billman1020

Well, I'm in an awkward situation... Brown claims after a review and second review of my financial aid app that theres nothing more they can do to help us. Don't get me wrong though, they were very nice on the phone lol! But, its very frustrating, since they are expecting my parents to pay over twice as much as Dartmouth expects, somewhere around a 12k difference - The financial aid officer attributed it to the different new financial aid initiatives that all the ivy league schools enacted this year, and they cant match them necessarily... I talked for about 20 or 25 minutes with her on the phone, and she really sounded as if all our options were exhausted and the number they gave was it. So, my rational mind is telling me to save the money and put it towards something useful! But my heart's telling me ill regret having the "what if i went to brown.." feeling and picking based on money. I figure I'm only gonna be doing this college thing once, right? lol, any advice on the financial aspect or similar situations out there?

modestmelody

I turned down a lot of money in scholarship elsewhere for Brown. It was just the right choice for me. I don't regret it and neither does my family. I kind of think you just have to decide whether or not the money will be a life-changing sacrifice later on or not, and then whether or not whatever sacrifice it is, if it's worth it for you.

I know I had to be in the right place to be successful. I probably would have dropped out of most colleges in the country or would have had to take a ton of time off at some point. Brown was right for me socially and academically. I didn't put a price on that.

billman1020

I appreciate hearing that from you so much, modest. I had a gut feeling for a long time about brown, and even though I love dartmouth and would get an awesome education there too, I don't think I can quantify the excitement I had about Brown's entire lifestyle and philosophy. As long as I don't think I'll be putting any crushing stress on family finances after we talk tomorrow I'm gonna listen to dad and just go where I really want to go and make it work after : ) Thanks again!

Milkmagn

Dartmouth is a better school than Brown, PLUS you'll be saving 12K each year. This is a no-brainer

modestmelody

My parent's had a great attitude about it. They, like me, tried hard to not fall in love with Brown before I got in. When I did, it was after I had already practically sent a commitment card elsewhere where I would have received over 80k in scholarship over 4 years and where the bottomline was already 5-7k cheaper a year. I loved the school and one of my best friends already went there.

When I got into Brown, I went back with my dad to ADOCH. My mom had been reading stuff online and had already pretty much felt that Brown was right for me and Brown was really my first choice from the beginning, but thought of as a dollar in a dream. I really felt so proud the day I got into Brown--definitely one of my most proud moments.

The day of ADOCH my dad was all about sending me here. He just felt it could not be compared to other places I was considering. It was too much of an opportunity in too many ways. It fit who I was in too many ways. My teachers had been pushing Brown the whole way, too. We went down to Financial Aid that day (I initially had no package) and we talked about the next four years, mapped out the cost, and my parents figured out that while they'd have to sacrifice their weekends (wouldn't really be able to eat out, wouldn't go on vacation, etc), that with the financial aid I'd receive my final two years assuming my sister went to a state school (was very likely and turned out to be the case) that we could squeeze Brown and I wouldn't come out in really rough shape.

We walked out of Financial Aid and handed in my commitment card that day.

It was probably the best choice I ever made.

But, it was a very personal choice and it was very much the right choice for me. That's not always the case.

FWIW, the school I was talking about above was Case Western Reserve University, and I still frequently recommend it to kids from home because it's an all too often overlooked choice for Northeasterners.

billman1020

Lol... milk... I'm not the arguing type, but in case anyone is in the same situation as me or if some future decider pulls up this thread... i think its necessary to call you flat out wrong in that its not a "no-brainer". This is a decision that will determine the next four years of my life and likely where they take me. I, for one, do not think this is a no-brainer if the difference was 30k. I've got my whole life ahead of me to earn money and pay back loans, but I'm only doing this college thing once, know what I mean? Don't say you can always transfer either... not the most pleasant experience and its not an "always" of course.

P.S. Dartmouth is not a "much better school". They're both AMAZING schools, and one is only better than the other if its a better fit for the particular person. I happen to prefer brown quite a bit : )

benjaminx

Don't forget to factor in the costs of defending lawsuits from your teachers if you go to Dartmouth.

TheDartmouth.com | Prof threatens lawsuit against her students

matthewyy

Well..I thought that by $500K , someone meant actually each year costs around $125K to the university etc...Because some state unis say things like you ll pay 28K but actually it costs us 60K and we get the differents from donors and state.

Strawboy

Wow... some of these Brown posters are damn bitter.


HAHA

Pinderhughes

ROFL! Dartmouth a better school than Brown. Put down the crack pipe. Proof? And it better not be the marginal SAT score amount that SAT-obsessed Dartmouth has over Brown. I personally really don't know any metric that really matters that anyone could say Dartmouth is a better school. I do know some metrics that suggest Brown is a much better intellectual environment than Dartmouth though. I've delineated them in another thread comparing Brown to Dartmouth, but if you insist, I'll respond to your assertion with a comprehensive delineation of Brown's superiority. First, though, show me all of your metrics indicating Dartmouth is a better school than Brown.

dcircle

simmer down pinder....
B and D both rock. it comes down to personal taste. billman clearly prefers B and we should leave it at that.

the ~$500,000 figure comes from resources expended on educating a single student that are not recouped by tuition. for example, when Bill Clinton speaks on campus, it costs the university over $100,000 for a 2 hour event. when you use an fMRI to complete a lab assignment for a neuroscience class you are using machinery that costs millions. when you attend class in sayles hall, it costs the university an ungodly amount of money to educate you under chandeliers, stained glass, and flying buttresses (as opposed to flourescent lights and ceiling panels).
the basic point is tuition is just a fraction of what the university actually spends on educating you. this is the main advantage of going to a fancy ivy league university.

coughdrop

The figure is more like 70k for most schools. Probably less for brown because it's poor

Strawboy

As for "dishing" out the same financial aid....realize that Dartmouth only has mostly undergrads....and still spends the same money, if not more on undergrads. Whereas Brown...well...

modestmelody

I'm not really sure what the heck you're even saying strawboy.

Brown is mostly undergrads, we're spending similar amounts to peers on financial aid but as dcircle says most of it comes from how we chose to distribute. As mumzy can attest to, sometimes Brown gives more money...

Strawboy

False. .