<p>Ive watched several family members attend particular colleges for reasons other than fit like financial or because the school was higher ranked only to have bad experiences. We are willing to giving up a lot for ND: a 68k scholarship at a small LAC, honors program at large state university, and as of yesterday an Ivy League school. However, from the beginning ND appears to be the best fit. What about the rest of you?</p>
<p>Three Military Service Academy appointments and a 4 year ( full tuition/partial R&B) ROTC scholarship to a school higher ranked nationally than Notre Dame.</p>
<p>If I end up going here, I’d give up a really good experience at Northwestern University, a half-ride at Case Western, and a half-ride at SLU.</p>
<p>Debating between ND, Free tuition at BC, Yale, and Dartmouth. I want ND so bad but as of right now it would land me in $30,000 more debt than D and Y, $16,000 more than BC so idk if I can justify it. Hopefully they will reconsider their aid package :/</p>
<p>Yes, everyone is giving up a lot - I gave up MIT for instance - but you are gaining so much by attending Notre Dame. You have to decide if what you are giving up is worth more or less than what you gain by attending ND.</p>
<p>S chose ND over Yale, Duke, Vanderbilt, BC and a couple in-state LACs. ND was ~$5,000more than the 1st 4 (per year) and $10,000 more than the LACs. Several of those schools then went to no-loan policies. He is a jr. at ND. Both he and we have been very pleased with his decision. </p>
<p>Although it’s a good problem to have, it’s a difficult decision. Turning down upper Ivy schools/military academies is not easy. Some people, I imagine especially so in certain areas of the country, will not understand. That’s ok. Do what is right for you and your family. Like Lou Holtz said, people either “get” ND, or they don’t.</p>
<p>If I went to ND, I would be giving up an experience at Georgetown, the UMich honors program, and the BC Honors program.</p>
<p>syrstress–love your post! Yes, some people just don’t understand how kids might pass up full rides at great schools to attend ND. Proud to say that our student “got ND”! </p>
<p>PS–we don’t even try to justify it to anyone, anymore.</p>
<p>I agree totally with Lou Holtz. My D “gets ND.” She babbles on and on about ND to her friends who chose instate public colleges and they think she is crazy. They don’t “get ND.” She did convince a friend (currently a hs senior and #1 in her class) to visit ND. The friend had settled on Stanford with a full ride. Her friend did an overnight visit to ND and decided that weekend to attend ND. ND is a special place.</p>
<p>^ I love those stories - I always tell people to just visit, just spend one night - just give ND a shot because you will probably fall in love, or you will know it isn’t for you, but just give it a shot.</p>
<p>Son is passing up full tuition scholarship to Honors program at OSS school, with no financial assistance from ND. Easiest decision we ever made.</p>
<p>It sounds like many are giving up pretty good financial arrangements at other colleges and better than what ND gave.</p>
<p>This begs the question: why does nt NR give better money deals (FA)? Is this representative of FA for others? In general, how good and generous is ND FA?</p>
<p>I assume that ND has a HUGE endowment (I just cked : pretty big at 4.8B ). Doesnt that usually correlate to better giving?</p>
<p>Harvard’s endowment is such that if they were to use 1% of the endowment’s interest every year - just 1% measly percent - no student would ever have to pay tuition. Endowment size is a good indicator, but certain other factors are necessary to consider.</p>
<p>My sister gave up a free ride to Penn State Honors, Georgetown Honors, Cornell, and Princeton in order to attend Notre Dame Honors. Luckily Princeton and Notre Dame were the cheapest options. A lot of people gave her a hard time about turning down Princeton for ND, but she thrived at ND and never regretted her decision. She is now very successful- she works for an international web design company and is on the ND Alumni board.</p>
<p>My D is giving up academic scholarships at 6 other schools as well as BC, Bucknell, Richmond and Villanova for her dream school, ND.</p>