We are turning down an admission to Cornell purely for financial reasons. It is unaffordable to many, many people, despite their constant refrain (I think at least 4 times in two days of Cornell days/ Women in Engineering activities) of “Ezra Cornell said ‘I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any subject” or something almost exactly like that…it did my daughter NO FAVORS to hear that, and it did us no good to speak with a financial aid officer, who chid us (it’s a word) that it was “an investment “.
Believe me, I have run the numbers, and for engineering, it has a pretty poor ROI compared to hefty merit offers from privates and top public engineering programs. If it were an ACTUAL investment, you wouldn’t choose it. I expect the same goes for pre-med - a Doctor is a doctor. What do they call a Dr from Harvard? Doctor. What do they call a doctor from Rutgers? Doctor. You get the point.
I know several alumni and none of them have any interest in their reunions. It’s a foreign concept to many of us who went to other schools.