| Disappointing
Evidently, Cornell assumes about $12K "self-help" in financial aid awards, which means about half of that is private loans (since work-study & Stafford loans max out at about $6K). Cornell is the only school to which my daughter was accepted that included private loans as part of the finaid award. All other colleges - big & small, tier 1 & 2 - to which my daughter was accepted gave substantially better finaid packages - grants component was typically 2 or 2.5x that offered by Cornell.
I'm a Cornell alum, but the quality of education at Cornell just isn't worth taking on the huge extra debt (for those of us who can't just afford to write a check). It is a great school, but it's not the only great school, not by a mile. | 
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