charlieschm

TJMom:

That law school system reportedly is extremely common. Law school students think they will have no trouble maintaining a 3.0 or a 3.2 because they did well undergrad, but don't understand the curving system in Law School. The Law School knows that most of the students won't be able to maintain their merit money, but the students don't realize it. As a result, the amount of loans can unexpectedly double or people drop out with a half-finished degree.

njcdmom

My d goes to Smith College, a meets-need-100% school. I asked them explicitly before she committed if they practiced "bait-and-switch." The told me point blank no; if our finances stayed about the same, we could expect to get the same kind of package in subsequent years. We are waiting now to find out what her aid will be for next year; am also wondering how they re-calculate given the increase in school costs. Will update.

YaleGradandDad

They had an article about merit scholarships at law schools in the New York Times magazine in the past year detailing this problem. I was surprised at the very high percentage of law students that are offered these scholarships based on maintaining a GPA knowing that many would lose the FA. One school offered a guaranteed four year package without any GPA stipulations that was not as high as the annually renewable package and nearly all the kids opted for the latter. The law schools had little sympathy for the students since they felt that these kids were especially in a position to comprehend a competitive scholarship offer.

bekahshoemake

Maybe the law school front loading is a test! If you don't read the fine print and do some research about your school and the scholarship, maybe you shouldn't be a lawyer...

ck12ipnxp

Haha....yes the fine print is something that everyone should look out for. This made me laugh.

akebias

dear njcdmom,

I have 2 at Smith - I don't worry about bait and switch - after 3 financial aid cycles and going into my 4th - Rich colleges like Smith don't bait and switch - my experience is that in your second year - if you have loans - your loan amounts go up - which was made clear to us. Other than that I have found Smith to fair and generous. You should always read the fine print but it is schools with more limited endowments that have to stretch their financial aid dollars that you have to worry about.

cptofthehouse

I think most colleges as a matter of course will up the student' s contribution each year. Many are upfront about this. As the Stafford loan maximums rise, so do the amounts that a student is asked to borrow.

vienneselights

Yep, Smith's aid is pretty neat

laplatinum

I will know next year at this time. I don't expect my son's college to be engaged in such behavior, as it's a classy institution, but I think the point is well taken and is worthy of discussion for undergraduate and graduate education.

MiselisM

As an incoming freshman into Syracuse, it's fair to say that they actually look at your academic status and your involvement in the community when deciding if they will keep/improve your financial aid offer?

talkthattalk

Lol at the fine print thing

smorgasbord

What about transfer students? Will an incoming transfer be frontloaded as well, or this mostly a freshman/law school phenomenon?

romanigypsyeyes

^ Transfers generally won't get as much aid so I'd say that's a moot point.

LostCoast

We believe that there was some front-loading in my daughter's aid package from Mt. Holyoke, though we'll never know for sure because she's going elsewhere. They offered her a 21st Century Scholarship and a Mary Lyon grant. The grant couldn't have been need-based, because the scholarship more than covered our need. We assumed that it was a "signing bonus" to get her to attend, and that it would have vanished in the second year.

mommusic

Generally there's a web site you can visit to get info on special named or departmental grants, where they will tell you how much it is, who it can be awarded to, how many per year get it, and if it is renewable.