<p>I understand that you’re probably upset right now Dad1991, but I think you’re being unfair to Smith. The absence of merit aid is not something that is hidden, nor is the fact they use their own institutional formula. In fact, most colleges use their own formulas, thus you get different offers from different places. Smith owns up to this pretty readily in my experience. When you were told that Smith meets 100% of documented need, I think it was assumed that you would understand that its Smith that does the documentation since they are offering the aid. </p>
<p>Nor is the promise of meeting 100% of your need as they calculate it just a “good story”. If you look at some of the admitted student threads on this very board, you’ll find that Smith was very generous with its need-based aid for many of them. </p>
<p>I’ve been on this board for several years now and every year after acceptances come out their are accepted students who are dissapointed because their aid packages are not what they expected, and I understand the need to vent. But it’s not as if the school is a draconian institution seeking to sell people a bill of goods and gut their fortunes. What people are comfortable paying and what Smith thinks they ought to pay are sometimes disparate things, which is unfortunate, but not necessarily the fault of one party or the other.</p>