<p>Thanks for replying back, SmithieandProud. I did send Smith an extensive email pleading my case. It never hurts to ask, right? We’ll see what happens. Although I love Smith, I may just have to go with my Mom’s alum and my safety (Saint Joseph’s University) because of the merit scholarship I received from them. It’s so sad that these days great students are not able to afford private colleges. These schools have to remember that even though some percentage of applicants have parents who do very well, the KIDS are left to PAY.</p>
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<p>Although I’m sorry for your situation, the above statement is not quite true. Smith and other top private colleges meet need as they determine it. More economically disadvantaged students than ever are able to attend private colleges due to an increase in financial aid. Unfortunately, this is also one reason why tuition is so high. The well-to-do (and people define this differently) help pay for the needy (again, different definitions.) </p>
<p>But you ARE able to attend St. Joe’s, also a private university. St. Joseph’s offered you a merit scholarship because you were at the top of the applicant pool. </p>
<p>Your parents may have decided that they don’t want to take out loans or that they only want to pay $X for your education, and Smith may have reached a different calculation. St. Joseph’s probably made a similar determination but then added a merit scholarship to entice you to attend. Is the need-based aid from St. Joe’s similar to Smith’s?</p>
<p>You were wise to follow S&P’s advice since financial services can indeed overlook or not have access to recent facts. I hope Smith is able to come through for you and your family, but, if not, St. Joseph’s is a fine university where I’m sure you’ll flourish. Good luck!</p>
<p>Kenzie, your FA would be recalculated when your brother goes to college…but not before, for obvious reasons.</p>
<p>General comments:</p>
<p>Most parents underestimate the amount they think they can/should pay compared to the FAFSA calculations. </p>
<p>There’s one point that’s often overlooked: you are expected, as a parent, to have saved, the amount saved determined by your income & expenses. If you haven’t saved…and we hadn’t…then you are expected to borrow through mechanisms like PLUS loans now. Over four years, we borrowed enough to pay for a luxury SUV. Best money we ever spent…and we’ve now paid off 1/6 of the principal!</p>
<p>No matter how you pay, unless your family is independently wealthy, it will hurt. Nowhere do the FA formulas say “pain free.”
The way that the FAFSA calculations worked out, we had to pay a little more, less than 10 percent more, for Smith than it would have cost to pick up the tab at University of California, for which we would have not gotten any aid, absent a Presidential Scholarship.</p>
<p>Absolutely agree - the system does not allow your parents (who make a large sum) to determine what they can conveniently pay for your education and expect Smith to pay the rest.</p>
<p>My second D has now been accepted to Smith with a generous financial aid package (we could never pay $56,000 plus per year). It does not come as close to the EFC as the package first D got but we are grateful. Financial aid is to make it possible for gifted students to attend schools like Smith - but it does not mean that no sacrifice or pain is involved for families to send them.</p>
<p>See the problem I have is that my dad has no salary. He’s a consultant who works when he can get work and doesn’t when he can’t. So just because THIS year things were alright, there’s no promise things will be the same next year, or hell even next month. My parents won’t commit to more than a worst-case scenario amount but I think Smith is asking for even more than the best-case scenario.</p>
<p>It doesn’t help that I have the full-tuition offer at L&C so my parents are not really willing to settle for anything less…</p>
<p>I have a question.</p>
<p>When I get my Smith packet in the mail, I found out that my father (who currently lives in Florida) had not submitted a financial document to Smith. The letter told me that it needed to be sent and that they could not offer me aid till it was. I freaked out majorly because I was so careflul with all of my schools, as to meeting their deadlines, and couldn’t believe I had missed it. </p>
<p>I sent it yesterday, but will my package be less than what it would have been? I was really counting on more money from Smith because MoHo only offere me 10K and my income is 50K. I know this isn’t a new problem, but what are the chances that I will receive less?</p>
<p>Meanderer – Smith will meet 100% of your need as they calculate it, and I’m pretty sure that will be the same regardless of when your forms were sent. </p>
<p>Kenzie – I think that would be a great reason to call and ask for a re-calculation. Maybe ask if you can send them W-2s from several years past so they can try to come up with an average income that more accurately reflects your income level. My friend’s parents decided to both retire when she went to college (don’t ask.) and so what their income was on their W-2 was way different from what she was actually able to pay, and she got Colorado College to significantly reconsider by explaining that. BUT, if your parents aren’t willing to let you take any offer that’s more than Lewis and Clark, then it may not be worth the trouble. You could probably succeed in getting your aid increased, but I don’t think Smith or any peer school would increase it to that level.</p>
<p>Kenzie, perhaps you can convince Smith to look at the last three years to average income. Self-employment income poses real problems.</p>
<p>Also remember that Smith will calculate need-based aid from year to year. If your father makes very little this year, next year you could get a lot of aid. But if he makes a lot, your aid can be scaled back.</p>
<p>Cross-posted with S&P. Great minds and all that . . . .</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that assets might be affecting your aid as well. If your parents have any major assets, they do work against you.
These are things you might not be aware of, but are certainly counted against you for financial aid</p>
<p>You’re almost always going to get more & better aid from a school a couple of tiers down the food chain. Works in the other direction: you’ll get more aid at Smith (STRIDE, Zollman) than you would at Columbia or Yale.</p>
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<p>So if I completely use up the college fund my brother and I share in the first two years would our aid be significantly recalculated?</p>
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<p>Not necessarily. Even with the STRIDE, Kenzie was awarded significantly more aid at Wellesley (no merit aid) than Smith. She’s not an isolated example.</p>
<p>@kenzie – It would be recalculated certainly, because you wouldn’t have that as an asset anymore. But assets can also be things like property, boats, retirement savings, etc, that are less likely to be depleted over time. </p>
<p>It’s interesting that you got significantly more aid at Wellesley than at Smith. You might also use that in your argument with the financial aid office if you choose to make one.</p>
<p>I didn’t have STRIDE…</p>
<p>You and try to usse the Wellesley offer to boost the Smith award, but schools tend to have a pretty good idea of what their peer institutions are offering (and how the peers arrived at the number).</p>
<p>Well, Smith usually says their offers are within $2000 of peer institutions, so if the awards are more different than that, it can sometimes be worth a check.</p>
<p>I’ll call next week. I don’t want to do it via email and the time difference makes it impossible to get in touch with the east coast during business hours when I have school. But I’m on break next week and I’m still waiting on a decision from Brown and one more FA package, so once I have all my options and more time, I will see what I can do.</p>
<p>I’m warming up to Lewis and Clark, but I’m still worried about it not having enough of the science offerings I want. I guess there’s an advantage to being a big fish in a small pond, though (with regards to chemistry, not the overall academic rigor of the school). And I think if I really want to get out of the Northwest I could maintain a GPA there that would still make me competitive for prestigious graduate schools - which I would have more money for. Also, Lewis and Clark has excellent study abroad options. Summers would be less stressful - I could take an unpaid internship without worrying about working to meet my student contribution. I could go on, but I’m really only doing this for myself. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, it’s hard to give up such amazing schools like Smith and Wellesley.</p>
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<p>My mistake. However, the STRIDE would have replaced $15,000 of the grant portion of your aid award. Wellesley would still be ~$7.000 per year less expensive. It’s worth asking Smith to meet Wellesley’s grant.</p>
<p>^Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard. Although if I had that amazing opportunity, I would be much more inclined to pull out all the stops to make Smith happen.</p>
<p>In the end, I’ll probably be better off graduating debt free. Or so adults who are still paying off student loans tell me.</p>