A Painful Course to College

Parents Forum
1

<p>From the LA Times:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-college18aug18,0,5694719.story?coll=la-home-headlines%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-college18aug18,0,5694719.story?coll=la-home-headlines&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"Ever since she was a little girl, Betsy Perez had known she wanted to go to college some place far away. Some place different from Highland Park, where she lived. In second grade, she wrote in a journal that one day she would attend Harvard. </p>

<p>Always, Betsy's father dismissed his daughter's grand plans with a soft smile. Sergio Perez, a truck driver, knew his children would have great opportunities. That was why he left Guatemala for the United States. He knew that one day she would become far more successful than he was. He knew that Betsy, a Franklin High School student, would attend a university. And it would be close to him....."</p>

<p>Another quote:</p>

<p>"Not long ago, College Match helped a Franklin High student get into Wellesley. But her parents had mistakenly overvalued their property in East Los Angeles on financial aid forms. As a result, Wellesley did not offer the girl money. Frankel spent a month straightening it out with Wellesley officials. But in the end, it did not matter. The girl's parents wanted her to stay close to home. So she chose UCLA instead. </p>

<p>It was all rather embarrassing for Frankel.</p>

<p>"I don't mind if a kid goes to a good West Coast school," Frankel said. "I don't have an East Coast bias. But when a kid turns down Wellesley, the kid is losing out."</p>

2

<p>Oh puhlease... losing out? The girl will only be going to one of the finest universities in the world. To the author: get a grip.</p>

3

<p>Well, the author didn't say that; he's quoting the guy running the program. I did feel, though, that that inserted anecdote was gratuitous and took away from the main story. Obviously, as you point out, the young woman from the side story chose a fine school to go to, and Frankel's reaction was a little silly. Overall, though, the work he and his organization is doing sounds really pretty wonderful. Betsy's story was a very interesting read; I wish her all the best of luck.</p>

4

<p>Our local hs is 40% Hispanic and it seems that it is more likely that a Hispanic female grad will choose to attend a college close by rather than one far away, even if $$ is not a factor. The pull of family is very, very huge for them.</p>

5

<p>most so. cal kids stay in so.cal / california.</p>

6

<p>Why is this is story - she got into at least two great schools, and went to the one closer to home? I don't get it. That's so common its ridiculous.</p>

7

<p>No she didn't. She's gone to Trinity, CT, which is pretty far from Socal.</p>

<p>The story is not just about Betsy but about the College Match program, which sounds great despite the silly comment by its director re: Wellesley vs. UCLA; about immigrant parents with no college education letting go of a beloved daughter so that she can pursue her dream. And it is also about Betsy being willing to step out of her comfort zone. I'm hopint there are more kids like Betsy out there and more parents like hers.</p>

8

<p>what sucks even more is her older brother - cal poly pomona instead of U Mich! that just blows.</p>

9

<p>It's a nice story, and one worth telling. Young Hispanics are dealing with different family pressures, and females are indeed facing a lot of pressure to stay home, and even from educated and wealthy parents.</p>

10

<p>I guess I have a different take on the article
It mainly discussed the daughter of blue collar immigrant parents- who have supported their children to get to the point where they can attend college, which is fairly unusual.</p>

<p>So a couple things occur to me
One is , while I commend Mr Frankel for starting this program to take kids across the country to look at schools, why choose a group of schools that among them are known not to offer good aid, ( wellesley/Pitzer) or schools that have majority of students who don't need any aid at all? ( Trinity)</p>

<p>I think that the emphasis on family in some subcultures in the US is important, and shouldn't be disregarded or attacked.</p>

<p>I wonder how early this program starts, if it starts in 9th grade as many programs, I think that would be enough time, to take family concerns into consideration.If you rarely have money or time for travel, it is going to be very stressful to think of your child 3000 miles away.
I think it is at least as important, for the student to be somewhere, she can graduate from, not only be accepted at & IMO, parent support, through that transition is valuable. </p>

<p>In my impression of the article, while I don't disagree with the value of the program, I feel it disregards the sacrifices Betsys parents have already made for her, and their committment to expanding her options.</p>

<p>For example, how many 7 year olds, particulary with blue collar immigrant parents, have even heard of Ivy league schools, let alone have made up their mind to attend one.
When I was 23- the only Ivy schools I could name were Harvard and Yale ( sorry P-Ton).
So it seems like her parents have done a great deal, to help her expand her options, and I think they deserve more sympathy.</p>

11

<p>EK:</p>

<p>I don't see a lack of sympathy for the parents. In fact, I feel that the article does a nice job of eliciting admiration toward Betsy's parents for their willingness to let her attend college so far away when they know how much they will be missing her.<br>
If 7 year olds have heard of college, chances are they will have heard of Harvard and Yale.<br>
I don't know about Pitzer, but Wellesley does give good scholarship. Where did you read differently? And most colleges that do give good scholarship tend to also have lots of full-paying students (as Mini would surely point out).</p>

<p>EDIT: From the College Match website:</p>

<p>
[quote]
We are working with 100 high-achieving low-income students in partnership with Jordan High School in Watts, Bell High School in East Los Angeles, Franklin High School in Northeast Los Angeles, and Animo Inglewood High School in South Central Los Angeles. Approximately 75% of our students are Latino, 12% are African-American; 13% are Vietnamese, Filipino or other Asian-Americans. 75% of our students are female.

[/quote]

<a href="http://www.collegematchla.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegematchla.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

12

<p>This sounds like every other family going-to-college experience. I don't understand how this made the news--why is this a unique story? MANY families have issues with out-of-state colleges. MANY families are low-income. EVERY family goes through the tears and arguments.</p>

13

<p>I don't know about Pitzer, but Wellesley does give good scholarship. Where did you read differently?</p>

<p>I was looking at the US News info for schools with most debt
60% of Pitzer students have an average of $20,900 in dbt</p>

<p>I appear to have been mistaken about Wellesley- I guess the 6 schools with Wesleyan in their name on the list tricked my eyes.
Wellesley student average debt is much lower- only 51% of students who borrowed and less than $12,000 in debt at graduation ( 10 % of total undergrads were not found to have need and 15% of freshman didn't recieve need either- and I have no idea if Wesleyan has their own aid forms to help them decide who gets need)</p>

<p>However, even $3,000 of unmet need, or difference between what you can come up with and your EFC, is another burden for families.</p>

<p>We had to borrow all 4 years to come up with the $10,000 that we promised our daughter we would pay each year toward her EFC- so while her total debt is below $15,000, ours is not.</p>

<p>To do that, and then to know that you will not have any extra for your child to come home for holidays or emergencies, can be a strain for families who would like to see their kids before they relocate permanently.</p>

<p>But as has been noted, not that unusual. Especially for families, whose kids are first generation college, its a huge shift, not just in the pocketbook, but in raising kids who have a broader world than you can imagine.</p>

14

<p>Well, EK, $3,000 EFC at Wellesley is probably cheaper than UCLA. </p>

<p>Anyway, College Match has been around since 2002 and is targeting low income students. I suspect they all qualify for a full-ride.</p>

15

<p>I was just picking $3000 as an amount that might be the difference between what the student could make summers to apply to EFC as well as what the family could afford to pay, without having to borrow.</p>

<p>I don't think in this article, it said how much aid they were getting, but I agree, if their EFC was only $3,000, unless the child needed to contribute to household expenses, that is a figure that can be raised just by a summer job.</p>

16

<p>"I don't understand how this made the news--why is this a unique story?"</p>

<p>Because these parents chose a path for their daughter that is different from what is often expected. The stereotypical Latino story is one where, for both cultural and financial reasons, the children, especially the daughters, are kept very close to home and in some cases actively discouraged from pursuing college educations. This is especially true where the parents are themselves immigrants rather than 2nd or 3rd generation US citizens. </p>

<p>This is often cited as a contributing reason for the low percentages of Latino kids in SoCal who go to college. So it's news when a family untypically charts a different course, not only sending their daughter to college, but sending her 3000 miles away to college.</p>

17

<p>These programs open up a world of possibilities to kids who otherwise would never have had the resources to visit, consider, apply to colleges outside of the immediate area. For a California gal to move to the east coast, and it's the first homeleaving is a big move for both the parents and kids. Most of these parents did not have an iota of thought about their kids going that far away. The programs also bring a diverse group of students to the east coast schools. Even here, back east, most kids tend to go to local colleges, and the vast majority go with in a few hours.</p>

18

<p>
[quote]
This is often cited as a contributing reason for the low percentages of Latino kids in SoCal who go to college. So it's news when a family untypically charts a different course, not only sending their daughter to college, but sending her 3000 miles away to college.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>This is also very true in Southern states. </p>

<p>Regarding College Match taking students to Wellesley and other East Coast schools, you may have to look a bit further than the financial package, and consider the pesky issue of ... gaining admisssion. As they are attempting to build diverse classes, schools that have a lower ratio of hispanic women might very well decide to be more lenient and overlook shortcomings. A female minority Californian with competitive scores and grades might be very hard to resist at schools such as Amherst, Wellesley, Trinity, or Mount Holyoke. In turn, the amount of financial aid might be less important than its composition, especially the amount of work-study, summer earning expextations, and the amount of loan versus grants. Students who fill a perceived void can expect to be wooed by stronger packages.</p>

19

<p>I am wondering whether PA have some kind of service like
<a href="http://www.collegematchla.org/Aboutus.htm#OurServices%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegematchla.org/Aboutus.htm#OurServices&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

20

<p>i heard of many colleges at 7 or 8 my big sister was researching colleges then my sister graduated hs when i was in 3rd grade..i was 9 when she graduated and left for college at a suny then she a yr later(when i was 10) Transfered to a art institute...she looked at plenty of colleges and i visited a bunch of them</p>