<p>If one or both parents are self-employed, having a review with SFS can be of help. They, incorrectly I believed, backed out some of my Schedule C deductions and added it to my income. The first year I carried all the major points and Smith carefully beat Wellesley & Barnard by just a little bit. The third year, a different issue came up and I didn’t prevail. Even with the photos of my home office.</p>
<p>In our case, it just came down to SFS being in a rush to assemble packages; our “missing” money was due to human error. We were informed that SFS will go over the entire aid package to verify the numbers if a parent calls.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the average indebtedness is for students who go to Smith. Presumably those who decide that the aid is inadequate don’t attend, thus affecting that figure (and likely leading applicants astray about how much aid to expect).</p>
<p>[Colleges</a> Face a Financial-Aid Crunch - TIME](<a href=“http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1887867,00.html]Colleges”>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1887867,00.html)</p>
<p>Time Magazine article, Colleges Face a Financial Aid Crunch hits the nail on the head. </p>
<p>"In the final, “need sensitive” stage of Skidmore’s admissions process, Shorb reports how much aid the school can offer and still get the class in under budget. Starting about March 1, the admissions committee does “triage,” Bates says, scrapping some applications stamped FA-Y for “financial aid–yes,” which are occasionally scrawled with a dollar amount. (Students who apply but don’t qualify for aid are not penalized for trying; they get lumped in with the rest of the “full pays.”) Needy applicants with weaker academic records, spotty senior-year grades or little apparent interest in Skidmore are booted to the waitlist. "</p>
<p>We were excited and relieved to have gotten the “good news” of a Smith acceptance. D has worked extremely hard to be competitive and has Smith at the top of her list. Thrill has turned to dispair since Smith expects us to pay $50K, which we absolutely cannot pay.</p>
<p>Even when a school offers finaid, the aid package often requires that the family to dig a bit deep than is comfotable. And, yes, since Smith offers very limited merit money, it is not at all uncommon for strong students who are ineilg for need-based aid to get zero finaid from Smith and a $5-10k in merit money from other schools. Clearly, if applicant and her family are hoping for meit money, a school, like Smith, which allocates only 5% of its student aid to meirt money is not a good choice.</p>
<p>“it is not at all uncommon for strong students who are ineilg for need-based aid to get zero finaid from Smith and a $5-10k in merit money from other schools”</p>
<p>In actuality, the statistics clearly show that the number of students receiving zero financial aid is extremely low, stating otherwise is blind conjecture.</p>
<p>^^^ According to PR, about 70% of Smith students receive need-based aid, so 30% don’t. And even if the number of families not receiving aid were lower, families ineligible for aid might still lament the fact that Smith expected them to foot the full bill, while other schools gave some help in the form of merit scholarships. I thought that was the point of Winchester’s post (post #15) - - lots of merit aid from other schools (presumably b/c the family was ineligible for need-based aid) and nothing from Smith b/c Smith makes very few merit awards. (I couldn’t tell whether bubblesyablonsky’s grants from NYU and BMC were need-bsed aid or merit awards.)</p>
<p>Like many of the parents posting here, we were surprised and stunned. The FAFSA and profile, indicated that we would qualify for need based aid. D was banking on it - and the answer from SFS with the acceptance letter was: $zero. I think the PR materials for the school are somewhat misleading. Specifically, it is now clear that Smith has its own criteria for assessing need (as SmithieandProud clearly states: “100% of student need as Smith calculates it, based on the FAFSA, PROFILE, and their institutional formula”). The materials and the staff at the interview spoke to “we meet 100% documented need”. That is NOT FAFSA documented need - it is something else entirely. It is however clearly a good story - and consistent with what other colleges with similiar endowments and resources speak to. But the Smith reality is different (absence of merit aid being just one element) - and it clearly is a negative surprise. We had thought that two other children in college, one income and limited savings would clearly qualify - but it does not. What is clear, is that Smith expects not simply significant - but radical redeployment of family resources (elimination of most retirement contributions, drawdown on those balances, PLUS loans to the other kids, selling our son’s car, etc.). We are lucky - we might be able to barely pull $50,000 off - but it is causing D to rethink what her choice is doing to her family,her parents, and her brother and sister. Perhaps the thinking is that it builds character under a theory of “family sacrifice”? Somehow - I don’t think so. I do think the marketing message of “no worries - all need met”, and the reality of how Smith actually determines an award package, should be more clearly communicated to parents - in advance.</p>
<p>I understand that you’re probably upset right now Dad1991, but I think you’re being unfair to Smith. The absence of merit aid is not something that is hidden, nor is the fact they use their own institutional formula. In fact, most colleges use their own formulas, thus you get different offers from different places. Smith owns up to this pretty readily in my experience. When you were told that Smith meets 100% of documented need, I think it was assumed that you would understand that its Smith that does the documentation since they are offering the aid. </p>
<p>Nor is the promise of meeting 100% of your need as they calculate it just a “good story”. If you look at some of the admitted student threads on this very board, you’ll find that Smith was very generous with its need-based aid for many of them. </p>
<p>I’ve been on this board for several years now and every year after acceptances come out their are accepted students who are dissapointed because their aid packages are not what they expected, and I understand the need to vent. But it’s not as if the school is a draconian institution seeking to sell people a bill of goods and gut their fortunes. What people are comfortable paying and what Smith thinks they ought to pay are sometimes disparate things, which is unfortunate, but not necessarily the fault of one party or the other.</p>
<p>Smith has made a concerted effort NOT to cut financial aid at all in the budgetary crisis. They haven’t changed the formula. </p>
<p>And, no, like all other colleges, they don’t expect you to pay for it out of current income, but out of past or future savings (loans, paid off in discounted dollars). </p>
<p>And they have been very clear about the fact that they prefer to provide need-based aid to merit aid.</p>
<p>On the financial side, I just think there is a disconnect in terms of expectations. I agree -it is not necessarily the fault of one party or the other. Some additional communication time spent there by the school (and to be fair, reading much deeper into the financial aid materials by parents), would be beneficial in general. For Smith, it is simply a gentle suggestion. To those of you who love Smith as an institution - I did not intend to imply that Smith was heartless or draconian. It is a singularly unique school - well intentioned and sincere in it’s mission to attract a broad array of remarkable young women to a unique intellectual experience. D’s choice of Smith was predicated on many different elements, and while aid was important - it was not the only criteria. I think it is simply that the beauty of the acceptance moment, was tempered by the reality of the unexpected fiscal note.</p>
<p>“I think the PR materials for the school are somewhat misleading. Specifically, it is now clear that Smith has its own criteria for assessing need (as SmithieandProud clearly states: “100% of student need as Smith calculates it, based on the FAFSA, PROFILE, and their institutional formula”). The materials and the staff at the interview spoke to “we meet 100% documented need”. That is NOT FAFSA documented need - it is something else entirely.”</p>
<p>I can’t think of a single private school that uses FAFSA only. The overwhelming majority of private LACs/uniss have devised their own institutional formulas, of which FAFSA-determined need is only one component. As a general rule, the FAFSA-based EFC is lower than the family contribution determined by the indtitutional formula. There are, of course some notable exceptions - - like Harvard, which promises that families with income under $180K will pay only 10% of income.</p>
<p>Dad1991, very sorry that the fiscal reality tempered or tarnished the beauty of your D’s acceptance moment.</p>
<p>Dad1991: I know what you mean. I was accepted ED I and it was a bittersweet moment due to the financial aid package. My family and I called up. We talked it over because there were instances that we are worried about from mother losing job to father not recieving his bonus, which is a significant chunk of his annual pay and how he was planning to use that to put towards my tuition. They said that if those were the cases, they would help supplement with grant money because they understand how the economy is. They also promise that your aid will be increased when a sibling enters. For my brother to enter later on into the college of his choice, my family is expecting a significant grant.</p>
<p>They are reasonable. My advice would be to call up and talk it over calmly. We are and will be pinching pennies for our payments for college. Just decide how much your daughter wants to go and if you want/able to make a sacrifice. I sat down with my parents and explained why Smith was still my first choice. The main point I made was that for me to double-major in the majors I want, Smith would allow me to and I** would graduate in 4yrs **while opposed to other schools, including the ivies, it could be 6yrs for me. This, for me, is based on talks with school representatives and research on their websites.</p>
<p>Smith seems to be a great environment, where the women have self-confidence and drive. The oppurtunities are endless. I’m in love with this college and family is making a sacrifice.</p>
<p>Ha- and I know two students that were accepted with (they claim) $20,000 a year packages and they are not accepting because they did not do their homework like asking their parents if they would pay the difference or borrow the difference. Both students proudly said “I am not going into debt for any college”…They actually thought they would get a full ride to Smith or other schools in Smith’s tier…HA! so I am not PO’ed at Smith I am upset with people that don’t prepare for such a major decision in life like choosing a college. These kids in a sense were accepted over other kids that were turned down that would have jumped at a chance to go to Smith…I know this is a major duuuuuuh to the regular CC posters but I just had to vent- sorry…</p>
<p>So . . . where are they going, Songman? Surely they must have gotten a full ride somewhere since they don’t want to go into debt.</p>
<p>Unless the $20,000 was for need, it sounds as though both students were offered STRIDES, which means that their stats would be excellent and competitive with the Ivies. Schools on the lower end of the top 50 (and below) would surely give full rides for that kind of stats, especially since merit aid follows closely with SAT scores.</p>
<p>My friend is going to Smith next year and she told me that the financial aid directors were really mean and uptight. She told me that they’re not really compassionate in that office. Is that true? B/c I’m considering applying to smith next year.</p>
<p>My friend had the same experience. They never responded to her emails, and when she called they told her she needed to book an appointment. They wouldn’t talk to her. But I don’t go there, so I wouldn’t know. But Smith is a REALLY good school, though.</p>
<p>When my parents called the FA office, they set a time to call the person who actually put my package together. And boy, was that call helpful–they actually found some extra grants that got lost due to an error! In addition, the rep explained the package in detail. So, in my experience, the financial aid office makes an effort to be very accomodating.</p>
<p>princesslol, did you respond to your own question? I replied to your other post about financial aid.</p>