<p>Just tring to understand allocation of financial aid. D has been accepted to several schools and financial aid packages vary widely. One school offers close to 50% aid, another close to 25% and the third less than 10%. I know we are fortunate to be offered aid, but the schools all received the same financial information and tax returns. I am sure financial aid allocation is more of an "art vs. science", but any reason packages vary widely? Thanks.</p>
<p>financial aid is always unpredictable but i find it surprising that you'd get 50% aid from one school and less that 10% from another. which schools did your D apply to?</p>
<p>I got huge from one school and ZERO from another.</p>
<p>The school starts with how much aid is available for the incoming class, calculates need, makes some determination about how badly it wants certain students, and will allocate accordingly. Unless these are some of the fantastically endowed schools, one issue can be how much aid the school is already committed to for the returning students. Also, schools have different expectations with regard to dipping into savings or equities.</p>
<p>If you are being offered less aid by the school where your child really wants to go, I would suggest contacting the school and explaining the disparity in aid offered. These things are not written in stone and numbers can be reconsidered.</p>
<p>I'm in a similar situation...two schools gave about 100% while another gave only 40 ish%</p>
<p>Every school has a FA budget. Just as every department at ExxonMobil has a budget, even the schools that are need blind and have $1B endowments don't operate without a budget for financial aid. </p>
<p>Now, maybe the following doesn't apply for ALL schools. And it DEFINITELY is not intended to explain all FA decisions. But if you remember that FA is a budgeted expense for a school, you'll understand what's going on. Too many people think that FA is thrown about like John Beresford Tipton is the Director of Financial Aid at all of these schools.</p>
<p>There's a reason the Financial Aid function is within the Admission Office -- even at the "need blind" schools. There is connectivity between the two. And it relates to value. Remember, even where admission is "need blind," few schools dare to say that financial aid is "admission blind." Even where they don't peek at the financial aid request before making an admission decision, you can bet they peek at the application before making a financial aid decision.</p>
<p>Yes, even at Exeter and SPS et al....where they have full ride programs below certain thresholds. Above those thresholds, if there's human discretion, financial aid is a purchase decision. If they need a bassoonist this year, the bassoonist is more likely to see an "enhanced" aid package while the fourth quarterback for the class may not see a dime. </p>
<p>So, among the many variables that go into the mystical algorithm of financial aid awards, I'd count value to the admission office as a dominant one. If there's $500,000 in aid in the budget and you're responsible for that budget item, you need to make it go as far as possible towards helping the school attract the applicants it most needs. You don't want to tie up financial aid on students you're convinced will matriculate elsewhere...so while you may take a flyer on Child A and send the admission letter, you may not want to also tie up funds until Child A gets around to declining the offer in mid-April. </p>
<p>Likewise, you won't want to spend financial aid on applicants who possess many of the qualities in the full-pay applicants that you've just offered admission to. As badly as you want applicants to matriculate, if it's going to cost you money for that privilege, then all applicants are not equally desirable. You can't treat Child A's EFC number the same as Child B's EFC number, even if the computer spit out the same EFC number for those two applicants. There are going to be some applicants that you'd be willing to spend money on and others, with your limited budget, that you just won't be able to find enough funds to dole out to entice.</p>
<p>To some extent -- how great I have no idea -- I suspect that one school felt that your son was a better investment than other applicants seeking aid. At the other, it may not have felt as pressured to reel in your son. Maybe that school happens to have kids already there who share some of his qualities. Maybe the financial aid budget is extremely tight...so it is totally unrelated to his attractiveness to the school. Maybe they're convinced he'll enroll elsewhere. It's hard to say for sure exactly how it works, but I'm convinced that FA decisions are made with the idea of getting as much value as possible from a limited pot of money.</p>
<p>You have had some great posts explaining how it works. The only thing I want to add is that getting widely varying FA offers is typical. I researched FA extensively last year in preparation for my son's applications this year. He was accepted at 7 out of 9 schools, but the FA offers varied from) $0 to several very significant offers. It all comes down to a few factors: how much does the school want your child and how much do they have to spend.</p>
<p>hsmomstef - I have been following your journey through this whole process and I want to say I am very impressed by your research and organized approach. You did your homework and considered a broad range of schools but ones that fit your son. Sounds like your son has had wonderful success with his applications. He's lucky to have a mom like you who cares enough to expend the energy that you have on the process. I wish your family success down the road.</p>
<p>I will say that the research paid off -- I even predicted the results regarding admissions and FA correctly. I have learned so much -- from the school admissions officers, the parents here on CC and reading tons of websites. I am looking forward to next year -- I plan to share my knowledge and help some other parents and students.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the kind words!</p>
<p>hsmomstef...</p>
<p>can you share your experience with exploring the FA mystery? how do you determine what schools "need" and "want" your child enough to give non-need $ - is the FA offered with acceptance letter only? Is the original FA offer negotiable at all (if so, ask the financial aid office to reconsider, the music or athletic depts get involved)? any help is appreciated!!</p>