<p>How’s it going everyone, I’m a rising senior planning on applying to AU early decision (pending a visit/interview). Anyway, I am hoping to double major in either CLEG/Political Science and Finance. As far as which school is more selective, is there a major difference? And how much more does a double major cost at AU? One last question (sorry), as for as the Politics, Policy, and Law program, does anyone know admission numbers? I am a regular to the website and have not been able to find any. Thank you so much!!</p>
<p>All good news for you…</p>
<p>When you apply to AU, although you are asked to indicate what school you are interested in, it has no effect on your admission–you apply to, and are accepted by, the University as a whole. People change programs/schools/ etc all the time with no formalities. So apply however you choose. Anecdotally, I think Kogod is one of the smaller programs. My S3 liked it a lot.</p>
<p>There is no additional charge for pursuing a double major, at least not beyond what you pay if you try to take too many hours in a semester (I cannot remember the limit). Because a lot of the requirements between schools/programs overlap, with careful planning you won’t need to go over (unless you want to), especially if you have some AP credits.</p>
<p>@boysx3: Thank you very much. I have one more question if you, or anyone else is willing to answer… AU reports that their average financial aid package is around $30,000. How accurate is that? If it makes a difference, 30 ACT and 3.7 w GPA (for merit, not expecting much for those) and am guessing the overall income between my parents and myself for this year to be between $45,000-$50,000. How accurate that $30,000 figure is? I am 99% sure that I will be applying Early Decision I if that matters.</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted ED with similar stats and will begin freshman year in August. I would not expect much in the way of merit aid (she got $0). In terms of need based aid, I am not sure. We did not receive any but we did not expect to. AU does not say that they will meet demonstrated need so I would only apply ED if you are willing to take out loans. My advice to anyone thinking of borrowing more than $40K - $50K is don’t. AU is a good school, great for some but it is not worth a lifetime of debt.</p>
<p>@pushydad: You said that she did not receive any aid at all from the school, but did she receive any at all? (I.e. federal, grants, etc.) As far as this next question goes, I apologize if it is rude, and you do not have to answer, but were you around the same income bracket as I? (Again, I apologize for the rude nature of the question, I’m just trying to see if I would be receiving any aid at all, because if not I don’t think I can afford AU)</p>
<p>The trouble, of course, is there’s no way to ask people what they have to pay for something without asking them what they have to pay for something. And yet we all agree that, “Hey, how much did you pay for that?” is kind of an impertinent question.</p>
<p>I don’t know pushydad’s financial situation, nor do I know what kind of need-based aid his daughter got from AU or other sources. I do remember pushydad’s saying some months ago that he didn’t think AU had been particularly generous, and I am sad to say that’s kind of a recurring theme in this forum. American isn’t a particularly old university, nor is it a particularly wealthy one, and there seems to be a very good reason why they don’t promise to meet an applicant’s full need.</p>
<p>Since money is going to be a real issue for you and your family, I would strongly encourage you not to apply ED anywhere–and in particular, not to American. (NOTE: this is my personal opinion. The wisdom of Early Decision for applicants with significant financial need has been hotly debated on these boards. You might want to search for old threads. I know there was one several months ago in the “Ask the Dean” forum.) If you’re admitted under an ED agreement, you have only two options: “yes, we can make this aid package work” or “no, we can’t make this aid package work.” When you apply regular decision, you can comparison shop for value. You have the chance to say things like, “I really liked American, but I liked George Mason almost as much, and it’s also near DC, and if I go to George Mason with the aid package they’ve offered me, it will cost almost $30,000 less over four years.” You see what I mean?</p>
<p>I do. American is just my dream school and it is disheartening that its so expensive and there is so little aid to be had. Even more disillusioning is that their “Financial Aid Calculator” is not necessarily helpful especially in my personal scenario.</p>
<p>@AROTCDanK, to answer your questions; we received $0 from any source. Last year our income was significantly in excess of your family’s situation. This year has been a very different story so far (but not the place to go into any detail). We had thought with the drastic change in our situation, we might get some aid on appeal but none was offered. Luckily, we do have the assets to tap for the first year, after that who knows? I agree with Sikorsky, ED is not a good option for students when finances are a strong concern. Although they state otherwise, I have to assume that schools have a lesser incentive to offer merit aid to ED students. Why should they? Those ED students have already committed and require no incentives to be convinced. Try to approach your choice as you would for any investment/purchase. Are there other alternatives that offer what you are looking for and at a greater value? Try hard not to saddle yourself with unreasonable debt. Good luck</p>
<p>I have not seen statistics published for the three-year scholars programs such as PPL. They are fairly new. </p>
<p>You might try emailing the director.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your replies, I really do appreciate it.</p>
<p>AROTCDANK - you mentioned that AU is your dream school and that is why you want to apply Early Decision. My daughter applied to her dream school Early Action when she was applying to college and she was accepted. As you know, Early Action is nonbinding. She did not received merit or financial aid and she did not attend. As a mother, I felt awful. </p>
<p>Fast forward and she just finished her second year at AU on a merit scholarship. She loves AU, and she did not think she would. AU may be your dream school right now, but you can end up extremely happy elsewhere. I still recommend you apply to AU but financial aid is not a guarantee and you should leave your options open.</p>
<p>OP, make sure you establish a good relationship with your admissions rep early on. I have heard anecdotally that it can make a difference. Let him know your concern about FA being affected by applying ED, and see what advice he gives you.</p>
<p>boysx3: I will definitely do that. I’ve already been in contact with him, I just don’t want to over do it because I’m not the only applicant and if every single person who was interested emailed him, I’m sure it would get annoying. Thank you for the advice!</p>