Hi,

I received a $30,000 tuition waiver from Columbia. I was wondering if anyone on this board could give me an idea of how common (or uncommon) this award is. While I'm obviously pleased by the offer, I have a theory that these Ivy League schools artificially jack up tuition rates to insane levels (e.g. $40,000 +) but then dish out a lot of tuition waivers to prospective students, so that the student will say "gee, i got this waiver, what a bargain... i'm saving so much money!" But in reality if they had simply saved all that money on waivers they could have brought *everyones* tuition down. But high tuition makes the institution seem more elite, and the more people who get a "waiver" get to feel special that they're getting a discount at an elite institution, and therefore more will accept than if the tuition is lower generally.

So that's my pet theory. What I'm trying to ascertain is whether a $30,000 waiver is fairly common at Columbia. Any states or anecdotes people can share? A lot of people have told me that I'd be crazy to pass up $30K from Columbia, but as a foreign student tuition is still very, very expensive for me and if $40K is an artificial price tag to begin with, then the waiver is really not very valuable at all, especially if nearly everyone gets one.

Thoughts? Comments?

Thoughts and comments:

Give lady luck a big wet thank you kiss and sign at the dotted line.

Sure they probably inflate the costs (the llm does have the reputation of being a money tree), but here, there isnt a problem.

That is a HUGE tuition waiver from CLS esp. if you are from a developed country.
They (or the students who are paying full fees) are covering most your fees so I would definitely be grateful!

Hi!
I received a $5,000 waiver from Columbia... but had also a $28,500 tuition scholarship from another institution (which Columbia knew...) so I guess I fit in your theory :)
Anyway, I have two more friends who were admitted and received no waiver... (and paid the whole ammount!).
I think we cannot minimize the luck we've had.. many people around this board have to pay their full tuitions and others have not been even admitted to Columbia...we MUST feel very lucky for the opportunity...

I just found out that CLS are giving me a scholarship for around $20,000. I dropped on to the floor and started crying tears of joy. I have never been so grateful for anything in my entire life. Count your blessings.

heh heh heh. congrats dude/tte.