financial aid

<p>Is Smith flexible about re-evaluating FinAid ?</p>

<p>We found them EXTREMELY flexible, when our circumstances changed. And it happened twice. Don’t know without changed circumstances (or things they hadn’t previously seen.) Like all 100%-of-need schools, Smith guarantees to meet your need - as they see it. So the real question is whether there is something they didn’t see.</p>

<p>They’re certainly open to discussing your aid package, and as mini said, in cases where circumstances change (parent falls ill or loses job for example) they’re usually very understanding. </p>

<p>What a lot of people don’t realize about 100% need schools is that when they assess a family’s “need” it’s not just about how much money they have left over after they pay their mortgage, buy food, pay taxes, etc. I.e. EFC isn’t just calculated based on “cash on hand” or what a family can pay out of pocket each month or year. Schools look at a family’s overall funding flow, which takes into account both what they can pay out of pocket, but also how much they have in savings and what their ability to borrow is. </p>

<p>Now, whether or not the parents are WILLING to borrow or draw on their savings, and to what extent, is an entirely differnet matter altogther and a decision each family has to make on their own. But if you’re looking at you’re award and going “Huh?!” sometimes it’s helpful to understand how decisions are reached. </p>

<p>But definitely, call Student Financial Services (or email them and set up a time to talk). It’s a good idea to do it with your parents and have all your paperwork on hand. Sometimes families have expenses that eat into income that the school may not know about. For example, private school tuition for younger siblings, or having to provide care for an elderly parent, impending retirement, or (a very common one) income that fluctuates widely year to year. So call and talk over your circumstances and see what they say. If nothing else, you’ll know where you stand.</p>

<p>No college expects parents to pay for college out of current income. It is a function of savings/assets (past income), current income, and future income (whereby, in the form of loans, college is paid for in inflated dollars). So while an institution may have a sound picture of current income, they may not know enough about past savings (and debts - as in paying for heavy medical expenses) or future ones.</p>

<p>We found Smith to be as generous (or slightly more) than comparable schools (such as Williams). What we didn’t expect (and had no reason to expect) was how flexible they were when our family was faced with not one, but two life-threatening illness situations, for which we are to this day very grateful.</p>

<p>The above advice is sound - talk to them if you need to; at least you’ll understand how they came to the conclusion they did.</p>

<p>I have been asked to pay 20 k more than my EFC .I dunno …I am worried ,and it has already been two days since I mailed them .</p>

<p>I would recommend calling as opposed to relying on email. It’s a lot more efficient just to speak to someone in the financial aid office directly about your case, or at least I found that to be true in my experience.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that whatever your FAFSA EFC was calculated to be, the CSS Profile that Smith requires takes into account a variety of other financial factors which can alter the family contribution number quite a lot. I agree with what others have said, if you haven’t gotten a reply to your email (though they do reply to email they can get pretty busy at this time of year) you should try calling.</p>

<p>Ill do that .Thanx!</p>

<p>I am also being asked to pay $20,000 more per year than my efc, when I called them they were very nice, but the financial aid stands as it was. These loans are going to be absolutely insane :(</p>

<p>Have you withdrawn from other colleges? ^^ You do not have to attend if you have to take out a crazy amount of loans.</p>

<p>Even if you have withdrawn from other schools, email them and ask to be re-instated. I did that with a school I was accepted to then turned down prematurely.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>This bears repeating and re-reading. Your family either saves or they borrow; paying for college is not expected out of current income. D’s loans were about $20K for four years…about the maximum I think is prudent. Our loans were much higher but we hadn’t saved anywhere near a sufficient amount and we don’t have a beef coming. The monthly payment for us is like a very stiff car payment; fortunately, both our cars are now paid for.</p>

<p>I’ll add one thing: after our home, it’s the best money we ever spent. No complaints.</p>