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<p>Right. I think Occidental is an excellent choice as far as financial aid goes and also a school where Fresnomom’s son is almost guaranteed admission and probably a merit-aid offer. They offer merit aid to a very large percentage of their student body (24%). It would have been one of the schools I’d recommend if she hadn’t already mentioned it. Because Fresnomom’s son would be near the very top of Occidental’s applicant pool, I think that the combination of merit and need-based aid could very well end up being his most attractive aid package.</p>
<p>However, there are other schools that that tend to not deliver the goods on need-based financial aid, especially when factoring loan components. For example, only one third of Davidson’s students qualify for a dime of need-based financial aid.</p>
<p>My point was to investigate the real financial aid picture to separate schools that offer significant real-world need-based financial aid (such as Occidental) from those that do not. Occidental is actually a very good example. They offer tremendous financial aid, but do not claim to meet 100% of need (they actually meet 92% of need statistically). The average loan and self-help component of their financial aid package is also double that of Swarthmore’s (and probably Amhersts). </p>
<p>The real test is to compare financial aid packages because, as you know, the total package can vary quite a bit with loan components, merit aid, etc. The school that will be most affordable for one student may not be the most affordable for another. So much depends on how attractive the applicant is to the school, the amount of money the school budgets for financial aid, how they target that aid money, and the specific need calculations of each individual student. </p>
<p>As a general rule, the best finanicial aid packages will come from schools where the applicant is at the top of school’s applicant pool. However, this sometimes flips the other way at very selective schools where there is signficant demonstrated need. A mid-pack applicant at Pomona or Swarthmore may get a better need-based package than a mid-pack applicant at Occidental.</p>