I see that CMU meets 100% of need for early decision, but the definition of “need” and how they meet that need can vary significantly for colleges. In your experience, was FA really good in the ED round or was it still unaffordable?
I was accepted ED (class of 2020), and the financial aid was…disappointing. It’s doable, but definitely a sacrifice. My EFC is $30k (as calculated by CMU + FAFSA) and I still have to pay direct, billed expenses (NOT estimates like books, travel, etc.) that add up to $45k. Sigh.
Unless you’re borderline with being accepted as far as stats go, I would apply RD and have other colleges offer aid so that you can negotiate your aid package with CMU.
I was accepted RD and the aid was also very disappointing.
I know this doesn’t really help, but CMU expects me to pay 31K, and my EFC is one fourth of that.
Does FA with CMU just generally stink?
@almosttheremulan Yeah, it does. CMU has a reputation for awful financial aid. 8-|
@jyinsanity Thats the problem though, RD has even worse aid than ED(atleast they claim to meet 100% of need in ED). If people aren’t getting sufficient aid in ED, I don’t see how it will ever be close for RD.
@class0f2017 Yeah, it really depends. If you cannot afford CMU without financial aid and CMU is not your dream school, I would apply RD and try to get merit aid from other schools. I heard that they are REALLY generous in matching other schools’ offers (merit aid only though).