Carnegie Mellon, too good to be true?

Applying to College
21

<p>Well, I’m glad to get the financial aid situation at CMU confirmed by others. It’s nice to know that it wasn’t just us (although I’d rather it wasn’t anyone…).</p>

<p>It was my son’s first choice last year, and he was ecstatic when he was accepted. It was hugely disappointing when their financial aid let him down. Their offer was over a third lower than any of his other choices (10 schools total).</p>

<p>It’s a great school. But at this point, I hesitate to recommend it to anyone who needs financial aid.</p>

22

<p>“And even then, many schools ‘meet need’ with lots of loans for both students and parents.”</p>

<p>For those schools that meet 100% of need, parent loans are not part of it. Loans to students (without parents’ signatures) are the only way a school can meet need with loans; students don’t need to have good credit to get these, and they are limited in size. Loans to parents (if they can get them) help them pay their EFC.</p>

23

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<p>Not true, many schools include Parent Plus loans as meeting need. Granted, this is not done at HYPS and the big endowment schools popular on CC, but many schools do it.</p>

24

<p>Well, they can say what they want, but:

[PLUS</a> Loans From NextStudent Can Help Parents Meet Children’s College Expenses](<a href=“Next Student Trade School Guide”>Next Student Trade School Guide)</p>

<p>

[PLUS</a> Loans - Federal Parent PLUS Loan Introduction](<a href=“Parent Student Loans Hub - Articles, FAQ, and Applications | Edvisors”>Parent Student Loans Hub - Articles, FAQ, and Applications | Edvisors)</p>

<p>Requiring parents to have a good credit history is not meeting the need of the student.</p>

25

<p>Some anecdotal information:</p>

<p>I’m looking at top engineering schools, however am not applying to CMU because of the perceived “impossible workload, no fun” atmosphere.</p>

26

<p>This is somewhat surprising, CMU was one of the schools my younger son applied to and was accepted 3 years ago. I recall their COA, taking into account their financial aid offer, for us, was comparable to the other 2 top level schools our son considered. I also remember CMU was one of the only schools to specifically state they would match FA offers from peer institutions.
He did not ultimately decide to attend, but money was not the deciding factor for our family.
Perhaps things have changed in the past few years.</p>

27

<p>does anyone know the actual acceptance rates school specific (ie, mellon college of science, CIT)</p>

28

<p>jacdad, they’re very specific by what they call “peer institutions”:</p>

<p>California Institute of Technology
Cornell University
Duke University
Emory University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rice University
Stanford University
University of Pennsylvania
Washington University in St. Louis</p>

<p>Plus, I suppose Harvard and Yale might cause them to reconsider…</p>

29

<p>Like most schools, they’re generous with the kids they really want.</p>