<p>I've already been accepted to Cornell University, and sent my deposit last May declaring that I would attend the school. However, I still had two international schools that I applied too. I was notified that I was rejected from KAIST (Korean-American Institute of Science and Technology), but I found that I was accepted into SNU (Seoul National University).</p>
<p>I've received about $20,000 in finaid (by the college's standards) from Cornell, but I plan on accepting about $15,000 of it. With about $11,000 in grants, $2000 in work study and $3500 in subsidized loans, I would still really like more aid if possible to Cornell. This is definitely one of my top reach schools and I'm incredibly happy that I've made it this far. But I really do have to consider finances and simply put, SNU doesn't cost nearly as much. My family knows that I have my eyes set on Cornell, but they want me to attend SNU. Even though SNU definitely doesn't have as much global prestige, it's considered Korea's best university and one of the best universities in the world. Coupled that with its more affordable cost, it's certainly an option that I have to consider as well.</p>
<p>So I'm thinking of proposing to Cornell's admission office and/or financial aid office to receive more grants now that I've been accepted to SNU. I've heard of other students dealing with colleges to get more aid or scholarship money before by using other colleges as leverage. Do you think this is possible?</p>
<p>You can use other colleges as leverage. But you’ll have to see if Cornell is dying to have you. Anything is possible. Those who ask, get. So it doesn’t hurt to ask and negotiate for better FA.</p>
<p>From my discussions, they consider raising their offers to equal what other ivies have offered but not other schools. </p>
<p>My D was accepted at Dartmouth and also Duke. duke was the most generous. Cornell offered to let me appeal the decision and would look at what Dartmouth offered but was not willing to match or even review what Duke offered.</p>
<p>Oh dear… if that’s the case my odds don’t look really great. I’m probably gonna call the financial aid office in 4-5 hours hahaha. Getting my best persuasive voice out too. Darn it I’m so desperate for a way to make Cornell more affordable.</p>
<p>Yeah I just called the finaid office. It ended pretty miserably though. I couldn’t even get past the operator and to anyone higher up so I’m pretty ticked. I can’t really send in a formal request through the appeals process (it’s not really a need based appeal) either because I have a housing contract to sign in 7 days.</p>
<p>Cayuga, my D had no merit aid from Duke, but qualifed for subsidized federal loans by thier calculation and did not by Cornell’s. I was just trying to get it so that when she borrows her $5500 that she get the same amount of subsidized loans as Duke offered. Dartmouth offered some subsidized and Cornell offered none. So my experience is they use a stricter calculation than other schools.</p>
<p>That’s very odd, as I wasn’t aware that the federal government’s policies differed from school to school. If you qualified for a federally subsidized loan at one school, you should qualify at any school. </p>
<p>Loans subsidized by the school are an entirely different matter.</p>
<p>I’m just curious, but what are you planning to do after Cornell? Will you stay in the US, or go back to Korea. I mean, if you’re going back, SNU seems like a great option. But anywhere outside of Korea, I think Cornell is definitely worth investing to. But yea, it’s really expensive…</p>
<p>I completely agree with your assessment and asked that very question of the FA office. I too thought that federally subsidized loans had the same qualifications–especially when the cost of attendance is similar. They told me they would only consider the Dartmouth offer–which was different than the Duke one which was different than the Cornell one. So apparently they all use different formulas to calculate need. We got zero grant money from all schools and the difference was in the loans. I asked Cornell why we could not get the same federally subsidized loan that Duke was offering and they said that the ivies use simliar formulas but they would not match anything from any other private school.</p>
<p>My guess is that Duke was a bit more generous as far as my home equity or my savings or something.</p>
<p>The part that really irks me though is they put my kid in a single when a double was requested and since we did not get any grant aid, they expect us to pay the extra $1000. That seems like a really screwed up double standard. If we got grant aid, they would increase the grant aid but won’t do that for us. </p>
<p>I am feeling really nickel and dimed and she is not even there yet!</p>
<p>Haha thanks. I’m not surprised too. It was a long shot and really didn’t hurt trying. Although my opinions of the financial aid office (already quite low) has been lowered. I’m pretty sick of all universities and their finaid offices. It’s not just Cornell, but they are incredibly frustrating to deal with when you’re part of a middle class family. And my god, “need blind” and “meet 100% of need” is so misleading. But I guess that’s just college for you.</p>
<p>As for your subsidized loan problem, that is mind boggling. I’ve received just about the same in loans from nearly every college for both subsidized and unsubsidized.</p>
<p>@F4LCON</p>
<p>I’ve been talking to a lot of my friends about this. I’m definitely intending to start a career in the United States and probably attend some form of post undergrad education (biz school, law school, grad school?) in the US as well. And yeah I concur. There are definitely more opportunities with Cornell in the United States as well, especially in the field that I’m in (ILR hopefully with a heavy emphasis on finance). It’s just that SNU’s tuition is literally a quarter of Cornell’s. By the end, how much I pay for Cornell would be like what I pay for four years in SNU. Cornell’s opportunity cost is just so much bigger now. I don’t know how I can just give up financial security for myself and my family. Risk vs. reward?</p>
<p>I agree with your assessment and think you are making a good decision in the risk/reward department. I am sure you will get a great education and be in an excellent financial position to pursue your post grad dreams whether they be in the US or in Korea. Good luck!</p>
<p>When my next kid goes to college I will look more closely at what meeting 100% of need really means. Because meeting need with loans is not really meeting need at all in my mind.</p>
<p>If it’s worth anything, you should be able to transfer into a double within a couple of weeks of arriving on campus. Kids always fail to show up in August.</p>
<p>I just found out that my loans changed and will be receiving unsubsidized stafford loans instead. I’m so ****ed off right now. Apparently FAFSA calculated my EFC to be higher than Cornell’s, so they changed the loan. I only found out when I looked in the student service website and account. Maybe this should be an additional thread but does anyone know what I can do to keep my subsidized loans? The finaid operator just pretty much gave me an ultimatum saying that it’s either this or lower grants. This is really frustrating me. Loans suck as it is, but at least let me keep my good loans. F U finaid office.</p>
<p>Yeah I was being irrational and on a high there. I’m aware it’s not really anyone’s fault but the result of an income threshold. Sorry for that brief, immature moment. I just freaked out when I saw that 8% interest rate from the Cornell loans.</p>
<p>Plus, it didn’t help that that the phone operator was giving me a hard time.</p>
<p>to the OP … please also be aware it probably would be easy from someone from Cornell to figure out who you are so you might want to filter what you write on this very public forum while you still would like to attend Cornell</p>