<p>PoliticalProtege,</p>
<p>It’s good to know that your parents are on top of this. Every single year there are several broken-hearted parents who appear in the Financial Aid and Parents Forums in April, to lament that they have only then found out that they can’t afford the college that their child wants to attend. There also are always a bunch of “I didn’t get in anywhere I can afford” and “How am I going to pay for College X” threads started by students. It really is important for you and your parents to know about this stuff now, so you won’t have that problem in four years!</p>