Negotiating with NU Forum

[herecomesthesun]

So I received $150k from NU, and it skyrocketed to the top of my list because it's my biggest offer. However, that still leaves potentially 9-12k per year in debt from tuition by the time I graduate, and while I have absolutely zero complaints about that really, COL is really damn high in Chicago obviously. As I said, none of my other offers (Michigan-$90k, Duke-$75k, and Cornell-$120k) are that big so I have nothing really to leverage. Any thoughts for how I should approach it, or should I just leave it alone?

ETA: I am currently working part-time as a legal assistant (basically) and will be increasing to full-time after graduation. This will put me at almost a year of full-time WE before I enroll.

[RaceJudicata]

Confused. Were you given deferred admission? Or are you enrolling in August? If august, not sure how this adds up to a year of FT experience.Either way, doesn't matter for scholly negotiations.

Can't hurt to send them an email saying you received a similar scholarship offer in a lower cost of living area, but NU is your top choice and only thing holding you back is financials. Can't really hurt you.

[herecomesthesun]

Confused. Were you given deferred admission? Or are you enrolling in August? If august, not sure how this adds up to a year of FT experience.Either way, doesn't matter for scholly negotiations.

Can't hurt to send them an email saying you received a similar scholarship offer in a lower cost of living area, but NU is your top choice and only thing holding you back is financials. Can't really hurt you.

Sorry--it's confusing. I took a semester off in college and worked full-time. Then will have 3 months-ish at current job. Just over 6 months, so a almost a year is a bit confusing. But yeah, I'm looking at their negotiation form and I feel ridiculous given the relative amounts of my scholarship. So it can't hurt I guess, but I don't want to come across as greedy or dumb.

[personofinterest]

Have you negotiated with other schools first? If not, you should do so and see if any will match your NU offer. Then, you could go back to NU and have more leverage. Also, the COL in Chicago is higher than some places, but not crazy high if you are willing to have a 20-30 minute commute to lincoln park or lake view. $800-900 per month is what you can expect to pay for rent if you commute, and you get the benefit of living in a part of town with a lot of other 20somethings, if you're into that.

[herecomesthesun]

Have you negotiated with other schools first? If not, you should do so and see if any will match your NU offer. Then, you could go back to NU and have more leverage. Also, the COL in Chicago is higher than some places, but not crazy high if you are willing to have a 20-30 minute commute to lincoln park or lake view. $800-900 per month is what you can expect to pay for rent if you commute, and you get the benefit of living in a part of town with a lot of other 20somethings, if you're into that.

I definitely don't mind commuting. And that rent isn't bad, comparable honestly to what I'd look at for a one bedroom in Ann Arbor. I've reached out to UVA and I'm in the process of doing so with Michigan.

[RaceJudicata]

Have you negotiated with other schools first? If not, you should do so and see if any will match your NU offer. Then, you could go back to NU and have more leverage. Also, the COL in Chicago is higher than some places, but not crazy high if you are willing to have a 20-30 minute commute to lincoln park or lake view. $800-900 per month is what you can expect to pay for rent if you commute, and you get the benefit of living in a part of town with a lot of other 20somethings, if you're into that.

Second this re: Chicago cost of living. These estimates are probably a bit light, but its definitely manageable. Plus free transit during the school year, so thats a free $100 essentially.

[kennethellenparcell]

Ok, OP - I felt exactly the way you did in terms of negotiating more. And I'm convinced I left money on the table. Now, 3 years later - I kick myself ALL THE TIME for not negotiating more because I didn't want to look greedy (an extra 30K in debt is an extra 30K out of my earnings now). Why do I feel like I left money on the table? Because I had a friend who pit two schools against each other (the same two schools I was working with) and spent a week and a half negotiating until she got both schools to pretty much give her fully schollies.

Don't leave money on the table like me - keep negotiating until they tell you they won't increase it any more. It never hurts to try. Although I will say you're already in a pretty good situation with your current offers.

[herecomesthesun]

So I sent my offer to one school that didn't offer me anything, but I'm in the process of negotiating with Michigan. I'll also probably try at Cornell, since I think they're my best bet. Though Michigan has a "no negotiations" policy so I don't want to get burned for that.

[suppy183]

Have you negotiated with other schools first? If not, you should do so and see if any will match your NU offer. Then, you could go back to NU and have more leverage. Also, the COL in Chicago is higher than some places, but not crazy high if you are willing to have a 20-30 minute commute to lincoln park or lake view. $800-900 per month is what you can expect to pay for rent if you commute, and you get the benefit of living in a part of town with a lot of other 20somethings, if you're into that.

I definitely don't mind commuting. And that rent isn't bad, comparable honestly to what I'd look at for a one bedroom in Ann Arbor. I've reached out to UVA and I'm in the process of doing so with Michigan.

That's definitely possible with roomates In Lakeview/LP, but I don't think you'd be able to find a 1BR for that price anywhere on the North (or West) Side. Maybe like Edgewater, but that's a bit of a far commute to NU. 1BR in Lakeview/LP would be more like $1200+.