Clarity Financial Aid

[Anonymous]

We've been admitted to one school who uses Clarity for their financial aid application, but are awaiting 3/1 decisions. Do all schools that use Clarity expect you to pay roughly the same amount?

[Anonymous]

I haven’t used clarity, but I can tell you that the other services spit out a number. However, that number is just a guideline, and actual grants are completely dependent upon the institution’s FA budget and priorities. My kid was admitted to three schools and we got three completely different FA offers. I would be very surprised if the offers you get are identical.

[Anonymous]

Each school will make their own determination based on their budget, but the report they get from Clarity about what you can afford will be the same.

[Anonymous]

no, we are at 2 different schools and each FA package is very very different. I think it depends on how much $ each school allots to FA.

[Anonymous]

Oh really. Ok

[Anonymous]

No, Clarity is just the vessel that gives the school your numbers to work with. What they determine from those numbers is often vastly different.

[Anonymous]

Now that all my decisions are in, I can see that 3 schools had remarkably similar numbers. A 4th school offered substantially more.

One of the schools shared with me the number that Clarity said we could pay (we can't). That's the number 3 if 4 schools came back with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now that all my decisions are in, I can see that 3 schools had remarkably similar numbers. A 4th school offered substantially more.

One of the schools shared with me the number that Clarity said we could pay (we can't). That's the number 3 if 4 schools came back with.

We had two schools come back with the exact same tuition amount due for us, which was what I said we could pay. The third school came back with our tuition slightly higher. I have no idea what Clarity told them we could pay, but I'm curious since they were all similar and aligned with my estimate.

[Anonymous]

How did you find out the clarity estimate?

Is it possible to see on the portal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did you find out the clarity estimate?

Is it possible to see on the portal?

I'm curious about this too, as I did some searching and Clarity suggested they don't provide an estimated number.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did you find out the clarity estimate?

Is it possible to see on the portal?

Clarity gives the school a number that they believe you can pay. A rep for one of the schools that we applied shared that number with us.

[Anonymous]

Also of note, the school was able to see every other school for which we applied using Clarity. The rep literally read down all of the schools.

And here I was thinking I was being strategic when schools asked what other schools we were applying to. They can see that information for any families using Clarity to apply for financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also of note, the school was able to see every other school for which we applied using Clarity. The rep literally read down all of the schools.

And here I was thinking I was being strategic when schools asked what other schools we were applying to. They can see that information for any families using Clarity to apply for financial aid.

I guess the lesson is that if you're applying strategically, don't be poor

[Anonymous]

Or don’t lie on your application about the schools you are applying to if you apply for FA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[]

I guess the lesson is that if you're applying strategically, don't be poor

Strategy is a ploy only for those with means.