<p>There is a thread featured on the main discussion home page entitled “ED decision shot down by financial aid.” It is about a Bucknell ED student. Prospective students and future ED students should give it a read.</p>
<p>I will say this about Bucknell. D was accepted there two years ago, but their fin. aid offer was about 12K less than her other offers. Bucknell, in our opinion, had assumed that we had owned an asset that no longer existed (other schools also made that incorrect assumption). Those other schools were willing to correct their mistake and adjust their offers, but Bucknell had no interest and doing so, and had a little bit of an attitude about it.</p>
<p>Just left a bad taste in our mouths.</p>
<p>a few thoughts:</p>
<p>the poster in that thread did seem to receive an appropriate financial aid package. from what i was able to gather, his parents make a bit over $100,000 per year. he received approximately $25,000 in need-based aid. </p>
<p>that said, as is ALWAYS true, if there is some question about ability to pay, DO NOT APPLY to ANY school early decision. the benefit simply isnt worth it.</p>
<p>last, i received a fantastic financial aid package from bucknell. i know many others who would say the same. what can be said generally is that all schools calculate financial need in slightly different ways. as such, for those who need aid, applying to multiple similar schools can be very beneficial. lafayette may come out quite a bit better than bucknell for one cross-admit and might come out worse for another. colgate typically gives good aid to its admits, but seems to be more need-aware in its admissions process than most other top schools. which will be best for a specific applicant? theres no way to know. </p>
<p>as such, all i can recommend is to apply to schools with an open mind... and evaluate the resultant options when the time comes.</p>
<p>I was the OP of that thread, and they worked with me to come up with a better financial aid package if you finish reading the entire thread. I have no qualms with Bucknell about their financial aid policy.</p>