<p>To CTScoutMom: Yes, the Ivies give great financial aid. But the top LACs can be as generous, if not more. For instance, Cornell gave me much less aid than Amherst did, and I would have signed onto $40,000 of debt at graduation with Cornell vs $0 at Amherst. Please be wary of making assumptions about Ivies’ FA vs other top-tier schools’ FA, because you often won’t know what you get until you apply.</p>
<p>CC posters are such and incredibly small cross section of people who apply to college. I don’t mean to completely discredit the boards…I think they do offer a service and perspective that is helpful…but I would caution anyone, especially a student, to base their entire view of the college application process on the insights, stats, “chance” threads they read here.</p>