<p>“Eight years ago, Amherst demonstrated its commitment to being a leader in making education more accessible to low-income students by eliminating loans for students from families with incomes of less than $40,000 a year,” said Amherst College President Anthony W. Marx.</p>
<p>So, from the 1998-2008 academic years, 40,000 was the cutoff. I'm guessing that means that until this year, everyone with family incomes > 40,000 had some amount of loans.</p>
<p>"Amherst College’s trustees have voted to replace all loans with scholarships in its financial aid packages beginning in the 2008-09 academic year."</p>
<p>What you're referring to is a new initiative that just took effect for the Class of 2012.</p>
<p>Also, I know of a case: my friend, who this year was admitted to Amherst and Princeton. His EFC was 7,000, and Amherst expected his family to pay approximately 22,000 a year. Princeton, where he will be matriculating next year, is only asking him, the student, for 9,000, through work study. I know Princeton isn't Brown, but it's among those schools that "have reduced or eliminated the parental contribution to the cost of attendance."</p>
<p>No, it means that 8 years ago, they eliminated loans for people making below 40k. Their financial aid policies have become progressively more generous (gotta keep up with the Joneses...) At the time that policy was instituted, it was extremely generous compared to its peer schools. Of course Amherst has updated and enhanced its financial aid policies since then. </p>
<p>Princeton is known for some of the most generous aid in the entire country, whereas Brown's I think tends to be much weaker. I assume your friend is happy with Princeton, but I am willing to guess that Amherst would have re-reviewed his package to match Princeton's award, had he wanted that. I also a friend who received better packages from Amherst than she did from Princeton, you'll find lots of anecdotes in every possible direction.</p>
<p>I know that Amherst only recently eliminated all loans. It was the third school in the country to declare the intention to do this (Princeton and Davidson, I believe, have been doing it for some time). ...
.... I have found the FA office at Amherst to be incredibly receptive. Say what you want about other aspects of Amherst, but the financial aid is, on the whole, amazing.</p>
<p>I'm trying to be objective here. As hard as it is to believe, I genuinely enjoy helping people make informed decisions. Both Amherst and Brown are excellent schools academically, but there are a few nuances, such as location and financial aid, that may help push people toward one direction rather than the other. In my personal opinion, I feel that Amherst has a superior location while Brown has a superior financial aid program.</p>
<p>According to the Princeton Review's "Best Colleges" publication, Brown also consistently ranks very high in regard to Quality of Life, "Happiest Students," though I'm beginning to question that. ^_^</p>
<p>I cannot fathom how you could believe that Brown's financial aid is superior. That is so far from the truth it is laughable.</p>
<p>At the same time, Providence is way more "cosmopolitan" than Amherst. Perhaps you should do a bit more research before trying to help people make informed decisions, huh?</p>
<p>Who even said I went to Brown? I don't have a bias towards either school, unlike you, who can't call any other city other than New York "cosmopolitan." </p>
<p>Amherst's financial aid is definitely a lot better, like unregistered said. Brown's endowment per student is almost 1/4rth of that of Amherst's. Even though that's not indicative of the strength of the undergraduate teaching, it's certainly indicative of financial aid. My package from Amherst was 15,000 more than what Brown gave me, but that's just one example.</p>
<p>I've visited both Philadelphia and Boston: both are cosmopolitan and are comparable to Manhattan, in my opinion. I liked both very much.</p>
<p>As I said, I may be biased toward Amherst, because it happens to be the school I'll be attending, but Brown is an excellent school as well. One can't go wrong choosing one over the other. It comes down to personal preferences and pros and cons, all of which have already discussed at length.</p>
<p>At times, financial aid can be arbitrary and formulaic. I suppose it just bothers me that NYU gave me nearly the same amount in grants as Amherst. It comes down to individual cases. </p>
<p>
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I've visited both Philadelphia and Boston: both are cosmopolitan and are comparable to Manhattan, in my opinion. I liked both very much.
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<p>Amherst = Amherst, Mass
Brown = Providence, RI</p>
<p>If you are planning to attend Brown, as you say, I would suggest you look on a map. You won't find it in either Philly or Boston! I'm just saying... :)</p>
<p>kwu just messages the mods to edit any posts where people call him out. A wonderful way to deal people who make him look stupid, but in the real world nobody is going to be able to edit other peoples' responses to your idiocy. </p>
<p>One of the mods pm'ed me to apologize about the over-editing on this thread and for kwu's insecurity. Let's see if this post gets edited as well. I laugh.</p>