<p>But who doesn't? I am looking for opinions and advice from current or former alum. </p>
<p>I'm no shoe-in, but I think my background gives me a decent chance to get into Dartmouth. I have a 2270 SAT (800 M, 790 CR, 680 W), top 1% of my class, 4.5 weighted GPA, AP scholar with distinction, etc. My EC's are good. I have a national and state awards. I will have 8 varsity letters (volleyball and track). I am the president of two school clubs, etc. I have great work experience. </p>
<p>Here's my dillemma. My parents aren't rich but they own land and other investments that won't allow us to qualify for financial aid. They are willing to pay for my education, even at an expensive school live Dartmouth, but I just don't think I could handle the mental burden of saddling them with $60,000 a year in expenses when other good schools near our home (Berkeley, UCLA) are one-sixth the price. If I attend graduate school, I could cost them $500,000 or more. Our house in California didn't cost that much.</p>
<p>I can't believe schools are so expensive. Have any of you gone through this? How have you handled it? Is the Dartmouth experience worth putting my parents through this? </p>
<p>Hapa Girl… I’d venture a guess that your parents are pretty smart folks having produced a child like you. My guess is that they have considered all of their options and are still suggesting that this or any other school they allow you to apply to, fit into their plans. I think the conversation and decision is a personal decision and one that each family makes knowing their own situation. I think these boards are great, but this is an area that I don’t think you can really receive meaningful advice from others on. I’m sure there are many who will disagree, but when it comes to my kids and the finances, those are decisons my dear wife and I make! Good Luck to you wherever you decide to apply, you sound like a great applicant and Dartmouth or UC school will be lucky to have you as part of their community.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, KarateDad. My parents have already made up their minds: They will pay regardless where I attend. It’s now my decision.</p>
<p>Both of my parents grew up poor. None of my four grandparents graduated from high school, but my parents were able to graduate and even attend a community college. They graduated with AA degress, started a small business, and worked really hard so that they could raise a family. Because they were so poor growing up, they’ve always saved money like another depression is imminent. Both drive junkie cars. I haven’t seen either one of them buy clothes in the last five years. We’ve never taken an exotic vacation. The good news is that they saved money and invested well for the last 20 years. The bad news is that their success means we do not qualify for FA, even though we live modest lives. Obviously, my parents didn’t make investment decisions based on how the FA and admission process works. </p>
<p>I know that they love me and want to give me opportunities that they never had. I also know that they think it’s their responsibility to pay for college. Their business isn’t as strong as it once was. They are getting older. Spending $500,000 on me will mean that they will have to work longer. </p>
<p>For my entire high school life, I’ve wanted to attend a great institution like Dartmouth and have done everything I can to make it possible. But until just recently I never considered the costs of my decision and they impact it will have on my parents. Now I am wondering if a Dartmouth experience (assuming I’m lucky enough to be admitted) is worth it.</p>
<p>My choices are as follows: (1) I am pretty sure I could get a full scholarship to a lessor-known school; (2) attend a cheaper well-known school (ie UCLA); or (3) go to the best school that accepts me and let my parents pay for it. </p>
<p>No matter where I attend, I plan on working and living frugally to ensure that I don’t require more of my parent’s money than is absolutely necessary. But at a school like Dartmouth, a part-time job would barely make a dent.</p>
<p>Again, I appreciate anyone’s advice. I truly don’t know which path to pursue.</p>
<p>Dude you’re worrying about stuff that won’t ever happen anyway. I’m not saying you’re an idiot or anything like that but a 2270 gives you about a 1 percent chance of getting into Dartmouth. Dartmouth doesn’t care about the other stuff you mentioned and unless you can catch the eye of the volleyball coach and get recruited then your parents won’t be sending any money to Hanover. UCLA is also a reach. I’d look at UCI or UCR seriously.</p>
<p>That was way too harsh. Dartmouth doesn’t want a bunch of automatons with 2400 on the SAT with no personality. It seems that your scores are within D’mouth’s score range and you seem to have an interesting resume so give it a shot. Perhaps oneeyemonster is ■■■■■■■■ and being sarcastic or something-my sarcasm detector isn’t on today I suppose.</p>
<p>I don’t understand…there are so many scholarships out there, why don’t you just apply to some? Free money I know someone who covered her full tuition with various scholarships.</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat and my advice would be to go ahead with the application process and see what happens. Follow the advice above to make sure you apply to some schools that you know you/your parents can afford, just in case Dartmouth does admit you but gives no aid. It’s a winding road and in the end you may find that Dartmouth meets your need, or that your situation changes or that you can (as in my case) make the numbers work through various means and gyrations.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Keep Dartmouth on your list and gof ro it and see. You never know.</p>
<p>Thank you for those offering encouragement. Monster has me worried, though. I always thought 2270 was competitive (I have a 1570 math and cr). I’m without hooks (I’m multiracial, but a combination of white and Asian people, so I look Polynesian but am not), so I realize that my chances (like pretty much everyone else in my situation) aren’t above 50%, but I was sure hoping my chances were not that long. Monster pm’d me and said he meant to write 10%, not 1%. Still, I was hoping my chances were above 1 in 10. </p>
<p>Oh, well. I have a lot to think about. Again, I appreciate all of the thoughts.</p>
<p>Not if you go into a Ph.D. program Most decently-funded, respectable Ph.D. programs provide funding for tuition and a small stipend to live on for their students. So assuming that’s the degree you want, your parents financial burden should drop to near zero once you complete your bachelors.</p>
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<p>Nonsense. Look at last spring’s Dartmouth results thread and you’ll see that a 2270 is very typical for someone admitted to Dartmouth. Assuming the rest of the application is in line with a 2270, the OP should stand a decent chance of getting in.</p>
<p>Hapagirl: monster is either, as someone mentioned, ■■■■■■■■, or just highly misinformed. Methinks the former. I’d check out scholarships for cost–no matter where you end up attending. Some national one’s like the Byrd Scholarship are great, and I’m sure there are plentiful local ones as well.</p>
<p>You might want to check your facts a bit before posting. </p>
<p>Hapa, I admire your thoughtful consideration of your choice on your parents; it’s refreshing in today’s society. Like others have said, I would encourage you to have a heart-to-heart with your parents and express your concerns. I believe you have raised an excellent point about the cost-benefit ratio. There are certain fields where attending an Ivy as an undergraduate might possibly be worth the financial strain; however there are others where, IMO, it might actually be almost a hinderance. If you know for sure you want to pursue an advanced degree, you should indeed explore attending Dartmouth or the like for grad school and perhaps a less expensive, albeit still reputable, alternative next year. Best wishes and good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>I disagree. You have the facts and there are few financial aid miracles. I think you and your parents need to come to terms with what you want to pay. There is little chance, as someone above suggested, of getting scholarships to cover the cost. Most big scholarships have are need aware.</p>
<p>You sound very uncomfortable with the idea of your parents spending this money. That will only get more difficult when the big checks are due and the tuition increases are announced.</p>
<p>I don’t see why you would want to prolong the pain. I’d decide whether to focus on schools that are lower cost or make peace with paying the price.</p>
<p>jc40 and hmom5, thank you very much for your thoughtful responses. I don’t think I can count of scholarships. Most are either need based or contain a need-based component. Also, most are awarded after acceptance, and I think my decision needs to be made before I apply, not after. </p>
<p>My dad keeps telling me that hard choices are what makes us grow as people, and I suppose he’s correct.</p>
<p>We had a similar conversation about this topic at the time my DD was applying to Dartmouth. Yes, it is a lot of money, but your parents have a much better understanding of their financial situation than you do. We all make choice in raising our children and running our families, and they will know the best of what is possible and reasonable for your family.</p>
<p>On a different note, your biography is nearly identical to my DD. She had a number of choices in colleges, and Dartmouth offered the best blend of academic environment and out-of-classroom activities. I accompanied her to an admitted students day, and when she went off with her (potential) peers, I went to the financial aid office. We had a good discussion and after some further correspondence, found a common ground. As a result, she’s excited to be a '13, and I’m happy for her in that she has found a great fit.</p>
<p>Best wishes to you as you take the next steps in this process.</p>
<p>LOL, this is funny, you are in the same position I was, I am from Cali, I had a similar SAT score, better softs, little worse GPA, I was looking at doing either Dartmouth or Vanderbilt for ED, and or looking at going to UC Berkeley/UCLA. I will spare you most of the story, bottom line is I am at Vanderbilt now which is a great school. Also I will tell you my parents are very well off, but still money is money. If I could do it all over again, I would have gone to Berkeley or UCLA ( which even though I did ED to Vandy, I left my UC APPS open cus I was really curious and I ended up getting into both UCLA and Berkeley). Honestly, it really isnt worth the extra money, especially considering the prestige of your undergrad school is not nearly as important as most kids on this forum believe it to be. Especially since if you are going to grad school like I most likely am, future employers care much more about the grad school prestige than the undergrad. I would highly recommend not doing the Dartmouth thing, and instead going to UCLA/Berkeley ( assuming you get in). But in the end it is your choice, and this is not to say that I am not happy with the choice I made, I love Vanderbilt, I am doing very well here and the academic experience has been amazing. I just feel guilty that my parents are paying over 50k a year for me to go here when they could be paying less than half that for me to go to a UC.</p>
<p>Dirthog, you are in my same situation. Thanks for responding to my question. Can I ask you a few questions? Is it hard being so far away from home? How often do you come home?</p>
<p>I would like to attend law school in the east. My concern is that a degree from UCLA or UCB would carry less weight than a degree from Dartmouth or other similar school in the east. What is your opinion on this assumption?</p>
<p>Mr. Wonderful, youi’re right. It’s my parents money and they know better than I regarding their financial situation. If you knew my dad, you’d better understand my concerns. He’d do anything for me. If you told him that putting me through college would mean he’d end up in the streets as a beggar, he’d say, “That’s fine,” and then cut the checks. He’s just like that, so when he tells me “no problem” I still worry. </p>
<p>If you live in California, you have little reason not to go to UCB or UCLA. Unless you are interested in a LAC-experience (which Dartmouth would fall under) there isn’t too much reason to care about where you go for undergraduate education.</p>
<p>I’d like to commend you admirably for caring about your parents financial situation, even if you do seem rather well off. Not many kids, ESPECIALLY going to elite schools/on CC =p can say this.</p>
<p>But once again, the UC system is the best public school system in the US. UCB is a top 20, UCLA is a top 25, and UCI/UCSD are top 50. My advice would be to look into all the UCs and learn to like one of them, alot. Without financial aid, the burden you’d put on your family would be alot. And if you live in California this means you can see them more often, and go to the beach! And for grad school go all out!</p>
<p>My parents won’t pay any cost beyond a state school (so they would pay the cost of UW Seattle toward Dartmouth, and I’d have to finance the rest), and I have to pay for grad school. Hopefully financial aid solves that…</p>
I know someone who covered her full tuition with various scholarships.</p>