<p>oh man, totally. dartmouth finaid office = a lifesaver.</p>
<p>yay 2010!</p>
<p>I'm curious about the skiway that some posters have mentioned. Even though I'm from Texas, I love skiing/snowboarding (although I'm not very good at it), so does Dartmouth actually own its own slopes? How much are lift tickets? How small is it? etc. etc. etc.</p>
<p>Yup Dartmouth has its own slopes. The skiway is about half an hour away from Dartmouth by bus. It's pretty small, but I still had a great time skiing there. </p>
<p>Skiing and Snowboarding PE classes are great -- they are fun and fulfill a PE credit. Lessons (taught by other Dartmouth students) are once a week for 2 hours during winter term. However, it does cost about $400 (eek!) to rent skis, boots, and polls, and get your lift ticket and bus ticket. On the other hand, you can go out to the skiway whenever you want, so it can actually be a really good deal.</p>
<p>You can find out everything about the slopes and prices at the website: <a href="http://skiway.dartmouth.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://skiway.dartmouth.edu/</a></p>
<p>Dartmouth Fin Aid office is BEAUTIFUL. I upped my FinAid from 12k/yr to 28k/yr. Wonderful people with a lot of money to throw around.</p>
<p>how to you negotiate such a change in finan aid if your family situation hasn't changed? personally the finan i got wasn't good at all, and i haven't appealed because nothing was different in terms of taxes and all...</p>
<p>it never hurts to ask. if you just ask nicely, i can't see what you waste other than 3 minutes of your time.</p>
<p>as for my financial situation--i sent them a scholarship offer from brandeis. when they say that they don't compete for scholarships, it's a load of bollocks.</p>
<p>so i should do this even though i've already decided on dartmouth? it's well past may 1st and they know it</p>
<p>Might as well try...I plan on doing it too. It can't hurt, and they're not out to sting you. The worst they can do is say that they won't increase your package.</p>
<p>Even if your financial situation hasn't changed, you can still:</p>
<p>1) Bring up information about your financial status that isn't on the forms, but is relevant to your ability to pay. For example, my parents are divorced and my father is contractually responsible for paying all of my college tuition, even though we can't afford Dartmouth on his income. Because Dartmouth required the Non-custodial parents form from everyone, they told me I wasn't eligible for any aid because of my mom's salary, until we appealed and faxed them the divorce contract that said he had to pay. (That's basically why my scholarship was upped dramatically).</p>
<p>Another example - my friend's parents are fairly well off, but most of their money goes towards paying medical bills for her family members, a fact that didn't turn up on the FAFSA or CSS Profile but was a major factor in appealing for more aid.</p>
<p>2) Bring up other offers from other colleges. Georgetown, the University of Chicago, and the University of Texas all granted me a hefty amount of financial aid, and we faxed the Dartmouth office the scholarship letters.</p>
<p>Dartmouth gave me GREAT financial aid, but even so my mom wrote a brief letter & got it down to nearly a free ride, they seem super flexible.</p>
<p>so if i got in on early decision next year, i could possibly get my finaid increased?
also are freshman allowed to drive? if not, that reaaaaaaly sucks.</p>
<p>I concur with the awesomeness of the finaid department! Without their revision to my aid package, Dartmouth would not have been in the cards for me...</p>
<p>What I wish I knew...a lot of great advice has already been dispensed, but I'll add one more: terms go by INSANELY quickly. Don't get behind in classwork/studying/reading, etc. or you will regret it. Basically, your time here will pass very quickly, so enjoy every minute of it!</p>