Years ago we had an 18 year old who was not happy having a strict limit for the cost of university. Four years later when she was 22 she thanked me for not having let her take on any debt at all for university.
5 Likes
Not sure that THIS is the correct thread for you to hijack, but since asked:
Based on the experiences that my daughter had at Columbia U, specially through the Covid years, based on the internships she was able to secure in the city, and the eventual outcome of being accepted straight into a small-cohort graduate programâŠ
⊠just fine!
Academic reputation, selectivity, and brand recognition had been factors to her, but relative position in the US News Top 20 most certainly was not. Ergo, we still âgot what we paid forâ. (She felt that neither Yale, nor Harvard were a fit, and simply had no interest in Brown or Cornell.)
PS: This yearâs ranking is likely artificially low, as itâs not based on ANY supplemental information (because none was provided), vs. everyone else who did.
Was being tongue in cheek but my point is we are consumers and you are paying for something. So you deserve honest, direct answers.
Your rationale is different than others. Iâm glad it worked well for your family.
I was analogizing, likely poorly, about BU not being honest and open. Someone who âboughtâ Columbia for the ârankâ reason, frankly, were ripped off. Itâs funny and sad they and all schools have a Honor Code yet knowingly lied.
Sorry - took it too literal then (being un-imaginative, my mind couldnât make the jump from a home equity question, and BUâs NPC, to US News.)
Yes, of course, any âconsumer paying forâ a specific number in one of many ranking schemes, risks buyerâs regret with each annual reshuffling.
Donât think my rationale might be uncommon - given that it is rather rational. 
I agree itâs rational. But as we know from being on here, many are targeting a top 10.
Why ?
Because they are a top 10.
But they donât have your major.
But theyâre a top 10 
Whether you agree or not Columbiaâs lies thieved them.
My thing to BU was more about being transparent and honest. We donât know BU wasnât. The poster may not have spoken to the right person who can clearly define hiw home equity is used by BU.
I threw in Columbia as a similar but that was being rude to BU. Sorry. I know itâs (Columbia) a great school and it has zero to do with the students and faculty (well the faculty pointed out the likely errors) but their administrationâs actions are intolerable.
First and foremost congratulations on your daughter!! No easy accomplishment getting accepted but even more commendable that she appears to have taken full advantage of the opportunity.
While I find those responsible for Columbiaâs seeming deceptions to be unethical and despicable I donât think students were meaningfully harmed.
As an analogy, if I go to a restaurant based on numerous positive YELP reviews and thoroughly enjoyed the meal, I wouldnât view myself as harmed if I later found out the reviews were self written. Would it cause me to question the owners ethics absolutely. But I go to a restaurant hoping to find a good chef and wait staff not a moral owner.
I think undoubtedly there are some culpable administrators at Columbia but the students who attended got exactly what they expected and paid for in the form of a world class education.
1 Like
Can we focus on the OP and move the conversation off Columbia please. There are current threads dealing with that topic.
1 Like
Getting back to the OPs question.
-
You know the net price calculator results. While not exact to the penny, very likely this is a decent estimate of your net costs at BU.
-
If the financial aid package is not sufficient for your child to accept an ED offer, just decline the offer. You were even told by BU that if aid isnât sufficient, you can do so.
-
And this is important. Please please have your student understand the financial limitations your family has in terms of annual funding for college. Do this now before you send applications.
-
Remember, if your kid has an ED acceptance, they will be given a very short window to accept or decline it. The rub isâŠyou will never know if some other equally terrific college gives you a better net cost, because your kid will need to withdraw all other applications and acceptances if they accept the BU ED offer. Maybe BU will be the best net cost ED. But maybe it wonât beâŠyou wonât know with an ED acceptance what other colleges offer.
-
A number of us have askedâŠwhy BU. Yes, itâs on the east coast, and itâs a great urban campus in a great city. BUT there are other urban colleges also on the east coast in terrific cities (others in Boston too). SoâŠwhy BU (and remember, my kid graduated from BU and we think itâs a terrific college. But we incurred no debt to send our kid there).
5 Likes
#2. Who decides ? Anyone can say they canât afford it. It canât be that easy. Or every school would be hosed as everyone would apply ED.
OP, if you run the net price calculator and then chose to ignore it thinking that after an ED acceptance it will magically change, then I think you might find your family in the situation many see every year. The kid who loves the school, has an acceptance and the family who has no means to pay the bill or takes out exorbitant loans to please the kid, so the kid can go to their âdream schoolâ. To me, that is like me looking at buying a lamborghini. Itâs not in my budget so I donât dream about it. I could run the payments but itâs still not going to work.
Call BU, get a straight answer about home equity than make ED decisions based on facts. Thatâs what I would do.
2 Likes
There is no college on the planet that is going to force a student to accept an ED offer of admission, and insufficient financial aid is one way that students can easily say NO. And yesâŠit is that easy, and students do it every year.
Iâm not sure what you are trying to convey to the OP.
Personally, I donât think anyone with financial constraints should apply ED. It eliminates the ability to compare net costs. And for those with financial concerns, comparing net costs can make or break them.
But who decides? The student and family ultimately decideâŠbecause NO school is going to send the ED police to someone and force them to attend any college.
4 Likes
I ask bcuz I had this discussion with WUSTL. Thet pushed so so hard on ED and made the statement - if you canât afford, weâll release you.
I said what if itâs not a question of if but I donât want to.
I only see in the CDS that they admitted 1820 in ED. They donât show how many enrolled but when we were looking at WUSTL there was 3 - the difference from ED admitted to enrolled. Less than 1%.
By your logic, anyone with a change of heart or a bad month In the stock market can say - I canât afford it. And that would be more than 1%. And would not dissuade anyone from applying ED.
So I canât imagine itâs that simple âŠ
Yes I understand itâs not in the schoolâs interest to make a full on assault but integrity goes both waysâŠhas to
Again, focus on the OP. Breaking ED agreements at WASHU is not a question asked.
In terms of getting out of a BU ED agreement, there is no issue so long as the Oap has done due diligence and run the NPC. But if they find they need advice on the mechanics, should that be required 3 months from now, we can walk it through at that time.
Off topic posts are subject to deletion without notice or comment
2 Likes
Back to the OPs question.
I think my post above summarizes well the options. And reallyâŠwith the net price calculator results, what else does this family want? They arenât going to get a firm financial aid offer until their kid is accepted. And thatâs the way it is for everyone (unless a college does pre-reads which Would be onerous if done for each applicant to BU).
No student is required to apply ED. That also is a family choice.
2 Likes
The first post talks about not being able to get firm info from the school. We all know the NPCs are often filled out incorrectly.
Yes OP wonât get a firm # but the point is they should get a firm explanation or definition.
Without I would not apply ED. All Iâve said all along.
Moving on.
2 Likes
The vast majority of schools wonât do a financial aid pre-read, thatâs what the NPCs are for.
If the BU NPC looks affordable, and BU is the studentâs number one choice, why would the student give up the ED acceptance rate bump just because they canât get anything more specific than the NPC?
BUâs NPC is pretty detailed which suggests some level of thought and probable accuracy. If the studentâs not accepted and the FA package not affordable, the student moves on, no questions asked.
4 Likes
Thereâs no issue. I agree.
But if OP lacks comfort that they canât get a straight answer to their question, I wouldnât. Thatâs me. Doesnât mean others have to be that way.
I was just responding to the first post.
Just my opinion.
The Npc Should be correct but they are not always filled out properly and the IDOc/CSS brings the correction.
1 Like
The agreement very clearly articulates this: Should a student who applies for financial aid not be offered an award that makes attendance possible, the student may decline the offer of admission and be released from the Early Decision commitment.
To me, this is a gray area. Letâs say OPâs EFC is $35K and the offer brings it down to $35K, but with $20K in loans on top, to me that is a good reason to decline.
1 Like
Thatâs not gray to meâŠI donât think BU uses more than the student loans (so $5.5K first year) to meet full need (someone correct that if they have direct knowledge), but if a school were to close the gap with that big a loan, I agree thatâs a definite reason to get out of ED.