@ucbalumnus VERY VERY affordable.
Excellent that she has an affordable option if she doesn’t get into St. O. I’d still encourage you to let her other applications play out if St O doesn’t come through.
Fantastic @Momof2girlsandafrenchie! @twoinanddone glad your D is on the mend. Great Friday news all around.
@Momof2girlsandafrenchie - Great news!!! So glad D has an affordable option.
I know you don’t want to hear this, but your D should change her ED app at St. O. to RD. She should have the schools bring her in for a visit, and take her time. She has until May 1st to make a decision, knowing she has Earlham as an affordable, viable option.
St. O is a stronger chemistry school. I’d leave it alone at this point.
Well there’s no rush because this was early action. She has plenty of time. But oh my gosh am I relieved. And I’m also very proud of her. They emailed and said the travel agent would be contacting her to arrange airline ticket.
@LoveTheBard I just don’t think there’s anyway any other school that doesn’t advertise as full need is going to have a better financial package I know because I’ve been trying to work them as back up.
@intparent - That may be so, but she hasn’t even visited St. O. yet and likely won’t before she’d have to commit.
Applying ED to anyplace sight unseen is never a good idea, in my book. (I’m not going to get into the ethical issues about ED agreement and what’s “affordable” within that context, etc. That’s already been discussed ad nauseum).
OP’s D now knows she has an affordable option. She should let the chips fall where they may at the rest of the schools, visit as may schools as will pay for her to go, and make an informed decision. Besides, it’s probably not a good idea to pick a school based on a single major, as majors often change. And it’s certainly not a good idea to commit to a school without visiting!!
So happy for you and your daughter!! You don’t have to answer,but were the loans under $5500?
Okay, remember when I was questioning how work study was applied? What it covered? If it help offset direct expenses? Because this could be something that determines affordability. The financiall package we received her direct costs are covered by loan, scholarship, institutional grants, federal grants. Which leaves a zero amount due. It appears the work study amount is for personal expenses (all the things I was concerned about, clothes, medication, toiletries, etc).
This is why I was so focused on the ins and outs of work study. Is this going to be school specific or typical of any school and work study funds?
I hope that question makes sense?
This package looks so different than the other packages we have thus far. I’m not just talking about numbers but how it’s broken down.
I’m entering a new phase where I’m unsure. New learning curve…
ETA: Why is the SEOG grant which is a federal grant so vastly different from school to school?
^ Because each school has a limited pot of SEOG $ and has to figure out how to stretch it to cover as many students as possible. Schools that have many students with exceptional need will have to do more stretching while schools with fewer can afford to give each student a larger grant.
Very nice award!
Each school determines how they will award SEOG dollars.
One question I would ask…if SEOG goes away in future years…will Earlham cover the difference in grants? There has been some significant discussion about SEOG being eliminated.
I would strongly suggest for the next school year that you get your financial aid applications done when they are released for submission on October 1. Both SEOG and federal work study are limited funds per campus and are usually awarded on a first come first served basis.
The only other question…and it’s important. You will need to find out how consistent your award will be in subsequent years IF your financial situation does not change!
I agree about changing St O to RD. It then would maybe give your daughter TWO viable options from which to choose. She could visit Earlham and fall in love with it…and then be stuck going to St O because if the ED agreement. That can be avoided by changing to RD at ST O.
Both are great schools, but Earlham is tiny at 1000 students so definitely warrants a visit - the difference in the way a campus feels as you go from 1000 to 2000 is huge. St. Olaf, while having a religious affiliation, isn’t considered a religious school; also its 3x the size (3000 students is a great size) and has another 2000 students in town from Carleton so it makes for a very cool atmosphere in Northfield - as a result, it will be much easier to find one’s niche at St. Olaf IMHO.
What’s Facebook? 
As an aside, when I first became a moderator on this site, I begged and pleaded with TPTB to amend Terms of Service to edit the section that said “links to MySpace are prohibited.” It only took 3 years.
Congrats @Momof2girlsandafrenchie
@thumper1 Those are exactly the questions I have. I feel very confident that Earlham wants her to stay and graduate. But how do I guarantee that SEOG money? Or that they will make up for it if they don’t have as much? I don’t know how to tread those waters.
So I just want to clarify this is not a discussion about ED agreements this is me asking questions about this next part. And I don’t know if I should go to a different thread or since there are so many people vested if I should keep it here?
Also I thought I was being kind of vague about the award. But it is generous. One of the biggest questions I had came back to the work-study money and if that would be allotted the same way at each school or if that is school specific? I just don’t know the answer to that question I know we tried to cover that before and I wasn’t totally grasping.
Also, while hard to find a definitive answer, it will be important to understand why Earlham’s 4-year graduation rate is low at 65% vs 85% at St. Olaf (and most other selective schools). I am not saying it has anything to do with SEOG, but it’s something - maybe location, maybe size, maybe Quaker vibe, idk.
I’m hearing it’s the fit…It’s not a good fit for everyone and they may transfer. It is the perfect fit for some kids and I suspect that my daughter is one of them.