I’ve really been trying to figure this out on my own but I seem to come to a dead end every time I sort out my thoughts. I am a health science major, possibly on the pre-med track. My 3 top choices for college are as follows:
- UC Berkeley (no financial aid, oos) tuition: 63k/yr
- Emory University (15k need-based grant freshman year, but the grant is subject to change from year to year based on financial circumstances) tuition before grant: 67k/yr
- Northeastern University (20k/year merit scholarship) tuition before scholarship: 63k/yr
If each school costed the same amount, I would choose Berkeley. I’m planning to call financial aid there to talk about scholarships and need-based aid just to see what they’ll say because it’s simply too expensive for me to consider right now.
My concern with the Emory grant is that it’s only so large because my sister will be a senior in college when I am a freshman. Once she graduates, the grant could shrink significantly and Emory is way too expensive of a school for me to risk losing aid. The only way to get merit aid through Emory is to be in their extremely selective Honors Program which I didn’t get into. I also learned that you can’t reapply for the program after freshman year which seems very counterintuitive and frustrating to me.
Northeastern seems like the sensible way to go; I love their co op program but I can’t seem to shake the other two more selective and better regarded schools from my mind. Studying abroad is a huge priority for me, and I would have the best shot at that through NU. On the other hand, I have a lot of family connections down in Atlanta so I know I would have an amazing time if I went there. I’m also absolutely in love with Emory’s campus; it’s so beautiful.
I’m just looking for some input from anyone who attend(ed) any of these schools or is in a similar situation. Thanks so much!