I think that everyone considering applying to Dickinson next year needs a fair warning before sending in their $65 application fee. Before I get started, I wanted to let everyone know that I was not rejected and actually planned on attending Dickinson before the admissions fiasco that ensued. After the tour I took, I was left with a pretty good impression of the school. That would change quickly. What I am writing should not be interpreted to be an attack on the students or the faculty at Dickinson as the school is good academically. If you think it is worth it to spend nearly a quarter million dollars for a quality education that you could easily receive for a fraction of the cost at a similar institution, go for it. First off, their list price is insanely high but based on their financial aid statistics and the net price calculator, most people would assume that after financial aid and scholarships that the tuition would be manageable- WRONG. They preach affordability and value on their website yet to me, as an average middle class senior, $54,000 dollars for one year is by no means affordable. They have strayed away from their founder’s vision in this respect. The financial aid office isn’t even the least bit helpful and in addition, for a small liberal arts college that charges such a high tuition, the admissions department isn’t all that great either. My application was sent in 3 weeks before the deadline and should have been received within a few days but it wasn’t. When Dickinson first called looking for my application, my counselor ensured me that the application was sent in. A few days later, I realized that the admissions office had lost my application so I called in and did everything in my power to make sure they received a second copy of my application. I spent a while on the phone with an admissions representative and was left the impression, though it wasn’t directly stated, that I was at fault for them losing my application. I spent countless hours on this ordeal and even more stressed out. For a small school with vast resources you would think that they try to reach out to students calling them to ask if they have any questions that they can help out with because that’s what every other school I was accepted to did-WRONG AGAIN. The most important point I would like to make is that people with little expected contribution financially, regardless of talent and academic ability, are often rejected-look at past threads and you will find people with a 2300 on the SAT who were outright rejected. You would think by charging such a high tuition that they could accept more low income students with a high potential; after all, according to their website, they are looking for talent and academic ability. This is sort of understandable because Dickinson wants to keep their yield rate high but what upsets me is that many other people with my financial situation will be deceived by promises of generous financial aid packages that will never materialize. My final suggestion to next year’s potential applicants is that you can find an equal school academically with a much more attractive campus, better academic buildings, modern residence halls and one that will not deceive you and cost MUCH less. It is NOT worth it to go in debt and have no money left to pursue graduate school studies. I did not post this with the purpose of venting my frustration, but instead as a concerned student wishing to give a fair warning to those thinking about spending $65 on an application fee and your valuable time.
As a parent of a junior who has looked at Dickinson, I am sorry you had such a frustrating situation. Please know, that Dickinson is quite up front about saying that it is “need aware” rather than “need blind.” Are you saying that you ran the NPS on the school website, using accurate numbers, and that the actual financial aid award was significantly different than what the NPC showed?
The combination of admission applications and financial aid applications is an exhausting process which, unfortunately for the first time student, gets easier for families after they have been through it once with another child. Any school’s statement about percentage of students receiving financial aid etc. has no applicability or predictive context for whether a specific student will receive financial aid. The best estimator is running the NPC.
I ran the NPC before I decided to apply with accurate numbers and it was showing around $20,000 less I believe. I would not have applied if I knew that the estimated price was so inaccurate. What unfortunately prevented me from getting the financial aid is that my parents are part owners of a small business. The net price calculator didn’t ask about ownership in a business. I believe if they are planning on penalizing business owners with equal incomes compared to non self employed people, they should explicitly state that on their website as a fair warning. I can’t understand why they would penalize business owners in the financial aid process; is Dickinson expecting to sell their business and livelihood in order to put their children through college?
Dickinson is a CSS Profile school. Do you have a non custodial parent? Does a parent own a business? Do you know the equity they have in their house? These all matter for a profile school.
I am sorry you were caught up in this. People who are on CC for a period of time pick up the accepted wisdom that NPCs are notoriously unpredictable when there is income from family business rather than salaries from an employer.
And yes, what colleges expect from middle class families with other assets can seem incredible. I was told that I was full pay when I was one of 5 kids being raised by a single parent in what I considered “gentile poverty.” We had a house we couldn’t afford to heat, my clothes came from thrift shops etc. however, the fact that our house was owned outright without a mortgage meant I got no aid. Yes, they did expect my widowed mother to take a mortgage out to send 1 of her 5 kids to college. I couldn’t expect her to that though and went instead to an affordable though much less desirable option. I got a good education, and moved on.
So while you have my sympathy for what seems unfair, an applicant with a family business applying to a need aware school can expect similar results. The challenge, and difficulty, is getting that information early enough in the process so that the family can develop a balanced list which will provide a range of financial options.
Good luck to you.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. That must of been hard, but I’m glad to hear that you received a good education in the end. I wish there was more transparency when it comes to financial aid from colleges. One of the two schools that I am still considering came straight out and stated that they have a lower list price and won’t give out much financial aid and I really respect that transparency and honesty. I just thought that posting what I did might help other people realize for the future that financial aid is not as abundant as it is advertised. I also feel that since I wasn’t fully aware of the financial aid process that I limited my options by applying to too many expensive schools and not enough good, affordable ones. If this thread helps some other people in a similar situation to mine next year I will be satisfied.
Sounds like a temper tantrum to me, despite your disclaimer.
Does it make you feel better to have slammed Dickinson? It is time for you to move on.
I don’t understand about the lost application thing. Dickinson uses the Common App. ???
For some reason, my high school guidance counselor wanted to send paper copies of the school report, letters of recommendation, etc. My point is that when my application was finally processed well after the due date that they made it seem like it was my fault for it arriving late. In addition, the school is an hour away so the odds of it getting lost in the mail are very slim.
@TomSrOfBoston- I have moved on and am about to submit my enrollment deposit to a different school that I like a lot. If my “temper tantrum” and “slamming Dickinson” helps even one student become more informed when applying and spending their time and money than I am content. Like I previously stated, if someone knows they have the money to go to Dickinson, it is an excellent school and they should go for it. I don’t want people to make my mistake and not apply to other schools because they think that they will receive financial aid at high list price schools such as Dickinson As a result of viewing most of the responses on this thread, I am now myself better informed than I had been before and I hope that future applicants will be also. More transparency on the part of colleges involving financial aid would help significantly.
I tend to disagree with this to an absurd level. I come from a family with standard middle class income and my parents are only having to pay 5,000 for me to go there. Dickinson gave us the best financial aid package out of anyone. In my opinion, the financial aid office and admissions counselors were very helpful and my admissions counselor even checked up on me several times after I turned in my application. My father is also the owner of a small business. I’m sorry you had this experience, but was it really necessary to post this? I have a hard time believing these complaints.
I think that experience was the exception, rather than the rule. And I don’t think it’s fair to criticize Dickinson if the guidance counselor was bent on submitting paper supplemental materials!
My son was accepted at Dickinson and the financial aid offer (which included merit aid) was actually higher than what the NPC estimated, and with less than the maximum in federal loans. In fact, it was the best offer he received, and his need is pretty high.
He ended up choosing a school that’s higher rated in his major, and when he sent a declination note, the Dean of Admissions sent him a very gracious response. I would have been quite happy if he had chosen Dickinson, for a number of reasons. I hope that potential applicants will read the original post with a grain of salt.
I’m going to have to disagree also. Dickinson actually offered us more aid than estimated, which allowed us to send our son there, and the financial aid office was very helpful. I agree with an above post that the CSS Profile seems to be the determinate at this school, not the FAFSA. I’m sorry it didn’t work out as you planned, but best of luck to you at the school you have chosen.