<p>mmmgirl, you have to decide. Would you be so miserable the state school that is close to home that you would rather not attend college next year? If you are positive that that is the case, then don’t apply. You can live at home and work for a year while you reapply to colleges. Keep in mind, of course, that your only option at the end of the following year could again be the state school or nothing.</p>
<p>Apply to the generous schools you mention, apply for scholarships, educate yourself about financial aid, do everything you can to give yourself options beyond that state school. Also do everything you can to figure out whether or not that state school might be more worthwhile than you think it is.</p>
<p>I would definitely prefer to go to some college than no college, but what would make me really unhappy would be having to stay at home.</p>
<p>Tbh, it’s not worth the application fee or the effort to apply to a school I know I’d hate going to. I’d rather take out student loans than be unhappy for at least a year, after I’ve been looking forward to college so long.</p>
<p>If it’s just the staying at home part, but the school is alright, I’d apply. I commuted to school from home and it’s really not that bad. Many of my friends did too. There’s a lot you can do to become part of campus life and make it your own. You might qualify for aid if you truly can’t afford it, and by living at home, you could work and any savings can go to moving out.</p>
<p>Definite affordability may depend on financial aid, if there is reasonable assurance of it. For example, the school may have a stated policy of how much financial aid it gives, or it has an accurate net price calculator that estimates a sufficient amount. Or it may have merit scholarships that are guaranteed for your stats.</p>
<p>so wise, so not dobable for my son, us. lower tier schools don’t have the foundations for the needbased 100% tuition. So, it’s high end to one of his 23 schools or local landgrant public school where he’ll have over 50 Dual Credits by June and can finish by age 20, but unfortunately not in what he wishes to major.</p>
<p>dammit. I wish I had an extra $5 million to give to a college who would let him in. he’s competitive, but so are thousands more for whom their are not enough seats, and many, like you say, who are more competitive than my son, who will also not get in and some can give the schools tremendous cheques. George Bush’s parent panache without even them likely having to bribe, got him into Yale. and oddly enough, he was a drunken joke there but still made it to two terms US president. really, even if my poor kid is scholarshiped in, the tight bonds formed at prestigious schools eventually get down to who can afford those trips and weekends away…we all like to be with our kind. I guess, for me, it was the dream, that what ever special knowledge and professors, and small class sizes available to the rich, I wished for my son, like all of us, I suppose.</p>
<p>^^^ Right. And some of the state college systems (Iowa has a “points” system for admissionss, Texas has a top 10% of class criteria) would make admissions a slam dunk.</p>
<p>Corneliasusie - Consider the circumstances for the middle to upper-middle class parents. Their kids usually end up going to lower tier schools BECAUSE they can’t afford the $50,000+ tuition, anyways (even for someone who makes $400,000, that’s a ton of money!). It’s not like they don’t try hard enough in HS to get in to top tier schools. Compare this to low income families who get to go to school for FREE - all they have to do is get in.</p>
<p>“Compare this to low income families who get to go to school for FREE - all they have to do is get in.”</p>
<p>Yes, so easy for lower income kids to get into the top colleges these days that is why they are practically overrunning the Ivy league, Stanford, Duke, Chicago etc. (NOT!!!).</p>
<p>muckdogs - Precisely. Why don’t you review the percentage of students receiving FA at the schools you mentioned. Perhaps then you’ll understand the huge low-income presence at expensive schools.</p>
<p>I am the oldest child in my family, so this whole college application process has been crazy. Anyways, when I was choosing my safety, I chose a state school. It could always work as a financial fallback because i am in state and they have a decent engineering program. My biggest problem was my parents wanting me to apply to the UCs like Berkeley and las Angeles, but I couldn’t explain to them that they are not viable safeties, even with my stats (which are pretty decent). So far I have been accepted to one of my matches and one of my high matches, so it has turned out not t be of issue, but choosing a financial safety in California is hard.</p>
Because all lower income students have to worry about in HS is what extra EC they can add. Some work a part-time job to support their family. For some, the only transportation they have to and from school is the school bus-- I guess no after-school clubs for them! For some, they have to watch their siblings. Some have to worry about things like where the money is going to come from until the next paycheck. If those students can do enough to get into a fantastic school while worrying about all of that, all the more power to them-- and you know what? A private institution can do whatever it pleases.</p>
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<p>Financial aid is not always a full-ride. My parents make a comfortable middle-class income for our area, which has a relatively low cost of living. We carry no debt, have paid off our mortgage, and don’t have 250+ cellphone plans each month. I will be receiving financial aid, and I am grateful for it. There are schools that I fell in love with where I could not apply because they would not give us enough FA for it to be feasible-- but that’s just reality, and that’s just another policy at private institutions.</p>
<p>And yes, safeties need to be economically affordable, whether by a lower COA or automatic merit scholarships based on stats. Maybe it’s not the dream school, but for most of America, the dream school is always going to be just a dream.</p>