<p>Sorry to hear that.
I got a very good financial package from Tufts. Over $20K in Tufts Grant,
plus Staf. loan and Perkins loan & work study. The package was as good or better than Brandeis and WPI. My parents don't make barrels of money, but they do ok.</p>
<p>No doubt, my entire education was almost paid with the grants I got from Tufts. My parents do well enough (chemical engineer and geologist) but I did grow up in a particularly poor area of the state so that might have something to do with it all...</p>
<p>My friend was given a suprisingly small financial aid package given her situation... and when she talked to them about it, it turned out they had actually plugged in the numbers wrong. So definately talk to them!</p>
<p>That said, they gave me ~10k less than oberlin and ~5K less than skidmore but haven't budged yet -sigh-</p>
<p>There seems to be a big swing in results, driven by whether a school offers merit aid. Many of the "just below the elite" schools use merit aid to attract top students. Tufts does not. While it will meet "demonstrated need" for all students, it may calculate it a bit differently, and is NOT needs-blind in admissions.</p>
<p>My D was accepted into Tufts, Brandeis, BC, and WPI. All made the same assessment on a needs basis - she did not qualify for ANY financial aid.</p>
<p>However, WPI and Brandeis both offered her merit scholarships. WPI offered $21k/yr, provided she majored in Chem or Biology. Brandeis offered 4 years of full tuition regardless of major (contingent upon maintaining a specific GPA), plus a research opportunity in Biology/Biochem that comes with a stipend.</p>
<p>In a vacuum, she may have chosen Tufts (did want a more urban campus that Brandeis). In the real world, she's going to Brandeis (and is quite excited about it). In her case, it all came down to the philosophy of the schools - which one wanted her the most and was willing to work for it.</p>
<p>The financial aid package was a deciding factor for my D, as well. Tufts really offered a decent package ... lots of grant money. However, as stated above, the schools that offer merit money can be a better deal. That's what happened with my D. For students who might not want the kind of schools that offer merit, or for those who just don't qualify for the merit scholarships, Tufts is a pretty fair deal. </p>
<p>The interesting thing, though, is that while Tufts did offer a lot of grant money ... Vanderbilt offered more. Even though it's a slightly more expensive school, Vandy came out a couple thousand less than Tufts. Profile schools look at different things, and Tufts must have expected more of people with our particular financial situation than Vandy.</p>
<p>I just called the Finaid office, and they instructed me to send an email with all of my arguments/concerns for more finaid to my assigned counselor. Has anyone done this yet? Does it take awhile? The deadline for me to decide is May 7th! Ah! Has anyone been successful in this getting more aid through this email method? I'm worried I won't present it properly and I won't make the cut for more aid...</p>