<p>My D is going into her second year - when do you get informed of the new financial aid award?</p>
<p>If memory serves, it was sometime in early to mid July. Not a lot of time to pull together whatever scratch we were going to pay out of current funds and then get our MEFA loan for the year put together.</p>
<p>Speaking of which, does anyone know if MEFA has resumed lending? They got caught up in the credit squeeze and I read where they suspended making loans. Theirs were the best around.</p>
<p>I’m getting ready for a minor celebration: next month we will have paid back $10K. Whoo hoo!</p>
<p>Thanks - I needed to know what to expect. I like to plan ahead.</p>
<p>We still don’t have ours yet either - it is frustrating</p>
<p>Well, folks, my least favorite thing about Smith was a) paying for it and b) finding the money to pay for it. The notification is just one more splinter on the banister of life as far a the finances go. </p>
<p>Fortunately, I think it was worth it.</p>
<p>I will agree on the worth it part but it is a lot of hurry up and wait and I’m not sure why we can’t gat our FA info at the same time as the admits.</p>
<p>Question…does FA change drastically from the first year to the second year? What I’m scared of is that one year, the package might be super enticing (like as a first year) but that the price might get bumped up by a few thou’ second year. </p>
<p>I realize that Smith is (of course) an incredible school and pretty well endowed, but I’d just like to know what to expect.</p>
<p>Furthermore, how often do Smithies get that award - the one where it’s 20k per year if you get above a 3.5 GPA?</p>
<p>Thanks.
:)</p>
<p>(Sorry for hijacking the thread!)</p>
<p>OWM, part of it may be figuring how much money they have to divvy up after the admits, the wait list, etc. I’m sure there’s a budget number. But I suspect that number is pushed and pulled.</p>
<p>MM, our net cost went up a little every year, but so did financial aid, though the net cost also went up. At least this is my recollection. But it was a marginal increase in cost, not a catastrophic increase.</p>
<p>Don’t know what award you’re talking about for having above a 3.5.
D certainly never got $20K for it.</p>
<p>Miss_murd3r, are you talking about the Zollman scholarship? I believe that’s 20K and you have to have a phenomenal GPA. Very, very, very few students receive it. It’s even more difficult to receive than a STRIDE.</p>
<p>Can you even get a Zollman scholarship once you’ve already enrolled? I was pretty sure that they only offered it to entering prospective students, I’ve never heard of anyone being able to apply for/be eligible for one later on. </p>
<p>There are various cash prizes that you can apply for as a student at the end of the year (there should be a prizes or a departmental awards section on the website somewhere). These are usually given out by the different departments and they vary in amount widely from $25 to a few hundred dollars or more. English Dept. has a ton of them “Best collection of poems by a first-year” or “best short story” for example, other departments have different ones. And then there are one or two that are given for high-achievement. There’s one they give to the student in the first-year class with the highest GPA at hte end of first year.</p>
<p>[Smith</a> College: Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.smith.edu/finaid/prospect/aid_merit.php]Smith”>http://www.smith.edu/finaid/prospect/aid_merit.php)</p>
<p>Yup, I was talking about the Zollman. It says its for first year students. It would be cool to get it…haha. High hopes!</p>
<p>Thanks for the additional info, S&P. They don’t really advertise those types of cash prizes on the site or anything. </p>
<p>Thanks for the response, TD. I was also curious on another matter…</p>
<p>With payment options, parents have the ability to pay per month, right? (Instead of footing the whole bill the first time.) What are the provisions behind that? Would there be “interest” accumulated? I always suspected that my parents would pay it all in full, but we’ve been talking about the idea of paying per month. Can someone explain that?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Zollman awards are announced at the same time as STRIDE’s. If you haven’t already been notified…</p>
<p>Yes, unfortunately the Zollman is given out to incoming first year students with their financial aid package, so if you haven’t been notified then you were not selected for that or for any of the other merit awards, sorry 
</p>
<p>I guess they don’t really advertise the prizes cause they don’t want it to be come a “do it for the cash” thing, they want it to be something that you do because you put a lot of academic pride into a piece of work that is really good and you want to be recognized for it. So for that same reason, they don’t publish the amounts that each prize is worth, and they won’t tell you unless you win one. Most schools offer departmental prizes similar to that, they’re usually things that alums set up in trust. They’re pretty competitive, but if you’re taking a class in a department where a relevant prize is offered and it’s near submission time, your professor will tell you about them and what to do. But you should definitely go for one if you are eligible! Even if you don’t win, it’s fun to try and to prepare some of your coursework and get it into the best possible shape. Totally worth it.</p>
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<p>Yes. There’s something called TuitionPay which your parents have to sign up for starting in July, before the official bill arrives (I think) but when Smith sends the preliminary amount. You pay a yearly activation fee of about $100 – I can’t remember exactly – and then the total amount is spread over nine or ten months, depending on when you started the payments. If you allow them to take automatic withdrawals from your bank account, then you don’t have to pay anything extra above the tuition and the activation fee. </p>
<p>If you receive outside scholarships or have to deduct from 529/tuition accounts that cannot be placed in your parents’ bank account and have to be paid directly to Smith, then you have to outline the sources to the Smith financial services and add TuitionPay for the remainder. The outside sources have to be paid at the time each semester’s bill is due. If you have any questions, call Smith’s FA office. They will help you and your parents through the logistics.</p>
<p>Here is a link to the Tuition Pay web site. I think that it cost $50 to set up, and there is no interest. I was actually kind of excited to see the first payment deducted on June 1:</p>
<p><a href=“https://tuitionpay.salliemae.com/tuitionpay/TppHome.aspx?ficeno=002209[/url]”>https://tuitionpay.salliemae.com/tuitionpay/TppHome.aspx?ficeno=002209</a></p>
<p>^^ We never got our act together soon enough to have to the first payment deducted so early! Although the total amount stays the same, the payments are a little easier to stomach when they are spread out over more months.</p>
<p>Has anyone heard from Smith on their financial aid yet? I’m getting a little anxious as the deadline approaches…just over a month now before payment is due!</p>
<p>Just received the notice for the second year!</p>
<p>Hmm, well I guess I’ll hope that they’ll have the rest of them out soon. :)</p>
<p>We got ours a little over a week ago but we are in MA so mail is quick - Pretty comparable to year one with loan portion a little higher and work study a little lower although D never came close to work study limit in terms of hours she felt she could work and get school work done</p>