<p>Thank you for the Cornell suggestion. I will also look into it. </p>
<p>Gobith, do you qualify for need based aid? In one of your posts you mention looking for merit (Cornell gives need based aid), and a small amount of need based aid.</p>
<p>If you don’t qualify for need based aid, Cornell might actually be unaffordable for you.</p>
<p>You have two children to put thru college. That could mean $500,000 in debt for undergrad. </p>
<p>Please think about how this will affect any future retirement either funding that retirement or being able to afford to be retired. I know that in some cultures there’s an expectation that children will support their parents during their older years. However, we never know who our children are going to pair up with, and any new spouse may have a different opinion about supporting parents in their old age. </p>
<p>Frankly, a career in foreign service is not worth this kind of debt. Your son is not going into i-banking. I know that you are hoping that your entrepreneurial spirit is going to be bringing in lots of money in the future but we all know that is always an iffy proposition. It’s not a good idea to count your eggs before they hatch. If you were to become sick or disabled before the riches come in you would still be stuck with all that debt. You would also get stuck with the debt if your child dies or becomes disabled. </p>
<p>You have already been very generous by providing your children an elite K-12 education. </p>
<p>I hope that there are people here who can recommend schools that are known to give very large merit for a high test score and a 3.0 GPA. </p>
<p>By the way, is that his weighted GPA and does that include all his classes including electives and PE or anything else.</p>
<p>Maybe you should create a new thread that asks for names of schools that are known to give large amounts of merit for a 34+ ACT and a 3.0 GPA. </p>
<p>I am wondering if Catholic University of America would give a lot of merit for the stats, it is located in Washington DC. The school doesn’t care what religion you are. Maybe George Mason in Virginia.</p>
<p>Also maybe universities near the United Nations building.</p>
<p>Thumper thanks for the note on Cornell. I don’t think we will qualify for need. So, Cornell might not make sense. THanks for that info.
mom2college kids: His GPA is unweighted. The courses he took are very tough: Adv. Calculus, Adv. Physics, Adv. Chem, Adv. CS and Adv. Bio. Also, world+US history (history II) and literature (russian and american). Pretty tough courses. His weighted might be closer to 3.4 or 3.5 (I think). Catholic university sounds great! His counselor just recommended it to him.
Wrt to the $500K, I understand your points. My wife and I need to do some soul searching. We clearly have no expectation of any of our kids taking care of us later. The hope is that we give them the best opportunity for them to make their lives in the future. </p>
<p>If you haven’t been able to save up money for college, where is the confidence that you will be able to repay a loan of $250,000 not including interest, coming from?</p>
<p>emeraldkity4, I am an entrepreneur and my current venture seems to be on track for an exit in about 3 years. So, it is a cash flow issue over the next three years. However, many on the board have correctly indicated the risks with banking on something that is risky. I used the proceeds from my last venture to fund my kids to a private school. Based on lot of the comments on this board I am going to explore state schools for my son where the affordability is much better. Thank you for you input and advice. They will be very helpful in shaping my family’s future.</p>
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<p>Is his weighted GPA on his transcript? Please find out… If not, can you ask the GC to include that on it? </p>
<p>I am pretty sure they don’t include the weighted GPA on the transcripts. I was told that different schools might have a different system for weighting (e.g. california campuses). I don’t know if there is a standard formula. I could ask his counselor if you think it makes sense. </p>
<p>I wanted to say how impressed I am Gobith. You’ve listened to the advice here. I think you will be happy. </p>
<p>Deb922, thank you. It is nice to receive so much well thought through advice from everyone. Thank you again!</p>
<p>The school the produces the most foreign service officers is BYU. All those missions, learning foreign languages, traveling…all good. Many schools have good government programs, foreign and domestic. When I was at my daughter’s orientation sessions, all the talk was about study abroad, government internships, politics, opportunities. The school? Wyoming, with the Cheney school of international studies and a very extensive study abroad program with a strong exchange with China. </p>
<p>Many programs, all over the country.</p>
<p>Twoinandone, thanks. Yes, as we dig in do more research, we are finding more and more colleges that can a more economical choice for us. </p>