<p>I’m a college freshman at Colorado State wanting to transfer either this or next year. I applied originally for several top liberal arts colleges (smith occidental pitzer mount holyoke and lewis and clark) but was wait listed at all of them. I eventually got into MH but even though it was only 8k a year it was too much for 4 years and I hope to reapply. Its possible that I was overreaching with these schools but I’m also concerned that my financial need was taken into consideration as these schools tend to only ignore it for the top 96-98%. </p>
<p>My stats are
SAT 2000
High School gpa 3.74
College GPA (i hope) 3.75-3.85
I’m a white female and my family of 3 makes less than 15000 a year</p>
<p>I’m a Philosophy of Religion major but I’d like a school with a regular Religion major. </p>
<p>Do you know of any schools that are need blind but still offer generous financial aid that I might actually qualify for? I’d like a secular school if possible.</p>
<p>Beargarden, I saw your post on the Smith forum, but I want to suggest another school for you. Our daughter is a first-year Smithie but she’s a twin. Her brother is at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY, in the Finger Lakes region of western NY state. He’s very, very happy there. It’s a men’s college and a women’s college; the students have classes together and they share the same administration essentially, but each college has its own governance and athletic teams. The president, Mark Gearan, was a former Peace Corps Director and before that, a Deputy Chief of Staff for President Clinton. I could tell you all kinds of things about HWS but you’d do best if you look at it online at hws.edu. I have been very, very impressed with the school. I’m mentioning HWS because I believe they give both merit scholarships and need-based financial aid. You should check that. They also just received a hefty alum donation that will specifically go to scholarships/financial aid. </p>
<p>Since you’re interested in Smith, another possible school as a women’s college is Bryn Mawr outside of Philly. I think they can be quite generous with their aid. Good luck!</p>
<p>If you don’t mind me asking how’s your financial aid at hobart been and did they require the css profile? I’ve pretty much limited my search to colleges that meet 100% financial need (which is doesn’t look like hobart does) but I have considered looking into ones that might offer me merit as well. My college gpa has ended up being a 3.97 and my family incomes gone down to 9k so I’ve gotta look into all my options.</p>