| Obviously Vanderbilt is not free, and even if you can convince them to make it one of the full tuition, you will still be paying some fees and r/b. (Did you fill out the scholarship application for one of the full tuition merit awards?) One of the advantages of the full tuition is that the award goes up with increases in tuition, so there are no nasty surprises there after freshman year. As for tactics, if I were you, I would send an e-mail asking for a phone appointment to talk with someone in the financial aid/merit scholarship office--if I'm not mistaken they are the same office for some questions. Politely explain the financial aspects of your offer at NU, and mention that you are a bit disappointed that your merit offer was not one of the Cornelius Vanderbilt full tuition awards, since that would make your decision easier. If you didn't bother to apply for the Cornelius Vanderbilt awards, this is not likely to go over well. They aren't going to spend a lot of energy on you if they don't believe you are seriously considering them, and that would include, I think, plans to visit and check out your options.
It seems to me you can't do much, though, until you get specifics from Northwestern about their financial aid offer.
I happen to think 200K sounds like a lot of debt, for anyone. But talk to middle aged physicians for their opinion. They would have a better idea of how long it will be before you have the salary to pay off a debt like this.
One more purely personal opinion. Seven years sounds to me like a long, long time commitment for someone just finishing high school. I know these are popular programs, and very prestigious, but it seems like a big loss of potential freedom to change your mind--even at a great school in the best city in the U.S.
Good luck with your decision. All in all, a good set of choices. Congratulations. |