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<p>Not a good plan for a student looking for merit aid! The best awards are for entering freshmen . . . with little or nothing left over for transfer students.</p>
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<p>I have to say I echo this sentiment. Although your mother describes you as “devastated,” you’ve come across in this thread as calm, thoughtful, eloquent, and mature. Kudos to you for your impressive handling of a very difficult situation!</p>
<p>not sure what your major is, but I highly recommend Kenyon! I tried to convince my daughter to apply there, but they didnt have her major.</p>
<p>isaiah, you did mention Grinnell in an earlier post. Their supplemental essay is not too tough, and it is free to apply. Today is their deadline, so you have until midnight. 
They have very good merit aid.</p>
<p>It is okay, by the way, if your recs and transcript are a few days late to these places, just get your app and supplement in if you can.</p>
<p>Isaih, as was said by someone else, you are really showing maturity in dealing with this disappointment. Based on the income #'s and the S-Corp I just don’t think you’re really going to get much $$$ out of Swat as a re-consider. Sorry, but you really need to face that truth right away as time is of the essence in getting yourself into a school that works for you and your family can afford.</p>
<p>First off, stop thinking that Swat was THE college for you!!! Nonsense. You need to break out of that mindset right away or you’ll just carry the regret into whatever school you go to. There are LOTS of great schools out there and, as has been said many times, college is what YOU make of it, not the institution or even others. You just need to find another favorite school or two! Their loss.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you. You’ll wind up just fine.</p>
<p>I had the same thought about the transferring suggestion. Otoh, a gap year would serve the same purpose if the OP wanted to consider it.</p>
<p>Thank you all for being so helpful and complimentary! Honestly, though, I am devistated. I am just trying not to think about it–worrying isn’t going to get me anywhere! </p>
<p>I’m currently filling out my essay for Grinnell, and Kenyon’s is next! I’ve been convincing myself for the past three months that Swarthmore is THE ONE, so I just need to start doing the opposite, haha! Are my stats good enough for a significant amount of merit aid from these two schools? The merit scholarships look awfully competitive!</p>
<p>PS: I texted my counselor, and she said that she is crazy booked today. So I don’t think I’ll have much luck there!</p>
<p>Let there be no mistake. Merit awards from schools like Grinnell and Kenyon are terribly competitive and you should look at those as lottery ticket. You need to find some sure schools that you can afford, as alll college applicants should. Also look at some Catholic colleges like Marquette and Fordham,for example. The chances of a large merit award are much more likely. You are absolutely righ that those merit scholarships from those two schools you are eyeing are very competitive and the chances of getting signinficant funds from them is very small.</p>
<p>You may be devastated but instead of whining and complaining about life being unfair you have a positive attitude and are doing everything you can to solve the problem. That can’t be said about many posters here, including a fair number of parents. ;)</p>
<p>One strategy might be to find a school that would be OK for a year, with a plan to transfer next year.</p>
<p>Not a good plan if good merit or good FA is wanted or needed. Transfers don’t often get good pkgs.</p>
<p>It sounds like either Swat didn’t take into acct the sibling in college, OR the value of the business is substantial, OR some of the business deductions were added back in.</p>
<p>Dickinson has good merit aid that is a little less competitive. I know you haven’t visited. It is probably equivalent to St. Olaf as a school, but with a better focus on political science/public policy/IR/econ type stuff. My D’s boyfriend graduated last spring as an Econ major, got a great job (I know you are looking for grad school, but if you want to work for a couple of years first, that also could be a good fit). PM me if you want to know more about the school. When my D applied, all they wanted was a “Why Dickinson?” essay.</p>
<p>I think taking a gap year would be out of the question. Plus, wouldn’t I be in the same financial situation if I waited a year?</p>
<p>So far, I have Carleton, UMinn, Grinnell, Kenyon, and Case Western Reserve.
And I have already been accepted to UWisc. I am having a hard time picturing myself at schools among the St. Olaf level, or like Dickinson and Marquette and Fordham, because I think I would rather go to over those schools, anyway. My parents also don’t want me to apply to many more schools because they think I’d just be wasting my time, considering I know nearly nothing about any other schools (I told them I was planning applying to Rhodes and Allegheny for hopes of merit aid). I mean, I found that I could get nearly a full-ride at the University of Mississippi, but I can’t actually seeing myself going there, you know?</p>
<p>I don’t know, I think this is all I may do. I only have Kenyon’s essays to finish now.</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>Carleton does not offer merit aid, so you will be in the same situation you are right now.</p>
<p>Lerkin–yep, but I thought since I’ve always loved the school, the application was free, and the supplement was short, I would give it a shot.</p>
<p>OP - you should strongly consider adding Oberlin to your list. They have merit aid, they are an academically challenging school and if you thought Swarthmore was the best place for you, you would probably be pretty happy with Oberlin. </p>
<p>Also, the fact that Swarthmore calculates financial need in a way that is disadvantageous to your family DOES NOT NECESSARILY mean that other LACs will do the same, so it’s still worthwhile to apply to a few other need-only schools. On the other hand, $200K of income from a subchap-S corp is probably going to result in not much aid from most places… </p>
<p>Swarthmore’s delay in notifying you about your aid award, (and the fact that their NPC was so off) is truly blameworthy. While you might be tempted to put great emphasis on this as you request deadline extensions or the like from the places to which you are now applying, I’m not sure that is the best strategy. In the end, a successful application is not about how well you excuse your apparent shortcomings, its about showing the school that you are a GREAT choice for them. Use the essays to convey your personality, accomplishments and interests to them. I wish you success in your last-minute LAC applications; I would predict that you might not get very much more in financial or merit aid than Swat already offered (although there is a chance that you might) but it’s still worth applying and finding out for sure. In the end, a good merit offer to a good LAC might come through, your parents could decide to up their contribution, or you could decide to go to a state school. You’ll be fine.</p>
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<p>Yes, your financial situation would be the same, but taking a gap year would give you the opportunity to regroup, do more research on schools where you’d be eligible for merit aid, and then start the application process again with more viable options.</p>
<p>Only a good strategy if none of the schools currently on your list is a good option for you . . . which appears not to be the case since you have (and like) U Wisc and would be willing to attend there. Honestly, if I were you, once the dust settles, I’d visit U Wisc again and see how you feel about it. I don’t know if they have an honors program that you’d still be eligible for, but that might be something worth looking into. I know it isn’t Swarthmore, but, at this point, given your recent interactions with Swarthmore, maybe that’s a good thing!</p>
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<p>Yes and no. Your merit aid situation would be better since you wouldn’t have missed so many deadlines. Your FA situation would be the same.</p>
<p>Are you a NMSF? If so, then Ole Miss isn’t the only option.</p>
<p>Nope, I am not a NMSF. </p>
<p>I believe I may also apply to Oberlin and Macalester.</p>
<p>"Let there be no mistake. Merit awards from schools like Grinnell and Kenyon are terribly competitive and you should look at those as lottery ticket. You need to find some sure schools that you can afford, as alll college applicants should. "</p>
<p>Absolutely great advice. The OP has good stats and EC qualifications, but is not IMHO a superstar applicant for many of these LACs. The likelihood of getting merit aid will remain low.</p>
<p>OP, the other thing you need to address with Swarthmore is to make sure you are not on the ED accept list that circulates to a number of colleges upon acceptance of ED. The way it works is that those kids who do not take the fail safe route out of the contract, due to finanicial aid insufficiency or other matters that the school deems acceptable are listed as ED Accepts on a list that goes to college who will then flush you off their lists just in case you don’t let them know. THis is done because too many ED kids forget or just don’t bother to do this as layed out in the contract. In your case, you have a legiitamate out, but due to delays in your package, there is a risk that you are on that list as you have not officially been released from that ED commitment you made when you applied. I guaranttee you that some of those LACs you are now considering use that list. So you need to get this straightened out with Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Another reason I hate ED. What a mess.</p>