<p>We are currently discussing this very issue with our D. She is applying ED to Cornell. If she doesn’t get in, her next two choices are Geneseo & University of Rochester. Obviously Cornell (even the contract colleges) is going to be a financial strain. However we decided long ago that if she could go to an Ivy it would be worth it. The real question is if denied at Corenll & accepted at Geneseo & U of R (pretty confident she’ll get into both), how much aid would have to be given by U of R to make it a better choice that Geneseo? Granted, U of R’s facilities , research, etc. is superior…but Geneseo is doing a great job of getting their grads into grad school, etc.The quaility of student attending the two schools isn’t that much diferent (average SAT is only about 20 pts higher at U of R, not that that is everything). We’ve had a number of students attend both schools & all have loved each. She already has the possibility of getting a $7,500 grant by receiving the Susan b. Anthony scholarship at U of R, however that gets the price down to around $42,000. Without any more aid it is still $25 - 27,000 more than Geneseo!</p>