<p>D was accepted. She is very happy - however, I do have to admit that Smith is expensive. They were very fair with their FinAid package - but it only is an indication of what they will do for you the first year. </p>
<p>When I went to college, albeit a while ago, I was in the same situation. I went to a very expensive college, was given grants, etc. to attend the first year and they all disappeared the second year. Left my parents in the lurch for a large sum of money. They never really discussed this with me, but I have come to realize it during conversations with them over the years. I do understand that this all depends highly on our financial situation from year to year. We do have enough money saved to cover the "difference" for the first year but things will change for subsequent years.</p>
<p>I don't want D to matriculate somewhere the first year only to find out that she won't be able to return for financial reasons. I do notice that they have a high retention rate between freshman/sophomore years and hope that is an indication that they make an effort to retain their students. Can any of you shed light on your experiences?</p>
<p>This is our first one going off to college, so any insight would certainly be appreciated! Also, my husband was laid off recently and I don't think it will be easy for us to obtain any loans right now. </p>
<p>At any school you go to, grants will gradually go down over 4 years and loans will go up as a percentage of your financial aid package. My understanding is that this is based on a standard formula from the federal government (note: a few schools have a large enough endowment--or a small enough group of students eligible for need-based aid--that they can replace loans with grants. Smith isn't one of those schools).</p>
<p>But in any event, Smith promises to meet full demonstrated need (again, demonstrated is based on federal formulas--a lot of people think they need more aid than the government determines!) for all 4 years. So if your financial situation is worse next year, the financial aid package should reflect that, and you'll get a higher total amount of aid (loans + grants). </p>
<p>It might be worthwhile for you to talk with a financial aid officer at Smith and have them "run the numbers" for a couple different scenarios with you. I'm sure this is a very busy time of year for them but it doesn't hurt to ask. I'd advise getting as much in writing as possible (email is great for that) because I've had Fin. Aid experiences where my recollections of a conversation differ from the staff's.</p>
<p>Our financial situation worsened because of major illnesses in our family, and Smith was extraordinarily generous in making up the difference, for which we are eternally grateful.</p>
<p>The amount of maximum Stafford loans is set by the federal government. It goes up some after the 1st year, but not very substantially.</p>
<p>As Stacy said, the first year of FinAid is the best but it doesn't get horrible. D is graduating with something like $12K in loans. We borrowed substantially more than that but as we had a much lower income for many years and didn't save at the time, we don't have a beef coming and Smith has been fairly--not completely--reasonable in how they look at our income (I'm self employed, which introduces some wrinkles in how you choose to evaluate aspects of tax returns, adding some deductions back in as "income").</p>
<p>Btw, if you do need parental loans, check out the MEFA loan program run by the state of Massachusetts...even if your student is from another state. Very good interest rates and helped a lot in making it doable...not pleasant, but doable.</p>
<p>The cost of Smith is my least favorite aspect of it. But D understands that if her inheritance winds up being less than what it would have been, her undergrad education was part of it. </p>
<p>I feel better about our loans in about five years.</p>