<p>First of all, Dartmouth is not my soon-to-be alma mater. I am an alum, and this all happened to me.</p>
<p>You are right that I did not tell my entire story, because no one's entire family circumstances would fit. Yes, my dad did go back to work, but my mom also had to leave her job so it evened out. I did not think it was necessary for me to relay every circumstance of my parent's financial situation. Let me be more clear: I am thrilled to see that some people received generous offers from Dartmouth financial aid, and that they have had positive experiences with the office. I was not so fortunate. My advice to people is double check on your offers, confirm them specifically before you leave for orientation. If you think I am full of it, ignore me and that's fine, hopefully you will not suffer for it come September. I would not wish my experience(s) on anyone.</p>
<p>Also, perhaps Dartmouth is on the generous end of the financial aid spectrum. While this is a terrifying thought to me, I can't comment on that since I applied ED and am not in a position to compare. There are probably many other people on this board who can compare schools.</p>
<p>How does financial aid work with early decision applicants? I want to apply for early decision to Dartmouth, but after if I'm accepted, what happens if I don't receive a fulfilling finacial aid offer? It's not like I'd be able to back out anyway, I'm boudn.</p>
<p>That's the age-old debate of early decision: you don't get to appeal your aid with another package. Plus, "fulfilling" in their mind may be different than in yours.</p>
<p>I applied ED but was deferred. I did get in RD and also had a bunch of financial aid offers better than dartmouth. I wrote a letter, sent a few of the other packages and Dartmouth beat every offer</p>