<p>S is deciding between Tufts and Wesleyan. Wesleyan's financial aid package is excellent and if Tufts is close, he will have a decision to make. When D was accepted to Tufts 3 years ago, the financial aid was not good at all, and she did not enroll - hoping things have changed a little since then because I think Tufts would be as good a fit for him as Wesleyan, just different. I think Tufts makes a point of saying they won't match other financial aid offers like other schools do, so doesn't look like that will be an option. Just need to hear about financial aid so we can move forward to the end of this long process.</p>
<p>Agreed! hard to get excited when it might not be an option.</p>
<p>I called the fin aid office just now and the young man who answered said that financial aid information won’t be available until EARLY NEXT WEEK!</p>
<p>That is awful. Signed my S up to visit on the 24th anyway but I really wanted to know this week. Expecting Cornell and Vassar FinAid soon too, but Wes and Tufts are his top two choices. He’s a sensitive, money conscious kid and will be happy to attend wherever makes the most sense financially for us and for him.</p>
<p>Are you sure? Someone else said they were posting packages up today!</p>
<p>I’m sure of what he said- not sure who’s right. I do remember though, seeing something on the site somewhere about information being available on the sixth…I’m going to keep checking just in case. Hard to believe there would be such a delay.</p>
<p>I just called and asked and she said they’ll be mailed out by tomorrow. Not sure if that means today.</p>
<p>She said the packages should be up by Monday.</p>
<p>Yeah, i have heard from other people (at my HS, older siblings of friends, even on here) that Tufts is pretty stingy with aid. I got some aid from Brown and Georgetown, and a good package from Villanova. Also good package from BU. Tufts is high on my list (probably a tie with Brown) but I can’t go to Tufts if their package is as weak as I expect it will be.</p>
<p>Keep jumping the hurdles, gang – make short list of schools, write essays, apply, receive decisions, receive aid, pick your new home – we’re almost there. But those last two steps make writing essays and applying look like a pice of cake…</p>
<p>Agreed. BC just revised my D’s package to offer her more money, which we did not expect. No idea what made them change their minds (?). It has now become affordable. Still Tufts is her number 1, so we’ll have to wait and see.</p>
<p>Duke, Brown may match another school’s package. My D attends Brown and they matched her Wesleyan offer a few years ago. Maybe not BU though - their aid is tied to merit as well as need. </p>
<p>Maybe Tufts will surprise us.</p>
<p>Romeboards, who was an ED2 applicant whose initital aid calculation showed him as ineligible, lays out some of his experiences with Tufts FinAid in two threads:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/656085-edii-finaid-package-nothing.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/656085-edii-finaid-package-nothing.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/656084-edii-financial-aid-package-nothing.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/656084-edii-financial-aid-package-nothing.html</a> (for this thread, the first page and the last are most relevant)</p>
<p>The end result? Romeboard has his package revised to be exactly what it needed to be.
</p>
<p>Our FinAid office must work within the guidelines set forth by the government, but those guidelines are complication and often our office is able to help families reassess their application in a way that more clearly reflects an accurate need level. This won’t happen for everyone, but if you package isn’t sufficient, I urge you to read through both of those threads to see if his experience could help yours.</p>
<p>Our office will not “negotiate” an aid award or match other schools, but our aid counselors are absolutely dedicated to making Tufts an affordable option and will revise awards whenever possible.</p>