<p>If your kid has to pay $50000/year at a school renowned for financial aid, I assume the family can pay that amount with little problem? Or am I wrong?</p>
<p>I believe a person can study well at any school if that person work hard enough. However, the college years should be about more than just studying. Dartmouth and only a few other schools in the world can offer the experiences described by slipper1234. You child will look back to experiences during those years his or her whole life. Giving him or her those experiences to reminisce is priceless.</p>
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If your kid has to pay $50000/year at a school renowned for financial aid, I assume the family can pay that amount with little problem? Or am I wrong?
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<p>I'm attending Dartmouth this year, and my parents aren't all that rich (I'd say middle class), but our EFC was about $40k. Guess how much I got in financial aid? Less than 5,000 dollars.</p>
<p>The financial aid only really helps if you have a low EFC. My parents can't exactly just write a check for $40,000, so I ended up getting kind of screwed by the Office of Financial Aid. However, in terms of need-based financial aid, Dartmouth was the best (although I got some better offers with certain university merit-based scholarships).</p>
<p>It depends on each situation. I know a person whose parents make around $130,000/year, and her EFC is around $25,000. She doesn't even have any other siblings in college. I would say she's in the upper-middle class.</p>
<p>You'll find that the median SAT scores at Macaulay are roughly the same as for Dartmouth; corrected for family income, they are higher.</p>
<p>Of course, the education will be different. Dartmouth will offer a strong residential campus life, college athletics, fraternities, a strong alumni network, and a far wealthier student body. Macaualay offers the resources of New York City, required community service, guaranteed mentoring and internships, access to graduate and doctoral level courses, and a much more diverse student body. Unlike Dartmouth, there are virtually NO other programs that can offer what Macaulay can. Question is whether that is what the student is seeking, and the relative costs of each.</p>
<p>My son is at Dartmouth and he loves, loves, loves it. Please take the time to do a campus visit. One place or the other will really speak to the heart -- Dartmouth recently reduced loan amounts and has eliminated tuition costs for families under, I think, $75K annual income. Check it out throughly and then decide. The financial aid office should be able to give you a clear picture of what YOUR package will be. It may be more affordable than you think -- and you shouldn't make a decision until you really have all the details on the table.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of these wonderful replies!</p>
<p>HoppingLass, what major is your son? How does he find the general classroom atmosphere? Is the competition fierce of cutthroat? That is one thing I fear.</p>
<p>I gather that Dartmouth is worth the money, but Macaulay isn't a bad idea either. There were many strong inputs from each side.</p>
<p>This question is for present and former students at Dartmouth and Macaulay Honors. What would you say are the strong and weak points of the science programs at your school?</p>
<p>Yes, and correct for family income, and the average SAT score is HIGHER at Macuaulay Honors than at Dartmouth, though at this level, I hardly think it matters much, and there are (I can personally attest) good things to be said about being around wealthier students, just as there are good things to be said about being around more diverse ones.)</p>
<p>I doubt you'll find many Macaulay former students on this site, as there are aren't many. What we do know is that Macaulay students have the opportunity to participate in graduate and doctoral programs (some of which at CUNY are very good indeed). The same is likely rare at Dartmouth, and certainly not the experience of the average student attending. (The very top students at all, or at least most, schools get great opportunities - at Macaulay, it is predetermined that the student is one of them.)</p>