Stanford, Harvard, Yale and a host of other top tier schools all announced sweeping reforms to their financial aid policies earlier this year, each phrased somewhat differently. But according to admitted students interviewed by The Daily, their aid packages were markedly similar.

“They would have greatly affected my decision if [aid offers from Yale, Stanford and Columbia] had significantly differed,” said Angela Londono, a student admitted to the Class of 2012. “But as they don’t, [aid] doesn’t really play a factor any more.” Students admitted to the Stanford Class of 2012 will not pay tuition if their families make under $100,000 a year — and will not pay room and board if their families make under $60,000.

Students said that, in most cases, Stanford’s policy has about an equal pull for low- and middle-income families when compared to the policies of schools like Harvard, Princeton and Yale.

Still, a few minor disparities existed.

“Stanford’s financial aid award is what made the decision for me, given that Georgetown was offering a lot less,” said admit Anton Zietsman.

Sam King, another admit, said Stanford gave him the best offer of all the schools to which he was admitted except Columbia. At Stanford, he was awarded $47,000 out of $52,000, and at Columbia, he received $49,000 out of $51,000.

“Stanford was my first choice and I am going there, but financial aid was one of the most important factors for me,” he said.

For others, generous offers from other schools were more of a pull.

“Having three other children whom they plan on sending to college, my parents were very worried about the cost,” said admit Dominic Insogna, who did not receive a financial aid package in the early action round. “But after Stanford released their new aid program, we received about $8,000 in aid. [While that] may not sound like a lot, it meant a lot to our family.”

“Right now, I’m inclined and willing to go to Princeton because of the better offer [$12,000], even though Stanford would be my first choice on equal footing, unless Stanford can match aid offers from competing schools,” Insogna continued. “I am also considering substantial merit awards from other universities.”

Other students faced a choice, not between Stanford and other top-tier schools with generous aid packages, but between Stanford and relatively low-priced state schools.

Huy Phan, another admit, was deciding between Stanford, Emory and Georgia Tech, largely based on the prices she was asked to pay at each school. But Stanford’s package won out.

“When I received my Stanford financial aid last week,” she said, “it was the most offered by any of my schools.”

“Financial aid definitely affects families like mine, where the income is around $100,000 and there are other siblings in the family that need college money as well,” she added. “In my case, Stanford’s generosity has made my decision a little bit easier.”

Phan was not the only admit choosing between top tier schools and state schools. Ben Jensen, an admit from Las Vegas, said that he too felt financial pressure to choose between a top tier university and a state school.

“As a middle class American, it seems more and more today that if you apply to schools . . . your only choices financially are the institutions in your state or the elite private schools,” he said.

“College is becoming more and more expensive,” he added. “It is the duty of college to educate America, not to drive it further into debt. Stanford understands that.”

Merit aid was a concern for Troy Wu, who received generous offers from Vanderbilt and Emory.

“Stanford also won’t consider merit money when I argued with them or tried to talk to them to see if there’s anything they could do to increase my aid package,” he said. “They wouldn’t consider my merit for anything along those lines. But I just went ahead and committed because I wasn’t going to go to those other schools.”

But for many students, aid was one of many factors in making their college decisions. Ian Panchevre of San Antonio is attempting to decide between Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia and Georgetown. While he had not initially applied for aid because he did not think he would qualify, Stanford encouraged him to file an aid application after learning that other schools were offering him money to attend.

“Stanford said they didn’t want money to be an issue so whatever other schools were offering they’d be willing to match,” he said.

“If they’re willing to invest a little bit of money in us, it’s obvious that they want us to go,” Panchevre added. “My top two choices are Princeton and Stanford, and if Stanford comes up with something nice I’ll definitely be swayed in that direction.”

Panchevre particularly noted how important it was for him to feel wanted by schools that he was considering.

“There’s a sense that [students] kind of want to go where they feel wanted,” he said. “When you have one school that’s calling you all the time and sending you letters, it’s kind of like another school has dropped the ball. I think that getting a generous financial aid offer is a strong indicator of whether or not the school wants you to come.”

And for many students, that indicator is coming from Stanford.

“Stanford’s financial aid award is what made the decision for me,” Zietsman said.

In Jensen’s situation, as has been the case for many other students, the aid offer he received from Stanford has made attending the school a serious possibility instead of just a dream.

“My first choice now is Stanford because . . . Stanford has made it possible to pursue an education at their institution without incurring massive amounts of debt,” he said. “The new policy has helped make my Stanford dream into a reality.”