Isn't EFC for medical school fundamentally flawed?

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MDapplicant578124

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When calculating EFC, most schools use the CSS profile, which to my knowledge does not have the parent list any children in graduate school. Thus, they assume the parent is giving 0 dollars to other children in graduate school. Yet, they are calculating how much money they expect the parent to give you during graduate school? so they assume the parent is giving 0 to any other kids in grad school yet will magically give all the funds to the student currently applying?

By all means correct me if I'm understanding this wrong, but I don't see why they don't take into account other children in grad school if they are expecting the parent to contribute to the current applicant.

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When calculating EFC, most schools use the CSS profile, which to my knowledge does not have the parent list any children in graduate school. Thus, they assume the parent is giving 0 dollars to other children in graduate school. Yet, they are calculating how much money they expect the parent to give you during graduate school? so they assume the parent is giving 0 to any other kids in grad school yet will magically give all the funds to the student currently applying?

By all means correct me if I'm understanding this wrong, but I don't see why they don't take into account other children in grad school if they are expecting the parent to contribute to the current applicant.
Because they don't care? Grad school is probably considered more discretionary than UG, so they're probably justifying it by saying that they're not telling all of your siblings not to go to grad school, but if that's a decision your family wants to make, and it has assets and income, you can borrow to meet your EFC.

The alternative would be that pretty much all of us would end up having significant financial need, and they would then have to ration the available money among us. This is just a quick and dirty way to screen most of us out to then meet the (almost) full need of those who are left (those with little to no discretionary income and assets, without regard to who else is going to grad school).
 
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