<p>@NEPatsGirl - I too thought UMass Amherst Commonwealth Honors College would be a safety for me but they offered me a whopping 800 dollars in financial aid (+2000 in merit). A total of 2,800 from a nearly 30,000 price tag. 
Friend of mine who got accepted to MIT and Princeton was also only given 2k in merit and a measly need based award. </p>
<p>I ended up attending a different UMass which gave me a full ride. It’s a shame because I really did like UMA but even pricier, stingier schools like BU and Northeastern gave me nearly 40k, so the financial aid package from UMA CHC came straight out of left field. </p>