The Small Ivy’s in New England that I have gotten into are so expensive! About $65,000 with room and board. May have to go closer to home but really wanted to go to college in New England. Accepted at Bates, Connecticut College, and Middlebury, Williams. Need to find money fast!! Any tips on getting more $$$ than the
$22,000 at Bates, $7000 at Connecticut College and $18,000 at Middlebury??
Did you and your parents run the Net Price Calculators at the websites of these places before you applied? That should have given you a general notion of what you would be expected to pay.
It is OK for you to call the financial aid offices at each of these universities, and ask them to talk you through the formula that they used. It is possible that there was a mistake somewhere.
If not, you are going to have to kick these to the curb, and choose a place your family can afford.
I don’t think Connecticut College is a full needs school so you might be out of luck on that one. The others are supposed to meet full need. Do you know your families EFC? What is your budget? What is the difference between what you can pay and what the school is giving you at these colleges? While the colleges will determine what they see as your need the FAFSA EFC is a good number to start with. If your parents can’t explain it, you can call the financial aid departments and see why you were gapped (if indeed you were gapped.)
Do your parents have a lot of assets? Do they own a business?
Check the NPC to see if there is anything suggest an error in calculation.
There is no real term connoting “little Ivys”. The schools you listed are excellent LACs, and likely required the PROFILE as well as the FAFSA. If you have some very extenuating family circumstance, there was a place on the Profile to address that. YOu can ask for a reconsideration, but those, especially the $18-22K awards, seem generous. Are they need or merit?
Although it does not seems to make sense, it is very possible to make under 100K and have a EFC in excess of 45K --especially if you parent’s house is paid for/has significant equity and/or if they have other assets. If this is not the case, then as others have suggested, I would call the financial aid offices to see if an error was made when your CSS profile/FAFSA were submitted.
What are your parent assets? What are the student assets? These all come into play when determining need based aid awards.
Also, do,the parents own a business? Are they self employed? Do they own real estate in addition to the primary residence?
What was your FAFSA EFC?
All of the schools listed meet full need, so, unless there was a significant error when they completed the Profile, there’s something in this family’s financial picture that’s signaling minimal financial need. And it’s unlikely, absent an actual error, that anything’s going to change that.