<p>Hi everyone,
I am a high school senior who is currently trying to decide where to attend next year. I am mostly choosing between Duke and Penn, with Vanderbilt also somewhat in consideration (I was also accepted to Georgetown, Cornell, and Michigan but am not as interested in them for various reasons). If all things were equal, I'd choose Duke -- I love the campus and weather (part of why I also like Vanderbilt), but it also has academics/prestige that match Penn (albeit without the "Ivy League" label, but that's not all that important to me). </p>
<p>Unfortunately, my dilemma is that I got MUCH more financial aid from Penn than I did from Duke. It would end up being about 30k cheaper per year (or at least this year, financial aid could change in coming years I suppose) to attend Penn. My parents say that I can still go wherever I want, but we are not THAT well off and I would have a very hard time justifying my decision if I disregarded the huge cost discrepancy between the two schools.</p>
<p>I still want to go to Duke. I know Penn is a great school, and I'm sure I'd still have a very good experience there. But when I visited, a number of factors (campus, location, weather, overall vibe from the student body) gave me a worse impression that I received from Duke. I simply didn't feel as home there.</p>
<p>My family is going to attempt to appeal Duke's financial aid, but to be honest I seriously doubt that it will change much. Can anybody offer their perspective on my situation, and possibly give advice on what I should do? Thanks</p>
<p>See how the appeal goes but, you’re right, it’s unlikely they’ll bridge the gap completely.</p>
<p>I’m wondering what attracted you to Penn to begin with. You must have liked it to some extent or you wouldn’t have applied there, right?</p>
<p>I don’t know the answer – only you do – but I know that when DS and I visited Penn, we appreciated its proximity right in a very vibrant, culturally fine city with good mass transit. He certainly would have preferred Penn to Duke for that reason, and because the urban location made getting internships easier. He also liked being able to hop on a bus or train and getting to NY or Washington, DC in fairly short order. Does any of that matter to you?</p>
<p>I don’t think that you can justify Duke, frankly. Duke and Penn are tied for #7 in USNWR. Both are ultra-prestigious. If Duke were significantly better but Penn were cheaper than it would be a tough decision, but they’re both tied.</p>
<p>When the stresses of college hit–and they will–at least you will be able to look back on the experience and think, having gone to Penn, “at least I didn’t pay $120k more for a degree that would have gotten me in the same place in life.”</p>
<p>I think a direct appeal from your parents showing the Penn offer will be the best you can do. Penn will definitely be considered a peer school by Duke so their financial aid offer will be looked at by Duke, in my opinion. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Momfromme - You’re right, I did like Penn at first. However, it was mostly based on a short campus visit I made over the summer, and when I returned for Quaker days (for accepted students), I think I got a much better view of the school. The campus is nice, but more urban than I’d really like. As dumb as this sounds, I kind of want to be somewhere with GRASS and TREES! I also am not a huge fan of Philadelphia itself; it’s rather dangerous and just not that nice overall in my opinion. With regards to internships, I suppose that could be a factor, but personally I think I’d still have many internship opportunities at Duke. Proximity to NY/DC is not hugely important to me. </p>
<p>City Entrepeneur -The one thing that I am unsure of is whether the financial aid discrepancy would be as large in years to come. My parents have hinted to me that we will probably be receiving a large amount of inherited money from a recently deceased relative, possibly enough that it would make us ineligible for financial aid anywhere in the future, even at Penn. So, if in the years to come I am not getting as much (or any) aid from Penn, I’m wondering if I’ll be regretting having made the decision based on that in the first place.</p>
<p>Kaukauna - I hope so. I should know later this week.</p>
<p>Philadelphia isn’t a dangerous city unless you are in particular neighborhoods. DS and I walked from Penn to the Rittenhouse Square area and it never felt unsafe. Then again, we both like city life.</p>
<p>There is no doubt that Duke is not an urban campus. Rather, it’s fairly suburban and has beautiful gardens. These are big differences and matters of personal preference.</p>
<p>I was in a similar situation with Another Ivy League and duke. I emailed duke and they said that they would not match other schools. According to their financial aid website, they do not consider other schools’ aid offers. </p>
<p>^^What they do sometimes (especially if Duke’s package is way off from the package estimated by the NPC) is reconsider their offer in light of another offer. So they won’t match, but you can ask if you’ve think they’ve made a mistake (again, the largest indicator of that being the NPC being off from the estiamte).</p>
<p>How much FA did you get from Vanderbilt…typically they offer the best aid if they really want you to attend. If they gave you an equal or better FA offer to Penn, and Duke obviously did not, Vanderbilt would be the obvious choice. It has every academic distinction as Penn, and one heck of a better student experience as to campus life and fun! Not to put too much into this, but I know of 3 kids who have turned Penn down to attend Vanderbilt in the past month. Things are changing. If Duke can up their offer, that would be a great option as well. Penn is an OK campus, but it really is in a blighted part of Philly, which itself is a bit of a dump.</p>
<p>First of all great question, and congratulations on all those acceptances! If I were you, I would ask your parents exactly what’s going on with this dead relative of yours. Will you be getting that cash?? OR NAH?? And then you can talk about it over a glass of milk and cookies.</p>
<p>If I was you I would choose Michigan, because then you can room with Russian students that like to party just like you.</p>
<p>Good luck on your decision, and remember not to get too turnt!</p>
<p>Congratulations on getting accepted to such awesome schools!! As for your decision, I think that you should keep in mind that this is a place you are going to live for 4 years, as well as get an education. You mentioned that Duke and Penn are pretty comparable in terms of education so I would focus more on life aspect on college, while still keeping in mind financial aid. I have read some of your past responses and it sounds like, and disregard this if I am wrong, but that there is a chance that financial aid may not be as big of an issue in the future. In this case, I would take a step back from the cost and look at the other aspects.
How is the surrounding area?
Could you see yourself living there happily for at least 4 years?
How is the campus?
Are there things to do?
If you chose one school and looked back on your life 2 years later, would you regret your decision?
How are the opportunities? (because remember that a college education is only significant if you are able to apply it through a job or internship)
How was the overall feeling of the campus and area around it?
Go through and answer these questions for both schools and see which one comes out on top. It would suck to look back on this part of your life and wish that you had chosen something different! I would also talk to your parents about a financial plan for both schools, with inheritance money and without it, to understand your circumstances either way. Again, congratulations on all the acceptances!! I hope this was helpful!! Good Luck:)</p>
<p>It is strange that the disparity is that large. It seems like Duke or Penn made a mistake. Definitely send the Penn offer into Duke and see what they say. While they rarely change their minds for obvious reasons, this seems to be an interesting case. </p>
<p>On the above thread, you said that the COA was close to one another, and now there’s a 30K gap? If that is indeed the case, there is no justification for spending an extra $120K to get a comparable education, particularly if you have grad school plans.</p>