SmithieandProud

Smith's policy is to meet 100% of demonstrated need as they calculate it. Like most private schools they have an in-house formula, and it can seem very strange. Also, the combo of grants/loans varies widely by student. I have friends who receive equal amounts of FA, though one's is mostly grants and one's is mostly loans.

Don't give up totally. If it's really important to you to go to Smith, call the aid office, talk to them about what you've received from other schools and explain what you need/want and why. You might be able to bargain a better deal for yourself, it happens often.

Owlie!!!

My Aid for Smith was very off and slightly confusing... my EFC = 0 and i know that EFC is not always accurate..but my family income is under $20,000 and has 6 people...how is it that I would have to pay over $4,000??

mini

Actually, that's an easy one - $1,500 from summer earnings, $2,500 from campus job. (If that's how it falls out for you.)

TheDad

Bingo. It's not unreasonable for a student to earn $4K a year towards their own education.

I know of a single mom who came up with the extra money so daughter wouldn't have to work; I think daughter would have been ahead of the game if she had the work experience, even doing something she didn't like.

tma

Consider yourself lucky if you received anything over $1.00 financial package from Smith. I consider myself middle class parent. My daugther went to Smith and received "Zero" package and we have to pay for everything for the first 2.5 years.

They finnaly gave her $9,000. on her Junior year. "Pityfull package" but better than nothing. I can't wait to see the type of package that Smith will offer on her senior year. It's too late for us to back-out.

Overall, we still beleived the education at Smith is worth it.

foolishpleasure

Just out of curiosity, did you get more attractive finaid packages from other schools?

A friend's D rec'd no merit $ or finaid from Smith (not surprising, they didn't receive finaid for any of thier 4 kids). She chose to attend Bryn Mawr, which offered $15K meirt scholarship (2 of 3 sibs also rec'd merit awards). This family too, is middle-class and had to make some hard decision based on the dollars (oldest S declined ED admission to Emory and enrolled at less- expensive UVa instead; younger S opted for free-ride at public honors college).

I know that the structure of the package can change depending on how much the school "wants" a particualr student (ie: finaid as merit$), but $0 at one school and a reasonable award from another is less common.

tma

My daughter received Financial Packages from other schools, which are quite attractive. However, The schools are known for a very large population such as Purdue and other engineering schools. At 16 Yrs old she graduated from a small public High School in our state with a total population of 200 selected students called: Governor's School. I have tried my best as a parent in convincing her to take any of those financial packages -attend one of those schools and forget about Smith College.

Just to make a long story short, we realized that large Universities are not for her. I can almost tell she won't be happy attending any of those schools. So, We decided to send her to Smith. As of today - she is doing real well in engineering school and extremely happy.

I hate to say it, We’ll be in debt for the rest of our lives but, what a hek…She’s the only child, I decided to give her my parental support. I hope she will find a real job after graduation so she can start paying her student loan.

sarahhs

^good luck, tma!
and foolishpleasure, i did get better packages from both scripps and wellesley.

i dont think they were in any way merit based. Smith may have just forgotten to consider some things (like the fact that my bro is going to grad school) so my dad appealed the financial aid. we'll see how it works out, but if it doesn't, i think i'm leaning towards wellesley now anyways

citrusbelt

I still get messages that things are posted here even though my D decided on Bryn Mawr (who gave her a fabulous FA package compared to Smith's impossible aid). I couldn't pass this one up, though.

Anything your parents are paying for your brother in grad school will not matter for your financial aid and it is not figured into your package at all. Schools do not think grad school costs are your parents responsibility. Most parents do not pay for grad school. Sorry.

sarahhs

actually, they ended up coming back with a little more money. its still not enough to match wellesley, though, so i'm either going there or to suny geneseo (unless i drastically change my mind). but thank you everyone for your help!!!

foolishpleasure

sarahhs - -

Perhaps you misunderstood my post. Certainly, the finaid package can vary from school to school.

Schools employ different institutional methods of calculating need, also one school may "want" a candidated more than another school and therefore offer more grant aid than loans. Still other schools have decided to either cap loans (Bryn Mawr or Wellesley caps loans at $15000, which is $3000 less than the current cap on federal loans) or eliminate loans all together. A school that starts out with a lower sticker price will likely offer less finaid than a more expensive school. And some schools promise to meet 100% of demonstrated need (based on the school's institutional method), while others may meet only 70-80% of need.

I maintain, however, that it is unusual for a student to receive $0 need based finaid from one school (as tma stated in post #20) and receive considerably more generous offers from another, comp priced school. In fact, sarahhs, you post supports my contention - - you received offers from all 3 schools; no one offered you $0.

Finally, as your post and citrusbelt's response indicate, applicants and their families are often confused about what expenses the schools do/should consider. And a school's determination of need is often different and less than the family's determination of need - - so what a school expects the family to contribute is often do-able, but more of a stretch than the family had hoped.

Best of luck, whichever school you decide to attend.