<p>I am in a realllly weird situation right now, and idk if there is a right solution or answer to my "dilemma" if you want to call it. Basically, I declined my admission to Northwestern a couple of weeks ago and had to enroll at another university, which happens to be an ivy league school. However, I keep on thinking that I made the wrong decision. It came down to money basically, and one was a lot cheaper for me. My dad makes a lot of money, and we live like rich ppl, but my dad also has a lot of expenses and also medical expenses for one of my family members. I am also one of a few other children and my dad could not afford the entire Northwestern bill and after financial aid, NW gave us 5,000 in loans and nothing else. By going to Northwestern, I would end up with about 60,000 of debt and the other school, I am attending, I will end up with O debt. However, Northwestern was my first choice after not getting into my first choice ed, deferred, and later waitlisted. Since I applied for FA very late at NW, I got a decision and this was like 2 days before the deadline. However, I spoke to the admissions ppl and to the director, he was all matter a fact and didn't care and said I would have to deposit or forfeit my spot. I told him my situation and he was like that's life and you can deposit and then appeal your FA. However, I could not take the chance of double deposition b/c I could potentially lose both spots b/c its supposedly "illega" to do that, even though NW encouraged me to do that. The other option was depositing at NW and taking my chances with the financial aid. As of now, I am not entirely happy with my decision b/c I feel it came down to money and I am realllly having second thoughts and am really ambivalent right now. I have come to hate the system as a result b/c I do not think its fair at all. My dad does make a lot of money, but he only has allotted so much money for every kid, and going to NW would leave me with 60,000 worth of debt, which is A LOT of money. However, I think I would be happier at NW. I do not know what to do, time is ticking, and I have no clue what to do. HELP!!!!</p>
<p>Ivy league schools have some diversity in their populations and certainly have bright motivated kids. Even if you prefer NW, you could probably find a good niche for yourself at any Ivy--don't saddle yourself with debt if you can get an excellent education without it. Worst comes to worst, you could transfer to NW for Junior-Senior year for half the expense.</p>
<p>bball, trust me, even if you got a great package at NW you'd be having second thoughts about some other issue. It's called buyer's remorse and it happens to everyone when they have to make a big decision, which they then get to worry about and chew over for months before anything happens. Bottom line-- you don't know if you'll be happy at NW; just like you don't know if you'll be happy at your other school.</p>
<p>Accept that you made a pragmatic decision based on your financial constraints and the information available at the time you needed to make it, and start getting excited about your college. This is a good intro to adulthood where you often have to accept a job offer or a promotion without having all the facts in front of you, or where you have to make trade-offs based on your finances.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your acceptances; I'm sure you'll be very happy where you end up.</p>
<p>The whole college admission process for the most part is a really sad and arduous process. First of all like many, I wasn't accepted to my top choice, which was honestly heartbraking, applying ED, then deferred, and then waitlisted. Then, I fell for another school-Northwestern, and finances determined where I am heading, its truly sad. I mean, you would think that a school as rich as Northwestern would try to be sympathetic to someone who really wants to come to their school and would be willing to give up a lot of other realllly good schools to come there--but no, they didn't care at all about me. I was just one of 2,000 other kids.</p>
<p>bball87 - you will do fine, just relax. Try not to be too discouraged & remember you are lucky that you have a college to attend. If you look around these boards you will find out that there are students who didn't get ACCEPTED to any college. These are top students we are talking about. So remember to keep this in perspective. Also, you are one of many, many students who will not be able to attend their first choice school either. Other students (from years prior) have come back to this forum to let us know that they are doing well & now love their second (or third) choice school. Good luck!</p>
<p>Bball87 - Look at it this way - NW doesn't give a rat's patooie about you, but the other school, an Ivy, for Heaven's sake, cares enough to leave you with no debt - I don't see the problem, other than you are only about 18, and you have just made a very serious decision - RELAX.</p>
<p>Go to the Ivy League school.</p>
<p>the debt ain't worth it...go the ivy, get involved with activities, and you'll forget about the Big 10</p>
<p>Bball-- your dad makes a lot of money and you live like rich people; you'll be graduating from an Ivy League college with no debt, and yet you claim the college admissions process is unfair? There are thousands of kids who'd trade places with you in a heartbeat, especially the ones who don't live like rich people, and are choosing their local commuter college over their dream school since they can't afford to graduate owing tens of thousands of dollars.</p>
<p>Let us know, please, which Ivy is so magnanimous! You'll be just fine once you start to get excited about your school. You are very lucky (and so is your dad)</p>
<p>BBall, I do understand: many years ago I also had to choose one school over another for financial reasons. I had a lot of regret at the time, but can honestly say that things worked out the way they did for a reason. Several major and positive events in my life would never had happened if I had gone to the school I thought I loved so much.</p>
<p>Blossom is right: regret about having to let one college go is very, very common once you've made your final decision. I myself personally believe that there is a reason why things work out the way you do and that, for whatever reason, fate is pushing you towards where you're supposed to be. You may not know for some time what that reason is, but it's there. Trust that and go forward with confidence.</p>
<p>I can sympathize with the poster b/c I think the whole process is tainted with corruption and favors being given out.</p>
<p>"As of now, I am not entirely happy with my decision b/c I feel it came down to money"</p>
<p>I empathize because you are young. But I don't sympathize in the least. I know a score of folks who could do quite well at Ivy League schools who end up at community colleges because, even with "need-blind, 100% of need" admissions, they still couldn't afford to go. </p>
<p>10 years from now, or even 18 months, this is going to be a non-starter.</p>
<p>What strikes me as "unfair" about the system is that a family that makes a lot of money and lives like rich people can qualify for loan-free financial aid.</p>
<p>the school that I am attending is Cornell University, which doesn't get too much respect on these boards.</p>
<p>First of all, you have no right to make judgements about my lifestyle or how I live based on the little info I have supplied. I have 3 other siblings, 2 in college as we speak, 3 cars, and one of my family members was realllllly sick = tremendous medical expenses, most of which insurance didn't cover with since some of the treatment was alternative based. Therefore, the little pit 5,000 LOAN, not free money at all did not anything for me. With Cornell, I am a NYS resident and can get tuition reduced and my dad can take care of the entire bill.</p>
<p>I make no judgment. I think it is terrific you can go to Cornell - a great, great school - and that, despite having to make decisions based on money, you have such a WONDERFUL alternative. And your parents get to live like rich people, too, and have health insurance at all! And you graduate debt-free! (do you have any real sense of how much that is worth?)</p>
<p>When we were making college decisions, it was clear to my d. from day one that if the college didn't foot roughly 3/4ers of the bill, she wasn't going. Even if she was willing to take on the debt - because we wouldn't sign on to the loan. We were lucky that she hit the lottery multiple times, but I can just as well imagine a scenario whereby that wouldn't have been the case. Such is life.</p>
<p>I got a question, student loans have nothing to do with the parents???</p>
<p>Cornell is a great school. With a $15,000 per year savings in cost, it would be a no-brainer over Northwestern, IMO. I think you made the right decision.</p>
<p>You had not mentioned in your original post that the difference in cost was due to in-state tuition discounts rather than a difference in the financial aid packages.</p>
<p>"I got a question, student loans have nothing to do with the parents???"</p>
<p>Different kinds of loans have different requirements. In any case, my d. was 16, and, as I understand it, regardless of what the loan said, it would be legally enforceable against us.</p>
<p>bball87, for the rest of your life, many of your decesions will be based on money. That's just how it works. Count your blessings that you get an ivy education at a state school price. How does that work at Cornell? Do in state kids get to take all of the same classes?</p>
<p>Do you really want to go to a school that has the attitude tha tNorthwestern had? We ran into a similar attitude at U of Ch, and my D turned them down due to poor FA. She REALLY wanted to go there, but after our discussion with FA dept., and their attitude, we decided that if that was how she was being treated now, who knows how that attitude would work against her later on? And I am a single mother, her F is deceased, and I teach school. They decided I should pay about 20K a year, so she is going elsewhere. Such is life. Money can and will govern many things, as you will learn when you go to buy your first car and house on your own. There is a reason there are "starter" homes.</p>