<p>So here's my situation. My absolute dream school is MIT - I love everything about it: the academics, the culture, Cambridge. But chances are that I'll get zero financial aid from them (I've run the finaid calculators on several schools).</p>
<p>That means that IF I get accepted into MIT, I'll have to pay $55K a year.</p>
<p>But I just got notified that I've qualified to be a Posse scholarship finalist for UCLA. They'll pay all the tuition costs - currently ~$13K a year. That leaves UCLA at ~$19K a year. The thing is, if I accept the finalist position, it's binding Early Decision; i.e. if I win the scholarship, I have to go to UCLA. I have to make the decision by tomorrow.</p>
<p>Now, I know UCLA is a great school, but I really think I have a good chance of getting into MIT. Should I decline the scholarship and try to make my dream school? Or should I accept the scholarship and give up on MIT?</p>
<p>It's a lot of money, and I know that $55K a year will be a heavy cost on my family.</p>
<p>You’re assuming you will get in to MIT–huge assumption. Where would you go if you didn’t get in, and what kind of costs would you be looking at? The comparison is not between UCLA and MIT, it’s between UCLA and the full list of other schools you would be applying to.</p>
<p>I by no means an assuming that I will get into MIT. I know that it’s an extraordinarily difficult school to get into. But if I accept the scholarship position, I’m making my chances of going to MIT drop to zero.</p>
<p>My other schools in the top 10 are also difficult to get into - Ivies, etc. The monetary costs for all of them will, be similar. If I don’t get into any of them, I certainly wouldn’t unhappy going to UCLA. I just am not sure if I’m willing to give up on MIT before I even apply.</p>
<p>How do your parents feel? It sounds as if you might regret accepting the scholarship and wonder what the outcome would have been otherwise. If that’s the case, and your family is on board, I’d vote for following your heart this time. If it would be a financial hardship for them, is there another school that would make you happy and offer merit aid to ease the burden? Good luck and keep us posted on your decision!</p>
<p>Have you spent much time in Cambridge? It’s a neat place, don’t get me wrong, but I think you’ve over-idealized it a bit.</p>
<p>How realistic are your chances for admission at MIT or one of your other schools?</p>
<p>Worst case you wind up going to UCLA anyway, without the scholarship.</p>
<p>So you are basically betting $52,000 that you will get into one of these other schools, and the prize for winning is paying an extra $150,000+.</p>
<p>If your family can barely afford MIT or the other $55K+ schools, there is a non-zero chance that when April 1st rolls around, they will decide they really can’t afford $55K after all or their situation has changed. And then where are you?</p>
<p>Go to MIT for grad school. And get your parents to buy you a nice car as a “reward” for saving them $150K.</p>
<p>You’re living in a dream world. If $55K would be a struggle for your family, grab the UCLA opportunity or find another much less expensive opportunity than full price MIT. Please don’t be one of those who is trying to figure out how to handle a $25K a year gap next April between what your family can reasonably afford and what MIT or any of the other highly pricy schools cost, or trying to convince them to take on debt they can’t afford or forego saving for retirement just so that you can have your “dream” college.</p>
<p>Good to hear you’ve run the FA calculators. </p>
<p>This is very much a bird in the hand/two in the bush conundrum. Some other questions for you to consider in working out how to place your bets (and if after reading these you think you might need one more day to think it over, call the Posse people and ask if you can have one more day):</p>
<p>Have your parents given you a budget of what they can afford per year, regardless of where you end up going? How are they planning on paying for MIT if you should get in–would that be savings, or paying out of current income, or loans? If they are talking about big loans, that should send up a huge red flag for your family. Can your family afford UCLA or another UC if you don’t receive the Posse Scholarship, or another big scholarship?</p>
<p>What are your stats? Are you a viable candidate for MIT? Has MIT accepted other students from your school before? Have other people from your school applied there, or would you be the first?</p>
<p>Where else are you planning on applying? Where does UCLA fit on your list of schools in terms of where you think you’d like to go? If you’d prefer other schools to UCLA, are those other schools as difficult to get into as MIT, or are they more like admissions matches? Would the cost of these other schools be affordable for your family?</p>
<p>What do you want to study, and what do you want to do with your life? Are you planning on going to grad/law/medical/business school?</p>
<p>Best of luck with your decision, and congrats on the honor of being offered this opportunity.</p>
<p>Interesting. For some reason I thought the Posse scholarship was targeted at lower income inner city kids. And the OP won’t get any FA from MIT…</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad: Posse has nothing to do with financial aid. They do not ask you about financial aid at all. The program is centered more for giving students who are not “ideal” candidates for schools perhaps simply because they do not test well or are not straight As but are still dedicated to learning and more importantly leaders in the process.</p>
<p>My daughter is waiting to hear if she is a finalist for Posse Boston. There are probably MANY students who would be thrilled to take a full tuition scholarship to UCLA if you don’t want it or are unsure about it. And Posse is a leadership scholarship-- it’s not based on EFC, ethnicity, or first generation status. Talk to your parents and see what they think. No one wants their child to be miserable, even with full tuition. On the other hand, every student I know who has gotten Posse has been extremely happy and has stayed at their school. Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>Im in the same position as you kinda, different schools, reasoning slightly different… I am also an Invited Posse Finalist. And this is what I told myself…Would I choose my safest school on my application list vs the Posse School? And the Posse school was not the answer for me. So although it is a GREAT opportunity. Its just not the right opportunity for me.</p>