<p>i really don't know what to do</p>
<p>is there any possibilty brown would match a school such as williams? academically speaking, i feel they are on par...although williams does not have the "ivy" prestige</p>
<p>There's one way to find out... call Brown and ask!</p>
<p>"How did you get into brown?!! Guess its a good thing you're going to UConn anyway.."</p>
<p>It's Brown.</p>
<p>Hard work I guess. Smarts gets you only so far in life. Of course you need smarts as a starter, but my advice to students is to keep working hard for your goals. My dream goal was always Brown, but if they aren't realistic about finances, there's no point in wasting money when I can go to a top-notch research school and be in the Honors program there - for free!!</p>
<p>Agreed that makes more sense from your point of view.. Given the aid scene... But that doesnt mean that you will get a better education at UConn then at Brown... Overall it may make more sense, but brown is still a better school...</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Well agreed, that's why it is my dream school. I guess what I was trying to say is that an experience where I end up not worrying all the time about how I'm going to pay for all this will hopefully free up my energies to really get the most out of my education - so my educational experience will probably be better overall.</p>
<p>Actually I have older friends who have gone to "no-name" schools you've never heard of and still found wonderful professors with amazing backgrounds and received an outstanding education, so education has a lot to do with what we bring to the table - not just our school.</p>
<p>Anyway, I have a month to figure things out. I intend to apply for every scholarship under the sun. Who knows, maybe I can get some $ from SOMEWHERE that will actually enable me to attend Brown without going $100k+ in debt. I'm always optimistic.</p>
<p>It all seems so strange. I got a full ride to wherever I wanted, but was reduced to going to an instate public university (unless this waitlist comes through)... here you guys were admitted to Brown, but lack the funds...</p>
<p>C'est la vie, I guess!</p>
<p>"so education has a lot to do with what we bring to the table - not just our school."</p>
<p>Wise words. There are great profs and great experiences to be had everywhere for a student who is self-motivated and bright.</p>
<p>:( this makes me sad</p>
<p>brown is like my dream school</p>
<p>everything is just SO "me"
i really hope i can find the means of going :(</p>
<p>As ILoveBrown keeps saying, the financial aid pacakges are unlike admissions decisions in that they are negotiable. If you are in, and you want to go, contact the university, tell them your other offers, and see whether they will match. Of course you do not have to agree to attend before you hear what their final offer will be. No one expects you to do that.</p>
<p>So don't give up. Contact them and ask for them to match the other offers.</p>
<p>i was disappointed by my finaid too -- the parents' contribution is impossible for my family at this point. hopefully we will be able to work it out</p>
<p>"Brown will match any Ivy's financial aid package. I went to them last spring with Cornell's package and Brown gave me almost $30000 more in grants. Give it a try."</p>
<p>$30,000???</p>
<p>jenz129, was your finaid package this year similar to the updated one from last year? loans, grants, workstudy, etc.?</p>
<p>How likely is it that the components of updated finaid packages will remain the same (if income info are the same next year) for the next three years (in terms of proportion of grant, loans, etc.)?</p>
<p>Brown promised us that the aid package would not change over time.</p>
<p>"So don't give up. Contact them and ask for them to match the other offers."</p>
<p>They stated in their letter quite clearly that they don't match merit aid offers. Since in this case the other ivies I was admitted to also offered nothing, I don't really feel I can ask them to change their offer. In any case, even if they offered, say, $5k, I would still be about $22k short (with, say, $20k from the parents - which is a bit more than they have offered actually). So that means I would be graduating with about $88k debt?</p>
<p>I'm keeping an open mind, but it just doesn't seem wise or possible.</p>
<p>I just found this helpful page on the Brown website that gives their expected levels of loans and work for four years. It does in fact reflect some change over the four year period, especially in that the workstudy expectation kicks in sophomore year. The part I found most informative, though, was the difference in loan levels based on family income. Scroll down a bit when you click this link to see if it helps.
<a href="http://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?contentId=72&mode=0&cpid=72#stueffort%5B/url%5D">http://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?contentId=72&mode=0&cpid=72#stueffort</a></p>
<p>By the way, I tried to get Brown to match need-based aid offers last year from Pomona, Swarthmore and Wash U, and they would not do it. I think they might have had any of the offers been from an Ivy, but I am not sure. They did improve the aid package once we submitted our tax return, however. Also, if you have had significant medical expenses for 2005, send them a letter detailing them. That helped us a bit last year.</p>
<p>I'm guessing that if I say "Hey look, Northwestern gave me this much," they won't be too impressed. Is it worth a shot?</p>
<p>What about Wesleyan? They hit my FAFSA EFC estimate right on the dot, but Brown is quite off. Would it be worth it to call Brown and tell them that? I can barely make Brown work at this point, maybe not even.</p>
<p>wesleyan's was pretty good for me too</p>
<p>i doubt they would ever match any of my other offers from places like vassar or williams</p>
<p>oh, woe is me...</p>
<p>Ah, did fin aid office people run away from our calls? I just called (at 2:55 here in central time, meaning 4 o'clock right now at Brown) and it said they were closed for the day, although they still have an hour. Ah, I really want to go to Brown =(</p>
<p>the financial aid book thing seemed to say in a very roundabout way that they would consider matching other schools' offers. they said they would be "happy to discuss and explain the disparity between the Brown financial aid package and that of another school" or something to that effect. what that means exactly, i don't know, but they seem to be saying they are at least open to the possibility.</p>
<p>if anyone has success with this "matching" please post right away.</p>