<p>My kid is thinking seriously applying to U chiacgo? he attends a northeast prep school on full fin aid and has received a $175,000 scholarship for high school for four years. Asian kid looking to apply for history/economics/plotical scince/internatioanl relation.</p>
<p>Since fin aid is very important considertaion to us so we want to know about the endowment for U chago? Also how is History/political scince/International relation departments. In past he has worked lon distance with one professor from U chacgo hitory department and really happy with the guidance. He is very well aware about economics department reputation. </p>
<p>However fin aid is the single most important criterion in school selctions thus wants to know if they provide need based aid or merit based aid (he will qulaify for both based on past results).</p>
<p>they provide both merit based and need based aid. i didnt qualify for merit based aid, but my need based package was pretty damn good. talk to me more if you wnana know specifics, id be happy to elaborate</p>
<p>Chicago has a 4.138 billion dollar endowment, the fifteenth largest in the united states as of the end of fiscal year 2005. It stands right behind Northwestern and right ahead of Cornell.</p>
<p>Esquared -
be good and don’t scare away the newbies. They will likely think they have wandered onto a thread for a party school. </p>
<p>Collegein07
If finaid is critical, your son should cast a wide net in his applications. My experience was that Chicago offered my son the amount that was predicted from the finaid calculators - with a generous grant/loan split. If you have a family business, or your home is very highly valued (for example, if you live in Boston), other schools may offer more of a break. </p>
<p>If you have not already done so, try a couple of the EFC calculators (be sure to add your 401k contributions back into your AGI). That will let you know if schools that offer needs-based aid are in the ballpark or not. Also, its a good thing to get the EFC sticker shock over. Maybe take an aspirin first, LOL.</p>
<p>Federal method calculated $10,000 in family contribution</p>
<p>Method used by Princeton university calculator predicted $3000 family and student contribution.</p>
<p>Home is not high value and no family business. Both parents work. </p>
<p>Yes, we have low EFC. In past he has received scholarships (fin aid + essay competitions) worth $175,000 during his high school. In addition, he has received more than $5000 for Colleges. Based on financial need, the school which offer merit or need based aid would automatically be prime place to matriculate. The most important factor is full financial aid or merit aid with a top school. This criterion is probably most important to family. Second factor is excellent program in history/economics/IR (student prime factor). Rests of the issues are not big factors to my kid and we have no issue with those things as it is upto him. We are US citizen. Thus, my kid will be applying as domestic applicant. For us $$$$$$ is the main issue followed by good history/economics/IR program/political science.</p>
<p>He is very involved in politics and community service with many inside and outside of the school recognitions. He is active in sports, and many extra curricular activities valued by colleges including ivies. His school places 20% student in ivies and 45% in top 30 schools. </p>
<p>Since college admission is a lottery, thus he is applying to many varied schools to protect himself. </p>
<p>Does U Chicago gives same need based awards like ivies? In addition, the professor whom he has done some work has already told him that my kid may get some assistanceship provided U Chicago selects him as an undergrad.</p>
<p>I am hearing on other threads that chaicgo may be stinngy with aid. THus would like to know more about your aid? Does your aid includes loan or is it just grants plus your family contribution. </p>
<p>Esquared:
hhahahahahah I like your sense of humor. You definetly needs at the end of exam period.</p>
<p>If your son is admitted, I don’t believe he will have trouble finding term-time employment. I don’t want to discourage your son from Chicago - I just want to encourage him to apply fairly widely, since that is likely the safest strategy. The college counselors at his HS will probably have a pretty good idea of what colleges look kindly upon their school, but it is very wise to look at many sources of information - as GC’s have been known to make mistakes.</p>
<p>Besides Chicago - and depending on your son’s numbers - you might also look at Amherst, Vasser and Vanderbilt. Grinnell has a phenomenal endowment per student - I am not sure how the majors match up, though.</p>
<p>thanks, sebastian0622. I’ve been very impressed with everything I have seen about Grinnell - just a slightly obscure location.</p>
<p>collegein07 - sometimes schools will spring to have a top prospective with financial need visit the school. You should investigate this with Grinnell and maybe Macalester, too.</p>
<p>Yeah, if financial aid is a big concern then it is better to apply to a lot of match schools in addition to a few reach. The match schools are going to give you a LOT of scholarship and merit money and may even go beyond the EFC contribution. This way, your son can get a GREAT education and be in great shape to apply to grad school with very little debt for undergrad.
I applied to a bunch of Match schools too, and Lafayette beat my EFC by a lot of money, but I decided to go to Wesleyan where I liked it more.
I think Macalester and Grinell would be awesome places to start looking.</p>
<p>Having had some first hand experience with Rice, it is one of the premier schools, and perhaps the most often overlooked great universities in America. It is also one of the best values.</p>