<p>Alright whatever you say mom. Sorry but i guess i just kinda dislike anyone that has tons of their college paid for already. I guess i really shouldnt, but i just feel like its unfair i guess cause i feel like ive worked so hard, and ive even got 4 scholarships so far this year, and i still have to take loans, and its like its frustrating that for all the hardwork i do, to think that i have to go in debt for many years. and i just kinda feel like we should all have to work hard to pay for our college, whether it be scholarships, work, etc. Cool, i guess, some people’s parents or grandparents save up tons of money for them, thats great. Except it really doesnt teach them lessons for life. Sorry to take it out on you though. Anyway, ill probably give them a call soon.</p>
<p>^
Don’t feel alone bothellcougar, it kind of irritates me too that some people get a pass when it comes to the cost of a college education. Well, life is a *****.</p>
<p>I’m guessing uniseeker is either rich, against enlisting for a draft, or is a parent.</p>
<p>^ Thank You. Haha glad i dont feel alone on that one.</p>
<p>In defense of Uniseeker.</p>
<p>I know some very wealthy families who have children who go to the U.W. They are some of the hardest working kids I know. Their parents help them to reach their academic goals and they all hard work on their property and other community activities. They actually work more and harder than most “normal” kids I know. Their parents will be able to pay for the U.W. and I for one, am thankful, that they will not be able to compete for scholarships along with my son as we need the money more. </p>
<p>I think you guys are wrong to judge or be upset because someones parents have the money to send their children, isn’t that your goal too someday? </p>
<p>Best wished to you uniseeker for whatever reason you don’t need financial aid!</p>
<p>I really don’t have that much to contribute to this convo except: why would you dislike people for being fortunate? Not all of us need financial aid, but that’s no reason to get all prejudicial. I’m with Uniseeker on this one.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Might want to pick your words more carefully.</p>
<p>Realistically, better performance based on academic testing may not necessarily have to do with wealth but rather access to resources. Families with larger disposable incomes have a tendency to have their breadwinners in higher-income brackets, who are more likely to appreciate the value of adequate and rigorous education and hence more willing to spend a larger proportion of their income (and, generally, more in terms of real dollars) to educate their children.</p>
<p>Being able to pay to access resources that others find hard to justify a price or are unable to do so, assuming all other factors kept constant, generally should result in greater academic achievement.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think it’s a very sad and disappointing point in time where the “rich”, as you put it, need not compete for scholarships. Furthermore, I think it is very disappointing that applying or desiring a scholarship has more to do with wealth than academic merit.</p>
<p>I am not saying you don’t need the money more compared to richer families. I do, however, want to refute the belief that the rich don’t deserve or do not need to apply for scholarships. What difference is a scholarship to financial aid if it is only offered to those who need it most regardless of academic merit? It’s selective to say that a scholarship is granted to the top scorer of a school with an income of less than some amount. </p>
<p>@ bothell:</p>
<p>I understand where you are coming from and even though my fees are guaranteed, I still feel the tinge of guilt and unwillingness to have my parents fork over the full sum of tuition. Education has changed a lot in the recent years, and it has gotten more expensive and more challenging to acquire.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, at this point, what I’ve been telling myself is that, in the end, it doesn’t matter too much which university you go to. What matters at the end are the connections you make, the opportunities you open and how far you have utilised the resources available to you to achieve your goals. There are people who slump around their four years of undergrad with nothing significant to show for it, and there are people who work their hearts out to perfect everything and then some. You understand the personal value of such an opportunity very well, and probably much better than many of us. </p>
<p>Monetary woes are on everyone’s minds, and on a personal level, I think it is a horrible indication of the state of education in the US. It doesn’t matter if one has their fees paid for them or have to fight tooth and nail for each scholarship, grant, loan or aid package. The very fact that, for the average household, education fees are rising and taking up a greater percentage of available disposable income reduces the incentive to actually attend college. At the same time, in a world filled with increasing competition, merely earning a Bachelor’s is barely enough.</p>
<p>I’m probably droning on and on and on about this (and sounding like a complete and utter smart-ass), but the fact of the matter is that the issue is not going to change with any amount of complaining or whining or criticising each other. Fundamental changes have to be made to how education is viewed and valued, and in a country where the emphasis is on choice, freedom and, I suppose, more capitalistic mindsets, such changes will take a very long time to happen.</p>
<p>Upon adoption of a mindset where one makes education decisions based on price and time without valuing the inherent benefit of such an education experience shows somewhat poorly of an education system. I strongly believe that no individual should be locked out of academic opportunities purely on monetary grounds, but with a greater emphasis on cutting costs and rising prices, it seems pretty much inevitable.</p>
<p>Hate me for all you want that I can enter college the first year knowing I need not worry about tuition and housing. If that makes you feel better, then sure, why not. Hating me doesn’t change a fundamental issue with the current paradigm of higher education. We all go to college with different aspirations but with the same goal of wanting to learn. However, ultimately, we should at least come out with a broader understanding of the community, society and humanity we live in.</p>
<p>(Edit: Darn it I’m preaching now. I bet you all hate me now for this epic long post.)</p>
<p>@Laxaria</p>
<p>I was hoping no one noticed my bad grammar right after I posted, but you busted me! lol!</p>
<p>You took me wrong in regards to my scholarship post. One poster indicated that the rich kids should have to get scholarships and work like everyone else. My thought was that as many scholarship opportunities are need based, those should go to kids who actually need the money. There are many scholarships that are only merit based and I think any kid should have the right to win those, regardless of income. </p>
<p>Really, the whole point of my post was that I felt that Uniseeker came on the board with a valid question and was being slammed because he/she didn’t apply for financial aid. It doesnt seem that it should be the business of anyone else!
Take care and best wishes!</p>
<p>Laxaria : We wouldn’t hate you as much if you added a tl;dr at the bottom with a sentence summary.</p>
<p>Just kidding 
You bring up good points, and if it wasn’t all in one post, I’m sure we would have had multiple posts saying what you just did.</p>
<p>Anyway, each person has their own financial situation. Personally, my parents and I could afford probably all four years of in state tuition if we really worked around it, budgeted, etc. However, I chose to work on campus to pay it off, and work during the summers as well as applying to multiple scholarships.</p>
<p>A major point that people (in news sites comment sections, such as seattletimes, komo, etc) are bringing up is that college is now becoming ‘expected’ for students to go to, and as tuition rises and financial aid stays the same or drops, college is now also ‘a place for the wealthy.’ Yeah, I think everyone should have an opportunity to higher education, especially if they were accepted by a university, like UW. But… debating about this on a forum and bashing each other for silly typing mistakes really won’t change anything.</p>
<p>The fact that my parents are paying for my college and that I’m getting a large sum of financial aid in grants only makes me work harder. I definitely want to afford the same chance to my children. I understand that debt is frustrating, but it’s also an incentive to work hard and graduate on time. My incentive is proving to everyone that I’m a hard worker and “deserve” what I’ve been given. If I don’t succeed, I will be a failure and waste of money to my parents. If I succeed, I can make my parents proud and help them feel like they made a “good” decision. There’s an immense amount of pressure on both subgroups of people, and I’m not saying I’d switch situations with you, but we’re both going to have to work extremely hard to excel and succeed in college. </p>
<p>Use your frustration as motivation. There’s always an element of unfairness that you can harness to your advantage.</p>
<p>I thank you for your support and I also agree with the previous comments. This assumption about people that have others pay for their college don’t work hard is false. Applying for financial aid does not mean that one works more or less, either. Nor does it mean that “lessons learned” differ. </p>
<p>I will too be trying to work on/off campus in order to pay for my education. It is a sad truth that a factor determining one’s education is money. </p>
<p>To close off my “fascinating” discussion with bothellcougar, I would like to again thank you for the comments made that agree with my opinions, mainly tessey64, laxaria, and aspire2011. I don’t feel alone </p>
<p>As for others that get upset because everyone doesn’t have the same fiancial situation as yours, I would suggest venting your anger out on something more productive. How about terrorism? Global Warming? Oil prices? Making puppies into fur coats?</p>
<p>Yeah, it sure is easy to talk about how hard working you are when youre in the situation of having all the money you need. And costax, “use the frustration as motivation.” I find that point extremely sarcastic and like youre bill gates talking to me and im some starving child in africa. It even comes out in how you guys talk that you all think extremely highly of yourselfs. I imagine that you guys cant see it, but when you live everyday surrounded with people that stomp like elephants and act like kings compared to you, its easy to catch. Im not being prejudice at all, im simply saying you’d understand if you’re father’s dead, your brother is gone from heroin, your mom is hanging on strings from multiple sclerosis, you survive off social security that only lasts till graduation of high school, you listened to your dad tell you how important grades were for the years that he was alive, you lose sleep staying up studying and get sick from no sleep, you are still able to earn fantastic grades and test scores and earn the dream of your life and celebrate by yourself at home that you got the big envelope while hoping that someday your mom will be able to see you walk down the aisles on a sunny day graduating from the best school in your state, and hoping that you’ll be able to land a job to someday pay for a place so i know that atleast one of my family members is safe. And to pray to God every night for a just a LITTLE reason as to why he does this all to me. And to trust and have faith in plans for my life that seem like theyre going no where, and then to hear that i’ll probably be in debt for 20 years or more after graduations. That’s what’s frustrating. And to know, theres other kids out there with perfect lifes and probably havent gone through anything close to you have, having all this money when probably they havent experienced and learned first hand what hard work and working through things really consists of. Thats what frustrates me. Why cant i have that money when im just the same as these other kids. I’m sure my education would be payed for if my dad was still alive, sure he would have loved to pay for me. But then to lose it, and know that you did absolutely nothing wrong, and everything right, and you think i’d feel no frustration towards anyone? I wish, but sorry. Shoot, didnt want to spill my life, but i guess that was neccesary for someone to understand. Nah you guys probably still wont. Dont say sorry or any other crap, ive heard it enough and honestly i have nothing left to say, i’m done with thread and i sure hope the majority of uw kids arent like this. Now you all will probably start arguing even more, but im done.</p>
<p>Wow, chill out man.</p>
<p>Don’t drag your life into this conversation even if it’s about paying for college. Don’t assume that people who CAN pay for college are people who have “perfect” lives or a financial situation that makes them extremely well off.
Obviously you have had it rough but there is no need to take out your frustrations in this conversation to total strangers.</p>
<p>^Couldn’t have said it better myself.</p>
<p>@Bothell Cougar</p>
<p>I am sorry for your situation, I hope things get better for you soon </p>
<p>I will not offer advice to you as I can not fully understand your situation but if it helps at all, I will tell you my son’s plan as we can not help him with his college costs in anyway as we are an one income family. I help him as much as I can finding scholarships and helping him stay on track with applications and such. </p>
<p>First, he is applying to as many scholarships as he can. He plans to work part time during school to earn spending money. He is planning on living in the dorms and getting straight A’s as we have heard that if you are getting good grades, often you are noticed by companies wanting to hire in the field you are studying and sometimes they will not only hire you upon graduation but may even pay for your final years of college. </p>
<p>He is very social and plans to get involved in peer groups who are pretty serious about their education and stay far away from party groups as he realizes that could very easily ruin his plans to get A’s. </p>
<p>I wish you the best!</p>
<p>I wasn’t going to post after my last one…</p>
<p>bothellcouger, I wasn’t trying to insult or offend you. There is no way I can understand what situation you are in, and you are probably right when you say that you know the value of money. I have my opinions that I still stick with and that I have already mentioned in my previous posts, and have no wish to repost them here. Unfortunately, they have been misinterpreted to be offensive, superior and over-bearing, when really, it is not the case at all. </p>
<p>All I can say is that I asked a question about where I could find the tuition rate for the 2011-2012 school year, and no one has answered my question as yet.</p>
<p>Oh well. Good luck to you, and good luck to everyone else next year. That is all I can say if I want to wrap up my contribution to this thread.</p>
<p>I sincerely hope no one takes me the wrong way. (continuation of previous post)</p>
<p>Uniseeker, I don’t know if they’ve been officially announced. I recall someone who is a freshman applicant said that under his/her financial aid statement, the ~$9000 or so number was there.</p>
<p>I tried looking up tuition for the next year, but haven’t found it.
This is the closest thing ([Tuition</a> Overview | Student Fiscal Services](<a href=“http://f2.washington.edu/fm/sfs/tuition]Tuition”>Tuition Overview | Student Fiscal Services)). The annual rate hasn’t been posted for the next school year.</p>
<p>Thank you I will keep a look-out until the tuition for the school year is posted</p>
<p>No problem! I’ll be keeping an eye out as well; it’s always nice to know ASAP what the tuition for the next school year will be!</p>
<p>This is what my financial aid statement says:</p>
<p>Cost Description Cost Amount
Estimated Tuition and Fees $9,866
Books and Supplies $1,035
Room and Board $9,771
Personal Expenses $2,265
Transportation $642</p>
<p>Total Cost of Attendance $23,579</p>