Stanford vs. Chicago($) vs. UVA($) vs Duke($$) Forum

Iroh · Post by **Iroh** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:41 pm

Got my aid offer from Stanford: absolutely no grants or scholarships. My other schollys are 15k/yr from Chicago and UVA, and 24k/yr from Duke. Right now I'm going to try to negotiate with Stanford and hope I can get them to budge.

I haven't factored in room and board for my total cost of attendance, because my parents are willing to subsidize those. In any case, no matter where I go I'll be living with a roommate to keep costs down.

Current COA upon graduation:
Stanford: $206,353
Chicago: $155,409
UVA: $151,716 (I'm a little suspicious of this, UVA doesn't list a whole host of fees that the other schools do)
Duke: $117,046

My dream goal is federal clerkship-->boutique litigation. I'm from California and would really prefer to stay here; however, I am not opposed to the East Coast, since my SO has family there. I was rejected from Berkeley and withdrew from UCLA, so Stanford is currently my only California school. It is also my #1 choice, but the debt is making me very wary. I was hoping Stanford would at least give me 10k/yr.

Any tips on scholarship negotiation, as in which schools I should start negotiating with? Any other advice?

EDIT: I have no undergraduate debt, so no worries there.

Pulsar · Post by **Pulsar** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:51 pm

Duke matched UVA for me, which makes me think that maybe trying the reverse in your situation might be worth a shot. Might also try to get all of them to bump up with the Stanford offer.

Unless you are very successful, or unless you have a strong desire to live in the South (Duke or UVA) or Chicago (Chicago) after gradation, I'd probably just go with Stanford though. All of these options still leave you with a shitload of debt, and a shitload is a shitload at some point.

Iroh · Post by **Iroh** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:12 pm

Pulsar wrote:Duke matched UVA for me, which makes me think that maybe trying the reverse in your situation might be worth a shot. Might also try to get all of them to bump up with the Stanford offer.

Unless you are very successful, or unless you have a strong desire to live in the South (Duke or UVA) or Chicago (Chicago) after gradation, I'd probably just go with Stanford though. All of these options still leave you with a shitload of debt, and a shitload is a shitload at some point.

So are you saying I should try to get UVA to match Duke, and then go from there?

And yeah, I have the same feeling re: debt. The debt at Stanford is huge but it's not like I'm getting full rides anywhere else. Right now it seems like the only schools worth picking between are Stanford and Duke.

aboutmydaylight · Post by **aboutmydaylight** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:25 pm

How does negotiating with Stanford work? Their aid is only financial, so I assume they'll probably only entertain HY aid packages.

Also, how does Stanford come to 222k with subsidized room and board? That seems to be on the high side of any reasonable estimate.

Winston1984 · Post by **Winston1984** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:35 pm

aboutmydaylight wrote:How does negotiating with Stanford work? Their aid is only financial, so I assume they'll probably only entertain HY aid packages.

Also, how does Stanford come to 222k with subsidized room and board? That seems to be on the high side of any reasonable estimate.

+1. I would think it would be under $200,000.

jbagelboy · Post by **jbagelboy** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:41 pm

For your goals Stanford is the perfect fit. It's worth $50,000 more than Chicago, and $80,000 more than Duke.

Congrats!!

Iroh · Post by **Iroh** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:46 pm

Also, how does Stanford come to 222k with subsidized room and board? That seems to be on the high side of any reasonable estimate.

You are correct, I must have done something wrong. I just recalculated it and it comes to $206,353 (according to Georgetown's calculator, factoring in a 3.5% increase in cost of attendance each year). I'll edit the OP.

How does negotiating with Stanford work? Their aid is only financial, so I assume they'll probably only entertain HY aid packages.

Just glancing at Duke's fin. aid page, " Most scholarships are based on a combination of merit and financial need. In addition, some scholarships are offered based on merit alone, including our full-tuition Mordecai Scholarship."

I believe all law schools aside from HYS operate similarly. So it seems like my aid from the other schools is at least partly due to financial need. Now, Stanford can make whatever it wants from this. I certainly don't expect them to match any offers. But I don't think Stanford would consider them irrelevant.

EDIT: Looks like my numbers were off for the other schools: I've edited the COA, but it doesn't seem to make too many significant changes in cost difference (Duke is now closer to 90k cheaper than Stanford)

Stanford vs. Chicago($) vs. UVA($) vs Duke($$) Forum

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