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Don't let high sticker prices and daunting financial aid forms fool you—a liberal arts college is more affordable than you might think.  Just because a college advertises a $25,000 tuition rate may not mean you'll have to ask your parents to dig that deeply into their pockets.  Colleges that advertise lofty costs don't take grants or federal student aid into account.  They want you to think that if a college costs you more then it's automatically better for you – of course they do -- that's the whole philosophy behind advertising.  And if you're worried that you might not be eligible for student loans you should take a deep breath and relax.  There are several different types of loans available to all students regardless of your family's income and this is something that you really need to explore even though it isn't a whole lot of fun.

I honestly chose to apply to [my school] because my English team coach in high school could sign the bottom of the application form and waive the application fee for me.

Ultimately, I chose [my school] for monetary reasons because I applied to get all of the financial aid available.  [My school] gave me more money (at least for my freshman year -- that changed during my sophomore, junior and senior years) than any other place, even [the large research university], so I chose to go here for that reason.

I knew I was going to go to vet school or grad school so I knew I was going to have plus another four years of debt so I really wanted to make sure I minimized [finances] as much as possible.

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