As far as stacking at Drexel goes, the website says that TE does not replace any institutional awards. So my interpretation is that they would allow it, though would love confirmation.
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Can you share more about the Case Western experience? I think it looks fabulous, but even with TE, it’s $52k per year. Worth it?
My son had a great experience at Case Western. However, he entered in the fall of 2021 when Case’s tuition was lower. We waived health insurance, and our initial cost was under $40K for the year, putting Case close to our home state’s in-state tuition. The class that entered in 2022 had significantly higher tuition, putting Case on par with other private schools. At the time my son entered, I am pretty sure the TE scholarship was greater than any other merit scholarship the school offered. I don’t know if that is still the case and it might be worth inquiring about that.
Whether it is worth it is hard to answer, depending, of course, on what your other options are and what your student is interested in. My son was a history major and benefited from small classes and close relationships with faculty. I think the classes are larger in the STEM majors, but I also think the opportunities are greater. For example, the health sciences are very strong and premed students have a lot of opportunities and support. I think their med school acceptance rate is higher than most. The Think Box, is amazing, the co-op experience seems valuable, and Cleveland is a wonderful city for students, with great and affordable options for sports fans and theater lovers.
The campus is beautiful and safe. One thing to consider regarding cost, is that rents in Cleveland are very low, so students can save quite a bit by living off campus during their junior and senior years.
Case is not a party school, but there are lots of clubs and groups for students to be part of. I think the smaller size gave my son leadership experiences and a depth of involvement that he would not have had elsewhere.
When prices are equal to other options, I think Case should be a strong contender and I am not sure why it isn’t more often.
Feel free to message me if you have more specific questions.
Edit to add: I see your kid is interested in STEM and music. These are both standouts for Case. Definitely worth a visit at least! I’d recommend staying at the Glidden House, a charming historic hotel located on the campus. Ask for the Case discount. The school may be expensive but Cleveland’s hotels and restaurants are cheaper than other cities. Definitely check out Little Italy too. We enjoyed staying in many Airbnbs there over the years.
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Thanks so much! This is very helpful information!
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Thanks for these added details. My son also just got TE at Case Western, but the cost is quite likely to push him to cross it off his list. We would end up needing to do some loans, even with TE, and he is likely to get TE at one or two places where it will cover full tuition. (His other main contenders are Pitt, Syracuse, and Marquette.) We really liked Case, but it’s tough to think about burdening him with loans if we can avoid it. Congratulations to your daughter, and best of luck on making the final decision!
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We are waiting on Pitt too!
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Does anyone know when Pitt TE decisions will come out?
I emailed to ask a while ago, and they said March. Looking back at last year, though, it seems like it could be late February if it’s the same. My fingers and toes are crossed on that one. It’s the #1 choice for SO many reasons by a mile. Sending us all good vibes on this one!
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Interesting email from Lafayette:
- Submit your Regular Decision application for Lafayette College through the Common Application.
- Submit the FAFSA and CSS Profile if you’re applying for need-based financial aid.
- Email Lafayette’s Tuition Exchange administrator, Rebecca Pichetto, at pichettr@lafayette.edu to request an early read for Early Decision consideration.
Following the completion of these steps, Rebecca will respond with guidance and a recommendation for your application by January 23, 2026. You will then have until February 1, 2026 to convert your Regular Decision application to Early Decision II if you so choose.
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My daughter is a 2026 lacrosse commit (D3). We are waiting on TE from her school. Does anyone know if depositing impacts whether a school will award TE? We applied both TE and CIC. I’m worried if we deposit, they will view her as coming regardless so a TE award. On the other hand, is it good for them to see how committed she is?
So, I have been thinking about Drexel. They are in a tough financial situation right now. They have a budget deficit and are looking for savings. Last year, it says they offered 12 TE but only enrolled 2. What if they did the same thing –tell a bunch of people they are waitlisted, tell them to make their decision without considering it, then offering it at the last minute when people were likely to have made other plans? Seems like potential cost savings…
Since TE is a benefit to their own faculty/staff who send kids out to other schools, the students they accept are really just balancing the equation. TE doesn’t really cost anything other than in an accounting spreadsheet. So I don’t think they are scaling back on TE enrollees due to budgets. Also, if they offered 12 and enrolled 2, that means only 2 of the 12 finally accepted the offer. The other 10 decided to go somewhere else. Now it could be that Drexel didn’t rush to re-offer 10 more to 10 waitlisted people, but that could simply be because they don’t normally do that. Some school don’t have or go to wait lists - if people in the initial group they offered to reject the offer, they just leave it there.
Things may have changed since I was paying close attention to how TE works, but my understanding is that schools are required to have a balance of imports/exports to remain part of the program. Of course, a single year does not have to be balanced, but the overall trend across years does. So, if Drexel had 12 exports last year and only 2 imports, they will likely have been told they need to do more make that in balance -whether that means limiting exports, as my institution has done (5-7 chosen by lottery) or increasing offers for imports, who knows?
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Yes, I guess we will see! I definitely think they were not jumping to the next person on the list for the TE if someone did not accept. I noticed many places have number enrolled is closer to number offered, though obviously not all. I am curious about what goes on behind the scenes in terms of imports/exports being relatively similar. It seems some places consistently offer a large number (e.g., large state universities), while others consistently offer fewer (e.g., Villanova always seems to offer 20…). Anyway, good vibes to everyone to get TE to their choices!
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DeeCee36, Wow, choosing exports by lottery adds a whole other layer of challenge! I guess we are lucky that does not seem to apply to us!
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Yes, it was really a drag and made the process seem even more onerous (first hurdle, be a lucky winner of the lottery before you could even begin to deal with the stress of applying). It was in place when my D20 was applying, and there was literally a drawing in the HR office that all participants witnessed. Thankfully, my name was drawn, but there were several unhappy fellow employees that day.
I was prepared for the same hunger games-like environment when my D24 was applying, but at that point we were told there would be no limit on exports…so, I don’t know if TE changed their policy or my institution had been routinely enrolling more TE imports than had been exported for long enough that some rebalancing was needed 
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Sure - that can be, and has always been the case with TE (keep a general moving average of imports and exports balanced over X years). They may well do that, and in any given year they may admit more, and then next year less. That can certainly happen. My point was different - that this is not likely going to happen because of budgetary issues at Drexel, which I think is what NSW seemed worried about.
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My daughter received TE from American University today. So nice that they share the scholarship news with the acceptance letter.
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Big congrats!!! And agree. That is fantastic to get all the news at the same time.
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Our daughter is a field hockey commit (D3) who applied ED and was accepted to at TE school. Before applying, she specifically asked the TE coordinator if applying ED and depositing after acceptance (and before the TE awards were decided) would impact her chances of getting TE. They said no and that they try to include the TE decision with the acceptance so we rolled the dice. Thankfully, the school included the TE award in her acceptance letter in December. I have no idea if asking helped speed up the TE decision or not. Maybe we just got lucky…but it it most definitely doesn’t hurt to ask.
Your daughter may just want to call up and say she is a TE candidate ready to deposit.
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