<p>I have so far been accepted to three schools (Amherst, Williams, and the honors forum at Skidmore College) Of the three, Amherst and Williams are the only contenders. I have received my aid package from Amherst and Skidmore, but not Williams. Amherst expects my family to pay $4,000 a year; Skidmore expects us to pay $15,000. I thought that was a huuuuuuge disparity there.</p>
<p>Has anyone else seen such a massive difference in their financial aid offers from different schools?</p>
<p>That is quite a difference for two schools. You can check it yourself against reality. Just take each school's COA (cost of attendance) and your own EFC (estimated family contribution), and see what they provide to make up the difference. Is Skidmore saying that you need to take out larger loans or are they just expecting you to pay more because your EFC is higher for them. It is possible to negotiate by calling the FA office.</p>
<p>I would negotiate, but I have no desire to attend Skidmore, so it's not worth it. Actually, though, $2,000 of what Skidmore offered me was a loan, so they're giving me even less than I thought. Everything Amherst offered me is in grants. If it were the other way around, I'd be very upset, as I have a strong desire to attend Amherst and Skidmore was my safety school, but I still found it very odd. Both schools have an estimated cost of attendance around 46k per year.</p>
<p>I just hope that the Williams package (and the aid from any other schools I am potentially admitted to) will be closer to Amherst's offer!</p>
<p>Amherst and Williams will have similar packages. They compete for the same students.</p>
<p>Ahh that's good, at least.</p>
<p>I just don't understand how Skidmore could say that my family would be able to pay $15,000 a year. Man.</p>
<p>It's just that the endowments are much larger at Williams and Amherst, and they guarentee to meet need, while Skidmore is less affluent and does not have the guarentee.</p>
<p>Admissions can be a bit strange.</p>
<p>Hmmm yeah I was just surprised. Everyone was raving about how good Skidmore's aid was.</p>
<p>Did anyone else have such widely differing aid packages?</p>
<p>For me, Amherst expects a little less than $3600 while Williams expects a little more than $1400. Those are not really "widely differing aid packages," but Williams is currently less than half the price of Amherst for me. :)</p>
<p>Ooooh man.</p>
<p>If my Williams package is similar to yours, I will very likely be attending there next year!</p>
<p>(Are you probably going to Williams? Disregarding financial aid, do you have a clear first choice between Williams and Amherst and why? I am struggling between the two currently, and I haven't even received my Williams aid package yet!)</p>
<p>I don't have a clear first choice...and actually, in examining the financial aid more closely, I notice that Amherst technically offered me more aid, but the overall cost of Williams is lower. Amherst seems to have significantly more money allocated to personal expenses, travel, and books. But I'm looking at the bottom line... :p</p>
<p>For me, Williams's strong economics program is a major plus, but otherwise I'm quite torn between the two.</p>
<p>Yeah. I am soooo torn. I have 79435734975 reasons why I would love Williams more and just as many reasons why I would be happier at Amherst. It's soo hard. :(</p>