citrusbelt

sarahhs,
My D just got FA in the mail today from Smith, Dickinson and Bryn Mawr. Smith was "really crappy aid" for my D, too. I know she was a very strong candidate for them, but they must have been looking for something different then she had to offer. They look at the class as a whole, remember. Also, some people with the exact same efc as we had probably were given giant grants. They are a private school and can do whatever they want with the aid, whatever they say. They say they meet 100% of need, but they were way off even figuring the higher profile amount. We have a lot of home equity. If you live in an expensive state and apply to a school that takes home equity into account (Smith does), that can bite you. Smith is known to be very generous with grant to lower income students and not so generous to middle and upper middle students. Me thinks you are probably in one of those categories as we are. Dickinson gave her a huge merit scholarship and Bryn Mawr met more then my D needed in grant plus a free plane ticket to visit. Lewis and Clark had earlier given her a nice merit, also.

Sadly, we can not afford to send our D to Smith. She still has three more schools to hear from, but right now she has three real choices (Lewis and Clark, Dickinson and Bryn Mawr). If it wasn't for the terrific aid packages those three gave her, she would be in serious mourning as she really liked Smith. Luckily, those offers boosted her morale and right now she is saying, "Their loss!" You should adopt that attitude, too, and not bother FA about it. I am sure you will have other choices because if you were admitted to Smith in the first place, it means you are a terrific student.

Good bye and good luck to all you new Smithies!