<p>I was shocked that Occidental costs $58K per year! That is more than Harvard and Yale charge at full price.</p>
<p>I was also surprised that the Occidental financial aid officer was offended by being addressed as “financial aid officer.” What a jerk.</p>
<p>I’m sure the suits at Occidental groaned when they read the article. How embarrassing. There won’t be any journalists sitting in on that committee next year.</p>
<p>@lookingforward, I agree. “Take the bait” was a poor choice of words on my part. I don’t think they’re baiting people either. I meant something like that, but not that. :)</p>
<p>@Bay, I was also surprised by the fact that “Dear Financial Aid Officer” was considered a faux pas! Good grief. I am CERTAIN that I’ve made similar “mistakes” in my correspondence! :o</p>
<p>What surprised me was how subjective the decisions to up awards seemed to be. I’ve mentioned before that D, who applied to 7 100% need met LACS received awards that varied by 25K! After getting the financial aid information, she simply narrowed her choices to the 2 that offered the most affordable awards. The others were immediately discounted. Aren’t the schools hoping the student will bite at the first offer taking a risk of that happening? Or is it correct to believe that the 2 schools who gave her a better award really wanted her and didn’t want to risk “playing the game” with that particular student?</p>
<p>That link on the consulting firm, rather revealing! LOL…</p>
<p>I see you can click on “Our Clients”, select a “Region” then chose “Public” or “Private”.<br>
All kinds of colleges show up, with varying admit rates. I chose “Northeast” and then viewed both public and private.</p>