<p>It really is not a disagreement because there is fact. I just called my friend at ABC. She laughed at the thought that most went to J school and assured me most did not, which only makes sense. She told me Anderson Cooper's story. He didn't know what to do after Yale so he bought a camera and headed to a war torn country.</p>
<p>I'm sure there are all sorts of small papers in the MW where majority went to Mizzou or upstate NY where they went to Syracuse, etc., but in global terms what you need to be a great journalist is to be smart, broadly educated, highly motivated and have good contacts--this from the pro, not me.</p>
I assume that means you don't want to verify what you said, and that you DO mind me asking? I'm sorry if it seems forward of me as that is not my intent but you were the one who offered the info that this full-ride would likely exist. </p>
<p>I think it would be helpful to others to know how you reached this conclusion so I'll ask again for the school and the data. I have researched heavily in this area and I know how few exist and how extremely fortunate a kid has to be to get one (that is not on a formulaic basis like some NMF scholarships or the scale at TCNJ). </p>
<p>And I do understand that you are speaking of your personal situation , that's why it would have value to others, wouldn't you think? </p>
<p>The fact that kids are offered full rides at Furman with a 1500 top 2% does not mean that everybody with comparable stats get one. In fact I believe that several hundred students with those stats apply and 3 or 4 get a full-ride. </p>
<p>If you are simply saying that your kid would have been competitive for a full ride, that is one thing but to assert that one is likely needs looking into so that others don't get the wrong idea.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My S received merit-only aid at several fine Us because he was a NMF and was accepted at one U with no scholarship. If he hadn't been a NMF, I don't believe he would have received such generous awards.</p>
<p>His cousin who was a NM commended student & had better grades was accepted by many of the same schools but with NO merit awards by any of the Us. She matriculated at Notre Dame, where her folks are paying all out-of-pocket. Neither cousin nor S qualify for any need-based aid.
[/quote]
This is by far the more common occurence. Thanks for the timely post Himom.;)</p>
SS grasped it completely and with her help translating, I hope you'll share why you felt a full-ride was likely. (I never saw where you said it was solid????)</p>
<p>Heck, the class Val at our kids' HS, who had perfect grades, is a NMF, was on the 1st place team (winning the National Economics Award in NY), was a 3-sport varsity athlete (including state-ranked runner), had perfect essays & recs & got into nearly every school ended up at local flagship U with lots of outside scholarships + state Regent's scholarship, entering with LOTS of AP credit because the merit awards + outside scholarships at the many schools where she was accepted were just not enough for the family to justify paying, in addition to med school (which she plans to attend next). My understanding is that she was accepted at all or nearly all the schools she applied to & the decision was very painful for her & her family. About 10-15% of my kids' HS class go to in-state flagship U because of cost.</p>
<p>LOL on the $100K salary leaving enough left over for the $45K tuition. Come live where I do, with $14K in property taxes, $5K in heating/cooling, $2200 to insure a 16 yr old male driver WITHOUT a car...the list goes on, and on, and on.</p>
<p>dd, In the interest of time (and because I have an appointment) I have looked at your prior posts on the ND forum and others looking for the merit granting school applications and results. </p>
<p>You should be very proud of your son and daughter being able to matriculate at your alma mater. That is quite cool. On at least two occasions you listed stats for her in a post that made it clear that you were VERY concerned about acceptance at ND in the EA round because of some factors.</p>
<p>My experience with competitive merit awards makes me just as concerned about kids thinking that a merit award is "likely" at a "safety" school no matter if their ACT is a 35 or 36, no matter if they are val or sal, no matter if they have statewide awards. It is just that hard. I know some parents don't want to believe that but it is so and they need a wake-up call. I'm trying to give it to them. </p>
<p>Stats that are good enough for admission to ND (or any other fine school) may not be good enough even for consideration of a full ride at top 100 LAC's and UNI's, much less selection for one of handful of awards.</p>
<p>It surprises me that my approach, take a gap year to make money, seems so unusual. I'm actually happy for the break from intense academics, enjoying my jobs (well, other than one partner asking me to take his huge dog to the groomer...) and will play for the last 3 months. All that and pay half of my first year's tuition. It seems like such a good compromise. I get what I want without feeling guilty.</p>
<p>Suze -
Since we're dropping names..how about Ted Koppel? He went to one of those "trade schools" (Syracuse) for journalism as you call them. I'm not even close to being an expert on journalism, but I hear the same arguments for business school vs. Ivy. Better to go to Harvard for liberal arts than to UMich for UG Business as an example. Hey, they're both OK. And you can find distinuished alumni in business (and other fields) at both schools. It's who you are and your capabilites and ambitions, not what school you went to. Does going Ivy give you more contacts? Maybe but, IMO, it all evens out after you've been out there for a while. My two cents...</p>
<p>I agree with curmudgeon. For full or close to full ride awards there needs to be a unique hook. Gender, URM, sports, unusual backround etc come to mind as possibles. DD's near full ride offer came from a male dominated engineering school that is also my alma mater, this combined with top end stats generated the offer. Her offer from equvalent LAC was only a small fraction of the former and another school offered nothing.</p>
<p>There are many reasons kids & families are reluctant for a gap year. One is that once many folks take a break from school, some find it hard to get back "into it" after the year is up & the year becomes many years, with work becoming a larger part of life than school. Unfortunately, it appears one of my niece & nephew are heading down this road</p>
<p>Another thing is that it's easy to forget things, like sciences, languages, math, and other subjects which are cummulative & build.
Gap years CAN be great for the right kids & the right reasons. In fact, some kids re-appy during their gap year & get acceptances at schools that rejected them the prior year because of the added maturity & focus they develop during their gap year.</p>
<p>I can't add anything to what has already been said on this and similar threads. This topic has indeed been covered very thoroughly. But for the sake of the OP, I will say that my son was in this situation last spring and it was an agonizing decision for our family. In his case, we spoke with professionals currently in the career to which our son aspires and asked their opinion of how much the "prestige factor" matters for undergrad. All but one counseled him to go into debt, if necessary, but go to the Ivy over even a high-ranked LAC (almost free) and certainly over the state schools which would have been completely free. A second factor we considered was what special opportunities or programs the Ivy offered that the less expensive safeties did not, and evaluated how important those opportunities were to S and his future.</p>
<p>In the end, we let the decision up to S, since the debt will be his--not ours. He chose the Ivy. We still had some reservations for financial reasons and still doubted whether it was the best decision. But S's experience during his first few months there have encouraged us that it was the right choice for him. First, he found that he was very well-prepared for college and managed to get 98's on 2 midterms. He is very bright, but we hadn't expected him to do quite that well at such a hard school. Consequently, we wondered if he would have been sufficiently challenged at the state U or even at the LAC. Secondly, S managed to land an associate editor's position on the college publication which had been one of those aforementioned opportunities unique to that school. So all in all, we are feeling pretty good about the situation now.</p>
<p>AKdaddy, since we are sharing. D had success in merit aid but, and this is the point - she did NOT get the highest merit awards possible at several schools AND some of those schools were a good bit lower ranked then the schools where she did get the highest awards. Go figure. I agree , it's what that school wants this year. </p>
<p>At the school she decided to attend , she was in the first final cut to 3 awardees but she almost didn't make the earlier cut down to 18 (she was in effect an alternate :eek:). LOL. IMO nobody is a shoo-in (unless it is NMF or automatic based on stats).</p>
<p>It seems after reading the posts on this (and many other threads) - that many of us are arguing, at least in part, to rationalize our decisions. So if we are parents who chose to make financial sacrifices to have our child attend an Ivy or other top ranked private school, we argue that it was and is worth it (have I seen any posts from Ivy parents who DONT think it's worth it?).
Most of us who selected cheaper alternatives or state schools argue that it's the student, not the school that makes the difference in the long run. And that there are many good fits for our children vs one "dream" school.<br>
My point? It's really hard for parents of college students to have an objective discusson on this topic. Do what's right for you and move on. And avoid these boards if you can... I wish I could ; ).</p>
<p>TheGFG:
[quote]
All but one counseled him to go into debt, if necessary, but go to the Ivy over even a high-ranked LAC (almost free) and certainly over the state schools which would have been completely free.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's always easy for people to spend someone else's money.</p>
<p>
[quote]
In the end, we let the decision up to S, since the debt will be his--not ours...So all in all, we are feeling pretty good about the situation now.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>But aren't you worried about how he's going to feel with $1,000/month (more or less) payments for 10 years after he graduates?</p>
<p>toneranger: I don't think that we'd do the thing we'd "argue" against. Does that make sense? Also, I hate the word "sacrifice" in this context. To most families (given the mean family income is under $50K) paying $2000/yr would be a huge sacrifice. A family paying $45K/yr is not Necessarily sacrificing anything more. I just don't think the word is pertinent in most cases, as it is generally irrelevant. Not only that, but I don't even necessarily agree that families should feel obligated to sacrifice for college or particularly sanctimonius if they choose to.</p>
I have zero trouble with GFG's family's decision. We asked the same questions to physicians (D's career of choice) and all went for the scholarship. </p>
<p>Had D planned a career where an Ivy (or similar) ticket would have yielded a different response from the professionals we talked to, well- we'd have considered it even more. :)</p>
<p>And like GFG posted here , it appears we both made a good choice as we feel the same way.
[quote]
We still had some reservations for financial reasons and still doubted whether it was the best decision. But S's experience during his first few months there have encouraged us that it was the right choice for him.
<p>The only correct answer to the question is what is best for the family and for the child. All these other arguments are mostly justifying parent's decisions to send the child to an Ivy for full cost or to a state college for free.</p>
<p>^ "All these other arguments are mostly justifying parent's decisions to send the child to an Ivy for full cost or to a state college for free."</p>
<p>Actually, knowing many of the posters involved, I'd say that is not true at all. Most have hit a compromise someplace.</p>
<p>regarding merit aid (full tuitions and full rides, etc.)..........................i think what's worth mentioning is that it's a good thing when the students have given themselves many options from which to choose. this usually requires some substantial effort, i.e., notifying schools of special recognitions like nmf, class rank, act/sat score, inquiring about merit aid and scholarships for which they may be eligible, etc. then........to actually follow through with these opportunities presented to them by applying for admission, applying to the honors colleges, applying for particular scholarships, completing the css profile, completing the fafsa, visiting the school, etc. the joy is then that in the spring as the financial aid packages come in the mail, the student can review each carefully, and then make an informed decision to choose the school that is best for them and their family. having something concrete........the actual financial aid package in front of them..........helps a great deal in making the tough decision and deciding between the different options before them.</p>