What the OP DID say is that his/her parents can afford Amherst and that he/she is coming off their waitlist. The OP further states…willing to pay full tuition at comparable national universities in terms of prestige and academics such as UChicago or Dartmouth. The question then is: what is the probability that a student coming off a waitlist will be offered significant “merit aid” (“need-based aid” seems a bit too far fetch) at this late stage of the game to offset such a large COA difference between the two schools? Possible? Highly probable?