MIT [list price] vs LSU [full ride] for Physics

Why do posters assume OP is being truthful and not just winding them up?

My wife’s thought was this was fake, b/c it really did read too much like a reddit post, and seems so one-sided.

Who knows… how do we know anything is real? :slight_smile:

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That’s a possibility! And it worked!

I can’t stand behind a parent bashing another parent to a CHILD. And then doing so when only hearing the child’s version is additionally disappointing to say the least.

Adults/parents should hold themselves to a higher standard. We are these kid’s role models. What we say matters.

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I like to extend good will and benefit of a doubt to all, child and parents. The OP said she was venting.

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And if it is real there could be some things we don’t know. Drop in parent income, parents may have done something else substantial for OP (OP forgot to mention the brand new BMW) or something else that the parents may be upset about.
Only the OP knows.

That is what donut hole families do to put their kids through in state public colleges with a whole less money to be able to save.

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If they can’t pay to send the OP to MIT, then they shouldn’t be able to pay for the sister’s law school either. They can, they simply won’t, which is incredibly shortsighted on their part.

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This really went sideways and unnecessary.

When I read initial post, it doesn’t state the parents won’t pay but instead high schooler is “nervous” they won’t.

It doesn’t state the parents are forcing or giving the child no choice in the matter. Instead they are “pushing” (perhaps encouraging, don’t know, but not forcing) to take the scholarship.

It’s quite possible the high schooler is not completely transparent, there’s a bit of a spin on on this? We are all parents, aren’t we more wise than to listen to only one child’s version of events? If I only listened to one side of sibling conflict, I would be an unfair parent not to find out their siblings side before taking action.

Not sure why this became a focus on the parents. Not sure I understand why parents would disagree with any parent for discussing alternative affordable options with their child. What matters more is to be supportive, encouraging and a good role model for children. If my child turned to adults for advice, the last thing I’d want for them is to get an earful of how horrible their parent is rather than good problem solving advice.

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We do here. Medical needs are handled as a deductible with our health care provider, so yes, those are equal as well. We “fix” everything medical here. :wink:

D18’s undergad education was more than D21’s, but D21’s potential grad school will be more than D18’s grad school, if everything works out. All this will be handled as equally as we possibly can.

Throughout our kids lives, we have provided for them about as equally as possible. I’m actually blown away that the older sibling here will get to go to Brown and Penn law on the parents and the younger sibling, the OP, may not be able to attend MIT undergrad on the parents. And they make $400K/year?

There is less than handful of schools, which as a parent, I’d “beg, borrow and steal” for my kid’s education. MIT would be one of them. For the record, Stanford would be one of the others.

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Now it’s getting silly but if my kid hits the deductible and the other doesn’t, I’m not paying the other for staying under. Call me a bad parent !!

Does the OP really know what her folks make ? Do most kids - I don’t know but wouldn’t think so.

Same.

(And, for example, our oldest S is attending private, full pay school over $82+ a year with only a 19k annual merit award. Whereas our younger S will likely attend vocational school or CC. We will compensate younger S via helping him much more with a house down the road etc. bc we want things to be equal as possible. And older S knows this; he chooses to spend more on his education. Fine with us.)

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I’m not keeping a ledger.

I do for both best I can.

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The leftover medical deductibles are being tracked and any differences will be handled within our estate when my spouse and I are gone. :rofl:

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It’s not about spending exactly the same to the dollar, and you know it.
It’s about spending roughly the same in the same area. Medical expenses are kind of out of everyone’s control, but you can plan for things like transportation and education. You don’t splurge on a $60,000 car for one kid and then grudgingly get the other one a $6,000 car or ask the kid to ride the bus.

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Again, I question the validity of this thread. But, I will add this. If the parents are making $400k. Then after taxes, they are making $300k. Let’s assume they have a mortgage payment and want to eat. Taking that into consideration, if they are already contractually obligated on one tuition, then maybe the money isn’t there. You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip.

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That’s fair. I don’t get one a new luxury car that he has at college and make the other Uber when she needs to because I refuse to get her a car.

Oh wait a minute. Yes that’s what I do.

But we are digressing off topic.

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Uber is not the bus, and I am sure there are other practical factors you are not mentioning.

That is the difference. I do not believe OP is a child. As a senior, she is likely a legal adult, or will be soon. Some of her peers are already in the military and independent in every way, and she may be soon too, if this doesn’t get resolved amicably. I think it is patronizing to act as if we parents should present a united front against the little ones who are too young to understand the big bad world. From the facts presented( which may not be complete) this young woman’s parents are doing her a disservice. She is an adult; she can take that onboard or not as she sees fit. I am not defending parents to their adult children for no reason.

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My 5 cents. This thread has very little help to OP. What are you people doing? Trying to tell HS student who is 17 or 18 that her parents are wrong and her sister is an entitled brat and validate OP’s point? Her parents are not going to do what you think is fair. Who cares about your views or standards? If you want to help, then come up with productive suggestions different from go to LSU this is your only option (she knows it already) or explain to your parents that they are wrong… As @DadBodThor said make practical suggestions. Everything else is irrelevant.
And in my books practical is finding common ground with your parents (who are the only ones that can pay until OP is 24) or an alternative to them paying for you (like ROTC or merit aid). It is not telling your parents they are wrong or you will hate your sister… That is not helpful. Sorry…

If this story is not real, then it is an excellent psychological experiment on people’s reactions and this board totally failed it.

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Well in that case, if she is an adult then by all means she should act like an adult. Adults are financially independent? They realize not everything is fair, actually most of life is unfair. They know that sometimes they don’t always get what the want, they get what they need.

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