<p>My daughter has heard back from several colleges with generous merit offers and along with those offers has been told that we are not eligible for need based aid...so I assumed we would be full pay at wellesley too...but then I ran our numbers on wellesley's site and it looks like we may not be full pay. (Hoping!!!) The results showed a 24k span but the mid number is doable and the lower end wonderful&comfortable- the higher end, not so much.</p>
<p>Wellesley is my daughter's number one choice (even with some obstacles)and im getting tense because she wants it so badly. Maybe this is a lame question, but im curious what anyone else has found the accuracy to be. </p>
<p>This forum needs a little action anyway ;) Thanks for any replies.</p>
<p>I can’t speak to the accuracy of Wellesley’s NPC, but my D has gotten two decisions this year and both of the FA packages were very close to what the NPCs showed (the actual offers were slightly better.) Both those schools use the same College-Board-based NPC (in fact it auto-fills the same exact numbers) that Wellesley does. I don’t know whether it makes any difference, but did you run it via the CB “Big Future” interface or directly from Wellesley’s web site?</p>
<p>There are things that can skew the NPC results at many schools, including Wellesley. These things don’t really show up in the NPC questions:
- Divorced parents, and new spouses if they have remarried - income and assets of all will be considered.
- Small business ownership by any of those adults.
- Any trusts for adults or kids
- If you (or any of the adults on the CSS Profile) had an income peak the year before application (so 2013), your aid will likely be lower than the NPC shows, as income counts more than asset in the calculation.</p>
<p>@ChocoChipMom, the estimate on Wellesley’s website gives a range, however, the calculator on collegeboard.org gives you a number. I think the later one should be more accurate. This is my guess.</p>
<p>Thanks…just used college board’s calculator and it’s on the high end of Wellesley’s. Not what i was hoping for. What it shows we’d be responsible for with Wellesley is still quite a bit higher than what we’d be putting toward her schooling with the offers of merit elsewhere. I guess it’s a wait and see and fingers crossed it works out. I did read on the Wellelsey website that they will work with you as they want everyone accepted to be able to go. Not sure what that means in reality but it’s a hopeful thing to read 
</p>
<p>Just to make sure that you do not include any of your family’s retirement accounts (401k, IRA) as part of parental assets. </p>
<p>I didnt…thanks it’s still looking a bit too pricey. I wonder if they would take into any account the offers of merit D has received from the other schools…like if wellesleys price is out of reach for us, is it negotiable? Or do they just figure if we cant pay it somebody else will & goodbye to my daughter ? </p>
<p>Im just going to try not to worry :-/ </p>
<p>I don’t think Wellesley will be willing to negotiate with merit offers unless they’re from somewhere spectacular. Most schools will only reconsider need-based aid if you have additional financial info not on the CSS or FAFSA or (occasionally) if you have a better offer from a similarly ranked or higher ranked school. Since Wellesley is need-based only and highly ranked, I think it’d be unlikely that they would care too much about other merit offers.</p>
<p>@ChocochipMom</p>
<p>We have the same problem. My D wants to go ONLY to Wellesley…:)</p>
<p>She also has four good merit aid offers, one with Full Tuition waiver. She also has admissions to other higher ranked schools but nothing seems to sway her mind, Wellesley it is. [If I think about it with my heart, I also second her decision, Wellesley is where I will want her to go as well, but when I look at it from a financial point of view, I keep asking myself, is this the right thing to do? . But she is the one going to college, not me].</p>
<p>We are also full pay…:(</p>
<p>Some schools will reconsider financial aid if you have better offers from comparable schools… but they need to be comparable. For example, a U of Chicago offer might get them to reconsider. But a Scripps one won’t. If the school is comparable or higher in ranking, it is worth asking. Tell them your D’s cost of attendance is less at a comparable school (name the school), and ask if they will reevaluate her FA. Have the offer from the other school scanned and ready to send to them if they ask.</p>
<p>Also, if you have any more info you can give the FA office at Wellesley when you ask, that helps. Anything they didn’t ask on the forms you have filled out (supporting other relatives? Illness in the family that affects work of a parent or causes high medical bills? Loss of job or reduction of hours/wages?). Those kinds of things give the FA office something they can consider when re-evaluating your aid.</p>
<p>I am sure you are aware that all schools admit more students than they expect will accept their offer. And that they are ultimately running a business… so you need to be prepared that they may not give you the aid you think is necessary or appropriate.</p>
<p>@tamtiger…aw…thats exactly the situation here 
I can see my D being happy at the other schools but she has wanted wellesley for a few years now…she read about it in a fiction book several years ago, so didnt think it was real…then she discovered it IS a real place and its been her hearts desire to go.When she did well on her ACT, her first words were NOW I CAN GO TO WELLESLEY!!! She knew our financial situation but I said go for it, you dont know if you dont try…and now … Still hopeful but we shall see. Good luck to you and your daughter I hope it works out for you.</p>
<p>@intparent thanks yes.i understand…we need to be realistic. Wellesley is probably just going to be financially out of reach at this time. I waiver from hopeful to gloomy about the situation. I get a burst of positive we can make this happen feelings…and then the doubts return. I spose Ill know the facts soon enough. </p>
<p>@ChocoChipMom
…she read about it in a fiction book several years ago, so didn’t think it was real…then she discovered it IS a real place… </p>
<p>:)) … That is so funny… I do hope she will get to go to Wellesley…</p>
<p>Wellesley should put this on their brochure… >:) </p>
<p>We will see how accurate the calculator is tomorrow :-)</p>
<p>Very close, a bit less than what we got from the NPC calculator. Yeah.</p>
<p>The same with D. Got a bit less than the NPC calculator and very grateful for their generosity.</p>
<p>Im nervous…we got our taxes done and in a bit late so our info may be delayed. Ill have to have my daughter check </p>
<p>@txhandan and @explorer1 do u mean your oop costs are a bit less than what npc predicted or wellesley gave a bit less than expected? I hope it was good news for you both.</p>
<p>We are on spring break…my D is sleeping in…we have a fun day ahead…im almost afraid to have her check and put a damper on the day :-/ </p>
<p>She found out last night she got into Bryn Mawr with decent merit :)</p>
<p>@ChocoChipMom, to answer your question, Wellesley gave a bit less than what the NPC calculator predicted. However, we are still gratefuel for their package, and better than the offers she has received so far.</p>
<p>@ChocoChipMom, the EFC from NPC is a few hundred dollar less than what we need to pay Wellesley based on its calculation. It is the most generous package we received so far, except Mount Holyoke where my D got a merit scholarship. So difficult decision similar to yours.</p>
<p>Another note: the npc is still using 2013/14 tuition/fee numbers, while Wellesley’s finaid package is based on 2014/15 numbers, which is higher. Even with this change, our actual cost did not increase much, most cost increase is absorbed by W, for which we are grateful.</p>