<p>I think you ought to sit down with your parents and determine how much they will be willing to pay. UCLA’s gross cost of $100K is still only $25K a year – and a big difference if your folks are going to pay for $18K of it each year. I am having a hard time believing that Rice is going to come in at a much lower family contribution even if you do get financial aid. </p>
<p>I’d hate to see you wait a year in hopes of Rice or Emory only to learn that the great financial aid package they put together still requires you to come up with $27K a year – certainly a big discount from their full price, but still more than you would expect to pay at UCLA.</p>