financial aid at vassar

D_yer_Maker
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 07:33:57 +0000

Vassar was just rated in the top 10 by one of the well-known school ranking publications in terms of its financial aid offerings: http://www.princetonreview.com/financial-aid-rating-press-release.aspx and http://www.princetonreview.com/financial-aid-honor-roll.aspx

Anecdotal experiences will be all over the map. Some people will be displeased by the offers. Others will be pleased. And since you won’t know how similar you are to their situation and can’t compare notes on your tax returns, you can’t possibly tell from anecdotal offerings how Vassar will treat you – the only person you care about in making this inquiry.

That said, I will add that Vassar was, hands down, the most aggressive of about 10 colleges S was accepted to in terms of helping us reach an award amount that we felt would make Vassar viable. They asked for more information to see if they could justify the number we needed. It was not a negotiation, however. We had a specific situation that needed to be looked at and Vassar didn’t just consider the situation and make a decision; they engaged in a dialogue to be sure that they understood the situation completely. Unlike most of the other schools, Vassar did not seem to be bound to a specific formula on this specific issue. So, whether they’ll come up for money for you…I can’t say. I can only say that it seems to me that they worked harder at it than others.

The thing about getting feedback from users is that the negative feedback from one person could be good news for you. And vicey-versey. In other words, if Vassar is denying some other person financial aid, that person may be sour on Vassar’s financial aid department. But maybe, by taking a less forgiving/generous view of the situation that is relevant to that other person, Vassar can be far more generous when it looks at the need of people who are in your shoes. Maybe, by taking the position that the other person’s situation doesn’t indicate so much financial need, Vassar can make good on its commitment to meet 100% of need…including your situation which, in Vassar’s eyes, might be one that indicates need.

Since you’re applying ED, you may be able to get an early read on FA from Vassar. That way you won’t have an ED offer on December 15 that you’ll feel compelled to decline because the aid calculation was a big surprise. As you’re going through the ED application process, you should encourage your parent(s) to be in close dialogue with the FA office so that, before you send in that ED application, you will know if Vassar is financially viable for you.

Good luck – with the application and the aid request!