<p>Hi CCers,</p>
<p>I had originally planned to visit Case Western Reserve in August, but now my mom has me second-guessing my decision. I have a list of 11 schools that I am considering. Two I have already visited, and three are within driving distance (which means I can visit them this summer).</p>
<p>Which school would you think is the best option to visit: Northwestern, WashU in St. Louis, or Case Western. My family is tight on money so we can only visit one school right now. </p>
<p>I am interesting in pursuing a major in molecular genetics, while also completing the pre-med track. I know on NU's common app supplement last year they asked if you had visited, and one of the essay questions was "why Northwestern?" I think I could better answer these types of questions if I visit the school. I'm also trying to be realistic here, because the net price calculator for Case Western left an $18k gap per year, while Northwestern's and WashU's were $6491 and $5706 respectively. Obviously this doesn't include any scholarships, which I think I would be more competitive for at Case. </p>
<p>I'm having trouble deciding and I want to make the best choice because this will probably be my last chance to visit a school until after decisions come out.</p>
<p>/bump/</p>
<p>I know this is kind of a weird question because the decision should really be mine, but I like these schools all a lot. Has anyone visited any of these three, and do you think it influenced your decision?</p>
<p>I’m not really in a position to give you advice on this, (I never visited the college I applied ED to) but I think if you really want Northwestern and you think you are a competitive applicant for it, you should visit it. If you do decide to visit Northwestern, you could try to talk to the people in the department you want to study in and incorporate your visit with them into your “why northwestern” essay. I think part of what got me accepted was that I was fairly knowledgable about the department I was applying to. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Look online, read guidebooks and visit the school you are most excited about. With some work, you can answer the “why Northwestern” question without visiting if necessary. Gather information on the school by talking to your dean, doing a local interview with an alumni, exchanging emails with a professor in your area of interest, emailing the admissions person for your area with a specific question or two, meeting them at a college fair etc. In addition, you will have a chance to cite how your family’s financial constraints made it impossible to visit until you know you are accepted and can afford the school).</p>
<p>case western is an amazing school!
why not apply there , as well as to the other schools, see where you get in, see what offers the schools that accept you offer, then once you have real offers and costs …talk to your mom. ideally you should visit all schools before you apply, but if you get in and case offers you the best package…before commiting to any school make sure to get over to case!</p>
<p>^ I agree. </p>
<p>I didn’t visit a single school until after I was admitted as I did not want to waste money on visiting a school, potentially falling in love with it, and getting rejected. I visited 4 schools I was accepted to over spring break and made my decision then. This seems smarter to me than visiting a school before being accepted to it. </p>
<p>As for the why northwestern question, go online but also ask around, maybe you know some students there now? That’s what I did and I got a pretty good idea of the school.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your advice. I had never considered emailing a professor in my area of interest – that seems like a good way to get an insight on the school. </p>
<p>I do have a friend who will be a freshman there this fall, and she has visited twice. She gave me some tips on what to put on my application and also described the school a little. I think at this point I will visit either Northwestern or Case. </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>* Obviously this doesn’t include any scholarships, which I think I would be more competitive for at Case. *</p>
<p>While you might get a scholarship at Case, keep in mind that scholarships get applied to need. And, schools that don’t meet need may not stack merit and grants. They may give you merit and then save grant money for another student…still leaving you with the same or similar gap.</p>
<p>Are you saying that your family EFC is really about $6,000 at schools that “meet need” like WashU and NU? if so, then that isn’t a “gap”…that is your “expected family contribution.” </p>
<p>If your EFC is about $6k and Case expects you to pay $18k, then that’s a $12k gap. A gap refers to the amount leftover after your family pays EFC and whatever aid you receive. </p>
<p>Is your family’s income rather low middle income? Do you have a non-custodial parent? </p>
<p>What are your financial safety schools? These are schools that you KNOW you’ll get accepted to and you know FOR SURE that you have all costs covered thru ASSURED grants, ASSURED merit, small fed loans, and/or family funds.</p>
<p>How much will your family pay each year?</p>
<p>edited to add…now I remember you…you have the NCP with the tax issue…and IU and Purdue are your safeties. :)</p>
<p>Since Case doesn’t sound like it will be affordable, visit NU or WashU…go to each school’s website and do the virtual tour and then decide which to visit. Good luck.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids: is this something that all colleges practice? I had thought that if you gain a merit scholarship that doesn’t provide full tuition, colleges will usually combine this with grants. Otherwise, scholarships that are less than 20k really wouldn’t help much at a school like Case.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>All colleges? There’s no one answer about “all colleges”. </p>
<p>but at colleges that don’t meet need, no one knows what they might do. Schools that don’t meet need often “spread aid around” so that they can help as many kids as possible. </p>
<p>Merit gets applied first. So, if a school thinks a student should get a $20k per year merit scholarship, and they have a policy of not giving more than $20k in “free aid”, then that may be all the student gets…except for loans, work study (fed aid). </p>
<p>At a school that promises to meet need, like USC, then a student who is given a $20k scholarship and still has $15k of need left, will get that need met with grants, loans, work-study.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention that the numbers I posted do not include student loans or federal work studies. After the loan and work study, Case would expect me to pay $9400 a year. </p>
<p>After reading Case’s Financial Aid FAQs, it seems that any scholarships will first reduce loans and work studies, and then grants will be reduced. </p>
<p>I know this is kind of a hard question to answer, but how much debt is too much? I’ve heard before that a good rule of thumb is to never borrow more than the average salary of a job with one’s intended major. While going to the state uni might be free, is it really so terrible to take out $4-6k in loan per year for undergrad, especially if you have the possibility of working those 4 years? </p>
<p>I know that even if I got a full ride to a university, I would still probably take out some small loans just to have money for things that aren’t always included in college costs, such as computers, gas and upkeep on a car, etc. etc.</p>
<p>No, it’s not bad to borrow a small amount each year unless you’re getting your degree in something that really pays poorly after graduation. If you end up with about $20k in Direct Loans, that should be ok.</p>