If Cornell is at the top of your teen's list, I want you to know something before Dec 1: Cornell doesn't give merit scholarships, and the University of Rochester does, with awards of $10,000 to $35,000 a year. So this week, put Rochester's Dec 1 priority scholarship deadline on the family calendar, right next to Cornell's.
This is the first Dupe Day. A dupe is a college that's a lot like a famous one in size, setting and strengths, but that can cost your family less. Every other Saturday through December, I'm going to show you one pair and the deadline that makes it worth looking at now.
Who Cornell's aid is built for
Cornell's financial aid is need-based, which means it's based only on what the college decides your family can afford to pay. Cornell's aid office says it doesn't award merit aid at all. For families earning up to $75,000, Cornell's grants, scholarships and a campus job cover the full cost of attendance, and that's a generous promise.
Every year I watch the families just above that line get caught in the middle. They earn too much for big need-based grants, and they can't pay a cost of attendance (the full yearly price before any aid) of $99,734, which is what Cornell lists this year for its endowed colleges, including Arts and Sciences and Engineering.
Why Rochester is the dupe
The University of Rochester is a private research university in upstate New York, just like Cornell, and it's strong in engineering, science and health. Its cost of attendance this year for a student living on campus is $96,022, so the two sticker prices are close.
Where they're different is in how they give money away. Rochester says it meets full demonstrated need for incoming students, and on top of that it offers the Meliora Scholarship, which is merit money for grades and achievement no matter what your family earns. Meliora awards run from $10,000 to $35,000 a year, and the average is $20,000. Your teen doesn't fill out a separate scholarship application, because every applicant is considered automatically, and Rochester gives one merit scholarship per student.
What that looks like in real dollars
If your teen earned the average Meliora award, Rochester's yearly price would drop from $96,022 to about $76,000 before any need-based aid comes in. That's still a real bill, which is why the step below matters more than the average does.
The step to take this week
Rochester's priority scholarship deadline is Dec 1. Students who apply by Dec 1 get priority consideration for merit scholarships, and the Regular Decision deadline (the standard, non-binding round) is Jan 5. Before your teen applies, run Rochester's net price calculator with your own income, and then send this email to the admissions office so you know exactly where you stand:
"Hello, my student is applying for fall 2027. Could you confirm that submitting the application by Dec 1 gives priority consideration for the Meliora Scholarship, and that no separate scholarship application is needed? Thank you."
I care about money deadlines like this one as a mom first. My daughter got into NYU and had to turn it down over money, and part of the reason was a CSS Profile notice (the CSS Profile is the financial aid form many private colleges use) that sat unopened in her email. That's why I'd rather you hear about Dec 1 from me today than find out about it in March.
A dupe only works when the numbers work for your family, so run both colleges' net price calculators with your own income before you decide anything.
The next Dupe Day, on Nov 14, is about a well-known college that's making tuition free for families earning up to $175,000 starting in fall 2027, and the smaller college that still makes sense for the families above that line.
