<p>The idea that those who receive any FA from colleges don’t work as hard as those who are full pay is hard for me to reconcile.</p>
<p>I’m glad poor kids are getting a chance to attend selective universities (and any university) so that they have a chance to break the cycle of low income families. The more who can be educated in this country, the better.</p>
<p>What is the deal with a poor student feeling entitled to aid?</p>
<p>If a poor student chooses to go to a 30K per year school because they promise 25K per year, the student should feel entitled to that aid. It was the policy dictated by the school, the student applied to the school, and now they’re expecting the policy to be upheld.</p>
<p>Although what I do think is ******y is when people from Ivy-clueless communities tell their friends “Yale and Princeton are offering me FULL RIDES to go.” And generally the reaction is wow! You must be brilliant to go to that school AND get a full ride!</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with telling people how good the aid is. But when you act like they offered a merit based full ride its just so you can disingenuously impress the people you meet more.</p>
<p>Just received a request from our high school asking for scholarship info which will be printed in the graduation bulletin. Here is the question:
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<p>1sokkermom: "The resentment lies in part to the “entitlement” attitude. Just because some one is poor, they are not entitled to financial aid. Believe it or not, some of these “poor” kids really don’t work any harder or smarter than the kids who get no aid because they are not “poor”. "</p>
<p>I’m sorry but I think the “entitlement attitude” is with the wealthy kids and even more so with their parents. We’re not poor or wealthy. My wife stays home full-time with our youngest who has special needs. My income alone puts our EFC at 55K–with one kid in college (we now have two, so our EFC got cut in half temporarily). It just seems like the wealthy people on this thread feel a sense of entitlement for their child, a resentment that poorer kids with stats no more spectacular than their kid’s stats receive financial aid and call it “scholarships” when their luckier kid can only qualify for a merit scholarship. Thus, they feel only their kid is “entitled” to refer to their award as a scholarship.</p>
<p>Kajon: My D turned down several merit scholarships from different schools and will instead attend a school that does not give merit based scholarships. She has chosen not to declare how much “scholarship” she will receive from the school She will only announce her NMS scholarship. Others will be stating such non-merit information but she feels it is unfair because she didn’t “earn” it.</p>
<p>@1sokkermom – your post #147 was excellent. You raised your son well.</p>
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<p>My thoughts exactly. This is an especially worrisome problem in the press, I think. I was interviewed for a news story the other day and mentioned I got a fellowship (merit aid) and assistantship (job) to attend grad school. Even though the assistanship was technically “merit based,” I do hope those two aren’t muddled together in the article, though I suspect they might be.</p>
<p>Some of these posts make me want to vomit. There is such a air of superiority among those who pay full price for their kids education. I would love for just one person to tell me to my face that one of my three kids at top tier schools should not have been there. I would like to know if you only think your precious little full pay kids are the only ones that should study at the finest institutions in the country. One day each of my three kids will be making great contributions to their community, and possibly to the world. My daughter also receives a bit of aid at her state school so I guess she would not have a nose turned up at her.</p>
<p>Shame on all of you who are so self rightous.</p>
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Cynic.</p>
<p>Note that I’m not saying “inaccurate” in many cases.</p>
<p>I’m appalled at some of the posts I’ve read in this thread. Of course, those who wrote those posts would be appalled that it is they whom I am appalled at. And so it goes.</p>
<p>momma-three</p>
<p>Come August I will be the parent of one of those precious full paying kids. I understand your perspective but consider another. Now that my son is 18 he can join the military, get married, enter into legally binding contracts or even quit school if he wants and there is nothing I can do about it. I can no longer access his medical records and once he gets to college I have no right to see his grades without his permission. Yet when it comes to paying for school my income and assets determine whether or not he qualifies for financial aid. He didn’t work for that money and he didn’t save it. Seems a bit contradictory to me.</p>
<p>I haven’t read all the posts here, but when my DS applied to different colleges, every one of them made him apply for FA to be eligible for ANY scholarships - including departmental and merit scholarships. It almost sounds like parents whose kids didn’t receive any scholarships want some sort of recognition that they are full pay. I guess you are to be applauded, but I was more than happy to help DS fill out that FA app. He did, indeed, win departmental and merit awards. Of course, he has to maintain a certain GPA to hang on to that money, but, hey, I don’t have to pony up the full amount so I’m happy. </p>
<p>The best idea might be to apply for FA, even if you know you can pay for the whole education, and see if your DS or DD can win some departmental and/or merit awards. I hope you wouldn’t begrudge a parent bragging rights if their child received a scholarship(s). I once heard, “It ain’t braggin’ if it’s true.” Most of us work hard to raise intelligent, responsible children. We get the blame when things go wrong. We should get the credit when things go right!</p>
<p>swdad1</p>
<p>The issue you are bringing up was also discussed in detail in this thread</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/910197-valuable-fa-package-information-hypsm.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/910197-valuable-fa-package-information-hypsm.html</a></p>
<p>I think the discussion of your particular issue starts on page 7 and goes from there.</p>
<p>It was a long discussion.</p>
<p>A full pay student wouldn’t say, “I got into Princeton, and I am a full pay.” That would be to show off the student’s family financial position, and people would think the student was obnoxious. Why should a FA student say, “I got into Princeton, and I have a full ride”? That is bragging, and also misleading to some people. Wouldn’t a simple statement, “I got into Princeton and I am going” be sufficient?</p>
<p>I am not so much of a cynic, I am more of a realist.</p>
<p>the phrase “need blind” is an oxymoron. sort of like “objective journalist”.</p>
<p>If you don’t like the way some schools assess aid, don’t give them your money. Be the change you want to see in the world. Support schools that offer merit scholarships by attending them.</p>
<p>@topic: This is an issue of semantics, but also one of ignorance. If you do not like people misusing terms, you must aim to educate them about the meaning of those terms.</p>
<p>skrlvr…The same way that you can’t see grades and are expected to pay based on your salary is the same thing with kids who receive aid. I have four in college so I guess I should have pushed a couple back in so as not to have four in college at the same time. My four kids attend school and all four work year round…the lousy little financial aid kids that they are. By the way my MIT kid is ready to release something that he has been working on…I guess that is only the type of stuff that full pay kids do.</p>
<p>I am of the thinking that one day my kids will be able to make donations to their respective colleges. They will also be full pay parents. They may also be full pay parents while some of the future grandparents on this board may have grandchildren that need financial aid. It is far better to keep quiet about these type of things because nobody know what the future holds.</p>
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<p>I’m chuckling because normally if someone tries to parse a specific meaning out of a common word the eyeballs start rolling. Can you imagine, you are holding a letter from selective college and it has a list like Presidential Scholarship, University Grant, Department Scholarship, etc. and the next door neighbor is trying to tell that indeed your child did not really get a scholarship…you’re instant reaction would be “what planet did you come from???”</p>
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Sure, but one either has to live with vagueness or teach specificity. I think the former is a bit more feasible, but perhaps the OP feels differently.</p>
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<p>Right. I hear plenty of misconceptions going on around me about the process. When I’m tempted to “correct” them, sometimes I have to stop myself and think – is this really because I’m trying to be the impartial bearer of neutral information, or do I have some agenda here?</p>