Amherst College COA $92,816 per year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amherst is extraordinarily generous with financial aid and also recruits heavily from a lot of different income levels with things like all expenses paid visits for lower income kids to visit campus (or at least they used to do that—I doubt they e cut that program). I was middle class (real middle class not DCUM middle class) and they covered the vast majority of my tuition. I got into 9 schools and even though they all supposedly were using the same Fafsa need info, Amherst came out more generous than any of the other schools (other than my instate public). It was cheaper than going to UVA out of state.

Obvious question is when was this and what was your HHI at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does it justify costing a full $10K more than peer institutions like Williams, Bowdoin, Swarthmore?

That’s not the cost differential.

Yes, it is. All three are ~82K.

Sigh. Once again: tuition and room and board costs vs. tuition and room and board costs and personal expenses and travel etc. Apples and oranges.

Difference is maybe 2 grand at most. Maybe Amherst should not put these other expenses on their website — Williams does not, though they are obviously budgeted for financial aid — to avoid this confusion. But at a certain point, if this thread wants to willfully stay confused, have at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does it justify costing a full $10K more than peer institutions like Williams, Bowdoin, Swarthmore?

That’s not the cost differential.

Yes, it is. All three are ~82K.

Sigh. Once again: tuition and room and board costs vs. tuition and room and board costs and personal expenses and travel etc. Apples and oranges.

Difference is maybe 2 grand at most. Maybe Amherst should not put these other expenses on their website — Williams does not, though they are obviously budgeted for financial aid — to avoid this confusion. But at a certain point, if this thread wants to willfully stay confused, have at it.

Then why scream the $92K+ figure, when many of those incidentals won't even apply. Most of us cover kids' health insurance anyway, travel from DMV not expensive etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does it justify costing a full $10K more than peer institutions like Williams, Bowdoin, Swarthmore?

That’s not the cost differential.

Yes, it is. All three are ~82K.

Sigh. Once again: tuition and room and board costs vs. tuition and room and board costs and personal expenses and travel etc. Apples and oranges.

Difference is maybe 2 grand at most. Maybe Amherst should not put these other expenses on their website — Williams does not, though they are obviously budgeted for financial aid — to avoid this confusion. But at a certain point, if this thread wants to willfully stay confused, have at it.

Then why scream the $92K+ figure, when many of those incidentals won't even apply. Most of us cover kids' health insurance anyway, travel from DMV not expensive etc.

+1

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand the focus on Amherst. Every top private costs about this much nowadays. And Amherst is among the best of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get significant merit scholarship at Vanderbilt or USC, why ... pay twice as much at Amherst or Columbia or even Harvard or MIT.

Tuition is around $60K at these schools. Harvard and MIT have amazing connections. They also have some truly excellent departments. If you want your kid to go to school in NYC, Columbia is pretty great. Personally, I would prefer my child to attend an elite liberal arts college like Amherst or Williams.

USC is fine, but in a bad part of L.A. I suspect that funding cuts have hurt programs at UCLA. If your kid does not attend a nerd school like Caltech or Harvey Mudd, Pomona would be nice. I might balk at paying full price for USC, unless my spoiled kid really wants warm California weather.

Vanderbilt is great, like Washington University in St. Louis, Notre Dame, or Emory. I'm not sure I want my kid to develop friends and career contacts in the south or midwest. So yes, I would definitely consider paying an extra $120K to give my child friends, a spouse, and elite career connections in the northeast.

DH attended one of the elite schools referred to here and none of his school contacts ever parlayed into a job/connections. Perhaps the diploma helped land him the very first job out of school (in a field he never worked in again), but his very successful career did not come out of his college network (though lots of fun gatherings and school reunions).

Isn't that the entire point the first job. Also do they utilize alumni events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does it justify costing a full $10K more than peer institutions like Williams, Bowdoin, Swarthmore?

That’s not the cost differential.

Yes, it is. All three are ~82K.

Sigh. Once again: tuition and room and board costs vs. tuition and room and board costs and personal expenses and travel etc. Apples and oranges.

Difference is maybe 2 grand at most. Maybe Amherst should not put these other expenses on their website — Williams does not, though they are obviously budgeted for financial aid — to avoid this confusion. But at a certain point, if this thread wants to willfully stay confused, have at it.

Personal expenses and travel are not budgeted for mainstream financial aid. Maybe they are for special "dirt poor" programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does it justify costing a full $10K more than peer institutions like Williams, Bowdoin, Swarthmore?

That’s not the cost differential.

Yes, it is. All three are ~82K.

Sigh. Once again: tuition and room and board costs vs. tuition and room and board costs and personal expenses and travel etc. Apples and oranges.

Difference is maybe 2 grand at most. Maybe Amherst should not put these other expenses on their website — Williams does not, though they are obviously budgeted for financial aid — to avoid this confusion. But at a certain point, if this thread wants to willfully stay confused, have at it.

Personal expenses and travel are not budgeted for mainstream financial aid. Maybe they are for special "dirt poor" programs.

Huh? Of course they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's one way to be need blind, ignore legacy, and still get the traditional percentage of the top 1% elite SLACs desire

lol touché

Ha.

Face it, these schools are meant for the rich. They give spaces to the true poor for noblese oblige. They don't care about MC or UMC.

Pretty much this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does it justify costing a full $10K more than peer institutions like Williams, Bowdoin, Swarthmore?

That’s not the cost differential.

Yes, it is. All three are ~82K.

Sigh. Once again: tuition and room and board costs vs. tuition and room and board costs and personal expenses and travel etc. Apples and oranges.

Difference is maybe 2 grand at most. Maybe Amherst should not put these other expenses on their website — Williams does not, though they are obviously budgeted for financial aid — to avoid this confusion. But at a certain point, if this thread wants to willfully stay confused, have at it.

Personal expenses and travel are not budgeted for mainstream financial aid. Maybe they are for special "dirt poor" programs.

We are talking elite schools here.

Williams: “When calculating financial aid packages we start with the total cost of attendance, including tuition, room and board and student fees. We also include the cost of traveling to and from home twice a year, plus required textbooks, art and lab supplies, and personal expenses like haircuts or a data plan for your phone.”
https://www.williams.edu/admission-aid/financial-aid/cost-and-aid/#:~:text=When%20calculating%20financial%20aid%20packages,data%20plan%20for%20your%20phone.

Individual circumstances get kids even more. Suit for an interview? Covered…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amherst is extraordinarily generous with financial aid and also recruits heavily from a lot of different income levels with things like all expenses paid visits for lower income kids to visit campus (or at least they used to do that—I doubt they e cut that program). I was middle class (real middle class not DCUM middle class) and they covered the vast majority of my tuition. I got into 9 schools and even though they all supposedly were using the same Fafsa need info, Amherst came out more generous than any of the other schools (other than my instate public). It was cheaper than going to UVA out of state.

Amherst caps "typical assets" at 200k.

So if you make 150k in nyc and have a Vanguard fund outside retirement that's over 200k, you're paying full freight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And yet, their acceptance rate is 9%. Someone is paying these rates.

Great school but acceptance rate id low because lots of muddle class apply thinking they'll get enough aid and lots of wealthy people apply without worrying about the cost.

To be fair, they do have generous financial aid for poor and lower middle class and do look beyond grades/SAT so higher chances for rich, poor, URM, athletes, creative types.

[Anonymous]

This is just one example, several other colleges are as expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amherst is extraordinarily generous with financial aid and also recruits heavily from a lot of different income levels with things like all expenses paid visits for lower income kids to visit campus (or at least they used to do that—I doubt they e cut that program). I was middle class (real middle class not DCUM middle class) and they covered the vast majority of my tuition. I got into 9 schools and even though they all supposedly were using the same Fafsa need info, Amherst came out more generous than any of the other schools (other than my instate public). It was cheaper than going to UVA out of state.

Amherst caps "typical assets" at 200k.

So if you make 150k in nyc and have a Vanguard fund outside retirement that's over 200k, you're paying full freight.

np.. Our HHI is $320K. We have two kids, and we are about to retire soon. We cannot afford close to $400K for college for each child. And we get 0 financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand the focus on Amherst. Every top private costs about this much nowadays. And Amherst is among the best of them.

With their endowment they can keep cost down for people whose parents aren't millionaires but they prefer to take rich instead of UMC.