don't have any more money than those people who didn't work! Oh well, still, $707 isn't too horrible, I guess. Anyone else get a number besides 0?

Originally posted by LetMeInPlease
My goodness, my EFC was like $707. I thought that was good til I saw this post. That makes me kind of sad cause I am assuming that I have a higher EFC cause I worked during school. The sad part is that almost all that money went straight to tuition, so I don't have any more money than those people who didn't work! Oh well, still, $707 isn't too horrible, I guess. Anyone else get a number besides 0?

if its not too personal, what was ur income? i think they might cap off income u've earned at a fixed amount before they starting expeccting that u contribute.

Originally posted by relatively prime
If you're married... do med schools still ask you to put down parental info?

You can get Stafford loans without parental info because that's based on your own income. But most med schools have their own institutional grants & scholarships that require parental info, even if you're married.

Originally posted by Yogi Bear
if its not too personal, what was ur income? i think they might cap off income u've earned at a fixed amount before they starting expeccting that u contribute.

I earned just under $9000 in 2002. So the EFC is saying I should pay about 8% if my income. I hope I didn't make a mistake!

Also, I didn't have any investments or anything--not even over $500 in savings, so that wouldn't drive up my net worth...

Bah - all you mofos with sub-$1000 EFCs.

Mine came out to be $26K. Yep, 26 large.

That's what you get for being married, having decent jobs, and filing jointly.

Crap.

- Tae

to respond to a couple of people (before this thread gets bumped to financial aid forum and never seen again...)

compare an EFC of $707 to the budget of $25(public)-$50k(private) each year. a drop in the bucket.

a financial aid person told us at an interview why a parent's income and assets are required. in the FAO they presume that if all other means of financial support are extinguished, then parents would rather take out whatever they can to help their child through medical school than see that student have to drop out due to financial reasons. this is why they look at parents schtuff, even if you are married, supposedly your parents will still help out if push came to shove.

my EFC was above 1k because i've taken a year off to work btn undergrad and med school. if your EFC is absolutely ridiculous, a school has said that, after the financial aid package has been determined, you can fill out a form that instead accounts for your projected income during 2003. for EFC of 26k, that would likely help. 707, not quite as much. this was mentioned at only one school, but i presume more schools would offer something similar.

i think that's all i had intended to address. good luck to everyone!

Originally posted by pocwana
my EFC was above 1k because i've taken a year off to work btn undergrad and med school. if your EFC is absolutely ridiculous, a school has said that, after the financial aid package has been determined, you can fill out a form that instead accounts for your projected income during 2003. for EFC of 26k, that would likely help. 707, not quite as much. this was mentioned at only one school, but i presume more schools would offer something similar.

I hope you're right, 'cause I ain't got 26K.

- Tae

Originally posted by tkim6599
I hope you're right, 'cause I ain't got 26K.

- Tae

you don't?!? why don't you check your other pants

Originally posted by pocwana
you don't?!? why don't you check your other pants

What are those?

- Tae

damn. I'm totally not on top of this financial aid stuff. I am assuming I need to start looking at the FAFSA ASAP. Is it too late to start filling it out??

I took a year off also to work between college and med school also and my EFC was $2500. Which at the time I thought was reasonable but now seems a little much....

Originally posted by looney
damn. I'm totally not on top of this financial aid stuff. I am assuming I need to start looking at the FAFSA ASAP. Is it too late to start filling it out??

Um, I don't know for sure...so don't freak out completely...but I just received the georgetown financial aid info and application and it said that FAFSA was due for them by March 1st. Now, that's the only thing I saw that had that deadline, but my advice would be to get it done today. It's really easy unless you have massive investments, child support and other complicated things to account for.

Oh and my EFC was $8000.

If the deadline for FAFSA is approcahing for most schools (or passed) and we already submitted our info then when do we start to hear about financial aid packages. I never applied for financial aid in undergrad so does anyone know if we get our whole package (ie all the loans and grants etc) or do they some little by little. Also when can we expect them assuming we have already gotten in.

Thanks

BTW, my EFX was also 5 zeros, and I work 5 days a week! Apparently "the man" also agrees that I am one poor SOB.

The FAFSA priority filing dealine was March 1st. You can still file though, the sooner the better.

my EFC is 2300?? wtf....don't they know that i'm dirt poor. i guess maybe b/c i filled out my parents' info as well

Originally posted by TeinVI
my EFC is 2300?? wtf....don't they know that i'm dirt poor. i guess maybe b/c i filled out my parents' info as well

hmm...i filled out my parent's info and it didn't make any difference cuz i'm considered as an independent. unless u have significant savings or had a 10k+ job last year, i don't see why your EFC would be that high. if u accidently selected urself as a dependent, then things might be different....

My EFC was ~$1200. I guess that's good considering I'm married and my husband and I both work right now. It just goes to show you what kind of dead-end jobs we have

My EFC was 0 which I believe most applicants who are seniors now and going directly to med school should have (unless you were able to make some huge bucks during last summer). I included parental data bc some schools want that, and several schools have their own form to fill out in addition to the FAFSA so they can figure out how much your parents should contribute (cuz the fed govt thinks since u are pursuing a professional degree u are independent)

Yah my EFC is way the hell up there, and I had thought it was because I had put parent's info in too. I can't imagine that my EFC would have been that high if it was just based on my earnings--it came out to 1/3 of my Adjusted Gross Income. Or is that about right?

My EFC is ~$13K because I am married and have a working spouse. At one financial aid presentation we were told that spouses are expected to cover the cost of living (i.e., rent, food, etc.)

Also, I wanted to pass along some info from the financial aid handbook from U of Cincinnati. It says that "earning modest amounts of money (e.g. under $6000) will not affect your eligibility for financial aid." So those of you who worked this year, but earned less than 6K, should probably have EFCs of 0.

just to reiterate, your parents income will not be included in your EFC as long as you put down that you're a graduate/professional student. you enter this info to appease the school you will attend and hope you get institutional funds. spouses, however, are included. and my EFC was also about 1/3 my income. psht, yeah right! how do they come up with this stuff?

if you have not yet filled out the FAFSA, do so now. schools award first come first serve and you don't want to be at the end of that line. many, but not all, had a march 1st deadline, so get cracking!

I know this probably belongs in the Financial Aid Forum, but this section always seems to get more traffic...

With the parental info thing, a lot of schools ask for actual 2002 returns, not estimates...my parents haven't even started filling out tax forms yet, so what numbers are you guys using?

Do you mean for the FAFSA or for the school's individual applications? I think that for the FAFSA, the idea is that you CAN use estimates, but once the actual numbers are available you will have to update the FAFSA accordingly. If the school's aid form says to use only actual figures, then I guess you'll just have to wait.

I would seriously try to badger your parents about getting their taxed done ASAP. I started bugging mine in Jan, and was able to get their info in mid-Feb, submitting all my stuff early March. I thought that I was way early, I was surprised to hear that some places have priority deadlines of March 1 (none of the schools I'm thinking about have priority deadlines).

Good luck!

Originally posted by tkim6599
Bah - all you mofos with sub-$1000 EFCs.

Mine came out to be $26K. Yep, 26 large.

That's what you get for being married, having decent jobs, and filing jointly.

Crap.

- Tae

Try almost 40K. Why even bother applying.....does this mean that I am EXPECTED to shell out that much for school before I even look at a grant?

My EFC is about 12K, also about 1/3rd of my income. i really have no idea where they come up with these numbers. They are either forgetting that on the first page of the form we said we'd be full time students next year or they expect people to be able to save 30% of their income (before taxes)!! either way its really dumb. anyway, there was a thread on this in the FA forum -
efc thread

Sounds like if you have an efc you can't afford, the schools will try to make up for it - you're just less eligible for government loans/grants besides stafford.

this is fun!

EFC of 4k. Made $17k last year. I'm a senior now. But not too worried about it. Its not like you have to shell out the 4k right out of your pocket you know. You just don't get the good loans (subsidized stafford) for that amount. Plus its only for one year. Next year I'll be back at zero.
So: don't sweat it too much.

One other thing:
Even if your EFC covers entire tuition and you don't want to pay for it you can still borrow non-sub stafford. As for grants. If its merit-based, then obviously EFC doesn't affect it. And if its need-based, and you have a large EFC, then you're not needy so you won't get it.
The only place where high EFC really hurts you, then, is with need based grants like Umich and UCLA's that automatically cover a good percentage of the difference between EFC and tuition in grants.

this maybe a stupid question, but what does the EFC number mean? Is it equal to how much you shell out per year before the gov gives you money? mine says 08989...please help me interpret. thanks!

-nkow

Originally posted by Tweetie_bird
Try almost 40K. Why even bother applying.....does this mean that I am EXPECTED to shell out that much for school before I even look at a grant?

My sincere sympathies, Tweets. Medicine - she is a harsh mistress.

- Tae

Originally posted by nkow
this maybe a stupid question, but what does the EFC number mean? Is it equal to how much you shell out per year before the gov gives you money? mine says 08989...please help me interpret. thanks!

-nkow

i think that means u'll expected to dish out $8989.

Originally posted by Yogi Bear
i think that means u'll expected to dish out $8989.

What I understood from talking to finaid people at a few schools is that EFC doesn't mean you have to pay that amount out of pocket.
For example if you have severed ties with your billionaire parents and are yourself a penniless student. You'll probably still have a huge EFC because of the parents but can't pay a dime of it.

In such a case you'd have to borrow unsubsidized money. Meaning that the interest is not deffered (payed for by the federal government.)

Here's the breakdown:
The cost of medical education + living - EFC - institutional grants = financial need.

You can get subsidized loans upto the maximum amount or upto to your financial need, whichever is smaller.

Originally posted by tkim6599
My sincere sympathies, Tweets. Medicine - she is a harsh mistress.

- Tae

tell me about it! My hubby and I were hoping to buy a house and I don't think that's possible anymore. Did you guys know that there's some clause on FAFSA about how the money we get for loan/grant is only to be used for educational purposes? So say I want some of it to go to my mortgage etc, I can't do that.

How do married couples pull it off if both parties want to pursue either an MD or PhD? Seems like the only way we can get money here is if we're dirt poor.....

My fasfa says my EFC is bigger than the money my parents make combined! something is wrong! i can't figure out what though... this happen to anytong? STRESS!

how are they supposed to know what you're doing w/ the money? i would think that all they care about is making money off you and probably praying that we can't pay them back on time...yea im bitter...i hate money...although that makes me a sort of hypocrite since i need it right?

Originally posted by Tweetie_bird
tell me about it! My hubby and I were hoping to buy a house and I don't think that's possible anymore. Did you guys know that there's some clause on FAFSA about how the money we get for loan/grant is only to be used for educational purposes? So say I want some of it to go to my mortgage etc, I can't do that.

How do married couples pull it off if both parties want to pursue either an MD or PhD? Seems like the only way we can get money here is if we're dirt poor.....

Yeah ... but isn't it the way it's supposed to be?

I mean, EFC numbers aside, we can all borrow up to our school's projected budget. What differs is how much of it is unsubsidized and private.

But I agree, TB, mortgage or rent, the money would be used to support your education, so I don't see why anyone should care.

- TAe

Time to move this thread now, guys. I made a compromise to let threads live over here for a few days and then move over to the correct forum. You guys can easily follow the redirect link over to the FA forum.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Anyone have a letter "C" at the end of their EFC and have any idea what it means? (mine's "00576C")

I'm so impressed w/ the online fafsa! Though the pages loaded slowly, it only took 1 day for processing. Luv it! Thanks everybody for posting your EFC's--it made it less scary to get an idea before filling it out.

I also have the 'C'. Did you file a 'correction'? I ask because my 'C' only appeared after I did. If not then I assume it refers to cash/savings somehow (maybe means you have some?) as the correction I filed was to add the balance on my checking account as I had forgot the first time...? I'm also curious about what it means...

I can't be positive but I'm pretty sure your C just means corrections. Maybe some more people can give a more definite answer.

And to Tweetie: you can use loan money to pay living expenses. That is included when your school comes up with their estimated cost of living. I know of several couples where both are students and they pay for everything with loans.

bump

Thanks, boy wonder and KyGrl! I didn't file any corrections, but did add my mom's signature electronically.

Originally posted by Tweetie_bird
Try almost 40K. Why even bother applying.....does this mean that I am EXPECTED to shell out that much for school before I even look at a grant?

I think I am screwed. My wife and I made $70,000 together last year, most of which was my income. I assume that my EFC will be through the roof, even though I won't have a job while I'm in school and all of my savings is going to be lost selling my house in a poor market (plus to those blood thirsty real-estate agents)!

And no your not expected to shell it out, your expected to take private loans at a much higher (and compounding) interest rate.