Hello! I recently was admitted SCEA at Princeton and am overjoyed at the prospect of attending. I withdrew most of my other apps because they were mostly safeties. I did however leave Yale’s RD app untouched. Understanding that my odds of winning the lottery twice are slim, should I leave the app out anyway? If admitted, I would certainly need to consider the financial aid packages of both schools. Princeton’s package has been extremely generous but I was curious if anyone who has gotten into both in the past can attest to which college was more generous to their situation? If Yale would offer less anyway I may just withdraw my app. Let me know!
Wait to see what Yale says - you’ve paid the $80 right, so why not? If you were competitive enough for Pton SCEA then you no doubt have excellent odds of RD admission to ANY school in the country. As far as aid goes, I’ve heard mixed things re Yale vs. Pton. Some get better packages from one or the other, it seems to depend on a myriad of factors. I think Princeton might be slightly better but I’m really not sure, will totally depend.
But, you said Princeton’s package was generous, which means it’s probably feasible for your family. Get excited. Be ELATED and plan to attend, and become committed to what sounds like a dream school for you (since you applied SCEA, I can only assume this is the case, and your profile picture seems to confirm this also). Don’t worry about Yale unless you get in - no decision to make until there is a decision to make. Don’t think about this over the next three months. Leave the app, see what comes back when it does, but until then realize that you got an opportunity that thousands of kids around the world would give their left arm for.
A hearty congratulations to you! You are no doubt an extraordinary person and will do great things at college and beyond.
@Senior2016M Thank you for the kind words! I’m more than elated at the opportunity I have at Princeton and I really should quit worrying about what is likely only a thousand or so dollars in difference (which I could be working on scholarship applications for) that I wont hear about for a few months. Thank you for the advice and general kind attitude!
Many years ago, my Ivy fin aid offers were within a few hundred dollars of each other. If that’s the case, why not wait it out – see if Yale accepts you and then attend Bulldog Days and Princeton Preview and see if anything changes?
You literally, have NOTHING to lose. Congrats on the PTon EA accept, BTW!
Congratulations on your acceptance to Princeton! Five years ago, my son was accepted to both Yale and Princeton. For our family, the difference in the cost of attendance after financial aid was about $1,300 a year (in Yale’s favor) – for comparison purposes, almost equal If my son had really wanted Princeton, I suppose we could approached P’Ton’s Financial Aid Office with Yale’s slightly better offer, but as the FA award was so close between the schools, my son was able to make his choice without regards to COA. Hopefully, you will too!
Congrats! You have two amazing possibilities (assuming you do get accepted to Yale, which is not a done deal yet).
You are getting good advice. I also would wait, unless you know in your heart of hearts that 1) you can live the rest of your life not knowing if you would have been accepted and 2) the financial aid is not enough of a concern to want to do a comparison.
I would only say that home equity is factored into Yale’s packages, while at Princeton perhaps not? Maybe someone else knows? It may not make a difference anyway. You could always run Yale’s net price calc, tho for us, their actual aid has turned out to be even more generous than the net price calc estimate.
Congratulations! I’d definitely urge you to send in that app if you haven’t already, as there possibly can’t be anything wrong with having more options to compare. For me personally, I noticed Yale’s financial aid was better for me, back when I applied- but Princeton’s financial office definitely was receptive to talking about it, but by that time, I had already decided where to go.
Didn’t you run the NPCs on each, before applying? You have no idea? Or something in your family situation prevents you from getting an accurate read?
Yale’s aid was less than Princeton for us but not enough of a difference to be a factor.
If Yale comes out better, Princeton might match.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I will wait out the decision and then do whatever comparisons are necessary.
@lookingforward they were too close to call when running the NPC and Pton’s offer was slightly different than projected.
Thanks again to you all, I’m truly grateful to be in the situation where this is my only worry.