<p>I have always loved the idea of Williams, but, due to its lack of merit financial aid, have kind of pushed it out of my mind and focused on Midwestern LACs that are much more generous with merit scholarships. I received substantial merit scholarships from both Kenyon and Grinnell, and, as expected, would be paying full tuition at Williams. In this mix of this, however, I was accepted to Princeton, and up until this past weekend, was fairly determined it would be the place for me. It wasn't, leaving one very confused senior with very little time to decide. Also in the meantime, I learned that I received a generous outside math scholarship that I could apply to my Williams education, making it slightly more financially feasible, but still expensive. When I found out that Williams was still in the running, I was very excited, thinking that I would feel more at ease turning down Princeton for Williams than Grinnell or Kenyon. But now I am having second thoughts.</p>
<p>Is there any reason to, over the course of the four years, spend over $50,000 more on a Williams education than a Grinnell or Kenyon education?</p>
<p>I guess it's getting to crunch time here, so any and all advice would be fabulous. :)</p>
<p>Wow! Our son was in the exact same situation as you last year with St Olaf thrown into the mix as well. He received the top merit offer from Grinnell, Kenyon and St Olaf, plus a music scholarship from St Olaf, taking the total St Olaf annual price tag to far less than a state school! These schools would have given him National Merit Finalist money as well.</p>
<p>We do receive a small (emphasis on small!) amount of FA from Williams. Grinnell, St Olaf and Kenyon offered nothing beyond the merit money.</p>
<p>Our son had actually applied ED to Williams and was initially deferred, so by the Spring he was excited to be looking at these other schools. He insisted on revisiting before making up his mind, and in the end chose Williams because he felt it was an intellectually stimulating environment with stellar program opportunities in music.</p>
<p>He has had an incredible first year! He loves his classes, friends, music and other activities and told us “this is the first time I have ever felt I fit academically”. We can’t put a pricetag on that fit…</p>
<p>It is a stretch for our family and we make sacrifices in other ways - but we wouldn’t change it for the world. </p>
<p>Do you have strong preferences for any of these schools? Once our son stayed overnight and attended classes at Williams (this was prior to Preview Days because he couldn’t attend them) his mind was completely made up. Over the course of four years, excluding St Olaf, we were looking at $17K/year in merit from Grinnell and $14.5K/year from Kenyon. While that is a sizeable chunk of the annual tuition, it wasn’t enough to counterbalance fit for our son.</p>
<p>Only you know the strength of your interest and fit with each of these schools. For us, Williams is worth every penny.</p>
<p>This is a very personal decision. My S loves Williams, too, but Grinnell is a wonderful school. I have a good friend whose son is every bit as accomplished as the kids at Williams and he chose Grinnell over Vassar, Pomona and Carleton (and over Williams where he didn’t even apply.)</p>
<p>Only you can decide how much more you like Williams. Did you feel you fit at Grinnell? If yes, then it’s a no brainer. If not, I see your dilemma.</p>
<p>For me, I would play the $50K for my son, but I would not want HIM to start out with these loans.</p>
<p>For us it was a no brainer in that our S is saving over 55k by attending Grinnell and he loves the school. He fit well there when he did his overnights and actually ended up not applying to many other similar schools because we told him that the savings could be put towards graduate school down the road. Williams is a great school and so is Grinnell. You can’t go wrong attending either. What do you want to major in? have you visited both schools? Where are you coming from(location)?</p>
<p>You basically are getting a year for free in this scenario and that is huge to the wallet. Do you plan on going to grad school down the road? That should be factored in as many overspend on undergrad and are stretched too thin when that point comes. </p>
<p>The only other thing I would add, is that unless you really love Williams to the point that you would not be happy with a diploma from Grinnell, I would go with Grinnell and save your money. Also, what do your parents think?</p>
<p>FWIW, grad school in science or math is almost always fully funded (i.e. they pay you to go), so you don’t need to worry about saving money. Of course that’s not true of med school, law school, etc.</p>