paying full tuition only option for "rich kids"?

Paying for College
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<p>ok, so I know from experience that many people get offended by "rich kids" who complain about paying full tuition, but I want to point out that that is NOT the intent of this post.</p>

<p>I just want to know whether students of parents who make $200,000 can do anything to make college more affordable (besides going to cheaper schools). I've got my heart set on a really really nice college, but it comes at a cost, and I don't want to burden my parents with my education. They spend a great deal of their income funding various expenses, including my grandparents' health care.</p>

<p>Please leave advice.</p>

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<p>That's it. Sorry bud. No financial aid should be deemed necessary for you.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Yes, your parents have to fund a lot of expenses, including something vital and necessary like healthcare. But many parents who do not make 200,000 a year also have to do that. </p></li>
<li><p>Yes, your parents will be burdened if you go to a nicer, more expensive school. But I think practically all parents are, including ones who make 100,000 a year, or fifty thousand, or 15 thousand. It's a universal "burden", really. I'm really pleased to see you care for their well-being and that you don't want to burden them. That's really sweet of you. A lot of the choice is up to you. If you think the high tuition is worth it, than try for it. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>It ultimately might be your parents' decision in the end, as I assume they will be the ones writing the checks. If you choose to put off most of the tuition with student loans and agree to pay them off yourself once you get a job, that's a big decision as well. You then wouldn't only burden your parents, but also yourself in the future when trying to pay off massive college debt.</p>

<p>BUT---you college education and experience might, in the end, be totally worth the huge tuition costs. </p>

<ol>
<li>Almost all families are anxious, to varying degrees, about funding their children's college tuitions. Happily for you, your family-- despite the expenses you mentioned-- are still probably far wealthier than many of the fellow college prospectives your age. Your family might just have to bear the burden like so many others do. I've heard stories of extremely poor students receiving full financial aid, but still worrying about many other expenses that crop up by going to college. Not even the poorest students are exempt from worry about college-related fees, and certainly not middle to upper-middle class students. </li>
</ol>

<p>This is a difficult and painful issue that I personally understand because I wanted to go somewhere-- initially-- that was too expensive. I was torn between attending that school and burdening my family and racking up huge debts upon graduation OR attending a college in which I would be attending almost tuition-free (a fairly well-respected private one, at that, because I earned a scholarship). </p>

<p>I ended up choosing the less expensive college, where I will begin freshman year this fall. I don't regret it in the slightest, and I feel good knowing my parents won't be burdened and I won't be drowning in debt when I graduate. So I feel like I've won, in a way.</p>

<p>Best wishes.</p>

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<p>Scholarships really are the best bet for people like us. My family makes good money, but scholarships are still the better way to go.</p>

<p>I know a lot of people on here ***** about fastweb, but I've found a lot of scholarships that really seem to help, regardless of financial need.</p>

<p>And I'm a white female, 20 years old, average GPA, average ECs, nothing special.</p>

<p>I like to write, so I just sent in a poem for the HeardtheWord scholarship, which offers $1,000. Not much, but every little bit helps.</p>

<p>I'm also Pagan, and being a minority religion can help a lot.</p>

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<p>While you may not get much in terms of need based financial aid (only kind offered by the Ivies and elite LAC's) depending on your grades and scores, if you are willing to look past the top 50, there are plenty of schools where you would probably be eligible for merit aid (at some schools it could be full tuition). many schools that offer merit, do not base it on financial need (although there are some schools with need based FA). You may have to cast a wider net and maybe even come down to looking at a tier II school but they are out there. </p>

<p>Are you eligible for the honors program at your state university? That is oftern a good place to start.</p>

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<p>yeah. i was wondering the same thing.</p>

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<p>My father makes over 200,000 a year and he wont even pay for 2 years of my college out of state. Now doesnt that blow.</p>

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<p>If you look at it one way- that "rich" families aren't generally eligible to recieve any need based aid- it may seem unfair if you are in a family who is refusing to pay for college.
However a couple things to consider.
Families that are well off, have likely been able to provide more of an enriched background than families who are poor. Health care is likely to have been better, K-12 schools are likely to have been a higher quality and children may have had educational opportunities that others could only dream about. These things while they won't get you need based aid, will help to increase your academic standing and help you get merit based aid. Also a few schools, that state they only give "need" based aid, can make their own decisions about who qualifies. Expenses are not generally considered, but when extraordinary expenses are incurred as with paying for grandparents medical care, those can and should be taken into account.
It does "blow" when parents don't help students with college- I wish I could have attended college myself- but my father died before I graduated from high school and my mother spent the life insurance money on a cruise and a face lift.
It is hard when you have your heart set on a certain school and know that your parents can afford it, but just don't want to help. I truly feel for you. Remember it isn't your fault- it is their issue and unfortunately their choice. However even if you have to attend something besides your 1st choice for undergrad ( as many students do) you will be considered an independent student for graduate school, and it is likely that your parents income won't even be considered.</p>

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<p>There is a difference between helping pay a kid's college costs and paying over $200,000 for college. My guess is some parents don't think the costs are worth it and believe there are cheaper alternatives.</p>

<p>I am waiting to read studies that state a $200,000 college education is worth more than a $100,000 college education.</p>

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<p>I don't think there would be dstark.
While some kids may really have their heart set on a certain school, we have all read threads on these boards by students who have had to attend their 2nd or even last choice school, whether because of money or other issues, and ended up really being happy about it, happy with the education, happy with their social life, and happy that they don't have huge loans on their back when they graduate.
At the same time we read about students who are attending their first choice school despite taking out huge loans, apparently not having considered that it isn't just freshman year that you will have high costs, but sophmore year, junior year, senior year.....</p>

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<p>I guess I can play devil's advocate. Emeraldkity04, how much better is the education at Reed than the school your daughter went to last year?</p>

<p>Pros and minuses?</p>

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<p>One thing you could do is get a job to help pay for expenses. College is expensive, even beyone the 35K for tuition. There are travel costs, clothing, and all kinds of extras that kids "need" while they're at school. If you could pay for these things yourself, that would help a lot.
You also could offer to pay a portion of your tuition yourself, and take out a loan that you'd pay back after you graduate. Most kids who get need based aid have to do these things, you know ...work study combined with loans. It's not all free money.</p>

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<p>Pluses
The community college is much cheaper :)
Community college has a more diverse ( racially & age wise) group of students
For her- I think it was an advantage to having the course broken up into quarters rather than semesters.
She took 12 credits spring quarter- retaking Organic Chemistry and also a biochemistry class. She enjoyed both, however Reed will not consider the biochem class to fulfill any requirements besides "elective". She really enjoyed her biochem teacher however- and it was well worth her time.
I think it did help to have a different teacher as everyone approaches material a little differently and as she already had a background in ochem she was able to retain enough to fill in the gaps.
Minus
She complained about the lack/quality of materials. She had been spoiled by what Reed had available.( she was appalled that gloves weren't furnished or required in teh Organic chem class- other lab practices she also felt were lacking and she was dismayed that students weren't being taught proper standards- to be fair much of that was becuase they had limited equipment available and so had to fudge common practice-)
She also felt that the students in the class had a less rigourous background and they weren't necessarily as engaged as the students at Reed. This affected the curve- giving her a high A whereas at Reed she didn't pass, she also spent lab time explaining to other students who didn't understand what to do until she realized she would get more out of the class if she focused on her own work.
She also wasn't too impressed with the textbook- where at Reed profs may use their own textbooks- she said that a great deal was left out in an effort to get through the material ( she has identified exactly what- but not having taken ochem myself- I don't remember what she said)
OFcourse community college courses also only cover first two years of college so they wouldn't be as helpful if a student was limiting themselves to a CC when they wanted to attend a 4 year school
Also while CCs used to be guarenteed priority to transfer to instate 4 year schools, even if you have high GPA, there is just not enough space, and students are likely to have to go out of state to transfer to a 4 year school.( in our area)</p>

<p>WHile Reed will accept D taking the year of Organic chemistry at the CC to fulfill her Ochem requirement- it won't erase her previous grade or be factored into her GPA.
She was unable to retake the class at the university because for her to do so would require her to be matriculated and accepted into the university and that would have affected her leave status at Reed. I don't know if her experience at the U would have been much different- she did have a few students from the U taking Ochem at the CC becuase the U classes were full.
She also had classmates who already had an undergrad degree, but who were changing majors and needed more of a science background.
NOt living on campus and not having a car also posed some logistics problems. Whereas at Reed she could easily go from class to work back to lab, going to class ( by bike or public transportation) going to work, then back to the CC for lab, not finishing till 9:30 pm was a hassle particularly in the winter as Seattle doesn't have good bus service if you aren't going downtown or to the Udistrict.
Kind of extreme examples- a community college where they have no entrance requirements only placement tests and a college which is considered to be fairly rigourous ( and fairly expensive)</p>

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<p>Wow. That is one elaborate post. </p>

<p>How did the grad students compare to the undergrad students at the CC?
Were they better students?</p>

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<p>Wow. That is one elaborate post.
Well, you asked for it ;) editing was never my strong suit. </p>

<p>The students who already had degrees ( from LACs) had several advantages that I can see.
They already had proved to have the skills to succeed in college which probably helped a great deal in approaching the class.
They also were probably really cognisant of how much cheaper the CC was than a private school and were determined to make the most of it.
While in lab based classes there may be quite a difference, there may not be such a difference in more of a lecture/reading.seminar based class.
I have taken an american popular music class at a CC for example that was fantastic and the teacher went on the next year to Northwestern.
A lot depends on what is required of the students outside of class- I do have the impression that because many of the students at a CC are working full time and may even have families that the outside classwork required is limited. I have taken about 2 years at two Seattle area community college however and have had some fantastic instructors and I think it is a good alternative for students trying to save money & or build up their skills before transferring.
( I have also had teachers that weren't so good- some that I was actually very frustrated with because I thought that the requirements for class were so low- making posters for a 200 class for example it wasn't a design class )</p>

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<p>Emeraldkity4, great posts. I can do without the poster making. :)</p>

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<p>private schools while more expensive are often more willing to pay need blind merit scholarships, check out the university of miami in florida
they offer amazing scholarships starting with kids in the top ten percent of their class with a 28 on the ACT</p>

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<p>Many colleges offer significant merit scholarships to academically or otherwise talented students. We would need to know more about your strengths to suggest particular schools.</p>