<p>I was accepted to Dartmouth yesterday, and I got an acceptance from Colgate today. It seems that Colgate's aid package is going to be significantly better then what Dartmouth's tenative financial aid packages suggest I'll receive (I'm still missing a few things, so there is no official package yet). This stunned me as I would have thought a school of Dartmouth's caliber, with such a sizeable endowment, would provide superior packages. Am I missing something here, because it doesn't seem logical to me that Colgate would offer like 6k more a year.</p>
<p>How do you think D got such a big endowment?</p>
<p>Dartmouth is helping, Colgate is recruiting.</p>
<p>Gizmo is entirely right. Dartmouth is confined by the Ivy Group Agreement to only give you enough so you can afford it. </p>
<p>Colgate, on the other hand, can give you whatever it wants, because it isn't locked in to an agreement like that of the Ivy Group. Colgate can give money so you'd be spending less than you actually could pay to attend their school.</p>
<p>So what you're saying is that Colgate is giving me some sort of merit aid on the sly? Because, when I applied to the school, I understood that they had a pretty strict policy that all aid was need-based...no merit at all. It says so on their site. Or am I missing something?</p>
<p>The only point missing is the definition of "need". The Ivies all use the same formula so will come up with identical numbers using the same input data.</p>
<p>Every other school can define "need" any way they like. I doubt that most parents with $100K income look at a $6000 grant as meeting their "need".</p>
<p>Colgate just has a more generous formula for need than the Ivies. Face it, if the Ivies could handle the bad press they could eliminate aid all together and still fill their classes with full priced students. Colgate probably could not. </p>
<p>The further down the acedemic food chain you go, the more generous the equations. Just like the airlines, empty seats cost the same as full ones.</p>
<p>I know. I got....decimated....on financial aid.</p>
<p>Can we somehow appeal it?</p>
<p>This is what ought to be known as "Ivy-Aid;" it is a law onto itself.</p>
<p>I think there is a way to appeal it. I certainly plan to do so.</p>
<p>In your financial aid packet they state that you can ask for a review of yoru financial aid offer even if it meets attaching a copy of an offer from another school. Remember Dartmouth does not give merit aid so you sending in your package from a school with a big merit scholarship as the major component of aid is not going to help your cause.</p>
<p>The Ivy formula is not totally consistent across the board. Princeton, Harvard and Yale are always trying to one-up each other. I get the impression that Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, Cornell and Columbia generally take their time catching up.</p>
<p>I don't know, I received a very generous financial aid package last year...it was the best deal of all the colleges that accepted me and definitely made a Dartmouth education affordable for my family.</p>
<p>Ahem, apparently my dad thinks he double-counted funds for my parents' salaries and then mine. So, apparently my earnings for the years approached six digits.</p>
<p>...That would explain a lot.</p>
<p>Dartmouth offered me a great package... much more generous than Harvard, Yale, and UPenn. The only school that out-bid Dartmouth was Pomona (by a little). </p>
<p>Go figure.</p>
<p>If you really love Dartmouth, absolutely do work with the Financial Aid office. They want to enable you if they can. Call them first and find out which officer handles your account, send in the better offer, and they will re-examine your application. We had mischaracterized information on the Profile and once that was discovered, the offer was right in line with others.</p>
<p>Is there any hope to improve my financial aid from D if I don't have comparable aid packages from other schools that offer only need-based aid? About the only school I could still use to bargain with Dartmouth is Notre Dame (if I get in) but I have the feeling their aid is even worse than Dartmouth's. </p>
<p>Also, to appeal the financial aid, is it better to talk with the aid office over the phone or to visit in person? And more importantly, can it make a significant difference? How long after such a visit would I be informed of my revised financial aid package?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance,
Chris</p>
<p>Chris,</p>
<p>I sent you a PM</p>
<p>Very old topic but seemed relevant so I don't have to make a new one.</p>
<p>I received a tentative financial aid package which reported that my estimated parent contribution is $24k. Now, the FAFSA reported an EFC of $21k which does not include my parent's heavily-in-debt company. I'm not sure they'll be able to pay for that because of the aforementioned company. Do you think it's worthwhile to e-mail Dartmouth Financial Aid and tell them about my circumstances? If so, does anyone have any experiences to share? And how should I go about doing something like this?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Remember that Dartmouth uses information from both the FAFSA and the CSS profile to determine your EFC. The forms measure different things which will explain the difference in your EFC.</p>
<p>When you get your official financial aid package, you will see that Dartmouth will allow you a financial review. Wait for the package, fill out the paperwork explaining your situation and ask for a financial review. Also gather up all of your backup documentation. They are a very amenable group of people and I am very confident that they will work it out with you.</p>
<p>congrats and good luck</p>
<p>I appealed to bring my family contribution from 1500 to 500 for my year. Prepare some good reasons and you will stand a good chance if it's not too unrealistic.</p>
<p>I hope it's not unrealistic to ask them to lower it... considering the amount we lose on the company each year is double the salary we earn (most of which just goes back into that company anyhow).</p>