<p>I am so pathetic I lived at home during law school too. Never left town. Embarrassing.</p>
<p>They first might go to a community college, while in community college they work saving money to transfer to another college or university.</p>
<p>The employer tuition reimbursement plan is a path that should be reinforced. We hire 2 year degree kids as technicians and then encourage them to take a course a semester - pay the tuition - to get their engineering degrees. </p>
<p>Not for the light hearted.</p>
<p>Students who are "poor" (which could mean everything from truly destitute to just plain unable to take as much as a dollar away from the family's needs to put money towards tuition) often go to state schools, work and take out loans. They live frugally. They work part time after classes every day, they work on weekends and they work on vacations. When the opportunity arises, they work an extra day here or there at a different job. They take out loans for the rest and then work really hard after graduation to pay off those loans. It's not ideal, but it's the way that a lot of us got ourselves through school.</p>
<p>csufstudent: And they convinced you cutting the reimbursement was a good thing! And you stayed perky! Because positive thinking is a good thing!</p>
<p>Which makes my point--you have to really WANT a college education and then figure out how to get it. How many of our fully parent-subsidized students waste their time partying at school and, if suddenly left on their own, wouldn't bother finishing?</p>
<p>LoL...my parents would probably rather I -didn't- go to college.</p>
<p>JCampbell's post is outstanding and really addresses the question.</p>
<p>"Poor people" go to state schools. I've found them to be infinitely more diverse from an income standpoint than any private.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I am so pathetic I lived at home during law school too. Never left town. Embarrassing.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not embarrassing anymore once you become a hotshot lawyer. LOL</p>
<p>I'm poor but I'm attending a really expensive private school instead of cheap state school... All the grants my school offered me equaled more than the scholarships my state school offered me so its not so bad... I get 31-32K in grants and then i gotta covered the rest which is around 8K-10K a year. I cover my own spending money with workstudy and have 5K loans per year. My parents cover 5K ish plus 2-3K from his work benefit.</p>
<p>Poor people can go to college and I saw enough of them. good luck</p>
<p>My legal guardian hurt his shoulder and had surgery, and was therefore off of work this whole year. Our total income, including mine, is about $20,000 maximum.. What can I expect from FAFSA and schools?</p>
<p>I have a 3.5ish GPA and 31 ACT, so I just might get some merit aid.</p>
<p>Navy ROTC, baby</p>
<p>Some flock to Canada where tuition at even the top universities like McGill is $10000-12000 a year and that includes housing and meal plans.</p>
<p>I think we should just hear from people who are trying to get through school now. It was much easier in "the old days". My college was free and on my $2000 loan and $1000 Pell Grant and maybe another $3000 earned income I was able to live on my own in New York City. My rent in an apartment was $200 a month and I ate out all the time too. It's sad that the Pell Grants today are just about the same nominal amount as they were 30 years ago.</p>
<p>I think they actually just made Pell Grants harder to get as well, although they did bump the amount of Stafford loans up a smidge.( however- Democrats are likely to have this on their agenda <a href="http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061203/NEWS01/612030318/1010%5B/url%5D">http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061203/NEWS01/612030318/1010</a>)</p>
<p>I also know that while upper & upper middle income families find Canadian universities to be a great deal, a truly low income family, is going to have a heck of a time finding $12,000 for international education.</p>
<p>The way I understand it, if you are attending a school out of the country, you aren't likely to be eligible for any aid from your institution, so it is a good deal for families who weren't going to be eligible for need based aid in US.</p>
<p>I worked full time, taking classes at night at a CC, and living at home. Got all A's, dean's lsit, the attention of several proffesors, and transfered to McGill, where I managed to get Quebec tuition through some clever trickery. 2 yrs. of Quebec tution=3800 Canadian. I took govt. loans for living expenses, and I'm going to work in sales during the summer back at home.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I'm not actually poverty level poor. I just don't have the support of my parents. I don't how kids who need their income just to survive and don't have the skills to earn enough money to actually save would do it, as far as getting a full B.A. Also, most kids from the projects don't have the educational benefits to score well enough to get full aid from Harvard or Yale, just like most rich kids don't have the stats either. Most of my more dedicated friends from the projects in Dorchester/Roxbury went to Bunker Hill Community College while working some service job, such as a bank teller (the lucky ones, that is...many are in jail, on the streets, etc.). One kid I knew got a full scholarship to the University of Kentucky and was shot only a few days later because of a mistaken identity. Being poor can be very discouraging, and I don't think parents growing up in lower middle class households in the 50's and 60's can compare their experience to a member of the inner-city working poor. For one, college tuiton has increased by a much a greater degree than inflation for the past 10 years, and certainly much, much faster than real wage increases for unskilled labor. Also, the private household savings rate is now negative, where as it use to be something like 15% of income in the 60's. Many people are so crushed by debt, taking out more would be unthinkable.</p>
<p>also, I have to shed light on something, which is that many students today resort to the black market economy to earn enough for school. Simply put, $7/hr, 4o hrs. a week isn't going to make a dent in the money you need for school. A week buys you a textbook for one class. I know girls that strip at clubs, escort, and plain old turn tricks to pay for school (including one who is pre-med). A lot of guys sell drugs to rich kids who don't have any better place to burn their cash. Others play high-stakes poker, if they have unusual ability. Some scalp tickets. There are millions of hustles out there.</p>
<p>Well, I suppose that is my current position. I am considered low income, and plan to go to college. </p>
<p>It'd be very nice to go to Harvard or Princeton, but even though I have the most rigorous schedule offered at my school, that hardly compares to the schedules of other people in better schools. My SATs are not incredibly spectacular either. I have, however, gotten very involved with my community, in volunteering and also activities that I have both learned from and enjoyed. I am trying to get a job now but there aren't many around that are hiring younger than 18 and also my mother needs me at home. (Transportation is also a problem- my mother has no car).</p>
<p>I do not expect large merit scholarships and will most likely have to take out loans. I currently have $0 saved up for college (can't really save when every penny is needed...). My mum is the only one that works. </p>
<p>So how do poor people go to college? How will I go to college?</p>
<p>By taking advantage of every little opportunity that comes my way. Rewards come not without sacrifice and I am not afraid of work. These are the cards I have been dealt, but I plan on shuffling that deck and picking out some more.</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>My family was/is dirt poor. I took time off after high school to work. Now I have a career in accounting making more than most college grads start out at and I have a great credit rating should I need to take out private loans. My parents have terrible credit and private loans would have never been an option before. I am 22 years old, I have 70 units under my belt from community college and I am trying to transfer to either UCLA, UCB, UCSD, NYU or Columbia. I have a 3.94 so I am hoping I will be able to get some more aid for that. Where there is a will there is a way. :)</p>
<p>"By taking advantage of every little opportunity that comes my way."</p>
<p>Absolutely!</p>
<p>Oh wow, I didn't know Harvard paid for everything and not just tuition. Better go to Harvard :)</p>
<p>Most of you probably could.</p>