<p>D got accepted w/ no merit scholarships and only unsubsidized loan. Does anyone go to BU w/out a scholarship? We don’t come from a wealthy home; we’ve just saved a lot. She will have to find a job working part-time to help pay the tuition. Are we nuts to pay the full boat for BU?</p>
<p>There are a lot of affluent college applicants… </p>
<h1>Number who applied for need-based aid: 2,427</h1>
<h1>Number who were judged to have need: 1,954</h1>
<h1>Number who were offered aid: 1,952</h1>
<h1>Number who had full need met: 930</h1>
<p>There are people at every university who pay full.</p>
<p>I’m an international so I pay full.</p>
<p>Did she get in anywhere else with aid? I hesitate to say anywhere is worth paying in full unless you can really afford it. And I love BU. As far as the part-time job goes, it’s tough to make enough to make a dent in tuition when you take living expenses into consideration. They’re pretty high in Boston.</p>
<p>You can always live on nothing but Ramen noodles. There are ways to survive in this town on bare sustenance alone.</p>
<p>Yes, people do pay full price. And then that feeds the erroneous stereotype that kids are BU are rich.</p>
<p>I love my program and I’m getting the best education and experience for what I want to do, but I doubt I would be here if I had to take out loans on the full tuition.</p>
<p>I was also asked to pay full. Hence, I’ve declined their offer.</p>
<p>I was accepted for fall 09 and was given no grants- only a small subsidized loan. I probably wont be attending BU(my top choice school) because of the lack of financial aid… $50,000 a year is a lot even if your parents have higher salaries…</p>
<p>So, overall, what is the max you personally would pay for a BU education? Just curious.</p>
<p>well i personally only got $10,000 scholarship (renewable each year), and i decided to come here, and even though our financial situation has changed since 4 years ago, i will never regret it. also, don’t forget that there are other options to save a ton of money, like becoming an ra in your jr and sr years and not paying for room or board.</p>
<p>Of course people pay full tuition, that helps to allow others in more financially difficult situations to benefit from the financial aid packages and merit based scholarships that BU offers. We are paying full tuition for our daughter, thanks to the generosity of family members who have contributed to her education fund since birth. We debated whether the expense of going to BU outweighed the more affordable options in-state, but ultimately we decided that the opportunities and the advantages of a private education were worth the expense - and we have no doubt after her first year that we were right. I would never want to put my family 100,000 in debt for an education, but if a family can afford to pay the full tuition and that is the only way to go to a private university, I would whole-heartedly endorse it. The one-on-one time with professors, the small class sizes, the myriad internship and involvement opportunities in her major…it’s been amazing.</p>
<p>I second elizabeth. </p>
<p>There’s an expectation that schools will somehow meet every student’s needs. That stretches beyond financial for many, and the administrators at BU (and elsewhere) tell stories about over-involved parents who want to oversee every decision and grade. </p>
<p>I believe schools have also been in a pricing bubble; they built new facilities, partly because they were needed after an era of neglect but partly to keep up with the Jones. They raised prices every year because credit was easy. They are all over-priced relative to affordability, but they all have limited resources. Even Harvard, with its massive endowment and which makes a big deal of cutting costs for many, relies on full paying students - and they have a large share of those.</p>
<p>At the same time, kids and families became caught up in a ranking game that makes less sense the more you understand. (Example: many schools trumpet how their SAT scores have risen, without discussing that scores have risen generally - and by a lot.) Small differences are trumpeted as meaningful. We see this at every level of society, with parents worried about the “right” or “best” pre-school on up, as though life were a series of right or wrong steps that define a set ladder of success. It’s ironic this occurred as the world was becoming more not less socially and economically fluid. You’d think people would look at the news and their relative peers and see how successful people come from anywhere - even from remote villages in Africa or Asia - and that the real premium the economic order places is on talent not pedigree. Sure google was started by guys at Stanford but is anyone actually dumb enough to believe that going to Stanford makes a person into Sergey Brin or Larry Page? </p>
<p>I have a daughter graduating from BU. She didn’t want to go there - it was her 2nd choice in her field - but she has had a great experience and loves it. The education has been top-notch, both in liberal arts and in her pre-professional field.</p>
<p>Yes, we, too, will be paying full tuition next year but do feel (hope!) it will be the best education possible for our son. It’ll be a tight four years, but it should be worth it.</p>
<p>My parents were willing to rack up $180k in debt for me to attend BU. The cost of attendance is double my family’s income. I rather them invest that money elsewhere. Education is valuable, but $180k in this economy…? I chose to come out of college debt free at UCR, which is much less reputable than BU. In fact, throughout my 3-4 years of high school UCR was the last place I wanted to go to. I convinced myself that college will be more or less the same regardless of where you go… as long as you make the most out of it. If you could afford to be in $100k debt, I’m sure your child will be forever grateful though!</p>
<p>One thing that isn’t mentioned and maybe this isn’t the right spot is that BU gives a lot of credit for AP. One of my kids, for example, is graduating an entire year early because she got 28 credits coming in and thus only had to take 1 class to be an entire year ahead. This also gave her a better housing number and thus a nice apartment. And saved us a ton of cash.</p>
<p>BU has a guide - [url=<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/admissions/files/library/media/advanced_credit_guide.pdf]here.[/url”>http://www.bu.edu/admissions/files/library/media/advanced_credit_guide.pdf]here.[/url</a>] I know a lot of high school seniors still have to take AP’s but if you get a 4 or 5 - even a 3 on some tests - then you can get “External Credit,” which is shown on your transcript in the Student Link. These credits not only count toward your total but also mean you skip some classes.</p>
<p>The credits allowed vary - naturally - by which school you’re in. If you take the BC calculus AP exam - which is a bear - then you get 8 credits, two whole classes!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, we’d be the full boat for my D to go to BU. I do realize the value of a the education at a private school. However, BU is larger than our state school. I am curious as to whether or not BU is worth the full boat. We really do not want to take out loans to cover the difference of $15K per year. Our other C will be graduating in May with job in hand and no student loans. Unfortunately BU offers my D the most, I’m just not sure it’s worth the $$$$ for its size.</p>
<p>Really good point, Lergnom. I came in with a lot of credit and considered graduating a year early. Instead I’ve decided to enroll in the BA/MA program, so pending I pass, I’d graduate with my Master’s and Bachelor’s. Definitely cost effective.</p>
<p>Other students with lots of credit have taken advantage of BU’s stellar study abroad program. In many cases, tuition is actually cheaper at the BU institutions abroad. Though of course, cost of living probably isn’t comparable at all. But basically there a lot of ways to save money at BU or get more for the money you are paying.</p>
<p>I think in response to all these posts I’d say that yes, BU is worth paying <em>what you can afford</em>. There really are incredible opportunities here for research, rigorous study, internships, etc etc etc. I often feel like I’m getting a sweeter deal because of all the things I’ve been able to do here. You just have to look for them and take full advantage of them.</p>
<p>My daughter also was accepted to BU with only $6k in loans as “financial aid.” Our EFC is $16,000 and we have twins. I’ve appealed to BU but don’t expect much of an increase. So BU is not going to happen; we are visiting Clark in Worcester this Saturday, which is not in BU’s class, but much smaller, significantly cheaper, and they offered a decent fin aid package. It’s either Clark of UMass Amherst for her, and for my son, probably UMass Amherst (Isenberg School) or Indiana U Kelley School - he’s visiting there next week. Neither they nor their parents are willing to incur crushing debt for their education.</p>
<p>If the choice is in-state UMass, I’d take that in a heartbeat. It’s a good school that gets battered prestige-wise because we have so many private schools and UMass isn’t in Boston where the media and politicians work. The full cost is like $18k a year and Amherst / Northampton is a nice area. Plus you really can take classes at Hampshire, Amherst, etc. I know people who do.</p>
<p>I know a kids who go to Clark. If I can generalize, they’re more “independent” of mind, meaning they’d be more comfortable at a Hampshire than at a BU. Clark has some good programs but I’m not a fan of Worcester as a place.</p>