<p>Hello all.</p>
<p>I am a CC transfer student who has declared independent financial status and therefore receives no parental contribution. My Financial Aid award letters for both Amherst and Smith were finalized today, and I am quite conflicted. Smith will cost me $5,000 in loans, $2,500 out of pocket, and an additional $2,500 for books, supplies, travel, etc. Amherst generously offered me a fully inclusive scholarship with a 2,300 credit for miscellaneous expenses. </p>
<p>While I am enthralled with the idea of a women’s college, how can I reject a premier LAC, ranked eighteen places higher than Smith, when they are paying my way?</p>
<p>Is the vibrancy and feminist culture at Smith worth the additional $10,000 per year? I am $10,000 in debt as is, and the thought of mountainous loans is threatening to steer me away from my “dream school.”</p>
<p>Thoughts? </p>
<p>Note: I am a Sociology and Women Studies double major</p>
<p>Not worth $40K. And if you are diligent, you can work while at Amherst, pay off the current $10K, and have zero debt when finished. Hum, after 4 years, zero debt vs. $50K. A no brainer in my book.</p>
<p>While the ranking is irrelevant because Smith, too, is a top LAC, and is as prestigious as Amherst due to its history and existence as a women’s college, the cost difference is significant. Therefore, go to Amherst. Smith is worth neither the debt nor the additional cost when Amherst is offering you debt- and cost-free graduation.</p>
<p>I agree. I will try to haggle with Smith to obtain the original estimate they provided me with upon acceptance, which was a $5,000 loan and books for the remainder of my 2.5 year stay. If they do not agree, I will choose Amherst. What are your thoughts on if I can graduate from Smith with my original 10k plus 13k incurred from there? Still insane? </p>
<p>23k loans, and then an additional 20k contribution? 43k for Smith, 10k for Amherst? 33k is a lot of money. I would probably just go to Amherst. It would really help post-graduation plans, i.e if you want to follow your dreams (rather than follow the money) or just drop off the grid or something. Fit is important, but money is even more so. If Smith offers to cover everything but the loans, I would probably give fit more thought. Otherwise, it would not be very wise to say no to a full ride from Amherst.</p>
<p>Also important: what are your plans after graduating? PhD? Work with non-profits?</p>
<p>I intend to get my PhD and then seek professorship. If I am unsuccessful, yes, I will consider work with non-profits. I am very much oriented towards public service, so I will be happy with either profession. </p>
<p>If money were no object I’d choose Smith, but money is an object.</p>
<p>Take on Amherst unless there’s something that you’re severely uncomfortable with about the school, then I’d choose Smith. What in particular attracts you to Smith? Amherst is also well known as a campus where students are activists and highly involved themselves. You have to decide though, is that aspect of campus worth thousands of dollars a year? Don’t forget if you take loans you have to pay it back with interest, which could accumulate. So for best opportunities after graduation I’d choose the former.</p>
<p>Hi Lavender!!</p>
<p>I’m going to Amherst next year after much debate between Swarthmore, Middlebury, and Berkeley. Looking back, when I went to Amherst, I immediately felt like a fit in. I want to get into finance on Wall St., and I really loved the preppy, east coast vibe of the place. </p>
<p>I feel like Smith might be very similar to Swarthmore. Swarthmore felt quite alternative and not pre-professional at all. It was also overly liberal and too politically active for me. Most kids seemed like they wanted to do PhD’s, which you obviously want. My negatives for Swat/Smith seem like your positives. </p>
<p>My host at Amherst really hated it there. She said that she despised the preppiness (in her words: too much J. Crew, too much sports, too much drinking, not enough political activism, not liberal enough), and how so few students were interested in majors like Women’s studies. She felt like she fit in more at Smith or Hampshire; I think she took a lot of classes there. I asked her why she didn’t choose Smith, Swarthmore, Reed, or all the other colleges she said she had gotten into, and she said Amherst offered her the best financial aid. But, honestly, she seemed quite unhappy with Amherst and I think taking on the extra cost might have benefitted her in the long run. </p>
<p>Anyways, I feel like picking Amherst solely for the “prestige” factor might backfire in the long run. Only you can determine how much the potential loans will burden you in the future. </p>
<p>@Hello657898 Your insight was extraordinarily helpful. I have decided that if Smith agrees to their original estimate of a $5,000 loan per year (rather than the approaching 10,000 they quoted me on Friday) then I am choosing fit over finances. However, if they tell me a penny more I walk. I have to be both rational and emotional, and I think this is the best compromise. </p>
<p>Although I am an amherst mom, you may be a good smith girl! Run the loan repayments and see if smith is worth the fit. I can’t speak to your personal situation, but I know my daughter had many friends at amherst that would have also been great smithies. Wow, you have a great selection to be made! Can’t go wrong on either! Please let us know what you decide.</p>
<p>Thank you, @GA2012MOM. I will surely update you all when I’ve spoken to the Smith Financial Aid Director come Monday. </p>
<p>I read on Amherst’s website that it is not permitted to take food out of the dining hall. It sounds trivial, but being able to eat in private is incredibly important to me. Can anyone speak to how lenient this rule is?</p>
<p>You really need to call the school to ask if there are exceptions. Have you checked with Smith as well? </p>
<p>Information on Smith’s website specifically allows food to be taken elsewhere on campus, provided student’s supply their own Tupperware. I have a list of questions for Amherst (mainly regarding my housing, as I require a medical single), and will definitely ask about the dining situation. </p>
<p>I have no advice for you lavender, just my daughters time there. She is in medschool, starting rotations and is begging to get her family practice rotation in amherst…just to be there. Obviously just an one person observation, but a real and valid one at that. </p>
<p>I wonder how they compare in terms of academic rigor. I had a 4.0GPA in CC, took between 5-6 classes per semester (albeit, 3 credit courses), and worked between 10-20 hrs/w tutoring. It was stressful, but not impossible. I am hoping 4 classes at either will not overwhelm me. </p>
<p>You will be fine at either if that is what you are used to! Amherst has 4 classes per term, if you need a 5th you have to get approval from an advisor. I am not sure why that would be neccessary, the beauty of Amherst is the no core! Take whatever interests you. </p>
<p>Does anyone know if incoming students register during orientation or earlier in the summer? I am hoping that the classes I have selected, should I choose, Amherst aren’t full already.</p>
<p>Incoming students register during around the days of orientation. however, freshmen are the last to register so it is very likely that many classes are already full. Also, from what you want out of college it seems that Smith is a better fit. I really enjoy Amherst, and although there is amazing diversity of personalities, I have to say that Amherst people tend to be very “normal”, which I really like. By “normal” I mean that you are fairly social, like to party, do sports, and do well at school. From the people I’ve met at Smith, it does seems like they are more quirky. Overall at Amherst, the people who most succeed socially are the ones who are sociable and know how to make friends, deal with others, and adapt to the environment. which I think holds anywhere. </p>
<p>PROUD FUTURE SMITHIE:</p>
<p>I know declining a full ride from the most prestigious Liberal Arts College in the country sounds absurd, but I had to think very critically about what was best for me not only monetarily, but emotionally. </p>
<p>I want to be happy, and Smith delivers. Amherst is fabulous, no doubt, but it is not for me. </p>