@byebyebirdy I understand that, I’m just saying that it would just increase the chances of people on the waitlist.
How does it increase the chance of people who will accept the offer if picked? If a person stays on the list but has no intention of accepting gets picked, he/she will say no and they’ll go pick another until someone says yes. This will prolong the process but will not affect your chances.
Well I have my first glimpse into the Carnegie Mellon financial aid way of thinking. The first thing that jumped out at me is that they decided our EFC was higher than the FAFSA calculation. This led to the second thing, which was the only “loan” offered was an unsubsidized loan. That is NOT financial aid, that is financial handcuffs!
Am new to here, but had to join after D was admitted to CMU but received far less in FA than we were hoping. We were told by Carnegie that $27000 was a good number, but that still leaves us with about $40000 to pay which is impossible. They also told us this morning it would increase by no more than $10000 which is still not enough since she has been offered much more at other schools. What did you consider a substantial increase? How do you convince your D that going somewhere else will not ruin their career and that graduating with no debt is better?
@bearlife, you don’t have to pay a penny toward your daughter’s education at a school that you can’t afford. If you don’t think that graduating over $100,000 in debt is a good idea (I don’t either) then don’t pay for it. Don’t cosign the loans. It’s a sad situation if her CMU aid is not what it needs to be, but you’re the adult here.
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Am I crazy to think that 100K is worth it for my kid to go to CMU? I guess we all need to make our own decisions, but I thought her package was pretty good, can I appeal and get 10K more too? 
She was offered great money everywhere, but they all come down to basically about 25-30K a year, and 5k more for an elite school, to me, is worth it. I also have a son on a full tuition scholarship at 'Bama, I would not have likely paid a hefty premium for him to go to an elite school as I think for him, an accounting degree from Bama will suit him just fine. Whereas my daughter will benefit greatly (in my mind) from being at CMU.
@upstate13 I don’t think it’s crazy at all if you have the means to pay for that. I personally know two families that saved and are full pay ($60k check a year). This is what they’ve planned on since the kids were born. We can’t afford it. We only became financially viable the past few years and for my kid to go here we’d have to take out 25k a year in loans. That’s just too much considering that he has a full ride waiting stateside. Now if we’re talking 15k a year then that is more interesting.
Actually they said it is unlikely that the aid will increase. She is not majoring in engineering. She is doing set design. If the offer stays as is, her college degree would cost $100,000 more than other places she has been admitted to. It’s just that so many people have convinced her that a degree from CMU is the only way to go, but how do you justify an extra $100,000 for a theatre degree?
@KunjiBoy - I will be taking on some debt, but mostly using savings to fund her education, and I agree that a full ride option would be incredibly enticing, and that was basically the situation my son was in, and we chose the full tuition scholarship, which also then helps my daughter at CMU. My daughter is getting a theater degree (design and production) too @bearlife, and sometimes it bothers me alot that people devalue that degree. I believe my daughter will do wonderful things with it - and yes, she could do just as well getting her degree at many different schools, but she has worked SO hard and is SO talented, i guess i want to give her this. Again, we all need to make those decisions for our kids.
CMU has a wonderful theater school where she’d get a great education, but it’s not worth leaving school an extra $100,000 in debt and with a degree in set design. That’s insane; she’d be shackled for life with that debt. Don’t do it, @bearlife. Put your foot down.
I have to pick among Carnegie Mellon, University of Texas-Austin and The Cooper Union for engineering (Undecided major). Do you guys have any suggestions?
I’m not devaluing a theatre degree. She is very talented and was accepted on the spot at her interview. We have saved for her college but not $40000 a year worth after aid. She was accepted at USC but have not heard about their aid. NYU gave her a substantial amount, but the guy who interviewed her there flat out said, “We are no Carnegie Mellon.” I was actually wondering if there was anyone out there who knows more about the set design business and if it’s true that a degree at CMU is worth it. My D insists that the connections made there will make it all worth while. She is very stubborn about this, by the way. But we may still have to break her heart.
Sounds like our DD’s would be great friends - mine was also accepted on the spot at NYC unifieds, and I totally understand the feeling that created in your D’s heart and soul. I asked the exact same question (about if it is worth it), and tbh alot of people have said no - a truly talented and driven kid will make it no matter what. I have been wrestling with this for awhile now, but for us, our next cheapest option is only 5K less, so that really had a huge influence. She applied at BU/Emerson/DePaul/Otterbein/Webster/CMU - CMU was a reach, we had no idea she would get in. If there had been a bigger delta we would likely be having the same conversation about the potential heartbreak.
I’m not devaluing a theater degree either. I’m sure your daughter is fantastic. But her very wonderfulness means she shouldn’t shackle herself to that huge debt. How would she pay it back?
How much would she expect to make right out of college? How much would she expect to make ten years out of college? http://www1.salary.com/Set-Designer-Salary.html
It’s one thing to go into big debt to get a degree in Computer Science from CMU: graduates will get multiple job offers with >$100K salaries right out of school. But Set Design is not as lucrative.
She isn’t borrowing any money so her’ wonderfulness’ will not be in shackles, and I am not trying to brag about my wonderful daughter here - but it is important to distinguish kids who are truly passionate about what they do from the kids (albeit very smart), who really are not (my son); and yes your point is obviously valid and not news to us (or hopefully anyone sending their kid to school for this) that her salary prospects on average are not very good. I could have tried to persuade her to pursue other more lucrative majors, but I didn’t. I really don’t know how much money she will make right out of college, and with no debt on her part, I honestly don’t care, she will make her own way. ROI, if only calculated in dollars and cents, is misleading. Again, she will have no debt, and this is something I have decided to do for my daughter.
Sorry, @upstate13, I was talking to @bearlife. I agree that if you have the $100,000 and want to spend it on your daughter’s education, more power to you and her. She’ll get a wonderful education. I’m sure she’s truly passionate and incredibly talented, well deserving of her acceptance.
My point is debt. Your daughter wouldn’t be in debt. But bearlife’s daughter would; sounds like she’d have a six-figure debt right out of college. That’s a crippling amount of debt, not dischargeable in bankruptcy.
With what NYU has offered, we would only have to pay an extra $17000 a year, not $40000. We can do that and she would have no debt. But the department guy there admitted CMU was better. We can find out nothing about the reputation of their undergrad degree. Also, moving to New York at 18 is a little intimidating. Am very torn here. You always want to give your kids the best chances in life, but there comes a point when you just can’t. Also received full tuition from a local private college and it would be about the same price as NYU, but she doesn’t want to go there because she feels she will not make any connections with people in the field.
@upstate13 , no debt on your kid’s part is key here. If you can wing it, you don’t have to justify yourself to anyone.
I did not apply for any financial aid and took a spot on the priority waitlist for CIT. What are my chances of eventually being accepted?