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Not all that true. If your have well off parents, not necessary rich to have boat, vacation house, fancy vacations, etc. But they just climbed the ladder recently make enough to disqualify your ‘need-based’ FA, but not enough for their own retirement. … The only way you can graduate debet free is through your parent’s out of pocket money.</p>
<p>The way I see it the most ‘hurt’ are those families, mostly those double income professional parents, who just recently climbed the ladder. … With both parents busy at work, they are not able to lend hands (or get involved) in their kids’ education when they grown up; so basically their kids left out by their own to make out their way through HS (this parent hasn’t set her foot into kid’s HS door in four years, except freshmen orietation). When their kids made the way to get accepted to top ‘need-based’ schools, the parents have to pay full freight out of the pocket money (this parent just feel ‘guilty’ for leaving my kid alone. And felt he did his job to get into the best college he could, and we will keep our promise to pay the cost, wherever he chose to go. As long as he feels happy). … yes, we can afford, but it would be from our years saving and retirement fund. we are late starters, we don’t go fancy vacation or buy vacation houses, boats, etc. </p>
<p>Please don’t assume all those kids with parent could ‘afford’ the full pay are spoiled little ‘brats’, or they are grown up in a very ‘rich’ environment, or they got a leg up because they went to prep schools or SAT prep classes … My kid spend the early year in a one room apartment. Rarely got treated with a McDonald kid meal. We had never bought him any iPod, video games, etc. all those fancy gidgets. Refuse to go prep school but chose public HS. Refuse to take any SAT prep courses. We did not hire any college consultant in the process despite both of us (H&M) clueless entering this process. … yet, he still made it without much help from us.</p>