What does TE means?
Tuition Exchange. Itâs a program (somewhat competitive) that has about 300 schools in it ⊠mostly private and many religiously affiliated, and all pretty small. The program is a fringe benefit available to many folks who work in higher ed at similar schools (anywhere from facilities to faculty to president). At some schools (St. Johnâs) it covers full tuition, and at many others (in our case, Skidmore, Bard, and St. Lawrence) it covers a set rate, currently 43K, of tuition. Most of the top academic schools are not in this program, but a few are. The program helps smaller schools keep employees and attract a few students. Some schools take as few as one TE import, and others (Pitt and Syracuse) take a few dozen. TE decisions are separate from admissions decision. Often parents have their home institution as an option as well.
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Thank you! Never heard of it. The college process is so complicated. Daughter did her best applying but I wished I could have helped her in any way. I am learning from her!
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I really appreciate your updates. I have a kid who also got waitlisted for Skidmore with stats that seemed to be on target but not as high as your daughterâs. I know things arenât linear in this process but felt a little better to hear that Skid waitlists lots of RD that need aid. I think my daughter is handling rejection better than I am at this point. Still waiting on Bard and Vassar. Iâll be glad when theyâre all in so we can focus on the future.
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Same boat on Bard and Vassar, and Iâm so glad that our D24 really is excited by all ten schools. When entering all of this, I too thought it was pretty linear. Whoops. Iâm very glad for the CC community to help with interpretation and tea leaves.
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As predicted, my high-stats, FA-dependent kid was also waitlisted at Skidmore. I wonder if the stats of the waitlisted kids at Skidmore as a whole exceed the admitted ones. 
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Yup. One never knows. Holistic admissions. My D24 had a chance to be snarky about it, but instead said, "Perhaps they had great portfolios, or great musical auditions ⊠" and thatâs likely true some good portion of the time. Thankfully she got an admit an hour earlier ⊠takes the sting out of things. She really liked Skid a lot, though.
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Yeah, weâre not at all bitter about it. I suspect itâs not yield protection so much as financial planning. Skidmoreâs NPC was pretty generous for usâmore generous than some schools with mega endowments (looking in your direction, Yale). And, like you, we liked the school a lot. It was particularly well-suited to my art-focused kid. But I do think others should know about it. Otherwise, itâd be pretty easy to assume that Skidmore is a âlikelyâ based on stats and demonstrated interest, when in fact it appears to be a hard admit for FA applicants in RD.
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Thanks to the whole CC community for helping guide and inform. Iâm not sure how much here could be instructive, but IMO, itâs relevant that we are in an extremely rural place at a very small public HS. Itâs most relevant of all that D24 worked her ass off, customizing every response, essay, interview prep, nuance to schools she had already visited and was a good fit at, and sincerely could see herself. In our case, the NPCs were very accurate, and Iâm glad CC encouraged me to take the time to work those out. Waiting on RD is tough. It does make a lot of sense to have at least one affordable and good option on the table earlier, and we really didnât have even one until March.
These results are just sort of topline COA from the institutions ⊠but each has lots of odd and distinct little fringes that try to make things affordable for folks who simply donât have a lot of means.
Williams, accept, COA 10
Swarthmore, accept, COA 12
Bowdoin, accept, COA 13.5 (w/ NMF)
St. Johnâs, accept, COA 18 (w/TE)
Middlebury, accept, COA 22,
Bard, accept, COA 23.5
St. Lawrence, accept, 31 (w/TE)
Wesleyan, waitlist (NPC had said it would be within our range)
Skidmore, waitlist, (NPC had said it wouldnât be within our range)
Vassar, TBD
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Congrats!!! those are some AMAZING Admits and under your target COA (If I remember correctly)
Big decisions, up ahead - hopefully you can get to some revisit days!
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Youâve been admitted to three of the (reputedly) best and most selective colleges in the US â Williams, Swat, and Bowdoin â with a COA of at or under $13500. Con-goshdarn-gratulations! Middlebury is on that level too, I think, but obviously itâs more expensive.
If one of the others is your fave, though, and it is affordable⊠without debt⊠I think youâd be justified in choosing it instead. Go to the place that fits you best.
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Wow! Amazing. Hard work pays off. Some many good choices that even if money were no object & she didnât need FA the options would still be outstanding.
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This is amazing! I feel like you may be in the same boat we were in last year. It was hard to decide!!! For us it came down to 10pm on 5/1! I think going to as many admitted students days that you can is helpful. Bowdoin Bearings made it a really hard decision (so good).
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Those are amazing results! Congrats!
I think we have a bit in common. We live in a rural area without a whole lot of data points (no Scoir or Naviance) to guide us on this journey. D24 has great grades and test scores, but itâs hard to compare things like ECs (whatâs an academic olympiad?). FA is the most important and determinative criterion and largely shaped D24âs college list.
Anyhow, D24 was rejected outright by Williams in ED, which shook our confidence a bit. Objectively, we knew it was a real possibility. But we had hoped itâd at least be a deferral. Anyhow, Williamsâs FA is best in classâI had a 30 minute consultation with a FA officer to confirm that its financial aid would allow us to apply ED. Williams definitely made the most sense on paper for D24, although I think D24 may have liked Bowdoin slightly more for fit.
D24 has since gotten into Scripps ($35k), Mac ($27k), WashU (TBD; NPC ~$25k), Smith ($22k), Bowdoin ($22k), Wesleyan ($16k), and Swarthmore ($15k), and waitlisted at Skidmore (~$20k NPC) and Pomona (~$17k NPC). She will hear from Dartmouth and Penn on Thursday, although Iâm not sure admission to either (unlikely) would change things.
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Sounds and looks awfully similar. Congratulations!! Our Bowdoin COA is actually either 14.5 or 15.5 (I overestimated what they do for NMF, if we get anything), and for Swat it looks like your situation if very close to yours, as well. Itâll be a hard decision for D24, and from here Iâm hoping to help on stuff like getting to and from campus, understanding study abroad options, and fringey stuff (J-Term, meal plans, books, health and safety) and otherwise keep my mouth shut. Great options across the board. It looks like you had a lot of geographic range. Good luck at your remaining two!
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FWIW, hereâs my assessment of the schools we have in common.
I hate Williams because they rejected my kid 
, but it had the most impressive campus of the ones we visited last summer (Bowdoin, Dartmouth, Skidmore, and Smith). And I really like their winter term and tutorials. People complain about the isolation of Williamstown, but it seemed fine to us (coming from a rural area ourselves).
Bowdoin seems like the most âcanât missâ LAC. As in, the level of student satisfaction seems as high at Bowdoin as at any other LAC. After our college tour, it was probably my kidâs favorite school in terms of vibe and fit and could be her ultimate choice if we can successfully haggle down the FA.
I know the least about Swat. D24 enjoyed her interview with an alumna, who pitched the school well. It seems to have the benefits of a rural LAC (tight community and campus feel) with relatively easy access to a major city, which would be good for D24 expanding her horizons. Swat is flying D24 out for a visit in April, which may be determinative.
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Iâm sure that youâre aware that Williams is the only school of your daughterâs incredible options that has gotten rid of work-study as part of their all-grants financial aid. I found this article in Williamsâ magazine quite interesting and moving:
@BentWookie I hate Bowdoin for the same reason that you hate Williams 
Congratulations on your daughterâs fantastic options.
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It was interesting last year at Bowdoin Bearings how many kids were cross admit with Dartmouth and deciding between the two. Mine was deciding between the other one you are waiting on and Bowdoin with a full ride offer from W and L.
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Thanks, and I was aware, but hadnât seen the article. I appreciate it. Iâm kind of a fan of work study, in an old school way, but ⊠it can have a bit of an âupstairs, downstairsâ air to it, too.
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You both made me laugh. By that reasoning, I guess I should hate Skidmore and Wesleyan ⊠but ⊠Iâve blocked those words out of my mind completely. What do they mean? I have a faint association, but, just canât place 'em. 
Our kiddos could run into each other, as Swat is flying D24 out in April as well, and thatâs pretty glamorous. I think she feels she knows little about these top candidates, and there is just so much to know. All the dorm rooms seem equally small and humble. Williamstown is a metropolis compared to where we live, but itâs only about an hourâs drive. Iâve never been near Bowdoin. Canât picture it. She went to see an enrolled friend, who loves it. same with Midd. I still remember what âVassarâ means, but that could change by Wednesday.
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