I have to decide between these 3. Washu gave me half tuition off, and the other two just gave me around 20k each. However, I got the rawlings presidential research scholar for Cornell which might make it worth it. Please help me decide!
Major is between premed and env eng
First off, congrats on those acceptances!
Posting the final cost per school, rather than whatever was awarded, will probably yield more helpful input from folks here.
Will you be able to visit any of the schools for an admitted student’s day?
“Premed” and environmental engineering are fairly distinct majors (unless Environmental Engineering as … foundation for med school??), and the EnvEng would probably need you to go all-in from the jump, working toward that degree. Do you have a preference between them in terms of what you’d be studying? How do the schools compare in regards to that field?
The clear choice is Cornell imo the research scholarship is too good to give up, its going to an ivy plus getting recognition. I think that cornell will also help you with your pre-med goals.
Can you afford all three?
washu: 50k, Northwestern: 70k, Cornell: 75k but can probably ask to match or something
i visited washu and northwestern before but probably won’t go to admitted students day, but will go to a cornell one. I prolly prefer env eng but pre-health is also in cals, but its in cals so idk about how good it is.
i can, but would def prefer the cheaper the better
I doubt Cornell will match Wash U but you can try.
Good luck- all fine options.
i was thinking if I can get it to like 30-35 k off (to like maybe around total cost 60k) i’ll probably choose cornell
Really impressive list of options!
How much would the Cornell total cost be? One concern is if premed, does Cornell grade deflate? Not sure about Northwestern or WashU. I would think they tend to grade inflate slightly.
Advantages for Cornell is Ithaca is a very scenic part of the country, nice campus, but cold and remote. Sounds like a fantastic program with the scholarship.
Northwestern obviously only 30 minutes from Chicago and also right on the Lake. Great sports, great food, music, museums, etc.
WashU beautiful campus and great dorms and food, with some college things to do on the Loop. Known for their premed. St. Louis is an underrated city with Forest Park across the street. Although, I’d prefer Chicago.
Considering costs and likelihood for grade inflation even so slightly, which I would find out first, I might choose WashU if premed. I might choose the other two if I went into engineering with Cornell slightly ahead due to the Rawlings Research Scholar acceptance.
Cornell rn not including loans/work study is 75k. I am probably going to ask for more since washu gives 3x the amount even with the presidential research scholar thingy. The thing is I can’t really decide between engineering and premed, so idk which school is for me, since I don’t know if I can really definitavely 100% choose my path in a month.
Good luck. I’ve heard of Cornell upping an award for the following reasons:
1- Change of circumstance. Your parent lost their job between the time you applied and the time you got your award. Even though technically Financial Aid is based on previous earnings which are unchanged, the aid team has some discretion in reviewing your numbers again.
2- Change in the economy. Back in 1987 (I know it’s the dark ages to current college kids) the stock market dropped precipitously in October and there were a lot of kids who COULD have afforded their top choice school in September but who no longer could come April. If your college fund gets wiped out by a market swing and then recession- the aid team can somethings re-evaluate.
3- To maintain parity with a “peer school”. So Cornell doesn’t want to be losing out to U Penn over a 5K difference in aid. Cornell doesn’t want to lose out to Brown so they “sharpen their pencils” a bit.
I’m not sure any of these exist in your scenario, but if you don’t try you’ll forever wonder.
So good luck!
Thanks, hopefully washu counts as a peer school or im cooked
northwestern might be since they gave 5k more so hopefully
Then it comes down to cost.
Take pre med out of the equation - which school would you prefer for the major.
As an fyi, WUSTL is not ABET accredited in the major but they have requested a review.
As for career outcomes, in the last two years (23/24), Cornell shows $71,652 average and $70,400 median - it was just 14 students reporting.
NU doesn’t show by major - just that engineering was $94.9K with a $54K to $180K range. I’d assume Environmental is lower.
WUSTL says it doesn’t have enough data for salaries for the major but for engineering, the median was $92K and the mean $98,598.
I’d probably lean toward NU but if interested in research, Cornell would be hard to pass up.
WUSTL could be good but the lack of ABET and general #s (to put together salaries as an example) - might be concerning. Or I might look to a different major there.
Obviously WUSTL and NU are located in or closer to large cities - if that’s a factor.
Congrats and best of luck.
Would you consider changing your major to something else other than env engineering?
I feel like the research program at cornell might make it worth it if I can get the aid up, since it would likely help me get better jobs + internships with better research experience, and probably get a better salary no matter what I choose, since I’m not too sure rn. Also, I rlly wanna go east(since i alr live in midwest) so I’m leaning cornell, nu if i can’t get aid probably. Thanks!
I would disagree on the salary part but note the experience would be better if you want to do research.
Just don’t bankrupt your family.
im locked in for the financial aid meeting
So you’re appealing - did the NPC show a lower price?
Make sure your folks are involved - they provided all the financial returns, tax statements, etc.
I will make sure, idk about the NPC but ima just show them the aid i’m getting elsewhere and how I need like at least a little more to make it possible