<p>Correct me if I’m wrong, but UMiami is need-blind so… with your EFC of 0, you should be able to get all the money you need. Either way, you’d get lots of merit aid.</p>
<p>I would strongly disagree with lumping UF and UVA in the same category. If you want to lump UVA I would put them with G-town and Duke in terms of course offerings, reputation and networking.</p>
<p>You could apply EA to Yale but it is single choice so you wouldn’t be able to apply to GT early action too.</p>
<p>Dear SeekingUni,</p>
<p>I wasn’t going to say anything even though I read that two posters suggested that Columbia should be removed from your list. Having now read that you’ve “nixed” it, however, based, or at least partly based, on references to the costs of events suggested by those posters, I will. Let me state upfront that I am a parent of a student who will be entering Columbia this fall.</p>
<p>First, if you’re not interested in applying to Columbia, then you shouldn’t. But there have been a number of things my daughter and our family have learned about Columbia during the application and admission process that made it of interest, that I wonder if you know.</p>
<p>For example, the Columbia application itself is exceptionally straightforward. Some might even say that it is easy. It was certainly brief, at least compared to others that our D completed: no essays, basically, just lists of books and films and other publications that were read over the past year and a very short ‘Why Columbia?’ If brevity isn’t appealing, then you shouldn’t apply.</p>
<p>As far as events go, NYC offers events that may not be available anywhere else, of course. So if you were elsewhere, you might not even have the opportunity to consider attending these ‘events’ - whatever they might be - at all. As far as being concerned about the costs of these unspecified events, the Columbia Arts Initiative ensures that every student has unlimited free entry to every major museum in NYC. So, no cost to see a lot of the very best that NYC has to offer. Tickets for everything from Broadway shows to professional baseball games are available on campus at cut-rate prices and, for the first semester for first-year’s, may even be free. In terms of potentially paying for even discounted events, opportunities for internships exist year-round. </p>
<p>As for other expenses, like housing, almost 100% of Columbia students live on campus. Lots of people say that it’s one of the least expensive ways to ever live in New York. While not to everyone’s taste, the campus is lovely to ours, with great lawns and lots of trees and masses of traditions. No one needs - therefore no one has - a car. There’s no walking more than 10 minutes to a class, the library is great and the student body - as befits the large research universities on your list - is vibrant, bright, and energetic.</p>
<p>But none of these ‘lifestyle’ issues are really what matters about Columbia. What matters is the academics. Are you interested in Columbia’s famous Core Curriculum? If you aren’t, then that’s the reason you shouldn’t apply. Not because of suggestions that you might not like NYC because its NYC or urban or that you might be excluded from unspecified events because you might not have the resources to decide to pay for them.</p>
<p>So, to return to your first concern: application fees. As another poster above suggested, from memory the Common App will give you some idea about whether you are eligible for a given application fee to be waived. Also, you can e-mail various admissions offices and ask them on what basis you might be eligible for a waiver.</p>
<p>Best of luck with your research and applications. To my mind, you sound like a superb applicant and wherever you decide to attend, you should have an outstanding experience.</p>