<p>Kentuckymom and others…we are in the same boat. We have been frugal, hard workers through the years planning for our kids to get great educations, only to be “penalized” with zero need-based aid. Furthermore, a near-perfect SAT, Valedictorian, multiple APs, NMF, Pres Scholar candidate, great ECs and volunteer activities, and a double Vandy legacy did not garner any merit aid other than the NMF award. D will go to Vandy because she loves it, but the experience has left a bad taste in all our mouths.</p>
<p>You guys have got me biting my nails about financial aid now. efc of 33k… will I get anything, my parents aren’t rich at all, hardworking, frugal, just so we could save up for my education… someone???</p>
<p>yayy…my efc and my parents are very similar to yours. We ended up with 22k in grants and 2k in work study. I think Vanderbilt does a good job of matching your EFC - the only problem is when your EFC is ridiculously out of proportion with your lifestyle and resources. So we are sitting here, anxiously doing calculations to see if we can afford vandy (or northwestern, which costs about the same for us). My parents are willing to try if my heart it set on one of these top schools, but I think it’ll mean no more vacations or eating out for about 30 yrs, and my parents retirement will probably take a serious hit. My one consolation is that hopefully by going to one of these top schools I’ll be able to get a decent paying job after college and make it up to my parents somehow.</p>
<p>kentuckymom-
I can understand your frustration, as we have paid every penny out of pocket for the last 4 years for our daughters education at Vanderbilt. However- it is a choice we made and she has absolutely loved her Vanderbilt experience! The “funny” part is that she received no academic merit scholarship awards yet she is set to graduate in the top 2-3% of her class- not an easy thing to do at Vanderbilt! Perhaps financially this wasn’t the best decision on our part (especially in the light of the current economic situation) but it’s almost over & we will eventually pay off the debt we have accrued. The payoff for us- no one will ever be able to take her education away! Good luck in your search for a better place!</p>
<p>vanderbilt was actually extremely generous with financial aid for me… too bad i’m going somewhere else</p>
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<p>I actually DO think this is FAIR. Remember…FAIR is not always EQUAL. There is a difference. </p>
<p>You are not being PUNISHED. In fact, you child is being rewarded for your forward planning. Most families (note…most…I’m sure there are some “slackers in the bunch”) who have been able to save enough money to pay the full freight at a private school CAN do this…they scrimped and saved…yes, but they were ABLE to do so. MOST families who have those really LOW EFCs are families who are not able to save this amount of money because they simply don’t have the income.</p>
<p>Be grateful that you planned ahead for your child and that you can so generously contribute to her college education instead of being resentful of folks who are not as fortunate as your family is.</p>
<p>You know, I get what the above poster is saying, but I also get what all the moms are saying. It’s truly a great accomplishment if you are struggling just to not be homeless and pay off your electricity bills (my friend did this and he’s at MIT right now) and excel in education. But, it’s also another thing to know that you have money and planned ahead, but you’re getting zip from hard work. Both sides are justified in this.</p>
<p>Yayy, You will be a great politician someday lol.</p>
<p>I think the issue is not that they have saved money and now have to pay that money - which is what I thought it was saved for?? But… that some people chose to spend lavishly and not save so they get aid - however, I think alot of fin aid is dependent on income where spending or saving is not relevant. My two cents!</p>
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<p>Apparently, I am also being asked to “generously” contribute to other’s education as well. And I have no choice as to whose education I am contributing to. Also after paying a greater incremental share of taxes to support this same kind of system on a national scale. </p>
<p>As I said before, this system is fine as long as the “haves” go for it. When they decide not to, the money will run out. Then people will want the government to step in, and the new “even” playing field will result in the quality of education being dropped down several notches. </p>
<p>This is pure socialism, wealth redistribution at the college level. It won’t work forever. Especially with the decreased value and quantity of endowments due to the current economic situation. Wait till inflation kicks in.</p>
<p>Agreed. And if Vandy keeps alienating its alums by not admitting their kids, the alum support $ will begin to erode as well.</p>
<p>Kentucky…I agree, but luckily there are many many other choices for those of us who are not willing to subsidize other students college education. There are many who ARE willing to pay for the prestige of a top school, and so the system does work.</p>
<p>I believe there are many fabulous choices for those who don’t worry about the prestige of a top 20 school, and know that a great education can be found in a top 50 school for a lot less money, particularly for top students. We, being practical (which is why we have money in the first place) fall in this category.</p>
<p>Many hi-income people I know are perfectly willing to pay the premium for the bragging rights of sending child to top school…Good for them, they keep the system working, and keep the dream of a top student low income student alive…which is beautifully American.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is a private university. They make the rules about who they admit and how much financial aid is offered. I wouldn’t begin to tell them how to decide if a legacy means more than an SAT score, or if ethnic heritage means more than someone’s strength of schedule in high school.
As a private university, my tax dollars don’t go to Vandy–and I have no say in their decisions.
My middle child is a sophomore–admitted with no hook of any kind. She has found Vanderbilt to be the school of her dreams. While other parents are speaking of their frustration with college admissions and financial aid–please know that these problems exist at all Universities, and IMHO there is no better school than Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>One of the points that appears to be lost on many of the above posters is that kids from a “lower income” family GENERALLY haven’t had nearly the “opportunities” that kids from upper middle class families have had over the course of their K-12 schooling. For example, lower income kids GENERALLY don’t have the resorces for SAT prep classes, private tutoring, or any other perks that can be bought by the higher income families complaining on this thread. They may not have gone to a designer preschool where they learned to read at the age of three. Their parents often can’t buy them books from the book store or even a computer. Many of these lower income kids who are getting need based financial aid are first generation college students. Often, their parents aren’t nearly as involved in this college process as much as higher income parents are. Yet, somehow they have obtained academic equallity to kids of higher socio-economic status. That is a truly unbelievable accomplishment and that is what FA offers reward, and rightfully so. Remember, colleges like Vandy want diversity amongst their student body, ethnic, geographic, socio-economic etc… </p>
<p>I think income is the primary factor colleges use to determine EFC so the arguement that the savers are being punished is not completely accurate. If a family is making $200,000 + per year, whether they have savings or not, their EFC is going to be around $50,000. If a family is making $50,000 per year their EFC will be very low, regardless of their portfolios (which are probably very low in light of their income).</p>
<p>Bottom line, if you really are that upset about “supplementing” other people’s college education at Vandy, graciously turn down their offer and move on.</p>
<p>Just my opinion :)</p>
<p>MOMofknowitall, some of us “rich kids” haven’t had those “opportunities,” either. I was given ZERO DOLLARS by Vanderbilt. Never in my life had I had an SAT prep class, a “designer” preschool (my parents taught me to read at age three, thank you), private prep school K-12, or any sort of tutoring. My parents were not involved in the college process; I did my own research, earned my own grades, and practiced with my own motivation to get into Vandy. I’ve worked my butt off to get where I am. So have my parents. In my mind, work —> reward. You work for what you get. You work to EARN things. Many kids in my situation have not “bought” their educations, as you suggest. We have worked hard to attain them, having been taught the value of hard work by our parents.</p>
<p>You make it sound as if all the people complaining on this board are ultra-privileged elitists with seven houses scattered across the globe who are anti-po’folk. This is simply not the case. I agree, low-income kids WHO HAVE WORKED HARD deserve as much money as Vanderbilt can hand them. However, that should NOT disqualify anyone who looks great on the FAFSA but in reality has a different situation.</p>
<p>I believe I am right in saying that both Kentuckymom and I believe that our extremely hard work should be rewarded by Vanderbilt. I, for one, plan to appeal.</p>
<p>if this is “pure socialism,” i suppose anarcho-capitalism is what youd consider normal.
all aboard the hyperbole train everyone</p>
<p>I am officially a fan of macaroni870 :o) so true, so true, but i don’t know how far you’ll get with an appeal… hope you’ll let us know!!</p>
<p>dad101parent, sorry but i’m going into engineering, haha, but I really couldn’t pick either side because there are very good points on both sides.</p>
<p>YAY! MY FIRST FAN! I’m so excited. :-P</p>
<p>I’ll keep y’all posted on the finaid process. They <em>are</em> Vandy, so they <em>should</em> be able to help. And I’ll fully take your place in law school, yayy!</p>
<p>Macaroni:</p>
<p>Don’t take offense to my post, I wasn’t intending to offend anyone. Additionally, I made some generalizations but obviously every case is different. However, with that being said, if your EFC exceeds the cost of Vandy, your family is well off, plain and simple. Your family is not making 100,000 and Vandy is expecting 55,000 of it. Under no FA formula does that take place. If your parents aren’t helping out that’s an entirely different story and you should bring that to Vandy’s attention, not sure it will make much of a difference though. </p>
<p>The theme of my earlier post is that all things being equal, “GENERALLY” it can be much harder for kids of a lower socio-economic status to obtain the same educational achievements as those who are in a higher socioeconomic class. It’s painting with a broad brush but I’m pretty sure statistics support my hypothesis. So, if these kids can gain admission to a school as prestigous as Vandy, and their parents don’t make much money, then Vandy should absolutely give them a generous financial aid award. If you feel that’s not fair, oh well.</p>
<p>MOMofknowitall:</p>
<p>What you say about the EFC being greater than/equal to Vandy tuition is a LIE. I’m sorry that you feel this way. To put this in a perspective you might be able to understand: my parents are both retired. Their pensions total less than $100,000 annually. My father has terminal cancer that prevents him from walking, and usually from leaving his bed. The medical bills are catastrophic. On top of this, we have been in court for the past two years being sued by malicious troublemaking New York fraud artists. The legal bills are exponentially worse than the medical bills. On paper, it looks as though we are incredibly wealthy, with two houses and a Mercedes. In reality, though, that is simply not the case. As much as I’d love to go into every tiny detail of a lot of financial circumstances that DO NOT show up on the FAFSA, there isn’t room on this board.</p>
<p>I also believe you did not read my post. I specifically stated, “I agree, low-income kids WHO HAVE WORKED HARD deserve as much money as Vanderbilt can hand them.” How this translates into me thinking that kids with low incomes don’t deserve money from Vanderbilt is beyond me. Statistics may support your hypothesis, but people are not statistics.</p>