<p>Mount Holyoke's Net Price Calculator is now available at the College Board website. Unfortunately, I put in our information and the price for us is too high and my daughter will not be applying to Mount Holyoke. Good luck to everyone else.</p>
<p>You never know what the REAL fin aid package will be! Those calculators also do not take into account merit aid, right? It’s a very rough estimate just to give you an idea. It can’t hurt to apply if you can make the app fee though! Otherwise you’ll never know what they really could have offered.</p>
<p>Edit: I don’t see how this can be accurate. I have heard MHC’s fin aid is similar to Smith, is similar to Amherst, and I did Amherst’s (and Wellesley’s). Both of those two nearly reduced the tuition by half and I put my family income at 140,000+. MHC gave me 3,000-8,000… I just… don’t think that’s right… but like I said, you’ll never know until you get the real package.</p>
<p>Thank you for responding to my post, but I disagree. I think that with the new net price calculators you do not have to wait. Otherwise, what is the point of having them? The net price calculator I used is Mount Holyoke’s, through the College Board link. I think all of the colleges are required, by the end of October, to have these calculators available. There are not that many available yet, but Holyoke’s is available.</p>
<p>Since the calculator I used is specific as to Holyoke, I think it is accurate. I have used 10 to 12 of these calculators and the difference on the net price to us is as much as $20,000 each year. Holyoke, along with Barnard, was the most expensive while, at least for us, Pomona was the lowest (by more than $20,000). For us Amherst is about $16,000 cheaper than Holyoke. By the way, Wellesley, another woman’s college, has a net price to us that is about $15,000 less than Holyoke.Although it may not account for the entire difference, at least some of the difference is due to the fact that Holyoke does not place any limit on home equity while many other colleges do. </p>
<p>Since it is clear to me that Holyoke will be too expensive, there is no sense in having my daughter apply. What would be the point?</p>
<p>Well… the application is free (so long as you apply online), so what is there to lose? Besides, the calculators are an “estimate.” But! It’s obviously up to you guys. I’m applying to MHC just because it’s free, so why not? At the very least I could get a good laugh at their pathetic fin aid offerings in comparison to the other schools.</p>
<p>Also, the same thing happened to me when I used Wellesley’s calculator. I suppose it’s entirely possible that MHC just does not have good fin aid in comparison to schools of the same caliber.</p>
<p>I used the MHC calculator and it factored in a merit scholarship for me…</p>
<p>The net price calculators are there for a reason. To see what your package <em>might</em> look like. If a school is highly unreasonable now, no use in wasting time. </p>
<p>Every calculator is customize for that particular school. </p>
<p>I believe MHC said I could pay 15k. Amherst said 7k. Wellesley said 7k. All with parent income of 72k and student income 3.2k. I am waiting for Smith to show up (my ED school). Hoping Smith is like Amherst and Wellesley.</p>
<p>Do not believe everything that computers say. Believe it or not sometimes computers make mistakes. You said that this “calculator” was only just put on line, while other colleges have not yet put them on line. Maybe it is on line but not working quite right? EVERY college has actual people who review the computer’s output for a financial aid package. From what I have see here over the past few years, most colleges ultimately offer fairly similar financial aid packages.</p>
<p>What I do not understand is, if the application is FREE, and if your daughter is interested in MHC, why deny her the chance to apply? (Do you really get veto power, anyway?) Just because you are afraid that the financial aid package might not be good enough? Why not just apply and see what happens? If she gets into MHC, other colleges will not reject her because she was accepted by MHC. So there is no risk to either her or you.</p>
<p>It’s not just that “computers make mistakes”…it’s that the net price calculator exists to make a rough estimate of what someone with the assets/income that your family pays would have to pay. This does NOT take into consideration any merit scholarship aid you may receive.</p>
<p>Why do they exist? It’s a requirement of the federal government and it exists only to provide you with a general idea of what it would cost for you. If your daughter is in love with MHC, the application is free if you apply online…you should have her apply and then see if she receives additional aid. MHC offers merit scholarships that your daughter can only be considered for once she applies, so you won’t know if you don’t apply.</p>
<p>alienxyz— they actually do factor in merit scholarships. Each school has different questions. </p>
<p>Like MHC asked my SAT scores and “gave” me merit money</p>
<p>I appreciate the comments, but there are costs associated with applying to Holyoke. While there is no application fee, there is the high school transcript ($10 at my daughter’s School) and SAT test results (another $9). While these costs are modest, they add up if you are considering a number of colleges. More importantly, there is the Holyoke supplement that will take time for my daughter to fill out. Since the net price is clearly too high, there no reason to incur the time and expense.</p>
<p>We have visited Holyoke and while my daughter likes it and would be happy to attend, it is not her first choice. It is just an excellent school that would likely be easier to get into then most of the schools my daughter is considering. But, the cost does not work for us and we believe she will have other, equally good options which will cost considerably less. </p>
<p>Regarding the calculator, I don’t think there is a mistake. Holyoke does not cap home equity and we have a lot of home equity (we live in southern California). So, I am not totally surprised by the result. But, they want us to pay about 50% of our gross income each year. This would not be possible without selling our home. Now if we had to sell our home so that our daughter could attend college we would. But, based on a number of other college calculators I have used there appear to be many fine colleges my daughter will be able to attend without us having to sell our home. We will concentrate on those colleges.</p>
<p>CPUscientist3000, the net price calculator does factor in general scholarship and grant money for the college but it does not factor in specific merit scholarships that you can be eligible for only if you apply to MHC, such as the leadership awards they award that total something like 15,000 per year. There are several special merit scholarships that are awarded to students they hand select from the applciation pool that are not factored in when you use the net price calculator. Granted, there aren’t many of these awards, so there is no guarantee you’ll receive them, but these awards are special and are not factored into the net price calculator.</p>