<p>We finally got our FA from Tulane and although it is good it is less than we had hoped for.
My son has the Presidential Scholarship and a Tulane grant and they have offered more loans than we are comfortable letting him take. Lots of loans.
Now we have the new decision. He was accepted to Cornell and got a great financial aid package. He loves Tulane and New Orleans. We are in the Northeast 3 hours from Ithaca. He doesn’t know much about Cornell, but has friends there and his best friend will be going next year. He is pre-med and interested in the programs offered at Tulane. I know many kids have turned down the Ivy League to attend Tulane, but any insight would be appreciated. They are so different.
He has a big decision to make.</p>
<p>You should send the offer you got from Cornell to Tulane and ask for a reconsideration.Good luck!</p>
<p>Really? Can you do that?</p>
<p>Yes, you can definitely do that. They might reconsider, they might not, but you have zero to lose. I have heard from others that the important thing is to go into the conversation factually and pro-Tulane. In other words, something like “Tulane is the first choice school, and we are certainly grateful for the Presidential Scholarship and the invitation to the Honors Program, but we really need something equivalent to what Cornell offered to make it work. Is there any possibility you could look at their offer and make an adjustment?” I would think Tulane would love to “steal” a student from Cornell, and they obviously think a lot of your son since they offered him the $25K. See how it goes. Worst case, he ends up at Cornell which is obviously a great school as well. That’s a pretty great worst case. I’m not sure how much the loans to which you refer would add up to, but I absolutely agree that too much debt from undergraduate school is a terrible idea.</p>
<p>Yes, absolutely you can do that. Most schools will review their offer when you present an offer from an equal or better school. Let them know odf your s’s strong interest in TU but need for a bit more assistance to make it work. Good luck!</p>
<p>Jym and FC. Thank you both very much. We decided today to go to the Honors Weekend.
That Monday, I will make an appointment for a “face to face” with the Financial aid people.
I really think he is leaning towards Tulane, but the added transportation costs and turning down Cornell is hard since the money is a real issue for us.</p>
<p>Sounds like an excellent plan. Will he go with you to see the FA person?</p>
<p>It sounds as though you think he should. He is very well spoken and certainly could handle this negotiation without me. I just figured he would be very busy on the Monday of the Honors Weekend.</p>
<p>Could be that he will be completely occupied. I was actually thinking both of you could go, but if it is only one it would make more sense for it to be you. Parents usually control the finances. I just thought his presence might cement the sincerity of his commitment to Tulane.</p>
<p>Momwithpride I am so glad you brought this subject up. My daughter will end up with more in loans if she goes to Tulane than any other school, including UC Berkeley, but I think she likes Tulane best.</p>
<p>I agree that having your son attend the meeting with the FA officer (and make an appointment in advance) is a nice touch, if it is doable, but it is not necessary. There should be time between scheduled events for him to join you, though I apologize that I do not recall what the schedule is, and how tightly the activities are scheduled. Do be sure to have copies of your Cornell offer to leave with them to review. You probably won’t get an answer on the spot. Agree with FC that emphasizing your s’s desire to attend Tulane if you can afford it. Keep us posted.</p>
<p>Thank you. I will keep you posted and I will follow your generous suggestions.</p>
<p>Our daughter is also in a choice situation. She’s accepted to Tulane and has a full-tuition scholarship (DHS). She would have to borrow $8500 this year, and presumably that or a bit more each year after that given that costs will likely rise some over the 4 yrs. </p>
<p>She’s also been accepted to U of Idaho and has a NMF full-ride there, so would graduate with no debt (other than if she was to do study abroad, which she really wants, U of I does not cover any of those costs). She was waitlisted at Rice and Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>She’s planning to major in chemistry or chemical engineering. Tulane appears to have great alumni support and connections for internships and job opportunities. Is the debt worth it over the state school that as far as I know is pretty unheard of? (She already knows that she would rather attend Tulane.)</p>
<p>I asked this on a “top tier with debt or second choice without debt” also, but thought I’d ask here for more Tulane-specific feedback from those with experience with Tulane. She will probably have to make this choice without visiting campus so any feedback is helpful. (What is Butler Hall really like?)</p>
<p>Please don’t think I’m complaining about Tulane’s aid, I’m just scared for her to get into that much debt for undergrad. And somehow, showing them U of Idaho’s full-ride offer does not seem likely to motivate them to find ways to reduce the loans :).</p>
<p>hsmom4,
If your d is a NMF, she will get an additional $2k/year scholarship from Tulane. It stacks on top of the DHS. All you have to do is identify Tulane as your first choice school with the NM foundation. You can change it if you have already listed another school, but hurry. The deadline is probably soon. And while some fees (student fees, room/board, etc) may go up a bit, the DHS goes up to cover any increase in tuition, as I am sure you know.</p>
<p>Your d sounds like my s. He was a chemistry major, but changed to Chem E this year. He still works in the chem lab of one of his professors. Both chemistry and Chem E are great options. PM me if I can help.</p>
<p>Momwithpride and anyone in her child’s situation, my son is one of the admitted students still waiting to hear about need-based aid. During this long wait he has been wondering how well the need based aid would close the gap. Like your kid he has the fortune to be granted a 22K presidential scholarship and the attractive honors program admission. I know you weren’t comfortable with the amount of loans (instead of grants) he was offered. It would be helpful to him to know what percentage of the EFC that was left after the 22K was offered in grants and what percentage in loans. I imagine that my son might be awarded a similar percentage. We are trying to decide whether an expensive (though very fun) visit to Tulane is a good idea for him.
Thanks!</p>
<p>hsmom - Congrats on her DHS! That is a wonderful accomplishment, and it would be a shame to have to pass up. But $36,000 would be a bit high on the debt side if she really has to do that. Hopefully as jym says, she would get $8,000 over 4 years from NMF and therefore bring the total debt into a manageable range. Also, she could potentially earn a few thousand over 4 years working, also reducing the debt. While I am sure there is nothing wrong with the University of Idaho, her experience at Tulane would be far different.</p>
<p>My D is in Butler, and she has no complaints at all. Well, recently they started pile driving because there is a new dorm being built next to Butler, but that will be over soon. Construction will continue throughout the next academic year, but hopefully the noise levels will be less intrusive. Butler is a pretty basic dorm, been there for years. Not as fancy as the newer dorms they build these days, but a nice atmosphere for the honors kids.</p>
<p>I have the same question as mommybird. I was offered a 25k Presidential Scholarship as well with an EFC of 1441. I was curious how others fared in Loans v FA ratio, as well as their respective EFC.</p>
<p>Lam Tran, our EFC (FAFSA figure) was slightly higher at 1,780. D was offered a total of $8,500 in loans, 3,000 in workstudy, and approx. 40,500 in Tulane/Federal grants and scholarships. Hope that helps you estimate, but no one’s situation is exactly the same and they say that merit determines the ratio of scholarship/grant to loan - so it is hard to know what exactly to expect. Hope you hear something soon, I know it is nerve wracking!</p>
<p>Thank you, thank you, jym and FC for mentioning the NMF money… I thought that once dd had noted U of Idaho (only because of the full-ride possible there, after all, no one can really just expect/assume that they will be admitted to Tulane!), that we couldn’t change it. I thought the late April deadline was only if the student had listed undecided. We will be calling NM and Tulane Fin Aid tomorrow and verify we can make the change!! That would make the debt level more doable and make the decision pretty easy (dd says an emphatic thank you!). She does hope to work summers, internships, etc. We’re not optimistic about her getting something locally this summer, town of about 30,000 is 25 mi away and we’ve had massive layoffs. A bagger position at the grocery store is getting 100 apps right now.</p>
<p>We appreciate the comments on Butler, she is interested in it and really wants to be with other students who are serious about learning. </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>My understanding is you can change the NMF school designation until May 1, but obviously I wouldn’t wait. Glad that helps make it more affordable. The other thing that brings the costs closer is the study abroad. You would spend $X doing that at Idaho ($15,000? I have no idea), while at Tulane the DHS applies to study abroad. So now the difference is $26,000 - $X, maybe about $10-$15K of extra debt over 4 years. Definitely worth it, IMHO.</p>
<p>Another thing you may or may not know. If she is planning on grad school, science people get tuition waived and usually get a pretty decent stipend for being TA’s. So she shouldn’t have more school debt after this unless she decides on med school or law school, or even an MBA. Those you still have to pay for.</p>
<p>Oh, and Tulane FA might not be in tomorrow. The school gets Easter Monday off, although I don’t know for sure if that applies to staff.</p>