Financial Aid Dilemma

[BMEJake]

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My friend got into UConn Med this past cycle and this past week was pulled off the waitlist for UC Davis. He likes UConn better in terms of the people, program, location, atmosphere, class size and will be able to attend school with me and several other close friends from college. He lives in California near UC Davis so he would have to pay out of state tuition for his first year at UConn.

The dilemma he has is this: UC Davis is offering him significantly more money than UConn (to the tune of $100k over the course of medical school). He wants to go to UConn, but its tough to walk away from that much money. He wants to talk to UConn's admissions folks to see if they'll work with him financially (not match the offer, just try to help him a little more than they currently are). What's the best way for him to go about doing this tactfully?

On a side note, UC Davis called him at 7pm on Friday with an increased offer and wants his final answer by midnight on Sunday. This makes it nearly impossible to find anyone from UConn to talk to before the deadline, should he ask for an extension from UC Davis?

Any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated, there seem to be no good choices at this stage.

 

[Arbor Vitae]

My friend got into UConn Med this past cycle and this past week was pulled off the waitlist for UC Davis. He likes UConn better in terms of the people, program, location, atmosphere, class size and will be able to attend school with me and several other close friends from college. He lives in California near UC Davis so he would have to pay out of state tuition for his first year at UConn.

The dilemma he has is this: UC Davis is offering him significantly more money than UConn (to the tune of $100k over the course of medical school). He wants to go to UConn, but its tough to walk away from that much money. He wants to talk to UConn's admissions folks to see if they'll work with him financially (not match the offer, just try to help him a little more than they currently are). What's the best way for him to go about doing this tactfully?

On a side note, UC Davis called him at 7pm on Friday with an increased offer and wants his final answer by midnight on Sunday. This makes it nearly impossible to find anyone from UConn to talk to before the deadline, should he ask for an extension from UC Davis?

Any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated, there seem to be no good choices at this stage.

How are there no good choices? Why is he so set on UConn? It sounds like the money at UCD would be a great deal and he already lives in the area. Am I wrong or doesn't Davis have a better program than UConn? It sounds like a really easy decision to me, go to Davis.

That's pretty interesting that they're offering him money off the wait list. Maybe they are desperate to fill some specific spot. Is your friend URM or disadvantaged if you don't mind me asking?

Edit: missed the part about the friends. I see why the decision is much harder. my mistake.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

UC Davis has a better national reputation than UConn, from what I know. If your friend wants to return to Cali for residency, I'd say UCD for certain, especially if they're offering that much money. What is it about UConn he likes so much, out of curiosity?

 

[angemon89]

Sounds like an easy choice if you ask me. Davis has a really good program, one of the schools I plan on applying to...

 

[Arbor Vitae]

UC Davis has a better national reputation than UConn, from what I know. If your friend wants to return to Cali for residency, I'd say UCD for certain, especially if they're offering that much money. What is it about UConn he likes so much, out of curiosity?

my thoughts exactly

 

[BMEJake]

Thanks for the replies. Its a tough decision because after visiting both schools and working for two years at UCD he still found UConn to be a much more appealing school than UCD because of the people and certain aspects of the program that are important to him. He has no preference at the moment for residency location. I think at this point he has a strong overall feeling that he would enjoy the UConn experience much more than the UCD one between the difference in atmosphere between the schools and the fact that several of his close friends from UConn undergrad will be going there too.

Not to belittle any contributions (after all, help is always appreciated), but we were hoping to get some perspective from someone who has more experience than us (e.g. already in medical school or graduated, etc.).

 

[semicharmed]

UC Davis has a better national reputation than UConn, from what I know. If your friend wants to return to Cali for residency, I'd say UCD for certain, especially if they're offering that much money. What is it about UConn he likes so much, out of curiosity?

I agree, UC Davis is an awesome school. It's nice that you're thinking about the class dynamics, curriculum, but I think UC Davis is pretty top notch and has a great rep for having nice people-I'm sure you can find these things there too. In terms of geography, Cali's great too.

It's tough to turn down the money on this one...I think both schools have similar resources towards fulfilling your friend's goals. I tend to drift towards picking a place based on the people, myself, but I think for the 100k saved you could buy some pretty legit Cali friends (joking).

Good luck!

 

[TheMightySmiter]

Not to belittle any contributions (after all, help is always appreciated), but we were hoping to get some perspective from someone who has more experience than us (e.g. already in medical school or graduated, etc.).

I think probably anyone currently paying off med school loans would tell you to choose the less expensive school unless the more expensive choice was significantly more prestigious, in a much better location, or was somewhere your friend had a lot of family or a SO. None of those three things apply here, from what I see. UCD is more prestigious and is in an equal if not better location than UConn.

 

[kpcrew]

is your friend unable to connect to the internet?

 

[Porfirio]

is your friend unable to connect to the internet?

I was thinking the samething.

Your friend should go to UCD. He will make new friends, and save money in the process.

 

[Prohok]

I'd go to UCD, but that's just me. I'd go wherever the money goes. In the end, that 100K REALLY make a big difference!

 

[sector9]

is your friend unable to connect to the internet?

SDN accounts are just so dang expensive these days...