Although the other schools offer merit, if you’re in the category of qualifying for need-based aid, Wellesley might be the way to go as they have the largest endowment and are quite generous. It certainly was the best deal for us, coming in at half the cost of Mount Holyoke even with the Leadership Scholarship of 20K/year. Apply to all of them because even though your D might like one a little better today, she might like a different one a little better by May 1!
Thanks @redpoodles we won’t cross any off the list - keeping options open!
I have a sister and friends who went to Barnard (all have graduated in the past few years). They say the term “seven sisters” is rarely, if ever, heard these days. Then again, Barnard and Radcliffe were always somewhat different from the others, being literally right next to Columbia and Harvard.
@redpoodles Barnard doesn’t offer merit aid, only need based aid. It also has the smallest endowment but in a touch of irony, is one of the only “seven sisters” to still have need blind admissions for domestic students.
@exlibris97 Do they meet need? Easy to be need blind if not.
According to this list Wellesley is need blind/ full need. Vassar is a former 7 sister. is also need blind and meets full need. Smith, Scripps, BMC and MHC are need aware but meet full need. Agnes Scott is need aware and does not meet full need, but it’s much less expensive.
To add to the above – both Holyoke and Bryn Mawr give merit money. Not familiar with Scripps and Agnes Scott on merit money, so I cannot speak to that.
Sorry, I forgot to link the list!!
Here are need blind, etc. schools –
@chzbrgr - Barnard meets full need (as they define it – requires CSS Profile – but that’s true of almost all “meet full need” colleges. Hard to find a school that will meet full FAFSA need).
Barnard’s need-based offer to my daughter was significantly better than the offer from a peer institution - U of Chicago - but things have changed since then. (Chicago has gotten significantly more generous since then, though also a lot harder to get into). A lot has to do with decisions the school makes as to how it values home equity or other factors.
Schools use the ED process as a way of bringing in a significant cohort of full-pay students.
Also, schools that offer significant merit aid are less likely to be need-blind for admissions, because as a policy decision they are using money to attract the strongest students. They are packaging their aid in ways that favor some students over others-- to a certain extent tying the amount of grant money they offer to the perceived strength of the applicant.
There could be a $20,000+ cost difference between these schools, even between the ones that claim to meet full need. If you are applying for financial aid and have not already run the net price calculator on the CollegeBoard site, you should do so immediately. You will see what your expected contribution is for virtually each one of these schools. https://professionals.collegeboard.org/higher-ed/financial-aid/netprice/participating-schools
@calmom Yes Barnard is on the very short list of schools that are both need-blind and meet need (for US students only, only half a dozen colleges also do it for foreign students).
I think one very big variable between the aid offer from college to college is how they treat home equity. So if you have low income, but have significant equity in your home (current market value less mortgage amount) some colleges will use that as available wealth to be used to pay for college or borrow against to pay for college. Some colleges will have a cap on how much home equity they consider (as a ratio of annual income) and some colleges will treat home equity as non-liquid assets and will not factor it all. Depending on your situation, two colleges that are need blind and claim to meet full need may provide you financial aid that are significantly different (by many thousands of dollars). The best way to learn how a college calculates this is to use the net calculator on the CollegeBoard site and look at estimated financial aid from the dozens of schools that participate on their site. This may be a big factor on where you decide to apply ED (well ED II since the ED date is already passed). The more information you have the better decisions you will be able to make and avoid unpleasant surprises.
I frequently hear individuals refer to the Seven Sisters. The colleges themselves continue to use the term There are Seven Sisters championships in almost every sport.
http://www.smithpioneers.com/news/2016/10/27/crew-race-preview-smith-hosts-seven-sisters-regatta.aspx
sport.http://www.vassarathletics.com/sports/2016/4/9/2016-seven-sisters-championships-tennis.aspx
Smith and MHC are need-blind for at least 95% of the students admitted. Depending on the how much of the financial aid budget has been exhausted, the final 1- 5% may be admitted need-sensitive.
But the “Seven Sisters” at your crew listing is a morphed list: “Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, Smith, Simmons and Bryn Mawr” Obviously only women’s colleges–note that Simmons is in and Vassar is out. And of course Barnard athletes are Division I / Ivy League.
Well, there’s been some recent press on a letter the leaders of the Seven Sisters wrote to Steve Bannon: https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2016/11/21/seven-sisters-colleges-respond-to-steve-bannons-derogatory-remark-with-open-letter, and the Wall Street Journal is also continuing to refer to the group: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-seven-sisters-colleges-ranked-1478888001
I have also heard/read things from Seven Sisters students about their own connection to their counterparts at the other schools.
Women’s colleges are pretty unique. The common geography, history, and mission of these schools helps them maintain their strong bonds.
AFAIK, Wellesley owns the academic top spot among straight-up women’s colleges (no explicit pairing with a male or coed school). There’s a big international following as well, specifically because it’s just for women.
My purpose for posting link was to demonstrate that the term Seven Sisters is still very much in use. Had I known that there would be quibbling over the inclusion of a non-Seven Sisters in the regatta, I’d have picked a different sport. 
Vassar is not included because Vassar crew ceased to be member of the NCAA ~6 years ago. Smith was kind enough to invite Simmons instead 
When we visited Bryn Mawr, the presenter at the information session said the seven sisters were now really “five sisters and one cousin” because Radcliffe is no more and Vassar is coed. I thought that was a pretty humurous way of highlighting the shared history of the schools while acknowledging the change in our culture concerning women’s education.
I had a child graduate Bryn Mawr and currently have a first year at Mt. Holyoke. There are differences at the schools, but it’s hard to pin-point what they are. It’s more of an overall feeling. Also, the weather is much colder at Mt. Holyoke. It’s somewhat of an issue for my child that she was not expecting. I want to say that my girls are both very “into” the traditions and find the academics top notch over all. My youngest refused to even consider women’s colleges. She’s very different from the other two and I think that was the best decision for her.
I don’t have a child at one of these schools and as a male never attended, though I did have a GF who had graduated from MHC and when I was in school back in the dark ages in Cambridge, I was invited to parties and dated young women from Wellesley (the 40 minute bus ride definitely didn’t deter lots of women from Wellesley making it into Harvard Square). My son attended college in the 5 college consortium and knew women from Smith and MHC from classes, activities as well as socially.
I think there are a few strong economists at Wellesley and the ability to take MIT Econ courses would be a strong lure. Even better because the courses would be easier to take would be Barnard with Columbia’s Econ department.
Women we know who have graduated from Smith are noticeably confident and capable, which has always impressed me and would positively dispose me towards a daughter attending Smith.