<p>My dd was accepted at both. OWU gave lots more money, but she likes Earlham better. She is more liberal, into the sciences (biology or environmental studies). How do you decide? She spent the night at both and went to classes, but do you decide based only on the money or which is a better school academically and better at preparing for the future.</p>
<p>They are about equal academically, but for LACs fit is really important. I applied to Earlham, and really like the school, so I’m inclined to say go there.</p>
<p>Earlham certainly is the better one for sciences. </p>
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<p>[Ph.D</a>. Production | Earlham College](<a href=“http://www.earlham.edu/about/phd-production]Ph.D”>http://www.earlham.edu/about/phd-production)</p>
<p>My dd liked Earlham better too overall as did I, but her father is looking at the money situation instead. What intrigues me is that OWU keeps giving her more and more money and she isn’t the strongest student academically. Would love to get inside the admissions office! Thanks for your suggestions!</p>
<p>Interesting. My son applied to OWU last year. He was awarded merit money from them. I don’t have the figures in front of me, but they were not the most generous for my son. They came in the middle in terms of the bottom line for my child if I remember correclty. We toured both schools, but my son did not care for Earlham and never applied (I loved the school, but I was not the one going to college ;)). </p>
<p>The one thing that concerned me about OWU was that the dorms were set apart from the academic buildings. I don’t know how that walk is during bad weather days/months. Otherwise, we loved the campus.</p>
<p>I don’t blame her father for looking at the costs. This was very high on our list of considerations. I guess it just depends upon family finances and priorities.</p>
<p>FWIW, I think that your DD would be able to get a very good education at both schools.</p>
<p>Just exactly what does “lots more money” mean for your family? Sit down with your husband and your daughter and run the numbers through this handy calculator from our friends at FinAid.org [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid) Talk about what the difference in cost can mean for your family.</p>
<p>I guess my problem is that when I went to college a while back, my parents didn’t ask me if I wanted to go, but where. It just seems so unfair. My dd has some LD’s and depression and anxiety and I worry if she’s at the school she didn’t like just for the money, it may not work. We also weren’t impressed with the school layout and she didn’t care for the student atmosphere (1/3 of OWU is greek). We are so torn about this. Al;so wonder what happens if after a semester she doesn’t like the school and wants to transfer, back to the less money again. I’d consider state school, but she needs a very small school. She doesn’t want the local CC because she doesn’t want to stay home and after the high school years and school, I don’t want her here aslo, LOL! Has anyone ever called a school and asked for more money?</p>
<p>Yes, people do call and ask for more money. This can work if two schools are quite similar. Your daughter can write to Earlham and include a copy of OWU’s merit aid offer and ask them if they can match it, saying she prefers Earlham but the price differential makes attendance at Earlham a problem for the family. Someone over in the financial aid forum can help you with the wording. She could fax this to the school and follow it up with a phone call. There have been past posts about doing this.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/860219-how-ask-more-money.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/860219-how-ask-more-money.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1070073-merit-scholarships-will-schools-match-other-offers.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1070073-merit-scholarships-will-schools-match-other-offers.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1099335-negotiating-financial-offer.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1099335-negotiating-financial-offer.html</a></p>
<p>If Earlham perceives itself to be a much better school than OWU, this probably won’t work, but it doesn’t hurt to try. They are not going to rescind her offer of admission or take money away. I would suggest you give it a shot.</p>
<p>If you only chase the money, but the fit is poor, it may not work and end up costing more in terms of DD’s health and cost you more in dollars if she ends up transferring. That is absolutely something to consider. There are so many variables once one is on campus though, that it can be hard to access. My son is involved in Greek life. I never pictured him doing this, and I did not want it for him either. It turned out to be a great decision for him and he has gotten a lot out of Greek life. I say this to show you that one never knows what choices students will make, and what opportunities they find and take advantage of that you never knew about, or thought about when making these decisions. Really, I thought my son would be one of the last students to consider Greek life (he even said that was not interested just before he left to go to college).</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses. I never knew it would be such a hard decision to make. I know you never know how your child will turn out regardless of where they went. That’s a good suggestion about letting Earlham know about OWU financial aid package. I guess anything is worth a try. I also agree about transferring considering I did it 3 times! I lost advanced credits along the way too and had to spend an extra summer there. I know now she’s dead set on going to Earlham so I guess it will be a moot point at this time. Only thing is, my dh won’t stop talking about the money from OWU! Does anyone know why OWU can throw out so much money even when a child isn’t a standout? Someone told me that after their son sent in their card saying they were going elsewhere, OWU offered them even more money. Seems like their desperate for students!</p>
<p>I think it just depends upon how much they want your child as far as merit money. As I said, OWU did not do this with our son. Their package was squarely in the middle of my son’s options. Another higher ranked school sent a letter to my son after he turned them down to offer him more funding. At that point my son had his heart somewhere else that was affordable. He was not willing to consider at the other school’s new offer. I knew it would not beat the school he is now attending so I did not push the issue (they wanted him to call to get that offer, but he never called them).</p>
<p>My dh just talked to Earlham. They said that if you have a lot of medical bills which I told them we do, then we can submit a Request for Review of Financial Aid Award to ask for more help. He’s also going to send them a letter saying how much OWU offered. On top of that, my ds goes to Earlham and he needs to take out a loan for his last year so we’re going to see if they’ll give him more money.</p>