<p>Yes, it is devastating when a student who worked hard can’t attend the school of his/her choice. It is, however, a reality with which the OP must deal. I won’t address the remainder of your post, because I vowed in another thread to be nice. ;)</p>
<p>Soco. Please…either your family has the financial resources to support OOS costs…or they don’t. Which is is? On one hand you say they can pay, and on the next you say they are tho kong they can get instate tuition by putting you in legal guardianship with a grandparent. I’m sorry but in my opinion, that is a drastic measure just to satisfy your desire to go to an OOS college. And I don’t think the process is as easy as you think.</p>
<p>So…I’m going to reiterate what I said in a previous post or two. </p>
<p>You have MANY ways you can help your parents cut costs. You can commute to GM from home…paying just the instate tuition costs. You could attend ODU which is instate and where you possibly could get a merit award. You could start at a community college and then transfer to a four year university. You could go to ANY instate VA public university for a fraction of the cost of attending an OOS school.</p>
<p>Those are ways YOU could save your family money for college costs. </p>
<p>From your responses here, it is clear that none of these options is a palatable choice for YOU…so I guess saving money is NOT your top concern.</p>
<p>That being the case, you need to discuss college costs with your parents. You need to find out exactly what they are willing and able to pay for each of your college years. Then you need to pick a college within their price point.</p>
<p>If you want to pay instate costs, I would suggest that you apply to the instate public universities in the state where your parents reside.</p>
<p>ETA…this student is NOT being “punished” because his parents are high wage earners. He has many options…MANY…and many much more affordable than an OOS public if need be.</p>
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<p>Actually, the correct viewpoint is that it is okay not to reward someone (with fin aid) because their parents make money.</p>
<p>Fin Aid is not an entitlement so no one is being punished because they didn’t get as much as the wanted.</p>
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<p>My DS is an excellent, excellent driver. Despite that he isn’t getting a Porsche because the money is not there.</p>
<p>Too many students focus on a “dream school” when actually there is no ONE school that will give them a good education in their field. </p>
<p>If 30,000 HS seniors across the country dream of going to Harvard they should all be able to go there? :rolleyes:</p>
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<p>Apples and orange. A Porsche doesn’t have the same long-term benefits as a top-tiered school. Pardon what I said earlier, though. I just wonder what the point is in having some students working extremely hard in hs (i.e., I’ve pulled 6 all-nighters so far this school year to get homework done. Not because of time management issues, but because I’m in 8 AP’s) to go to the same school they would have had they been relaxing and/or partying instead.</p>
<p>But, c’est la vie.</p>
<p>P.S. this student lives in Virginia. Virginia has a large number of highly regarded public universities. The student has gotten accepted to Georgia Tech (congrats)…but what about Virginia Tech which would be a fraction of the cost. UVA is one of the most highly regarded public universities in this country. James Madison is an excellent school. ODU has very fine engineering programs. </p>
<p>It’s not like there is a shortage of instate, less expensive options.</p>
<p>BUT…in an earlier post, the OP said the parents were able and willing to pay for any college. If that is the case, there is no issue here. OP needs to clarify this with parents. If there IS a financial issue, the OP needs to be open to cost saving options…such as his own instate universities.</p>
<p>@Thumper, OP said she wanted to go OOS. UVA is a public ivy, and VA has a huge amount of great, inexpensive options; however, personal preferences win.</p>
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<p>No, it is the same.
More and more people for this generation (parents included) seems to view that fin aid is an entitlement. When I grew up, in the old days, fin aid was a gift. It was aid, help.</p>
<p>Not all top-tiered schools have long term benefits. Some people don’t do well, some fail out, some people don’t take advantage of the opportunities.</p>
<p>Now a Porsche has benefits too. They are just different from those of a going to a top tier school.</p>
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<p>The point is always the journey, not the destination (especially if you drive a Porsche). You hopefully will be learning a lot from those 8 APs that will benefit you in the future. You probably also learned a bit about time management, prioritization, dealing with heavy workloads that will also benefit you in the future (just wait until you get the first boss that really pushes you - you respond well and you will do great…you crash like one of those partiers and you will be unemployed).</p>
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Haha, very true! And thank you, I appreciate the honesty.</p>
<p>Texas has a significantly higher property tax. Also do not forget salaries in general are much higher where you live vs Texas.</p>
<p>Vctory…personal preferences only win if you can PAY for them. This OP came here asking about saving money…but really, I’m not convinced the OP cares about saving money. The OP cares about attending the colleges of choice. Seems those carry a large price tag. Fine if his family can pay. Not fine if they can’t.</p>
<p>This OP is NOT being “punished” in any way. The OP has many, many choices that are more affordable than OOS schools IF that is necessary. </p>
<p>The guardianship with grandma thing really makes me wonder about the financial viability of OOS costs for this family. I hope the OP clarifies the cost issues with his family ASAP.</p>
<p>Socoengineer, one of my friend’s DD (has a hispanic parent, so perhaps some scholarship) went to Clemson (OOS) specifically because they have a packaging eng major - mom is a Civil Eng grad of UA; they very closely researched various eng fields and various schools of course with school visits - and DD is very happy there. I have two friends attend VaTech as OOS - both are current juniors; fella is eng major and is in ROTC; DD had an ACT of 29 but is smarter than that (too much swim team sidetracked the ACT prep) and had a great private parochial education, graduating from a HS in Houston - she is in CS and has always loved programming. Her family is paying full freight. She has had so many opportunities from tech companies (fly out, look around, internships), had great summer jobs, had a part-time programming job this semester (cont. from the last summer job); she is currently doing a semester in Japan. So do not overlook opportunities close - to say you do not like the weather or there will be kids from your high school - big enough campus; the money saved and perhaps great opportunities is way too much for those ‘issues’. I would closely look at Va Tech and your other top in-state school. Have you visited Ga Tech? A friend’s son is a freshman there and loves it, while another friend totally ruled it out after their car was broken into with their campus visit (dad had graduated from Ga Tech, so they went with high expectations of liking it). How sure are you on engineering major? My older DD wanted to study medicine but agreed to enter an honors nursing scholars program; now as a 2nd semester college sophomore, she wants to finish nursing and go on for nurse practitioner. My younger DD explored various eng fields then went to one week UA Summer Student Introduction to Engineering (SITE) - three sections of the one week program offered for students the summer between HS junior and senior year (about half of attendees are OOS). She confirmed her interest in civil eng. After hard work, she pulled her ACT to 30 on the Dec testing (last opportunity for UA scholarship). UA is her school of choice, but we have been to a number of things there - regular tour, A Day, Engineering Day, two UA Honor Band (invitation plus audition), Two Summer Crimson Band Camp. In Jan we will go to their Capstone Scholars Day, and in Feb she will be at her final UA Honor Band. I would look at how strong the Society of Women Eng. student chapter is - you can fit in with the other eng women. Friends’ kids in eng are often in study groups and develop a lot of comrade-re with their close study buddies and room-mates. Do what is BEST for you. Look at the price difference between Va Tech and GA Tech once the dust settles. Sometimes one school will match another’s scholarship package. How much have your parents weighed in with their views? I do know quite a bit about schools and programs - I have one bachelor’s (private school, double major finished in 8 semesters), two graduate degrees from state universities (schools in WI, TX, AL), but really learned a lot with starting college visits early - making opportunities with OOS trips and heavily evaluated in-state private and public colleges, with much learning from other students/family friends - hearing the reasoning behind their choices and how well the students handled their chosen college. My state (AL) has good options, and you have good options in your area. My DD does not come home often, but can come home without a lot of travel time and expense; DD at UAB is 100 miles from home, and UA is 150 miles (UA is 50 miles to B’ham, so both DD will be geographically close). Between both DD we spent $49K on parochial high school - so it is a blessing that this has paid off with the in-state college scholarships, along with the college pre-paid state program for both (we paid in up front in 1995 and 1996) that pays for housing since not needed for tuition. Also, who knows what might happen to parents’ income - mom has illness. I am a stage III cancer survivor and just am getting my health back. I listen to Dave Ramsey and younger DD had the semester personal finance class that follows his videos and used a class work book. Be very careful with student loans - just look up the horror stories. Look at DaveRamsey.com to see more about student loans. Yes, sometimes I agree needed (H graduated from eng school and had some student loans). Do a cost/benefit analysis. An advantage of a ‘techie’ school is that employers like to recruit - internships, co-op, etc. School is a balance - however college academics has to be first (which includes how well you can do at that particular school). Also look at how likely you can finish the program in 4 years, or how costly an extra semester or year will be. Good luck socoengineer - sounds like you have made great progress on the college selection process.</p>
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<p>Are those scholarships automatic for your stats or competitive. It would be unwise to make your decision dependent on getting a competitive scholarship that you are not certain on getting.</p>
<p>Co-op jobs are also not guaranteed.</p>
<p>Before depending on getting Georgia residency, read the rules to see if it can be done.
[GT</a> Catalog : Financial : General : Classification of Students for Tuition Purposes](<a href=“http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/financial/general/classification.php]GT”>http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/financial/general/classification.php)</p>
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<p>However, if the student and parents cannot afford the expensive college, better to figure it out now than figure out after the student drops out after running out of money and accumulating debt.</p>
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<p>Many students are constrained in their college choice by affordability. The OP is fortunate to have good in-state public choices and likely other low cost choices (see [post</a> 48](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1599968-high-income-family-there-anyway-me-get-financial-aid-4.html#post16788974]post”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1599968-high-income-family-there-anyway-me-get-financial-aid-4.html#post16788974) for possibilities). It is not like the only affordable school is the local commuter state university that does not offer her intended major or something else that is a poor fit.</p>
<p>Why stop at having relatives become the guardian? Why not go for independent status and get all the aid she can? Have parents beat her and get put into foster care. Then she can really live that OOS dream, saving all kinds of money and being fiscally responsible. Sheesh, time for bed.</p>
<p><a href=“tl;dr”>quote</a>: it’s wrong to punish students for their parents making more money.
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<p>Oh please. Not going to a pricey OOS and/or private school is “punishment”?
I’d love to be “punished” for my parents making several times the national median income.</p>
<p>I think it’s great that the OP found a doable school. Best of luck!</p>
<p>It is very difficult to trick Georgia Tech into qualifying you for in-state tuition. Don’t count on being able to fool them.</p>
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This is not a new problem. This has been the case for over 30 years. The OP happens to be in the enviable position of being able to afford an OOS public U.</p>
<p>Interesting thread…</p>
<p>For future reference for other families though…</p>
<p>Don’t wait until January of senior year to begin these discussions! This dialogue should happen LONG before that!</p>