<p>So after 7 acceptances, 2 waitlists, and 1 rejection, and far too many applications, I have narrowed it down to two colleges. Wellesley College vs. Lewis & Clark College.</p>
<p>For many reasons, I would rather attend Wellesley. However, I have received a full-tuition scholarship from Lewis & Clark, making the cost of just room&board easily manageable. I'd most likely graduate debt free. At Wellesley, my parents are expected to pay about twice that(~22k), plus there's my student contribution(~2k). My parents simply cannot do this, which would leave me to take out about 10k+/yr in loans outside of the 3k/yr my FA package already included to make up the difference for what they can pay.</p>
<p>I'm going to try to see if any relatives will contribute, and I'll call the financial aid office and ask for it to be reconsidered. As a science student Wellesley simply has the better offerings. I really don't want to be stuck in the Northwest for the rest of my life. The alumni network is an incredible resource. I really think I'd get a better education at Wellesley. But is it worth the cost? I like Lewis and Clark, it's just hard to give up a school I'm so in love with. But on the flip side, it's hard to give up so much money. I could save for grad school.</p>
<p>My dad wants me to take the financially easy route. My mom wants me to follow my dreams. My dad is the one with the job that makes more than minimum wage. </p>
<p>You should send a letter explaining that Lewis & Clark has offered much better financial aid and ask them to reconsider their offer.</p>
<p>While I would agree that Wellesley is a better school overall, Lewis & Clark has great facilities and professors, and the campus is beautiful. Portland is also an awesome city, so I don’t really understand your “stuck in the Northwest” comment. ;)</p>
<p>Ah, fair enough. I’m currently living in Portland — from Florida originally — and love it, but I can see how some might have differing opinions. :)</p>
<p>I’ve lived about two minutes from Lewis and Clark all my life so I thought I could help. Here are a few things to consider:</p>
<p>If you don’t like Seattle and want to leave the Northwest, chances are you will not be very happy in Portland. You probably already know this, but besides Seattle being a lot bigger, the two cities are very similar. Also, LC is in a pretty dull part of town so you need to take the bus or drive if you want to shop, eat out, etc. Wellesley is in a small town though, so I don’t think it would be any better. However you’d always have the option of driving to Boston. </p>
<p>Lewis and Clark is a very liberal school. The students do work hard, but definitely play hard as well (my neighbors go to LC and they frequently wake me up at 2 or 3 on school nights). I don’t know much about Wellesly, but from what I’ve heard Wellesly is the more prestigious of the two. That means the students at Wellesley probably work a little harder, but I could be wrong. </p>
<p>I’m in the middle of the same situation. And it’s been really tough. I am leaning towards the school that offered me more money though. My reasoning is the difference between my two school’s debt over four years would amount to about one year’s salary and I just don’t think going to the school I liked more is worth an extra year of work earnings, but that’s just me. It is something I think everyone should consider though. Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>The only loans you are guaranteed to be able to get are the federally determined (FAFSA) loans. You may not even be able to be approved to borrow 10k more each year!</p>
<p>Wellesley is a very special place indeed, but there is a really big difference between no debt (or no more than the Stafford total for four years) and roughly 40k on top of the Stafford total. You don’t want to do this to yourself.</p>
<p>Start out at Lewis and Clark (or whichever other choice has your major and is affordable), and try to make it work. Keep your grades up. Take advantage of all of the opportunities offered by that institution. If after a year and a half, you still are dreaming of Wellesley, apply to transfer there, or arrange to take a guest semester there.</p>
<p>The small town thing doesn’t bother me, I’m not actually from the city of Seattle, I’m in a suburb about a half hour away and I’m fine with quiet small areas.</p>
<p>I’ve thought about it, but I think I’d rather not transfer. If I go somewhere, I want to stay there :)</p>
<p>Does anyone know about Lewis and Clark’s grad school placement? After getting rejected from what was the closest thing I’ve had to a “dream school” (Brown), I was hoping for Ivy League grad school.</p>
<p>I’m also worried about what JNLx10 said about the partying. I know that’s part of college but I’m very straight-edge and with Wellesley (since it’s all girls) the party scene is not all on campus. The website says there is a substance-free dorm though, any thoughts on that? Boring, I know, but I want an escape at least my first year.</p>
<p>In the same vein, I’m a little bit worried about fitting in socially. I know L&C is kind of…granola, yknow? I’m not super outdoorsy or hippie. I’m liberal, but not overwhelmingly so. But when I visited everyone seemed super nice. It was the only school where students approached me and my mom and asked if I was a visiting prospie and if I wanted any help or advice. I’m visiting again next week so I’ll see how I feel on campus, it has been a long time since I visited last.</p>
<p>I’m getting more attached to Lewis and Clark and I feel like there could be huge advantages to being a big fish in a smaller pond. Although the name on my diploma might not be more impressive upon graduating, my resume could be.</p>
<p>I appreciate all the advice I’m still going to try to negotiate financial aid from Wellesley but if that doesn’t work out it’s good to know that I have this other awesome option. After getting all my financial aid options…if I hadn’t gotten this scholarship from L&C I’d kind of be in a fix…</p>
<p>When you visit Lewis and Clark, stop by the career center and ask them about job and grad school placement. They should be able to help you find the information that you need.</p>
No one is going to pressure you to do anything you don’t want to do. Even here at L&C’s extreme neighbor (Reed) no one ever pressures anyone to drink, smoke, etc. so that’s really a non-issue.</p>
<p>Whoaa nelly. Wellesley isn’t exactly only study and no party. You might want to read an article written about the social life at Wellesley from the Harvard thread:</p>
<p>So my grandparents are willing to contribute the money to make Wellesley doable, with only about 25k in loans with my parents contributing the same amount as LC and me working a lot during the summer and school</p>
<p>But that is assuming my EFC doesn’t change, and I just received an email from the FAFSA said they re-evaluated my app and my EFC DID change…from about 18k to 27k…I don’t know how this will impact the institutional aid…</p>
<p>My dad is self employed so income fluctuates and I’m worried my aid may vary too much from year to year. Plus neither of my grandparents are particularly healthy so I’m worried that something may come up and medical expenses will prevent them from being able to pay.</p>
<p>Wellesley wouldn’t budge on my aid, but the weird thing was I was kind of relieved because I’d gotten so set on LC. And then my grandparents came in and made the decision way harder…</p>
<p>If I choose to go to LC they said they’ll save the money for grad school. so I could even go to grad school nearly debt free.</p>
<p>The financial security of LC is so appealing but I’m afraid I’ll regret letting Wellesley slip through my fingers like this. I’m worried about LC not having the breadth of a science program that I want but there’s also the big fish-small pond advantage. I don’t want to sound pretentious but I’m worried that I won’t find LC as challenging. aggghhh this decision was going to be so easy…</p>
<p>You need to talk to Wellesley about the FAFSA corrections. It is likely that the corrections to your FAFSA were made on the basis of information Wellesley already considered in making your award, but you need to verify that.</p>
thanks</p>