<p>Yes, that is the custodial parent. </p>
<p>My other parent earns less money.</p>
<p>Your grandfather was a man with great foresight. If UT doesn’t have the strong humanities program you want which Texas school does? You would be tuition free at any of them.</p>
<p>To the OP:</p>
<ol>
<li>Do you/will you have the resources to pay for graduate school?</li>
<li>Everyone thinks that they will be able to access, impress and exploit the connections of professors at a given school. The reality is that few undergrads break from the pack. Furthermore, professors tend to be more enamored with grad students who they know are committed to their particular subject. Will you get $50K of loans plus interest’s worth of attention and access? </li>
<li>UT is not a roadside school located in a strip mall. It would seem that if you’re smart enough and committed enough to get into an Ivy, then you’d likely shine at UT thereby accessing their connections.</li>
</ol>
<p>Personally I think UT undergrad with Ivy grad is the way to go, but only you can assess the likelihood of that track and guess at the probability of getting $50K+ worth of excess value from attending your Ivy.</p>
<p>3. UT is not a roadside school located in a strip mall.</p>
<p>lol…but a very good point. Attending UT will not hold this student back from being accepted to top grad schools. </p>
<p>And, since the NCP won’t pay, then top schools may not work out anyway. Furthermore, there are a number of NCP’s that won’t even bother filling out the paperwork if they’ve decided that they won’t pay. without the paperwork, the FA apps at those top schools won’t be processed at all.</p>