This past week, I was accepted to UChicago and selected as as a Jefferson Scholar at UVA. I’m still waiting on quite a few schools, but these are my top choices right now.
Just a preface: the Jefferson Scholarship is a full scholarship to UVA and is somewhat of a prestige thing as well. It’s an extremely difficult offer for me to fathom declining, but I want to make the best possible choice for college and I’m not 100% sure if UVA is right for me. I’m worried mostly about the social atmosphere at UVA - the prevalence of frats, the issues with diversity (which would directly affect me), and the general feel of Grounds (campus). I spent 5 days there for the scholarship selection weekend and it just didn’t exactly click.
UChicago is much more closely aligned with what I’m looking for in a university. I love the intellectual atmosphere, the culture and traditions, and the more laid-back approach to parties/social gatherings. And the fact that it’s in a city is a huge draw for me. Charlottesville is nice, but I’d always imagined living near a big city for college. However, UChicago is also incredibly expensive, and my family did not qualify for need-based aid. My parents have enough money to pay the full tuition, but I can’t consider forgoing a full scholarship for a several hundred thousand dollar tuition with a clear conscience.
With that being said, how would I approach asking for merit aid from UChicago? And how likely is it that they will even offer me something? This is not to say that if I do receive aid, I won’t take the Jeff. That would obviously still be a very big decision to make. But I currently have a gut-feeling that UChicago is a better fit for me and I want to do everything possible to maximize the benefits of each choice (so that I can better compare the schools).
Thank you in advance!
As you will hear from nearly everyone who replies, your chances of getting merit aid from UChicago are slim to none. Schools like Chicago don’t have a pile of money set aside to woo individual admits–they probably have 500 kids on their waitlist with similar excellent stats as yours.
Congrats on the Jefferson Scholarship! My advice, FWIW: Take it to the bank, and forget about trying to find the elusive perfect “fit”–that’s largely a mirage.
What would be your cost of attendance (COA) for UChicago? If it’s full pay or unaffordable for you and your family, I’d think that UVA’s full ride Jefferson would be the way to go.
What other schools are you considering? If you have qualms about the fit of UVA, are there alternatives that would be more affordable than Chicago? I believe that Chicago’s maximum merit award is 15K
I am biased, but I say go with UVA! This is a fantastic opportunity. Only about a third of the students at UVA are members of a Greek organization. You can attend Greek events without being a member (if you are interested). There are MANY other organizations that you can become involved with and MANY students from different backgrounds to meet and interact with. My own kids love UVA and are not members of a Greek organization and live in “diverse” rooms and homes. At all three orientation welcome sessions I attended, Teresa Sullivan said that the student body at UVA has many opportunities, but it is up to each student to seek them out. No one will knock on your door to ask you to join/pursue an activity, but you can make just about anything happen for yourself.
@NUwildcat92 I’m curious as to why you say that “fit” is a mirage; interestingly enough, I’ve heard mostly the opposite from others.
@CalBearsMom It would be full pay for me, but my parents can pay the price without too much difficulty. I would just feel horrible about doing that to them when there’s a clear alternative. @mamaedefamilia @thumper1 The only other schools I’m considering at this point are UMich and safety schools. I would choose UVa in a heartbeat over all of them. I am waiting for a few more RD decisions (ivies, etc.), but I’m not counting on anything. In any case, I like Chicago better than almost all of the schools I’m still waiting on.
Well…you have to have a good talk with your parents. They may “have” the money to be full pay at Chicago. What you need to find out…are they still willing to do this in view of the fact that you got a full ride elsewhere.
And to others reading this thread…
Don’t apply to colleges you don’t plan to attend. When our kids were applying to colleges. We told them that any place they applied to should be acceptable,for enrollment if they got accepted. If the school was not on their “gee I want to go there list” they did NOT apply there. There were tons of options that were on their “gee I want to go there list”. No point in wasting time and money applying to places they didn’t want to attend.
@oldUVAgrad Thank you for the advice!
I would take UVa in a heartbeat and save the $40,000+ per year. At a school the size of UVa, the vast majority of people can find the right place for them.
@theleenbean: IMO, “fit” is a mirage for the following reasons:
Your ability to assess the culture of these universities isn’t as perceptive as you imagine it to be. Both UC and UVA are sufficiently large and diverse to be able to provide a subculture that offers what you’re looking for in terms of fit. After all, if you can find 100-200 people who provide the environment you seek, do you really care what’s going on in the rest of the university?
Finally, even if some aspects of the school aren’t a perfect fit, does that really matter? Learning to adapt and thrive is part of life, so there’s something to be said for going to a school that where you feel a bit out of place, for whatever reason.
If this is truly a finance-neutral decision for you, then by all means go wherever you like. But in the real world, cost is always a consideration.
@theleenbean: You won’t know until you talk to UChicago.
This is 5 years ago now, but back when D1 was deciding, we asked UChicago to consider upping their merit (and no, it wasn’t need based aid) (we stressed how much she loved the school and gave them comps from other schools), and they did. I don’t know if they still give out merit, but really, you won’t know until you talk to them.
Good luck, and congratulations!
What do your parents want you to do? If they say go to Chicago and they don’t care about the Jeff full ride – and you don’t care about the non-financial benefits of the Jeff – then I guess you’ve got your answer about where to go regardless of whether Chicago offers you any merit aid or not. But it still wouldn’t hurt to ask for it!
Is grad school a possibility? Perhaps your parents would cover that in lieu of UC tuition.
Definitely check the money situation. There is a big difference between “no problem,” “we can stretch,” and “we’ll send you to your dream school but it means delaying retirement and, gosh, we better not have a major car issue.”
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the issues with diversity (which would directly affect me), and the general feel of Grounds (campus).
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Are you a URM? What diversity group are you looking for?
I’m wondering what your concern is with the UVA grounds. It’s a beautiful campus?
I agree that the idea of “fit” is often exaggerated…too hard to assess while not a student, and large campuses have a tribe for nearly anyone. We’ve seen too many kids choose a school that they truly believe will be the perfect “fit” only to want to leave after a semester or two.
@mom2collegekids I’m Asian. So not a URM but still absolutely a minority at UVa (and at most schools, I know). Based on the discussions and panels I’ve had with current UVa students, however, there is a large degree of self-segregation that happens on grounds. And I agree, UVa’s campus is beautiful but it’s the atmosphere/culture that I’m concerned about, not the aesthetic.
@CalBearsMom @TempeMom I just talked to my mom; she confirmed that they could pay full tuition at any school without any difficulty. They are most concerned with prestige, honestly. If I get into HYP come Ivy day, they’ll probably want me to go there.
@thumper1 I was also just accepted to Duke, but again, no aid. I guess I just want to stress that the purpose of this post was not to pick a college, but to ask how to ask for merit aid. Should my parents be the ones calling the fin aid office?