You can be pretty sure (almost certain) that these Profile schools are not looking at FAFSA EFC when they determine what your “need” is. They will each crunch the numbers through their own formula, and that is why you are getting different results from three schools that each claim to meet 100% of “need.”
Parent of a recent Williams alum here. My daughter has several friends who went straight into top science grad programs. The workload can be stressful but it can pay off well. If she want to go to Williams I would contact financial aid and ask them why their package was considerably less than peer schools.
I would compare costs (tuition+R&B) after applying the grants (so not including the loans) to get an apples-to-apples comparison.
I’d do what Purple Titan suggested, but also make sure that you have reasonable (for your daughter) estimates included for book expenses (generally higher for science students than the general estimate), travel costs from your area, medical insurance costs, and personal expenses. I’m seeing a lot of variance in how award letters from different colleges are or are not including these items. Several colleges either included nothing for personal expenses or lumped together travel and personal expenses with a total that is likely unreasonably low.
We put everything in a spreadsheet including our best estimate of travel and personal expenses and using similar Work Study and Summer contributions. That’s where the numbers came from in the original post. Now the numbers became more lopsided. Carleton just sent their reviewed package increasing the grant by about $3k (the other two had already done the same adjustment). I think the visits will probably clinch the deal for one of the schools, as someone already said, but it is no longer a level playing field. The feedback from this community has been truly helpful to my D and the whole family. Sending away your 18 year old D to college is not to be taken lightly. Thanks to all.
I was in Northfield this summer when my daughter toured St. Olaf - absolutely beautiful campus. Northfield is a cool little town about 30 minutes south of the Twin Cities. They have fun little shops in their downtown area. The city is cute and very friendly to college students. I would feel very comfortable having my daughter live in Northfield. I know at St. Olaf they had transportation available so that kids can get to the airport and other locations in the TCs. I’m about certain that Carleton would too. We drove over to the Carleton Campus and it was beautiful. Carleton is very well regarded in the Midwest. If your daughter can attend that school and leave with no debt that is a pretty amazing deal that I would not want to pass up. I would have loved to have sent my daughter to St. Olaf but we simply could not afford it. She’s going to a school that will cost us $14k per year less. She’ll get a good education and graduate debt free. My daughter didn’t need to be talked into it. She just understood that it was a good financial and educational decision. We talked about financial realities with her and she just got it. There was no bad feeling at all about not going to the more expensive school. I think you are in very enviable situation.
Also be aware that if you get any need based aid at Williams, all books and course packets are free. And then you can sell the books afterwards and make some additional cash.
Fourthmom, one of the biggest surprises in this whole process is how big the disparity in Financial Aid packages can be. There are a number of other colleges that didn’t come anywhere near the three my D is mostly looking at. USC got her all excited about a Presidential merit Scholarship, had her visit and interview for the Schp, and in the end seems to have reduced the financial aid by the same amount of the merit award. Its like they gave the scholarship to themselves. We count ourselves very lucky indeed to be able to have these choices. I believe that “how” you go to college will trump “where” you go to college. I wish you D the very best!
Schools can do whatever they want in determining fin aid amd merit money. Outside of the Federal programs, they’re giving away their money.
And yes, some schools are richer than others.
Bowdoin it is. After visiting and spending a couple of nights at each school, attending classes, and meeting lots of students, it became fairly clear to my D which school felt like the best fit. All of them had very strong positives but ultimately the decision was not based on which is the best school (which may be impossible to answer), but which school is best for her. The money worked out as well.
Great choice. Congrats!
Great job – thanks for sharing your analysis and process.