<p>Our child has a good friend who accepted a full-ride offer from a school she was ‘okay’ with, and turned away from another she absolutely loved that offered very little money. The result is that she now loves the school she attends and has had amply opportunities academically and freedom financially (to study abroad, travel with friends on breaks, etc.). She will graduate totally debt free and her middle class parents have been able to help her do many things (the travels, providing spending money so that she has time for a double major as she has no work study, etc.) to add to her experience. Had she hated the full-ride school they would not have given it a second look. But she was ‘okay’ with it and they simply asked her to consider it (but left the choice to her). She thought it over and decided many of the things she loved about her original first choice were also offered at her lesser known full-ride school. The location was the big draw back (did not like the city the full ride is in), but she took the chance and went. In that case, it worked out very, very well for all involved. So, @kleelek, it is not a bad idea to introduce the NMF full ride schools to your son one last time. If in the end he settles on Pitt, fine. But there is no harm in making sure he really considers all angles of his choice. </p>
<p>I think when kids realize they might have some debt at the end of 4 years, not the parents, things look a little different. Also, visiting a NM school (like Barrett) helps to educate kids. My son recently told his younger brother that most colleges will prepare you for getting in a good grad school, whereas not all high schools prepare you to get in a good college. </p>
<p>@taben112, the story you conveyed gives me hope. S14 is in Albuquerque with my husband. He visited UNM for their “Scholars Day” yesterday. When I spoke to him on the phone last night, it was “all right.” So I don’t know if it was really all right or not all right. ? I hope to know more tonight when they return home. So far he has the nice NM + engineering offer from Bama, the full ride from UNM , and we’re waiting on some other big scholarship decisions in state. He applied to a couple of “lottery” schools RD, but we’re not holding our breath on those. UNM is OOS but not too bad of a drive, so I was hoping he would fall in love with it. If he goes to UNM, he would like to double major in physics and math. If Bama, he would like to double major in computer engineering and physics. He doesn’t appear to have a dream school, so that is good. </p>
<p>Son received EA and will be going to MIT. Would not entertain going elsewhere. </p>