Looking for some advice! My daughter was accepted to Vassar with a generous aid package. She was also accepted to Oberlin with a similar aid package, except that Oberlin is a guaranteed merit scholarship and Vassar is need-based and we need to apply for aid every year. She would MUCH prefer Vassar over Oberlin. I work freelance and so my income can vary sort of drastically year to year, and I made about 30% more in 2019 than I did in 2018, so am worried that her aid might be reduced next year and it will no longer be affordable. My older daughter went to Bard with a generous aid package that was renewed at the same amount every year - though I lived in fear of it being reduced, my older daughter scoffed at me and said she never heard of anyoneâs aid being reduced, they just say that to scare you. Well, Iâm scared! Has anyone had any experience with Vassar reducing their scholarship award year to year?
Sidenote: My user name is a reflection of my difficulty in finding a user name the site would accept, not a reflection of what I think of myself or any decisions we are all struggling with!
If Vassarâs is need based aid then of course it can go down if your income increases. If your income is higher then you have less need.
If youâre worried about money then the guaranteed merit aid might be better. But it depends on the rules. If keeping it requires a really high GPA and thereâs no ability to get it back if you have one bad semester, then the need based aid may be a better bet.
Thanks for your response! I guess my question should have been more specific - I realize the aid has the potential to go down, I was just wondering if it had actually ever happened to anyone who went to, or knows anyone that went to Vassar. Or a financial aid person that might have some insight into how much of a difference in income would trigger a change in the award. Because even though 2019 was 30% higher, Iâve recently been laid off because of COVID 19 so 2020 will be much lower. Perhaps they will take that into account for 2019.
Just a shot in the dark wondering if anyone has had any experience with this where Vassar is concerned.
You will apply for need based aid annually at Vassar. If your income goes upâŠyour need based aid will go down. I donât think they guarantee need based aid.
Call them & talk to them about your actual situation. Vassar works really hard to make things possible for students, bu they canât do everything for everybody. Call and ask- and perhaps start your relationship with them.
Collegemom, that is really good advice! A financial aid person at Vassar is a very logical person to ask! Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the helpful feedback.
Honestly, if you are scared, you might want to take the sure bet of guaranteed merit. With all thatâs going on, I would not assume that need based aid will be guaranteed to stay the same each year. Hopefully your daughter likes Oberlin enough to have applied, knowing that if she got in, sheâd be happy to attend.
Can you afford a potential financial hit? If so, let her deposit. I canât imagine how awful it would be to have to transfer due to financial constraints.
@mamaedefamilia has a daughter at Oberlin on a merit award. She can give you some insight about her daughterâs experience, which has been very good.
But make sure that the requirements to renew the merit scholarship are not so difficult that the risk of losing it is high (e.g. very high GPA required to renew), if the college would not be affordable on its regular financial aid without the merit scholarship.
Iâm not too concerned about my daughter maintaining the GPA to keep the merit scholarship - itâs more that Vassar is a much better fit for her in a lot of ways. She could hop on a Metronorth train home (weâre outside NYC), and we could drive to see her easily - Oberlin would be a plane ride each time. We werenât able to visit Oberlin before applying - thinking weâd plan a visit if she was offered enough aid - and now that thatâs off the table she wants to go to a place she already has visited and fell in love with. (Plus as a parent in a pandemic I feel much better knowing I can get to her quickly in a crisis!!) I am scared about the financial risk, but I also donât want to make the choice based only on that - or more accurately, I donât want to take the choice away from my daughter based only on that. So I will take the advice to call the Vassar Financial Aid Office, see if they can calm my nerves, and go from there. I honestly was throwing out the question in the off-chance someone had some experience with Vassar in particular, but I appreciate the feedback!
@ridiculous99. As @lindagaf mentioned, my D goes to Oberlin and we also visited Vassar when she was researching colleges. To my mind, they are more similar than different. We would have been full pay at Vassar and she liked Oberlin better so the choice for us was an easy one. Each would have involved air travel for us - I can see the benefit to being a car ride away. From NYC, Oberlin is a 7-8 hour drive - doable in an emergency. but a fair distance. I will initiate a PM for you as you donât have enough posts to do so. If you want more information, please ask!
FWIW, Oberlin has done a great job managing the COVID-19 transition.
Oops, just saw this question. Vassar prides itself on being one of the most financially generous schools. But I would imagine that they review their student FA awards every year, like most insitutions. If it is a need based award and your need is lessened, it would not be unreasonable for them to adjust your subsequent award accordingly. But just because they could, doesnât mean they will. Usually a conversation with the FA office can be productive. They want to keep, not lose their students.
Keep in mind your older D attended Bard when the economy was flush and every one was making money.
In this current financial climate, schools are taking a financial hit, if your income goes up, your need based aid will go down.
Remember there will be plenty of families asking for adjustment to their aid packages due to loss of income. The reality is that Vassar has limited funds and they cannot guarantee you that they will fund you at the same level if you have an increase in aid.
Agreed- this year is a totally different animal. Not only will there be many families dealing with many financial challenges and requests for professional judgment, but VCâs funds available for FA, given the stock market, will be an additional factor.
Thanks everyone for your comments. I wrote to the Vassar FA office (since calls are discouraged due to COVID & everyone working from home) and just was honest and laid out my situation - that I had a single year with significantly more income than usual, but that I am now unemployed. That the additional income was used to pay down debt incurred by legal situations regarding DDâs father defaulting on his child support, as well as an unexpected need for a new roof. They forwarded my letter to my childâs FA counselor (good sign #1 - they didnât just send some rote response, and there was actually someone assigned to my kid) and the counselor sent me back the most polite and nice response - of course she couldnât give me a definitive answer, but explained what the process would be to show that 2019 income was a one-time thing, and they would take that into consideration, etc. I wrote back to say that I appreciated her compassionate response.
I understand all the risks & factors everyone has mentioned - but somehow just the idea that I would be treated like a person in the process made me feel better about allowing DD to commit to Vassar - not to mention itâs her first choice and will be a great fit for her. And so although Iâm also concerned about retirement, I guess drawing additional funds from that will be the backup plan if aid is reduced. Iâm sure everyone feels that their kid is unique & special - but my daughter is unique and special! She has worked so hard and is so bright that I feel strongly
that this is the right thing to do for my girl. So we ordered a Vassar zip up sweatshirt yesterday, and will officially put down the deposit today! So thanks so much for everyoneâs input!
Glad to hear that you got such a well-handled response! Imo, Vassar is very much a âfitâ school- it suits a student or it doesnât! - but for the right kid it can be amazing. It was the making of one my collegekids, who first found her feet- and then soared, in all the dimensions. I wish the same for your chick!
Thank you!! Yes, that is my gut feeling too, thank you for sharing that about your daughter! My girl has so many talents and interests and honestly needs to find her path in a place that allows for some opennessâŠI also contacted a work colleague who was a Vassar alum (and one of the smartest and creative people Iâve met) and she wrote back with a soliloquy dedicated to Vassar basically saying the same thing - that she found her path not only in a career but as a person. Add to that being able to get to my girl quickly âin these uncertain timesâ as they sayâŠit all just feels right.
