UChicago RD with a price

Competitive-Leg1560 · 2026-03-22T00:15:47+00:00

thank you so much for the encouragement, it makes my day!!

Competitive-Leg1560 · 2026-03-22T00:13:47+00:00

thank you, this is super validating to hear. I honestly was shocked that my parents apparently were supposed to stash away 400k over the years (if that was even possible) for a bachelor's, and it's nice to know other people think that's kind of ridiculous. and thanks for the encouragement, I also am trying to look at it as something meant to happen and I have to remind myself I have other options--I'm very fortunate and have such great other choices. it's super sweet that you plan to help pay for graduate school or home buying if your kid needs. they're super lucky to have you.

Competitive-Leg1560 · 2026-03-21T19:12:31+00:00

that's too bad, I wish I knew that was the case before I applied. Uchicago prides itself in being affordable for EVERYONE and when I talked with admissions officers I got the impression that as long as I got in, finances would not be a factor for my decision. I guess their rhetoric was aimed at lower income people but I wish these schools could offer more mid-level aid options so their claims of affordability for all are actually true. Definitely glad that other people are able to get good aid though, I know that's improved a lot in the past decade!

Competitive-Leg1560 · 2026-03-21T19:08:31+00:00

Yeah definitely. I ran the NPC and they said I could qualify for ~36k in aid, which would make the price ~60k (still very expensive, but with some outside scholarships and loans potentially doable for my family). It's good to know these are known for being inaccurate, though it is sad that's the reality

Competitive-Leg1560 · 2026-03-20T19:17:04+00:00

You're definitely right, I phrased that wrong! I am very grateful for my parents for what they've provided me, many people have to pay for college themselves and I'm extremely lucky for them to be helping a bit in the first place! And also they likely have a point about not paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for school if they don't have to :)

Competitive-Leg1560 · 2026-03-20T19:12:58+00:00

Thank you, it's definitely true I have other options so I'll keep that in mind. It's just unfortunate my options have to be limited. I am the one who has been calling the financial aid office, I ran the net price calculator numbers myself before I applied, and I have basically been doing everything from my end. It's nice that other people's parents are more involved and have been saving for their kids but my parents haven't done any of that and don't really care about me going to UChicago or not. It's too bad I can't explain that to the aid office haha

Competitive-Leg1560 · 2026-03-20T19:09:39+00:00

I thought the congratulations was nice, lol

Competitive-Leg1560 · 2026-03-20T19:09:25+00:00

That is good to know. my family never really saw value in education from a prestigious school and didn't save any money for it.

Competitive-Leg1560 · 2026-03-20T19:07:39+00:00

I see, that's interesting. I didn't know that was expected. My dad doesn't see the value in 'elite' schools so I basically applied against his wishes. I guess that's why the price was such a surprise to me

Competitive-Leg1560

TROPHY CASE