Need Based Aid Forum

[alicen]

efc=0, got 75k from columbia. happieee

[adt231]

efc=0, got 75k from columbia. happieee

that's amazing! Congrats.

[c_dubya_s]

Just found this thread, so my contributions may be a little late, but as a member of the EFC=$0 I thought I'd share.

1) GULC gave me $30,000 a year in combined need/merit aid
2) Penn gave me $51,000 in need-based aid over 3 years
3) $0 in need-based from all other schools (UVA, Michigan, Berkeley, NYU), although I have generous merit schollys from Michigan (which eliminated me from consideration for need-based grants) and UVA

[thelawyler]

I'm bumping this as another EFC 0 applicant.

Most of the people here with good need-based grants have high GPAs. Any splitters getting good aid at Penn or NYU? Especially for ED candidates... I'm guessing ED matters less for need-based aid or am I totally off?

[buckilaw]

I'm bumping this as another EFC 0 applicant.

Most of the people here with good need-based grants have high GPAs. Any splitters getting good aid at Penn or NYU? Especially for ED candidates... I'm guessing ED matters less for need-based aid or am I totally off?

It depends. I would think that most schools don't look at your numbers when awarding need based aids, especially if the office of financial aid is not part of the admissions office - of course this may be a bit of a naive view. But, I know Michigan gives need based aid to ED admits, and I've heard of Duke doing the same, so that supports the supposition that need based aid isn't really tied to numbers.

Of course if you ED somewhere you still run the risk of receiving suboptimal need based aid because you can't compare offers. And even if you have an EFC of zero there is still a risk that you may not receive any need based aid; I think pell grant eligibility in undergrad is the better predictive measure for predicting need based aid in law school admissions.