<p>I don’t know, berryberry61. I’ve heard stories where folks make $500,000 a year for a good part of their career and still gripe about college tuition. Now that to me is crazy talk. </p>
<p>And sometimes those same folks take trips to Bermuda and Captiva Island while setting their widowed mother-in-law out on a ice-floe at the mercy of creditors over a PT Cruiser. Now that’s crazy talk to me. Different value systems, I guess?</p>
<p>Some family that works hard and just can’t shake the trees hard enough to get enough together for college? Well, I can understand that. But the conscious choice to give up riches and still be a whiner and complainer about the less fortunate getting aid that they didn’t get? That…well, it’s just something I can’t stomach. How 'bout you?</p>
<p>berryberry61…I,too, have a full tuition merit scholarship from Bama…my costs per year will be around 11k/year. Even if I got a Pell(we’re just above qualifying), it would still be 20k for my undergrad, without a Pell, it’s 11k/year for a total of 44k</p>
<p>Publics are not always an option for low income kids. Most of us need generous need based aid to keep our costs manageable, especially if we are considering medical/grad school</p>
I’m as conserative as they come and I have very mixed feelings about this. We make a $200k salary in NYC, but only because my husband works two manual labor jobs and I work tons of overtime. We’ve only made that income for the last few years, prior to that my husband made less than 20K per year. My husband also can’t read, so we’re the farthest thing from affluent/educated people. This whole process is really tough for us because we have a kid who’s much smarter than we and much smarter than we can handle. So I can see the unfairness in the system, but for me leveling the playing field to some middle amount would be “fair” but it would leave a lot of kids completely shut out. I don’t think that’s ok or desirable. Although I recognize that other opinions are valid. I recruit at Big Law, which has possibly skewed my perspective. We have exactly one attorney from a law school outside of the top ten, and that one attorney has an amazing story. However, many of those top law school graduates went to such undergrad schools as SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Albany, Seton Hall, Wagner, and even CUNYs. Which makes me believe that it is possible to succeed at less than the top undergrad schools if you make the best of it. Here in NYC, two teachers, cops, firemen, will make $200k and aren’t rich. THe numbers for housing and living on this thread are pretty low in the real world. Those municipal employees generally have residency requirements, so they can’t go elsewhere, but the costs/taxes/tolls/fares are exensive. What we decided was that our D will probably pick a school with a lower rank than she could have gotten into, accept gratefully the merit aid offered, and make the best of every opportunity that comes her way. That’s the kind of person she is and I think she will. I have a problem with demonizing people with high incomes because, frankly, a lot of people complaining could get a second job stocking shelves overnight as my husband does, they just choose not to – which is fine, but it doesn’t make my husb and a bad person. For me, I am glad that kids like R6L can find a way to make it work at schools that are right for them. The only thing I’d change if I were king would be to make tax credits available on income for every family paying for college.</p>
<p>Momofwildchild. My son does not want to go to IU. And it is a fine school. I’m a Kelley grad myself. With a 3.8 unweighted gpa with an 800 math and 670 cr on his first attempt on his SATS and a 201 PSAT and all ap classes at a blue ribbon school, where he ranks in the top 10% among a class that produced 4 of the top 10 state math students, he’ll have lots of good choices…particularly being a barely 16 yo junior, grade accelerated and playing on the city championship basketball team. Not to mention his music, art and language talents. I’m not too worried about him. He’s tall, handsome and articulatel He will apply to a lot of good schools and will likely be accepted at many, but we are not going into debt for his undergraduate education. It would be foolish. And it should not be the way that the system works. But yea for you and affirmative action.</p>
<p>Your child has a 1470 SAT score…he’s bright, but not nearly as bright as you seem to believe. There are THOUSANDS of kids as smart or smarter(according to SAT percentiles, there are more than 50,000 with better scores than him)</p>
<p>so please don’t act like we all should be in awe of your child. He’s going to get into a good school, but probably not a tippy top one…
He will have lots of good choices, odds are most will be on par with IU</p>
<p>And please stop blaming AA policies. I’m a URM(as I’ve said before) and still have fantastic scores and have just as many hurdles as white kids do</p>
<p>debrockman- I’m sure your son is a fine young man, but he doesn’t sound particularly distinctive. Being young is not a plus, by the way. You have a LOT to learn. I’m sure he will have some good choices- but I’m not at all sure he’s going to get the kind of merit money that you are banking on (pun intended) to match up with those choices.<br>
Don’t put the affirmative action thing on ME!! You are the one who is so sure the black kid with the 600 is inferior to your kid. I just watched Vandy’s starting point guard play- I doubt he had an 800 math score, but one of my friends is a Vandy prof and taught him in class and said he’s an awesome student. AND-he brings a sold-out crowd to their feet! I say Vandy’s money was well spent on this kid! GO IU!!</p>
<p>Why? Someone who makes $500K is not allowed to complain about paying out $200k for 4 years of tuition? I think anyone - no matter if they make nothing or millions have the right to complain. Why don’t you</p>
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<p>Hmmm, so lets see - you are ok with people like you getting handouts from colleges but not ok with people who earn their money taking a vacation? Wow. And while I can’t speak to Captiva island, I actually did have a chance to visit Bermuda once - its a lovely place to spend a vacation.</p>
<p>Debrockman-I guess what I don’t get is that if you think your kid is so great and will have such great choices ( and I’m sure he will), what is the harm in wishing all the best for other kids, including those kids who come from families that have much less money than you say your family has. Providing opportunities for all the great kids out there can only help us all.</p>
<p>So you are complaining with a full loaf under your arm. WOW. And of course you are leaving the tax writeoff’s out of the equation - so your cost is less than that.</p>
<p>But lets say you still have to borrow $20K (with tax credits it would be about half that) - why are you complaining. lets see - pay $20K or pay $200K like full pay families who subsidize others have to do? Hmmm</p>
<p>I would also like to add that Malcolm Gladwell makes an interesting point in his book Outliers</p>
<p>There was a study at Michigan Law School that found that even the minorities with lower scores were successful in school and in life. THey looked at every indication of real world success and saw NO disparities. </p>
<p>So, would you all quit with the “horrible underqualified URM” sob story. It doesn’t matter that they aren’t the best, they are, in the worlds of Gladwell “good enough” and that’s all the matters for success</p>
<p>If you want another interesting study, look at Terman’s California Prodigy study(called Termites) THese were the best of the best and they weren’t exceptional</p>
<p>Above a certain threshold, there is no benefit to IQ or SAT…you just have to be above this threshold to succedd and all URM’s at Ivies are above this threshold and thus are worthy</p>
<p>EDIT; Also, at Bama,even full pay is only like 120k OOS and 80k IS…
Also, how do these tax credits help me??? I"M PAYING FOR IT, not my parents and I want to go to medical school</p>
<p>There are a lot of really touchy affirmative action cases on this Board…who apparently are touchy about their crummy SATs and the fact that people point out that better students are getting the shaft in their stead! LOL</p>
<p>And, yes, the schools DO care that he has functioned as well as he has in a system as tough as he has, having been grade accelerated. But bottom line, he will go where he can go on the money we have saved and the merit he earns because we don’t have our hand out. Too bad more Americans don’t think they only deserve what they really have earned.</p>
<p>Apologies if y’all have already covered this – I read about the first eight pages of the discussion – but it’s my understanding that the financial aid calculations DON’T assume or require that both parents work. Is that correct?
What’s putting my family in the full pay bracket is the fact that I have a job, along with my husband who works full time. If, on the other hand, I stayed home (which would undoubtedly be a lot more relaxing), we would be entitled to financial aid. That seems wrong to me – and once again, discriminatory. It feels as though I’m being penalized for working, by being charged more for college. Or am I reading this wrong?</p>
<p>Debrock- Do you think my family is an affirmative action case? Geez. Nope. My kid had a “unique” transcript and brought some negatives and positives to the table. We are full pay. Two privates. Could NOT have done it, by the way, on our salaries but were fortunate to have some other resources. I don’t begrudge anyone else a place at the schools, though.</p>
<p>Nope - not sure why you would think that or why it would be even relevant but whatever</p>
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<p>You are the only one whining here. i am stating my opinion - you simply don’t like it. Tough - I could care less what you like. You got you FA handout for your kid - you are happy the system is as flawed as it is. Oh well . . .</p>