<p>I would guess most of you will say there isn't any free lunch. Then, what is a Full ride for someone whose EFC is more than the State U's COA? Is that a "free lunch"?</p>
<p>Full disclosure - did not get any full ride from any where and extremely envy of those who did get one.</p>
<p>It’s not a “free lunch” because the student is typically choosing the state U $$$ over the (hypothetically) more prestigious private that would have accepted them.</p>
<p>DAD, your D got into STANFORD for crying out loud! Isn’t that good enough for you? You have THOUSANDS of parents and students who are green with envy of HER good fortune. Let go of what isn’t going to happen.</p>
<p>So there’s no “free lunch”, but evidently there are folks who want to “have their cake and eat it”.</p>
<p>Big Chicken Dinner</p>
<p>Menloparkmom, I agree with you. Dad II - your daughter did phenomenally. She got into not one, but several extraordinarily competitive schools in a record difficult year. Why on earth do you think any of those top schools would give her a free ride? Congratulate her for getting into phenomenal schools and deal with the fact that you have to help pay for it. You can’t have it all. </p>
<p>BTW, where did she ultimately decide on?</p>
<p>Sorry, but are you ever going to stop moaning about what your daughter didn’t get and start being happy with the amazing things that she did get?</p>
<p>Please don’t stifle your daughter’s potential.</p>
<p>Negative attention can be just as rewarding as positive attention to some.</p>
<p>There is no free lunch. Kids that end up with a full or close to full ride at highly ranked private schools worked very hard to achieve their end result.</p>
<p>Aw don’t sweat it, Dad II. The places that might have given her a free ride wouldn’t be places you’d admire on her resume. Your daughter really won this battle. Her results are dazzling!</p>
<p>The schools that were important to you don’t give free rides. That’s the trade-off. Your D did fabulously well in admissions – celebrate it already. You’ve said repeatedly that you were willing to pay extra for a top school. You got it. Watch out what you wish for.</p>
<p>Dad II, I think you are lucky that she did not get any full rides. I doubt you’d choose any full ride over Stanford, but you’d agonize endlessly over that decision. This way you have the same result without the agony ;)…</p>
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<p>It means that your family has the income/ assets that should she decide to attend Stanford, that it will still be an affordable option for your family. You are also fortunate in the fact that should you decide that you don’t want to pay the EFC to send your kid to Stanford (there are some waitlisted families who will be more than happy to do so), you can still send your child to your state U with merit money. </p>
<p>Life is full of choices and tradeoffs. Because your child was able to get in to Stanford, does not necessarily mean that she should go for free. Now if she was an olympic caliber swimmer, cyclist or athlete that the school was trying to recruit, then that would be a different story (see, your bad again, because you should have spent the time unplugging the computer and worrying about grades/SAT scores and spent that time cultivating her into a world class athlete if you were simply looking for a free ride. But then, the Ivies, do not give athletic scholarships (don’t ya just hate things like that cause ya just can’t win).</p>
<p>Most of the schools that your D was admitted to (ex. Stanford) only give need based Financial aid. So unless your family falls under one of the low/middle income initiatives, there is no free lunch . Even students who fall into the no loan categories, there is still no free lunch because schools still expect students to have some “skin in the game” by the way of student contributions (through summer earnings) and work study. </p>
<p>Also remember that all “free money” over the cost of tuition, books and fees is considered taxable income (so there really is no such thing a a free lunch or a free ride, because Uncle Sam is getting his cut).</p>
<p>Move on, there will be bigger fish to fry.</p>
<p>…or she could just forgo college entirely and earn $100,000 in the process. thats like 10,000 lunches better than a full scholarship!</p>
<p>Can you think of anything BETTER to spend your money on than your D?</p>
<p>When I saw the original post I was sympathetic, but after learning that your daughter got into Stanford? And you’re still complaining? Sorry, but not from this corner, bask in the positive, not in the negatives.</p>
<p>Dad II - Celebrate your daughter and her success. Given your background based on what you have shared on CC - being an immigrant who has and is working very hard to have what you have - your sense of envy for those who may have received a full ride from a prestigious school is understandable. But it is now time to let that go; your daughter is amazing and will continue to be amazing in Stanford or wherever she ultimately goes.</p>
<p>Wow, I did not expect all these negative comments. I was basically thinking “what if”.</p>
<p>I am not complaining one bit. DW and I were talking about how fortunate we are that our DD gets to enjoy this new financial aid policy on the first year. We knew of relatives who were admitted into top ranked schools but could not afford to do.</p>
<p>I don’t consider a merit package worth more than COA to be a “free lunch.” There’s nothing “free” about it. It’s like luck - “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” The kids who amass these merit packages are reaping the rewards of hard work and talent.</p>