<p>Slightly older but excellent thread. The student who researched the thread is at Swarthmore.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/881237-ivy-caliber-safeties-matches-condensed-advice.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/881237-ivy-caliber-safeties-matches-condensed-advice.html</a></p>
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<p>I will reiterate what other posters have said: make sure that your parents understand the true costs of these schools. If you’ve said “Dad, Stanford costs $60k a year” and he’s said “We can afford to pay $240k for your undergraduate education” then yes, you have had the money talk. If, OTOH, he continues to say you shouldn’t worry about the money, then you SHOULD worry about the money. I and the other parents here have seen many, many students who are accepted to wonderful dream schools, only to find that their parents figured that these schools would offer their children huge scholarships. If your father hasn’t run a Net Price Calculator for Stanford (which does have very generous aid), then you need to worry.</p>