<p>I gave my kids the same financial rules about what I would pay, but I am a lot more comfortable with the would-be engineer borrowing money than the would-be actor. At this point, the actor will use my entire budget but take no loans, and the engineer is under-budget because of scholarships and grants. We have some plans for sophomore year, but we’ll have to see if they work out (becoming an RA, getting additional scholarships).</p>
<p>I’ve had a few people compliment me on ‘allowing’ my daughter to pursue acting instead of requiring her to major in a ‘real’ subject. I don’t think she realizes how hard it will be to get a job with this degree (and a minor in Art History!) but it’s her life and she wants to study acting. She really is a person who doesn’t care much about money (and that’s not because she’s had gobs of it her whole life), so I think she’ll be fine if she doesn’t get into a lot of debt. My engineering daughter does like the nicer things in life, so she’s interested in making money but also just enjoys chemistry and math.</p>
<p>Both of our sons played NCAA sports in college. We told each of them they could only apply to schools they would truly want to attend even if they couldn’t play their sports anymore, i.e. if he was hurt during the first practice and could never play again, would he still want to be at that school?</p>
<p>My parents and I are on the same wavelength for pretty much everything, so they haven’t placed any hard restrictions on applications except they’ve discouraged places with very strong church ties (we’re Jewish, so they don’t think it’d be as good for me). However, it’s generally understood that when decision time rolls around next year, finances are going to play a pretty big roll.</p>
<p>My parents did not place many (if any) restrictions on me when I applied to universities a year ago. They knew I was interested in a STEM field, but that I also wanted the potential to branch out into a business field so that I would have the ability to get an MBA later on. </p>
<p>As far as geography goes, my parent were very supportive of me going anywhere I wanted, although they preferred me to choose a university close to family in case I ever wanted a place to go for Thanksgiving or other small breaks and holidays. My parents were supportive of my choice to attend a more prestigious university, but honestly they didn’t care too much. Both parents graduated from a state school and were successful enough, so they had the understanding that I could be successful anywhere if I put my mind to it. My family was in a solid financial situation, but I was still in a position to receive financial aid and I was also in a position where I could get generous merit aid at most private universities. I actually ended up turning down two nearly full academic scholarships at private universities in favor of using an ROTC scholarship at a UC. Since I had applied for all three ROTC scholarships and was awarded a full scholarship from two separate branches, I was not limited to financial costs. This was the biggest factor in affording me the opportunity to choose a university father from home. </p>
<p>For those parents who think financing their child’s education will be a difficult feat, be advised that there are many scholarships out there. More than just academic and merit scholarships. It takes time, but encourage your children to apply for any and as many scholarships as possible. It only broadens their academic possibilities in terms of choosing a university. It offsets lack of financial aid and decreases the amount of loans. My dad was most interested in scholarships and had me apply for as many as possible so that I did not have to go the ROTC route, nor be limited to institutions where I received generous merit aid. In the end it all worked out. </p>
<p>It’s sad how insular the US is with college (among other things). You go anywhere in the world, and people will recognize the name Imperial but no one (or not as many at any rate) will recognize UC Santa Barbara.</p>
<p>There are highly ranked, Ivy level universities outside the US besides Oxbridge. Most Americans just are… strangely unaware of them.</p>
<p>To be honest, I’m pretty offended by that comment. At the risk of sounding conceited, it’s really frustrating that no one back home has ever heard of my uni.</p>
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Well you can’t apply to both Oxford and Cambridge in the same year anyways.</p>
<p>One restriction for me was that I either stay close to home or close to family (i.e. if I’m nearby close relatives, but farther from home, that’s also fine). Close meaning that it would be feasible for me to get there by public transport in a reasonably amount of time since I don’t have a car. I normally go to my relatives’ every weekend, sometimes more often, sometimes less.</p>
<p>My parents have no restrictions on which college I go to, but it’s my responsibility to find ways to pay if I choose an expensive or inexpensive school regardless. I’m really glad my parents aren’t so overbearing about it, because I think it’s really my choice of where/what I want to learn and what I want to do with my life, but then again they aren’t really funding my education.</p>
<p>Any school you want to go to out of state has to be in a location where Southwest flies to direct. Low fares, no change fees and two free bags really adds up! Also you save SOOO much time by avoiding connecting flights and then the multi-hour drive up into the hinterlands.</p>
<p>Can’t go to Dartmouth or Notre Dame; you have to settle for Brown or Penn or Georgetown. Sorry.</p>
<p>I am an American citizen but I have grown up in Australia. I decided I wanted to go to college in the US at about 14 (to the delight of my American father) and took the steps to make that happen - did the IB diploma (first graduating class at my high school to do the program) found test centres for SAT and ACT testing (few and far between in Australia - we had to fly out if state for one test). </p>
<p>My parents placed no restrictions on which schools I could apply to except I don’t think I would have been able to apply to more than the 12 I did for financial reasons. They didn’t even know my final list until I was sending in my applications- they asked me where I was applying and helped me narrow down my list by asking me questions about what was important to me when I asked for some help. There were obviously no distance from home restrictions, lol. Definitely no major restrictions either - but I decided on my major a fair few years ago.</p>
<p>My one requirement was that I had to apply to universities here in Australia too - including the top Australian university, the university of Melbourne (my mums school) - all of which were easily affordable. Australian admissions are based solely on exam results and we were confident I would do well enough to get into Melbourne (I did), so this meant I had great back ups, meaning my parents didn’t need to stress about me taking control of the US side of things.</p>
<p>I got into my first choice school (which is the best known for my course of study in the US) and received a great financial aid offer. I will be attending in the Autumn. Yes, I consider myself extremely fortunate for both my parents attitude during the app process and of course the outcome. I also was very thorough in my research and put in a lot of effort finding schools that really fit me of all different selectivity levels. The fact that my parents weren’t controlling the process meant I really needed to put a Iot of work in on my own initiative. </p>
<p>For sure finances. If we can’t afford it, it’s out.</p>
<p>Geography, and that’s related to finances. Within a 12 hour drive of home is about where we are. So west coast is out, but much of midwest, east coast and south is in. If you HAVE TO fly, it’s out. Not that they’d never fly, but that driving in a day is possible.</p>
<p>This restriction may be more or less restrictive depending on which airport(s) you live near. From Chicago (Midway), Baltimore, Oakland, Los Angeles, Nashville, Houston (Hobby), and Phoenix, there are many choices. From Des Moines, Amarillo, Portland (Maine), Jackson, and Corpus Cristi, the choices are fewer. Also, Southwest is not necessarily the cheapest airline on all routes.</p>
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<p>What if a school outside the geographic restriction is so much cheaper than others within the geographic restriction that it is still cheaper even when adding the cost of plane tickets?</p>
<p>^That’s why my son is at a school 13+ hours away. Even with the handful of flights back and forth each year, it’s still a great value. And no, we don’t use Southwest. </p>
<p>D wants to go to a small LAC, so cost is the overriding factor in her choice. We are allowing her to apply anywhere in the country. She has not expressed interest in applying out of the country, although she does want to study abroad. She may choose any college that will give her merit aid that exceeds what our state flagship would cost plus what we spend on her current extra curricular activities (a pretty penny when I added it all up.) She is a high stats kid, so to get the merit aid she needs she is applying mainly to schools where she will be in the upper % of the class. Surprisingly, most of her choices are in CTCL, so I am pretty happy with her selection of schools.</p>
<p>My parents and I agreed on the following: I have to be within a 3 hour drive from our home, and I cannot be in a city.</p>
<p>These restrictions are probably due to the fact that I’m an only child who grew up in a small farming community. I’m also a first-generation college student, and I’ve seen reports that parents of first generation students are more likely to confine their child to a smaller distance from home when looking at colleges.</p>
<p>Rural New England is my favorite, though, so I am totally okay with all of this. :D</p>
<p>My parent’s didn’t really set too many restrictions. The main thing was that I couldn’t go completely across the country, but the west coast doesn’t interest me, anyway. I’m going 12 hours from home - Miami bound! - and my parents completely support my decision. If I had fallen in love with a west coast school and had gotten full scholarships, my parents would have let me attend. In the end, they wanted it to be my decision. My mom is not happy about the fact that I’m heading 12 hours south and my sister is spending a semester 10 hours north, but she knows that we’ll be perfectly fine. </p>
<p>My sister is going to be in NYC and I’ll be in Miami, and the decision belonged to us. My parents are incredibly supportive of us.</p>
This is very true, especially here in Appalachia, where most students are first-gen. Parents have a very real fear of their children leaving the area and not returning home to live - never mind that there are no jobs in their field within a 200-mile radius of home. There was an article in our local paper recently about a young man who had just turned 30 and was beginning a new job at Walmart. He was a CPA, but couldn’t find a job locally and refused to even consider leaving his hometown. I sympathize up to a point … I would love for my sons to stay within 50 miles or so after college, but not if they have to work BS $10.00-an-hour jobs for the rest of their lives. </p>
<p>My restrictions weren’t unusual -I don’t think so anyways. I could apply to any instate public school I wanted. However I could only apply to OOS or private schools that were worth the cost/travel time. By worth the cost we essentially went by prestige and major ranking. I also had to search for scholarships on my own to alleviate the cost. i was perfectly happy with all of these restrictions, especially since I’m a Californian so my instate public options are great schools.</p>
<p>My mom and dad didn’t have to set any restrictions on me, because it didn’t get that far. I set them on myself. Cost was my number one priority. I don’t want to take out a lot of student loans, so that meant instate public schools close to home. I’m in Southern California, and the instate public schools down here are fantastic. </p>
<p>My parents did not want me going to college in California, nor did they want me to pass up my acceptance to the University of Montana. Especially not for a community college. They were also very adamant that I be a computer science major. I don’t live with them and they aren’t paying, however, so I went and did what I wanted. I’m studying Geography at a community college in the Bay Area in preparation for an urban planning program. They were a bit mad at first, but they got over it and realized that I was doing what was best for me.</p>
At the risk of sounding conceited, it’s really frustrating that no one back home has ever heard of my uni.</p>