<p>whew..guess I've been lucky...finaid hasn't changed my initial award!</p>
<p>i emailed them explaining the problem, and they were very understanding...they reduced my parents' contribution back to what was initially promised in my ED award. YAY!!! :D I love Williams!</p>
<p>you are so lucky!! poor me..wuwuw..how to make them be understanding to me too??!!</p>
<p>i had some not-so-pleasant correspondence with paul boyer of the Finaid office...but, thankfully my award remained the same as it was when I got my ED. But the loan's quite a lot...get the feeling that they're not <em>too</em> international friendly...!</p>
<p>If I were you,</p>
<p>If I were you, I would e-mail finaid and tell them that you will not be able to attend under the current financial constraints. Or, if you applied RD, you can show them what the other schools have given you.</p>
<p>miaomoo: </p>
<p>Ask the finaid office about the exchange rate they used to calculate your finaid. I had to go through a whole lot of drama yesterday with the finaid office because of the exchange rate.....aargh....unpleasant memory ....just want to forget the whole thing.</p>
<p>wait, did mikeyd223 say there are a lot of restaurants in williamstown? I'm pretty sure I only saw 3 or 4 when I was there...am I correct in believing that williamstown basically consists of a street--spring street? or is there more to it that I didnt see?</p>
<p>There are at least a dozen or so within walking distance -- not only on Spring Street, but also Water Street and Routes 2 and 7...</p>
<p>hey y'all intls wrangling with williams' fin aid, i'm with you, too! williams must have a really strange formula, because i received 15k+ finaid from other colleges. we've fought hard on this, yet we've got nothing. paul's responses smacked of biting sarcasm. i got zero aid from williams, and it going to be a really big strain on family resources if i attend. i really don't know, wesleyan is the next choice. even if my parents decide to pay up, i'll still be weighed down with a great sense of responsibility.</p>
<p>I don't even think Williams [or rather paul boyer] cares whether or not you attend another college rather than williams bcos of fin aid. Check this out: "We're sorry we can't compete with the better offers you received from Wes and Conn Coll......Thank you for your interest in Williams. Good luck making your decision." Later responses were no less comforting.</p>
<p>all this just leaves one with a very bad aftertaste in the mouth.</p>
<p>that sucks, jrock. You shouldn't think of it that williams doesn't want you, but rather that wesleyan and ct college REALLY REALLY do want you. Did you get a freeman from wes? If you did, that would be impossible to turn down I think. It is an amazing place, and if you chose it (or Ct. college, but I know less about that) I'm sure you will have an amazing time. I totally know how it feels to turn down you dream school because of money, but when it comes down to it, these schools are more similar than different, and we can make our college time what we want it to be. good luck!</p>
<p>Yes. There are more than 3 or 4 restaurants in W-town.</p>
<p>So... this is the deal with financial aid from Williams (and likely other similar schools). Schools decide on a set of schools that they consider their direct competitors. They tend to match offers from their direct competitors, and ONLY their direct competitors. It's quite likely that Boyer does not call the shots on the schools that are included as "direct competitors".</p>
<p>Conn Coll is most certianly not considered a direct competitor, and Wesleyan is probably not considered a direct competitor (thought it might be?). I have seen cross admit data from Williams (several years ago), and about two-thirds of all students who turn Williams down end up matriculating at one of four schools. Students will sometimes prefer Amherst and Swat, but the overlap in applicants between Williams and these two schools is not as sizeaable as you might think. Wesleyan and Williams do not share many overlap applicants. Anyways, if Williams is not consistently losing students to School X or School Y in large numbers, these schools will not be on the direct competitors list. Thus Williams will not match.</p>
<p>You have great options JRock, and it's Williams' loss if you don't attend. That said, I'm disappointed with Boyer's response. He could have explained inm greater detail why Williams was not able to match the other schools. You can imagine how many calls/e-mails he is receiving on a daily basis.</p>
<p>Funding a four year education at an elite private school such as Williams has become increasingly difficult for middle-low upper middle class students. Like some of you here, I too was misled by Williams claim "If you can get into Williams, then you can afford to go to Williams". I think its important to remember that like other private schools, Williams is first a business and second an institution of learning.<br>
To those that are having difficulty digesting their financial aid packages but earnestly want to go to Williams, I have a few suggestions. First, accept your financial aid package for now, you can freely go to the financial aid office to "discuss" your financial award once on campus and contrary to the letter that accompanies your first semester bill, you do not have to pay the entire amount before the first day of class. When you go to the financial aid office, make it absolutely clear that neither you nor your family has the means to send you to Williams for four years given you financial award. Firmly, but respectfully, let them understand that they must award a higher financial award in order for you to attend Williams. When I told Mr. boyer that my family could not afford the estimated financial contribution of $23,000 a year, he told me that I should reconsider attending Williams. I left the office extremely disappointed and discouraged. However, I was persistent, and eventually my persistence paid off. Williams current endowment is so large, that awarding an extra $10,000 to a financial aid student is like pocket change. The ceaseless amount of construction either planned or in progress, is a testament to the amount of money that the school currently has. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED!! BE PERSISTENT!!!</p>
<p>that much is understandable. at leats Boyer is quite nice to me in his reply email though the refusal is as firm as it could be.</p>
<p>thx xanadu83, i'm not asian so i didn't get freeman, but the letter stated only over 20 intls got intl scholarships, excluding freeman.</p>
<p>thanks MikeyD223. we actually sent a series of further emails to Mr Boyer, and they made more deductions, but they said that wasn't enough to warrant an adjustment of my decision. i think he sincerely reviewed our case and was very patient, etc, but as miaomoo said, quite firm. yeah, and as you said, i don't think wiliams competes with wes/conncoll, etc.</p>
<p>and thanks too for your advice creon448. </p>
<p>i really love williams. and in the first place, i consider it an honor to have been admitted. i mean it's really wonderful for an institution to give free money to intl students. it's a privilege, and i'm grateful for all the offers i received. also, the admissions office operates separately from fin aid, i think? since williams is need blind...so of course, while they really want a student to attend, the aid office may not be saying the same thing.</p>
<p>i would also like to ask if you think the need blind policy is responsible for this "aid shortage"? since they now admit students regardless of need. anyway it's nice to know you got in rather than being rejected without knowing that it was because of your financial need....</p>
<p>in my personal opinion, i think non-need blind colleges rarely give as much problems with aid. they meet one's need fully. all the people i know who got into conn coll [full aid btw] got 100% grant, no loan, work study or anything. even my own award was pure grant. they may not be so rich but then, they only admit the students they can fund....</p>
<p>and in fact, i think williams may have finished disbursing their resources, in terms of fin aid available for intls, that's why i think all negotiations for now may prove futile...in spite of having a large endowment, the money is never to be touched, only the interest gets to be spent, am i right?</p>
<p>besides, i haven't seen nor smelt my admission package yet, and that is not helping matters....not been able to read the little note that may have been written at the bottom of the admit letter, nudging me to come. they never even sent a brochure or viewbook or whatever!!! and i just wonder why they don't fedex or dhl the stuff! this is so not funny....</p>
<p>...but the one thing that makes "W" still stand out is it's personal admit letter. Amherst doesn't even do that.....that really makes all the difference.</p>
<p>agree to what Jrock says.I also suspect the need-blind policy is making it hard for the college to meet the full need for some, esp int'l. as for the delayed mailing, you can check with the admission office and they'll tell you where they sent your packet to (another college misspelt my address and I had to ask them to send again. so you'd better check if they sent to the wrong address.) most likely they'll reply you pretty fast, but actually I personally feel there's nothing very exciting in that packet.(maybe I had too high an expectation as a friend of mine got a 600-page book from Uchicago)</p>
<p>I don't think its a good idea to suggest that someone agree to attend the school if they can not afford it, with the assumption that the school will increase their aid package once they are on campus. In fact, thats a terrible idea. Negotiate aid now, not once you have already committed to paying for at least a year.</p>
<p>creon448 are you intl? cos intls have to present proof that funds are available before the I-20 can be issued, visa, etc...</p>
<p>okay, I just got my PACKAGE, prospectus included, plus that nice little note i was expecting to see at the bottom of the letter:) my parents have decided to let me attend. this has placed on me a huge responsibility, and, obviously i'm gonna be on an extremely tight budget: no shopping, no laptop, no going home for the next 2 years, on-campus job, summer job/internship/research, and most obviously, no social life.</p>
<p>this is going to be a miracle!</p>
<p>so miaomoo, what happened with williams aid decision? where have you decided to go?</p>