Hey everyone. I’ve recently been accepted to Wharton and Columbia and am definitely leaning towards going to UPenn, but I would have to pay 40,000 at Penn and 20,000 at Columbia. The financial aid offer at Penn was much worse than I thought it was going to be considering my EFC is about 19,000. Will they match my Columbia offer? I know Columbia isn’t as well known for top notch financial aid.
Generally, the Ivies will match each other–and other top schools–on need-based financial aid packages.
@helen1338w yes they will most likely match. Let Penn know.
Six years ago my son got into several Ivy League schools. While the others all matched aid, UPenn did not, so he went to Columbia. They were pretty generous with aid. I am in a similar situation now with a younger child. I realize aid is a gift, but Upenn’s financial aid department is full of the rudest people who do not even have a good understanding of how taxes and finance work. Keep in mind you have to re-apply every year and work with these people for 4 years, not just upfront.
All that said, Philly is a slightly cheaper city to live in during the summer and off campus, and it will be less expensive for your parents to visit. So in doing your calculations you should account for that.
No luck with UPenn Wharton matching Harvard, they wouldn’t budge.
@zlairdnaa that is one experience. Many others (myself included) had great experience with FA at Penn. Also i doubt you spoke with all the people at the FA office so you can’t know it is FULL of incompetent people (i doesnt make sense anyway why a top school would have so many incompetent people in the first place).
In most cases ivies try to match each others offers, this is well known. Now HYP have a lot more money per students than Penn so they have more flexibility to offer more. But Penn has slightly more money per student than Columbia so i dont see why it wouldn’t comfortably match.
I just went through the financial aid appeal process, and while I’m still waiting for my results, the representatives I spoke with at Penn said that they would generally take other Ivies into account when reevaluating. It’s worth it to at least try. I pulled up Brown’s superior offer, and my representative told me they’d do whatever they possibly can to make sure I don’t choose Brown over them lol.
@esperantisto256 Please advise once you get your results. Hope they come through for you!
Hi @esperantisto256. Did you have any luck with your appeal?