<p>
the rest of the world…especially “normal” people…put a lot of emphasis on the ivies</p>
<p>My s got accepted, but is not planning to attend. Didn’t get a scholarship, and there’s no way he wants to get into debt to the tune of $50,000 a year! He was always more drawn to Grinnell or Oberlin anyway–great schools, less preppy–and Grinnell has offered a v. good scholarhip (still waiting to hear from Oberlin).</p>
<p>Best of luck to future Wash U attendees, but it’s not everyone’s best “fit.”.</p>
<p>When I got in I was super excited about going, but then the reality of finances hit and I got a disappointing financial aid package so I don’t think I’m going :(</p>
<p>so they’ve sent financial aid packages?? I hope I get mine tommorow</p>
<p>Wash U certainly was not my safety and although I was honored/thrilled/excited to be accepted, I will not be matriculating</p>
<p>Though I was accepted, I would choose Rutgers over WUSTL, if I’m rejected from the other schools I applied, because of the heavy scholarship aid that I got at Rutgers.</p>
<p>if i had bucketloads of money, i would go. sadly, i dont, and my parents arent rich enough to pay for a $200000 undergrad education =(
im one of those ppl who’re too rich for financial aid and too poor to pay the tuition out of pocket, and who didnt get any scholarships.
i was really deliriously happy i got in (i didnt think i’d even have a chance actually), but i cant justify spending that much money unless im going into premed (which im not).<br>
im prolly going to my state school or some other school that’ll lower my costs to ~$30000</p>
<p>so good luck waitlist-ees!</p>
<p>
This is a TOTALLY wrong way to think about it. If anything, the premeds are the ones that should be most hesitant spending money on undergrad, since they will need it for the med school.</p>
<p>well its more like wash u is more renowned for its premed program, while if i want to go into something like business, my state school/other schools would probably be a better deal. i know loads of ppl who do non premed-related stuff at wash u, but i feel like it wouldnt make much difference in my education if i studied business wash u vs. at a cheaper top 20 school (or some excellent state schools), whereas if i did premed, it’d look far more impressive if i went to wash u, as they have a good reputation for that (not that they fail at the humanities. in my opinion, it just doesnt stand out).</p>
<p>i know they arent exactly comparable, but its more like i would have upenn as a top choice if i go into business, or caltech/mit if i wanted something science/math/tech as a career. just like i could justify a bucketload of money for wharton, i could justify it for an excellent premed program. but since im not doing premed, im prolly gonna hold out for other colleges who have good econ/business quality but at a lower price. and besides, i feel anyone who plans on going to grad school to get loads of degrees should try to spend as little as possible, unless they think the education at the school is really worth the money (which for me, would probably be wharton or haas). im sure the olin school of business is wonderful, but i feel like the quality of the education in that field doesnt warrant the price tag. </p>
<p>and im sorry if you found my opinion TOTALLY wrong. but then again, its my decision isnt it?</p>
<p>WashU is NOT a safety and I loved/love it. Just because you don’t enroll at a school certainly does not mean it was a safety or you had no interest. I love washu but if I choose to go somewhere else, its because I liked another school a little more. That’s it.</p>
<p>I just got into WashU last week. I believe that it is indeed one of the premier universities in the country, is very competitive with the upper ivies (and probably even “better” than some of the lower ones). Also, WashU is even fairly close to home for me.</p>
<p>However, although I did get accepted while applying for financial aid, I still am not anticipating much financial support. Therefore, I might not be attending WashU. Also, I am still waiting for two other applications to come in (Duke and Northwestern). Once I get all the decisions and financial information in, I’ll be able to know more.</p>
<p>I definitely did not apply to WashU as a safety school. Rather, it was the most selective university to which I applied (per Princeton Review).</p>
<p>washU gave me kick-ass financial aid. i really might go there but my tops are columbia and yale - still waiting to hear from them. that’s not just because they’re ivies, it’s also because they’re better fits. however, ivies do give awesome financial aid i’ve heard.</p>
<p>i had a friend apply there last year as a safety school. she didn’t get in, haha. she did get into USB, and Duke though.</p>
<p>I got early notified too… we can’t afford it.</p>
<p>Just got my (rather disappointing) financial aid package today. I haven’t been expecting much in these packages (we’re awkwardly upper-middle class), but WashU’s offer made the others look generous, by comparison.</p>
<p>WashU’s a great school, but it’s not enough to compete with full-tuition to the in-state Honors program.</p>
<p>WashU wasn’t a safety for me, but it also wasn’t my first choice. It seems like it was this way for most WashU applicants at my HS. Everyone applied because everyone else applied because everyone else said WashU gave out (relatively) a few more scholarships than most schools of comparable caliber. (very ironic, considering no one from my HS even made it as a finalist for a scholarship.)</p>
<p>Our son was awarded ~$25,000 (which includes $3,500 Stafford eligibility)… add $2,000 for NMF (is that right?)… that’s $27,00. We can afford about $8,000 a year out of pocket (way below our EFC)… leaving what? $13-15k+</p>
<p>Anyone know what other options there might be to close this gap? Another thread suggested ‘appealing’ to WashU’s financial aid department. Anyone have success with this? What type of information are they looking for that they don’t already have?</p>
<p>Like ‘Somethingsilly’… our son will likely need to go to one of the number of much more ‘average’ public universities which have offered him full tuition scholarships. I guess we should be grateful he at least has those options.</p>
<p>well jhuston, you do know that the tuition is about 30,000 but that does not include housing and other expenses. It adds up to about 50,000. So the gap is more like 23,000 for you if I am correct, not 8,000.</p>
<p>Read my post more closely… I said ‘leaving what? ~$13-15k+’</p>
<p>My simple math:
$50,000 - $25,000 (scholarship/Stafford) - $2,000 (NMF) - $8,000 (our savings) = ~$15,000</p>
<p>Although honestly… $15k to me isn’t much different than $23k (both unattainable)</p>
<p>jhuston…I’m in the same situation as your son…except my “gap” is about $20,000+. I’m going to first see what my other offers are from other top schools to which I applied and see if I would rather go there. If not, someone told me I could use these offers as a bargaining chip.</p>
<p>However, if WashU is unwilling to lower their price and I don’t get any better offers from the top-tier schools, I’m just going to have to make the decision of taking out student loans, or going to a public university in my area…where I think I might become somewhat bitter. I just hate the feeling that so many more “well-off” kids get to attend the great private universities than us everyday folk with equal or better credentials. </p>
<p>Basically it’s going to come down to…debt or public.</p>
<p>As a side note, I’ve known many students that have gone to much more “average” public schools over top private universities and loved it. It seems that almost any college student can learn to love their environment, no matter of its prestige. It’s just typically a fun environment to be in. Maybe not, though. (and I’d rather not find out the hard way. ha!)</p>
<p>i dont consider it a safety…but its really not worth the money, and i just couldnt see myself there (no Division I sports).</p>
<p>westsidewolf…lol…who needs DI sports when you’ve got the Rams to look forward to on the weekends?</p>