| My D
Kenyon -- great merit aid ($16 K science scholarship -- supposedly their most prestigious award) ridiculous need aid ($1.5 K). The amount that Kenyon expects us to pay is roughly equal to other colleges my D has gotten into, which says to me that Kenyon used the scholarship to replace the need award at a 100 percent tax rate. I was very offended.
Wesleyan U -- aid package was roughly $7-9 K worse than other schools where my D has been accepted so far.
St. Olaf -- D received an $8.5 K merit scholarship (the highest they award to a regular admission applicant), but no word on need based aid. I expect Olaf to be very competetive financially once we get the rest of the aid package. As a family, we specifically targeted a few schools that were in the Midwest and might have a stronger interest in a female student from central NY, and schools that had a strong academic reputation but a little bit higher admit rate.
Carleton -- Solid offer of need based aid. D received prestigious scholarship (I think -- hard to find out how many others were awarded) that carries no funding. I find this much more honest than Kenyon. All grants, no loans.
U of Chicago -- D accepted quite some time ago, but no word on financial aid. We have very high hopes that the award will be generous. Chicago has that reputation, and they seemed to like my D.
In sum .... Wesleyan was disappointing and will get rejected. Kenyon's total award was OK, but the merit aid effectively reducing need based aid dollar for dollar angered us, so they will get rejected. Carleton's offer was solid. Still waiting on aid packages from Olaf and Chicago, but they are still very much on our radar. My D has not heard a peep from Reed, Grinnell (another great school with a reputation for generous aid), Princeton or Amherst. |