<p>^^^Hard to believe, but this is exactly the situation a friend of my daughter is in. She took the flagship U, here in town, off her list altogether despite being eligible for multiple merit scholarships because her dad insisted she would have to live at home if she went there. Makes no sense to me.</p>
<p>This issue is emblematic of a number of issues that different families look at in very different ways. Of course, finances are a big factor. However, beyond that, some parents view the acquisition of a college education as primarily a necessary business function of childrearing, like making sure the child is taken to the dentist. They believe their child’s college should be as frugal as is practical, and do not embue the experience with sentimentality. Many times these parents worked themselves through college. They think their 18-year-old is now an adult and can contribute like an adult.</p>
<p>Other parents think that the college experience is much more than the education. They want their child to build memories of a happy, prototypical, dorm and campus, “Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland” experience. </p>
<p>Neither is wrong, just different. It is rather sad when parent and child are in different camps.</p>
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<p>I totally agree with the point of your post skyhook, but I think the sentence above is not fair. I think it would be more accurate to say some parents view a college education in terms of the academic educational aspect, the goal being to get an education. And not as a special ‘whole college experience’ or rite of passage that involves dorm living. The latter is a distinctly and almost uniquely American thing. And ridiculously overrated (even though I have totally bought into it myself, given my upbringing).</p>
<p>Hard to believe, but this is exactly the situation a friend of my daughter is in. She took the flagship U, here in town, off her list altogether despite being eligible for multiple merit scholarships because her dad insisted she would have to live at home if she went there. Makes no sense to me.</p>
<p>Exactly…this is what it means to be penny-wise and pound foolish! </p>
<p>Some people will really let their blind stubbornness get in the way of common sense.</p>