<p>I agree with the others that students best chance at Pomona would have been though the ED round. Since Pomona has a no loan policy and family was “low income” they really did not have a lot to lose. the worse that would have happened is the package was not feasible and the family would have been released from ED.</p>
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<p>Why didn’t she apply for Questbridge (Pomona is a questbridge school). Depending on what part of the country is is from pomona is also a Posse partner.</p>
<p>Parents could have used the net price calculator or contacted Pomona’s financial aid office for an early read. If she applied ED and the package was not financially feasible, she could have asked to withdraw.</p>
<p>why didn’t she apply to any financial safeties (that was just reckless not to have a financial safety no matter what the stats were). Sounds like the family did not do their due diligence before applying to schools.</p>
<p>Bluebayou, can you please link where you are getting your info? You wrote, “Pomona makes it clear that demonstrated interest is taken into account.” Again, the Pomona common data set, linked above, specifically says interest is not considered while alumni relation is. Where do they make it clear? </p>
<p>(And, cpt, yes, I do know some schools where alumni’s kids have to apply ED-- Penn and I’ve heard Duke-- but I have never heard that specifically of Pomona. I was wondering if bluebayou knows this for a fact.)</p>
<p>I don’t believe this girl was denied to a bunch of meet-full-needs schools because of income and I do think that low-income applicants can generally increase their chances by applying ED but, from my experience, telling a top school it’s first-place and not applying ED doesn’t help much if at all when ED was an option. The only schools where that helps are schools that take demonstrated interest into account and, from what I can tell, Pomona doesn’t.</p>
<p>Sue22, yes, the Lincoln Award is an unusual case but it’s a wonderful opportunity for the right kid. There is only one other way I know of to get a non need-based full tuition to Ivies or Nescac schools and it is only for minority kids and is also funded by an outside foundation, Posse. (Adding: I see Vassar has just started a Veterans Posse. It looks like it doesn’t take need into account and is not only for minorities but is limited to Veterans. Again, highly specific but a wonderful opportunity for some people and I like to make sure we mention those things here because people do find out about opportunities like that on cc and it can be life-changing.)</p>
<p>Too late for the young lady above, but it is possible to find generous merit scholarships at some good liberal arts colleges if you research carefully.</p>
<p>Here’s a full ride at Hendrix which is achievable for a good student.</p>
<p>2collegewego-
Definitely worth mentioning. I just didn’t want readers to take it as evidence that the NESCACs offer merit scholarships, particularly as it is only available to kids from Illinois.</p>
<p>Kids applying to need-only FA schools can still reduce their EFC or WS contributions considerably by applying for outside scholarships. It should also be noted that some schools that offer merit scholarships use them to reduce the money these students would otherwise have received as financial aid.</p>
<p>Forget EC’s, stats and race. Money is the ultimate preference. Also the statistics clearly show that some schools are not need blind even though they report being so. Also the million dollar question is how do schools profile income? Zip code maybe?</p>
<p>This would all be a mute point if college tuition hadn’t increased by such a huge percent over just the last decade alone and by even higher over the last 2 decades. It’s another bubble , just like housing, and at some point will pop. It will take longer, however, thanks to the continued gov 't loans which give schools absolutely no incentive to lower tuition. Unfortunately for many kids, they are going to miss out on the college campus experience that many of us were lucky enough to have. Online degrees may be the wave of the future. University of Florida is looking at starting this with a few degrees, I believe within the next 2 years.</p>
<p>This is an article from '11. Such articles show up every year in the SoCal papers. If an ‘expectation’ of a visit is not demonstrated interest, I don’t know what is. :)</p>
<p>btw: Most colleges will admit that a legacy boost, such as it is, only occurs for early applicants.</p>
<p>Sue, yes, but the truth is there are just very few outside scholarships that are substantial, renewable and don’t look at need. Posse is the best I know of-- but is only for minorities and there are ageographic restrictions. </p>
<p>StantonMom, I agree with you that online classes can offer a number of good options. There are already a lot of very good state universities that offer online courses. (I’ve listed some before but they include Indiana, Penn State, Alabama, Arizona State, Univ of Illinois, Missouri.) It requires a certain amount of discipline but online courses can be a very good option for students who are full pay. Students don’t even have to do the full degree online. Depending on the university, they could take online classes and shave off a year or two of requirements.</p>
<p>bluebayou, That excerpt was from an article asking if <em>interviews</em> counted. Pomona is very upfront about that. According to the article, they tell students it’s “highly recommended” which, we’ve always said on cc, means if you want to attend the school, you had better do it. This is verified in their common data set, where they say that an interview is “important.” In the article, Richardson explains that applicants who live near campus should interview on campus and applicants who live far should interview with an alumni. </p>
<p>That is not the same as “demonstrated interest” any more than completing your application is showing “demonstrated interest.” Demonstrated interest goes beyond doing what colleges tell you they want you to do and Pomona is pretty upfront that they want applicants to interview. </p>
<p>I’ve never seen anything that says that MOST colleges only give legacy preference for ED applicants. I do know some say it (notably UPenn and Duke) and they are very upfront about it-- but I’ve not seen most colleges say that at all. That said, I understand that, at a small lac, legacy + ED might be a very helpful combination for a student who is competitive but I don’t think kids lose their legacy boost at most schools by applying regular decision. I think what happens sometimes is that people take for granted the legacy school and think the school is a shoe-in when it’s really a reach and they have a hook. Pomona is a reach for just about anyone and being a legacy doesn’t change that any more than being poor or being a minority. It may give a kid a better shot, but they need to play their hand right.</p>
<p>@2collegewego becoming a Posse Scholar is not based on being a minority. </p>
<p>Although you did not indicate income as a factor, I will put it out there for other readers that income is not a consideration either. It is determined by your geographic area, but more importantly your leadership and academics. My daughter is as a Posse Scholar. The Los Angeles chapter is comprised of a diverse group of students, including Caucasians.</p>
<p>The biggest problem is that with schools playing the low admissions game and goosing stats like SAT scores, credibility becomes an issue. Without it, anything is believable.</p>
<p>Thank you calimom and sybbie for that info on Posse scholars. I knew they spoke about diversity but didn’t realize their definition wasn’t based on race/ ethnicity. It is a great merit-based opportunity (although very competitive, of course) to some colleges that don’t give merit-based money.</p>
<p>If the day ever comes when most other parents come to this conclusion, then maybe sanity will be restored to the cost of a college education. Based upon what I read on this site and what I hear out in the real world, I am not optimistic.</p>
<p>I am impressed with your rational approach to your situation and I think that your son is very fortunate to have parents who set such a good example. He’s bound to do very well at his chosen university. As for your D, if you start now and gather information on her potential target schools, I predict she’ll do just fine too.</p>
<p>I.e. an all-reach application list. A shut-out waiting to happen. And it did.</p>
<p>The one acceptance to a too-expensive college requiring too much debt may be worse than a complete shut-out, since it appears to have tempted the student to take on the excessive debt instead of moving on and attending community college and transferring to a state university (if the student lives in California, this should be a financially doable option).</p>
<p>What a shame! To think that in the 21st century there is still not equal opportunity for all to succeed. Such a contrast between Horatio Alger and his call to the American Dream</p>