<p>I'm struggling with thie right now as well... Full ride + cash at state school or Harvard/Yale/Williams/Amherst/Upenn/Dartmouth etc...</p>
<p>Right now I'm leaning towards the east coast though... the financial aid doesn't cover anything, but it may just be generous enough to make it work...</p>
<p>Be careful with ROTC. When you are done you have a military commitment. Do you really want to go to Iraq? If you believe in the fight and would be willing to participate in the military that's fine but it's not a free ride. It could be very costly.</p>
<p>yeah, i've considered the chances... but although many reserves are being sent to iraq to fight, would they send a ROTC freshy-just-out-of-training-boy to iraq? maybe i should talk with an official...</p>
<p>::would they send a ROTC freshy-just-out-of-training-boy to iraq?::</p>
<p>wouldn't surprise me at all. we are stretched way too thin as it is, and the prez has his sights set on Iran now.</p>
<p>ok, i could go to upenn with $80,000 in debt after graduating or go to UGA honors - please help!</p>
<p>I posted this on the parent's board but it got little notice. Perhaps those of you agonizing over your decision will find it helpful.</p>
<p>Here's an excerpt:</p>
<p>Alan B. Krueger, a Princeton economist and New York Times columnist, has studied the issue and questions the validity of this. "Students who attend more selective colleges," he wrote in 2000, "are likely to have higher earnings regardless of where they attend college for the very reasons that they were admitted to the more selective colleges in the first place." In other words, intelligence, like cream, will rise to the top. But definitely go to college, he stresses; that's "more important than where you go."</p>
<p>That's not to say it isn't important to go to a decent college, but in an essay in The Atlantic Monthly last year titled "Who Needs Harvard?" Gregg Easterbrook (Colorado College, class of 1976) argued that "any of a wide range of colleges can equip its graduates for success." Part of his reasoning is that there has been a "profusion of able faculty members" but only a finite number of top schools for them to funnel into. As a result, the pretty good schools "have gotten much better, while the great schools have remained more or less the same," narrowing the quality gap considerably.</p>
<p>And if the goal is graduate school, Mr. Easterbrook asserts, the elite schools are no longer the "exclusive gatekeepers," as more and more schools feed students into advanced study, even at top graduate schools.</p>
<p>Mr. Krueger, a product of the Ivy League, asked recently for his latest thinking on the value of elite schools, reiterated his skepticism about blindly going for the "name" school. "I think it is very wrong," he said, "to advise students to automatically go to the most selective or elite school that accepts them, without regard to the match between the particular student's interests and personality and the school's strengths and weaknesses."</p>
<p>Loved the illustrative cartoon too! Good luck!</p>
<p>Anybody who doesn't attend their first choice school due to financial reasons, regardless of his/her situation, is an idiot.</p>
<p>My father worked his way through NYU, medical school, and the whole nine yards and now we live in a cozy million dollar house in the suburbs of New Jersey.</p>
<p>Don't let money hold you back. There are always options.</p>
<p>well i have to say don't overspend or carry debt for undergrad if you plan to go further. furthermore if there's anything i can add, i can say with all its brilliant economics professors and students NYU's financial aid sucks beyond a doubt. My brother got accepted into some of his many schools such as princeton, u of r, and nyu. by far nyu had the worst! i mean worst financial aid package, not only for him but for like everyone he knew. my cousin is paying 23k to go there right now and his father earns 80k</p>
<p>"
Anybody who doesn't attend their first choice school due to financial reasons, regardless of his/her situation, is an idiot.</p>
<p>My father worked his way through NYU, medical school, and the whole nine yards and now we live in a cozy million dollar house in the suburbs of New Jersey."</p>
<p>You sound very naive. What if a person's first choice college made them take out $20 k a year in loans and the person ended up being a school teacher or in some other relatively low paying profession? (Not everyone wants to go into a high paying field or has the ability to go to med school).</p>
<p>What if the person had tons of debt and then ended up having more financial problems due to an illness or something like a fire?</p>
<p>What if the person never finishes college due to, for instance, major family problems?</p>
<p>aignam,
Yeah, my father worked his way through school (two degrees, no debt), and my husband did (two degrees, working two night jobs, moderate debt) but times are different now. I think it would be fairly impossible to "work" your way through school today with a student job. Also, most students don't have parents of great means to bail them out. Will YOU work and take out huge loans? I guess it's easy to be judgemental from your cozy palace. You are very young and need to understand that your world is still pretty small. Those who are cautious with their money are certainly not "idiots".</p>
<p>My sister told me about this website. It's a good source for financial aid. It helped her get two scholarships!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gennyweb.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.gennyweb.com</a></p>
<p>Yeah, I had to give my dream school because of money. It was Uchicago, and they gave me nothing so my parents and I decided that I would go to the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. I guess I've been pretty bitter about it, but as of late I'm beginning to like UofI a bit more and I think it will all turn out okay. In any case, I'm glad to see I'm not alone.</p>
<p>i have to give up my dream school for my last choice. is that SAD AS HELL or what??? :*(
now i really want to cry. i REALLY WANT to cry :( :( :(</p>
<p><<:would they send a ROTC freshy-just-out-of-training-boy to iraq?::>></p>
<p>"They" are sending my friend's 20-year-old 5'1" 105 lb daughter who barely made it through high school to Iraq. A body is a body. Try not to make it be yours. And an 18 year old boy is a man to them.</p>
<p>That said, I am 100% supportive of anyone who wants a military career. What bothers me is kids who have few options that are reeled in without really knowing what they are getting into. Now, for some of them it could be the best option they have and it could set them on a positive life-changing course, if they survive. All I know is that no one should get involved with the military these days in any context unless he/she is prepared to serve in Iraq or wherever else our fearless leader decides to tread.</p>
<p>I find it disturbing that students bright enough to get into elite school were not realistic enough to evaluate their likelihood of getting aid and their ability to afford the school before allowing it to become their dream school. As we reviewed and visited schools with our 2 oldest children this was always a factor in the conversation. Of course we couldn't be certain of merit aid or need based aid awards but we could make a guess. There were several schools that our children liked that we were confident they would be accepted at that we were not confident they would get sufficient aid. They decided whether on not to apply knowing that getting in was step one, affording it was step two. One did not in anyway guarantee two.</p>
<p>The whining on this thread strikes me as an extremely immature reaction to a fundamental part of life. I have never purchased my dream car, dream home, or dream vacation solely because of money. Probably the majority of decisions in life have at least a bit of monetary evaluation involved. Grow up, college shouldn't be what you are dreaming about but the life you want to live should be. There are many paths to a dream life and no school guarantees any of them.</p>
<p><< have to give up my dream school for my last choice. is that SAD AS HELL or what??? :*(
now i really want to cry. i REALLY WANT to cry >></p>
<p>Yeah it's sad. Crying is okay. Then, you move on. I think it's important to truly leave it all behind so that it doesn't color your future experiences, if you always compare one to the other. It's sort of like back in the day before the days of ultrasound when no one knew whether their unborn baby would be a boy or a girl. So, let's say mom and dad really believe they are having a girl. Maybe they have 3 boys already or whatever. They wrap themselves up in this dream girl baby and build a whole dream world around her. B-Day comes and lo and behold - "It's a BOY"! One look at the little bugger and reality trumps the dream. That's where you need to get. Leave the dream behind and embrace the reality. </p>
<p>"You know a dream is like a river
Ever changin' as it flows
And a dreamer's just a vessel
That must follow where it goes" Garth Brooks</p>
<p><<grow up,="" college="" shouldn't="" be="" what="" you="" are="" dreaming="" about="" but="" the="" life="" want="" to="" live="" should="" be.="">></grow></p>
<p>They are in the process of growing up. No one is born with perspective. And no one should have it shoved down their throats. There are respectful ways to impart the value of perspective to a young person.</p>
<p>Perhaps I was harsh but these are very, very bright kids and the ability to analyze a situation is part of what got them into these "dream schools". They should have been able to at least consider that they might not be able to afford it much earlier in the application process and shaped their dreams or their strategies for achieving these dreams accordingly. The attitude that permeates this thread of I did the work to achieve this and therefore have almost a right to expect to go strikes me as very immature. It is no surprise that college is expensive, that need based aid is based on FAFSA, and that FAFSA's EFC calculations strike most middle class families as laughable. Therefore if you are applying to schools in this category and your parents have limited resources you will probably find yourself torn between wanting to go there and being able to afford it. It shouldn't come as the huge surprise that seems to be happening here. The student should have seeen it coming and realized that they would need to earn as much money as they could, granted probably a pittance, or prepared themselves to go deeply in debt. If they had thought this situation throught a little more earlier they might have dreamed of a different school.</p>
<p>"SRMom3
Junior Member
*
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 97 </p>
<p>"I find it disturbing that students bright enough to get into elite school were not realistic enough to evaluate their likelihood of getting aid and their ability to afford the school before allowing it to become their dream school. "</p>
<p>IMO often the parents are the problem. They aren't honest about their financial limitations. They also allow or even encourage their kids to apply to colleges that are not likely to be affordable. In some cases, apparently the parents assume the kids simply won't get in. In others, the parents assume that if the kid is good enough to get in, then the college will give the kid the $ the kid "deserves."</p>
<p>I think that it's a big part of parents' responsibilities to figure out how much $ they are willing to pay for college, and to let their kids know early about these limitations, and then to guide the kids into figuring out financial options. If the parents aren't able to do this, they should at least guide their offspring to sites like this and other resources that can let the teen know what their options are.</p>
<p>Adults should have the wisdom and maturity to do this. Since most young people, no matter how intelligent, haven't had to encounter major financial decisions before, they are relying on guidance from parents.</p>
<p>We have always been open about our family finances with the kids, but most families are not. Many adults (ourselves included) have not done so well financially and made some mistakes with money. This is not an easy subject to bring on the table and most familes just won't do it. It is just easier to hope for the best. And I can tell you that many, many well educated families don't understand the financial situation that college brings. They prefer to believe all of the encouraging and mollifying sentiments that are constantly given about not restricting school choices because of lack of money, and how there are a lot of options out there. For most of us, that is simply not true. In order for every single eligible person with any possible chance of aid to go for it, everyone is cheered on to enter the financial aid/scholarship game when the outcome is really meager overall because college is so expensive and there is not enough money out there.</p>