<p>Here are the two awards. We will have a second son entering college in two years. While the numbers are close, I am not sure which would be better over the long haul.
Any help would be appreciated...the deadline is fast approaching!!</p>
<hr>
<p>Williams: </p>
<p>it is worded differently so breakdowns different;</p>
<p>Budget: tuition and fees: 43190
room and board: 11370
books: 800
personal: 1200
travel: 100
total budget: 56,660</p>
<p>Award:
Williams scholarship: 11253
book grant: 800 (or up to full cost of books for the year)
federal direct unsubsidized stafford: 4000
campus employment: 1800
total financial aid: 17853</p>
<p>Rice:</p>
<p>tuition 34900
room and board: 12270
fees: 651
O-week: 505
books and supplies: 800
personal expenses: 1550.00</p>
<h2>transportation: 600 (but low for us as east coast)</h2>
<p>I don’t understand why you think the numbers are close.
You’d be paying about $9K/year more to attend Rice
(~$39K for Williams v. $48K for Rice … with $4K in loans for Williams v. $5.5K in loans for Rice).
Correct?</p>
<p>It looks to me like the Williams aid package is clearly better.</p>
<p>Don’t use their travel expenses. Figure out your own using realistic prices from your home to and from the university. I like [KAYAK</a> - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Airline Tickets, Cheap Tickets, Cheap Travel Deals - Compare Hundreds of Travel Sites At Once](<a href=“http://www.kayak.com%5DKAYAK”>http://www.kayak.com) for that kind of thing. Books and personal expenses also are things that you have some control over, so you may want to remove those figures as well.</p>
<p>Rice is asking for 9k more each year. Of these two, Williams is offering you the better deal.</p>