<p>*I don’t mean to get up on my high horse but I feel like I’ve worked too hard my entire life to go to a subpar school, even if my grades aren’t a good indicator of that. I feel like I’d go to the same school as people who have slacked off much more than I have; sorry if that sounds contemptuous. *</p>
<p>It sounds like there hasn’t been a lot of conversations in your household about the realities of affording college. This is not uncommon and many parents and students are caught by surprise by how expensive college is these days (the cost has skyrocketed far far far beyond inflation) and how the monies–grants, scholarships, student loans, parent loans–have not increased to make up the difference. For a solid student like yourself (3.5 gpa, 1900 SAT) there simply are not enough major scholarships to help–in fact, they are very rare.</p>
<p>The fact that your mother is grasping at vague ideas like unnamed scholarships points to the strong possibility that your parents are not grounded in the financial obstacles that are going to be in your way in paying for college. By all means, apply for scholarships–lighting does strike occasionally. And one can hope that perhaps your family income is low enough to trigger some extra grants (Pell Grant, etc). But you need to get very firm with the numbers and know what a family of your income with a student of your stats is LIKELY to receive from each of your target colleges in terms of financial aid.</p>
<p>If you said “I’ve worked too hard my entire life to drive a subpar car,” you’d see the fallacy of that kind of thinking. One can not drive a Lamborghini simply because one has worked hard his/her entire life.</p>
<p>The only guaranteed “reward” for working hard in high school is that you’ve maximized your intellectual POTENTIAL. That does not mean in our society that it is rewarded with a targeted college of your choice. </p>
<p>There are two components to attending the college of your choice. You need to get admitted. And you (and your family) must be able to pay for it with the resources you have and the few options that are made available to you through financial aid. Unfortunately, these resources are often not enough.</p>
<p>If you do end up attending a university that is not your first choice and has fellow high school students who did not “work as hard as you did”–know that your work ethic will have you continue to pull ahead of these peers. Your career and other life goals will become a reality to you–though certain colleges will still remain out of reach (admission and price) and you may be on a bike for a long time rather than driving a Lamborghini.</p>
<p>You will likely be far more effective in your college search and in creating a realistic/do-able financial plan for college once you really absorb the concept that there is no guaranteed “reward” for working hard in high school. You won’t be handed major scholarships to make certain colleges affordable anymore than you would be handed the keys to a new car.</p>