<p>I am now left trying to compare my Chicago and Cornell costs. Neverminding my particular packages, I am a little confused with their overall interpretation of their costs.</p>
<p>Cornell claims
$31467 Tuition
$10,300 Room and Board
$680 Books and Supplies
$1419 Personal Expenses/Travel</p>
<hr>
<pre><code> $43866
</code></pre>
<p>However, The University of Chicago claims
$31629 Tuition
$10104 Room and Board
$2686 Books/Personal Expenses
$1406 Misc Fees (Including One time Orientation Fee)</p>
<hr>
<pre><code> $45825
</code></pre>
<p>Here's the first thing that I noticed</p>
<p>Chicago seems to cost $2000 more, but they also allow over $600 more for books and personal expenses, while Cornell figures in travel. I guess most importantly is, how much is Cornell charging for things that they don't mention but Chicago does? The list of Chicago fees is actually six long, while Cornell's is none. For instance, does Cornell charge for Orientation, Health Services, etc? They do for use of their fitness center, mass transit, and student activities. </p>
<p>How close are the costs, actually. I did get $4000 a year through a Cornell Tradition Fellow Grant and $1800 work study. Does Chicago have jobs on campus that I can get without "Federal Work Study?" Does this mean I can or can't have a job at Chicago?</p>
<p>Anyone else know of hidden costs, etc. Does room and board/personal expenses go down or up after the first year? </p>
<p>Thanks for all the help with my myriad questions!</p>
<p>Cornell is underestimating books and supplies (you usually cannot count on $680 even if you buy all used books). Chicago appears to be separating its "fees" from tuition; Cornell may be including them in tuition. Neither does a good job on personal expenses/travel because those vary significantly. All those costs can and usually do increase each year, not just R&B and personal expenses, e.g, both have a tendency to increase tuition annually. You should probably assume each is really about $46,000 per year and then compound that annually by about 4 to 6% to get costs as the years progress.</p>
<p>My son also just received an offer from Cornell; I thought the amount for books was low. Cornell does include fees with tuition. FWIW, we are <4 hours by car from Cornell. and they estimated our son's personal expenses/travel to be just $39 less than yours.</p>
<p>When I compare, I just use tuition/fees and room/board. The rest of the stuff is too individual for the school numbers to be valid. If you live a couple of hours from Cornell and have lots of people you know going your way, the cost for travel could be neglible. If you have to fly inot Chicago and visits mean hotels, restaraunts, the whole 9 yards, the average cost is not going to mean a thing to you. Those are variable costs that you have to estimate for each school depending on where you live and your situation. </p>
<p>Even room and board fees have to be carefully examined. They tend to be the average cost. Well, if the school stacks three or more in a room regularly, it is going to be more expensive to live in decent quarters there than the average indicates. Also off campus opportunies are dismal at decent prices in NYC whereas in some areas, you can live so cheaply off campus that there is a rush to do so. If the cafeteria are underused and a la carte charge cards are the norm, and the kid is a big eater, like my son who eats 4 squares a day, that needs to be taken into consideration. You can spend $30 a day that way, and there are now schools with no real all you can eat cafeteria options. Also the money goes faster in cities and areas where there are shops, restaraunts and opportunities rather than out where there is not much there. Campus events tend to be cheap. Broadway plays and other big city opportunities are not even at student prices.</p>
<p>Also when you visit, the hotel choices can make a big difference. A cheap Fairfield Inn with breakfast included is a big difference from some choices near colleges. Do you need to fly and rent a car, or can you drive, or can you fly, take a free or inexpensive shuttle and stay near enough to campus so you don't need a car, or is car rental there cheap enough that having a car is a good option? These can affect the cost.</p>
<p>When planning for books, in my experience, $500 per term is more reasonable- definitely true for sciences, even with used books! I would imagine humanities classes would also require many expensive books. We have seen a single textbook be $150 and, fo course, when they require teh newest edition, there is no used book available....ah, but when you sell it back, you get so little. One term my DD spent $500 on books and was only able to receive $40 at sell back! :(</p>
<p>Wow, thanks moms for the good advice. One issue for me will be travel. I guess the difference is that I can take a train from Chicago for less than 150, but I would really want to fly from Cornell. (I live in MN) Is the Ithaca area cheaper to live off campus than Chicago? (I assume so!) Are there apartment buildings that take tenants for the academic year only? I am sure that Cornell is All You Care to Eat, and I am not sure about Chicago. So from what I understand, cost is the same. Personal Expensives may be bigger in a large city, but Travel will be cheaper from Chicago. I figure that no matter what, with the scholarship, Cornell will be cheaper. BUT if it less than $3000 cheaper a year, than perhaps I should look more closely at which school is better for me. I plan to do overnight visits at both schools. Besides, financial aid changes every year, and especially since I am probably on the cutoff for no financial aid. Smaller Christmas Bonus for Dad may mean bigger fin aid.</p>