<p>Is it me or does the rich always win?In other words, don't they have an upper hand in the college admission because they can pay the whole price tag?</p>
<p>They definitely have the upper hand in college admissons not only because they can pay the whole price tag, but also because later on, the graduate will also donate money to the school. But with many rich people colleges have some better assurance that their money will come to them, and they also do not have to give out as a much finanacial aid.</p>
<p>The rich definitely have the upper hand, but they don't have that All-American Horatio Alger-esque story that people admire.</p>
<p>*****************<strong><em>ALERT</em></strong>****************
Tongue in cheek message will follow.</p>
<p>Well, rexrun , actually the rich don't always win. Sometimes they choose not to play. Other times the rich pay people like us to win for them. So, it all works out in the end. See? It doesn't pay to be so cynical.;)</p>
<p>Actually, we do always win. Sorry. It won't even help you to attempt to deal with us in your next life. We'll probably be eating you as some kind of trendy appetizer.</p>
<p>driver, yeah. That ought to just about do it. LOL. (That's funny stuff.)</p>
<p>Love ya, Curmudge. I'm actually a nice person, I swear.</p>
<p>You mean even rich people can be nice? Horrors.</p>
<p>driver, I'm still thinking about the OP when he reads my response and then hits yours.LOL. I'm still chuckling. Hopefully they have a sense of humor. I posted a warning, did you notice? I'm so tired of our little "hotspots", that I thought it wise.</p>
<p>And Alu, I also found that hard to believe. What fun is there in living in the manor house, if you can't "mess" with the serfs?</p>
<p>What a tag team we are. I was having fun too, OP.</p>
<p>curmudgeon, driver, out here in CA they have these commercials that say Slow For The Cone Zone....for highway workers so you don't slam them. Perhaps when we plan to joke a little we might post a Cone Zone warning...</p>
<p>I think the American economic elite should learn something from their Japanese counterparts. </p>
<p>11:1 Ratio of the average salary of a Japanese CEO to that of a Japanese blue-collar worker</p>
<p>476:1 Ratio of the average salary of an American CEO to that of an American blue-collar worker</p>
<p>If they don't willingly agree, I say we force them into submission. </p>
<p>rex, it aint just about paying for college. It's also about paying for everything to be able to even apply for college, like tutoring, summer programs, SAT classes, etc.
Even Affirmative action mostly benefits the rich URMs, making the AA system more corrupt, because it ends up just taking URMs who were in the same setting as competitive whites, yet, rewards them based on the color of their skin. Does it really make a difference if you are rich and white or rich and black, if you end up going to the same school and recieving the same benefits?</p>
<p>^ i see..but dis isn't concerning me. This is concerning my bro whos freshman. By the time college application time is around the corner for him, I can safely assume tuition would be record-highs. Now, my family isn't the richest but just have enough for paying bills, buying food, and living stuff. Just going to a UC made my parents into debt (got half paid through scholarships). But my bro has his heart set out ot USC...and i know that USC cost a ton of dough and according to counselors at my school, the people who can pay the whole sticker price will have higher odds of getting in. Yea, I'm just a worried my bro's admission chances in the future for private colleges will be in jeopardy due to the money.</p>
<p>well theres ROTC (just got it in the mail today), otherwise, he might have to forget his first couple choices. NPR just did a series on paying for college, maybe you can find something useful on their website, npr.org. Someone on the program said, as advice, not to borrow more money than you would make in your first year out of college.
You could probably find schools better than USC for cheaper. Also, your brother could very well change his mind.</p>
<p>Well I now approve of the rich now that ashernm has been explained it's a color blind equal opportunity.</p>
<p>rEx, be happy your brother has a shot at the best state schools in the country, it's nothing to sneeze at. Private colleges are businesses. Do you think it's unfair if your family can't buy a Mercedes or fly first class?</p>
<p>Private colleges are institutions of education - they are not more of a business than public colleges. Education ought not be compared to a car or a good seat in an airplane. I applaud Harvard for their policy of having financial aid take care of the full cost of attendance for those whose family income is less than $30,000 (i think its 30k anyway).</p>
<p>rEx--actually, USC gives a lot of merit aid, so your brother needs to work hard enough to be a NMF.</p>
<p>And my question to the OP: define "rich". Do you mean those you can afford to pay for four years of private college, perhaps because they started saving 18 years ago and live frugally? Or do you mean someone who never has to work again?</p>
<p>Icarus, do you really believe what you wrote? Harvard is being generous? Look at the posts that discuss how much it will actually cost Harvard. They got far more good press (counterbalancing Summer's other statements...) far more cheaply than they ever could via the standard PR machine.</p>
<p>Regarding your first statement, keep in mind that private colleges are nonprofit corporations. That means they are an integral part of our competitive economy, and live by all the rules but one: they don't pay taxes. So, for good or bad, they are businesses first, institutions of education second. And all our caveats about dealing with business, such as "buyer beware" and "watch out for spin" apply.</p>
<p>Regarding the original topic, I remind you of Paul Fussel's book on social class. The rich have always had huge advantages, but some segments (the old money upper class, for example) do not even play the game. They don't need to.</p>
<p>Do they have an upper hand because they can pay the whole thing? Yes. So what? </p>
<p>If you remove yourself from the paradigm of financial aid, you can see how very odd it is. You might want a BMW, but you don't expect the BMW dealer to cut the price down to that of a Ford Taurus. Now, I know that the parents are going to jump down my throat and talk about how it is in the college's best interests to offer fin. aid... and I don't disagree. That doesn't change the fact that colleges don't have to offer it and people who can pay for what they are getting might have more access to that resource. If you get a BMW education for the price of a Taurus, then consider yourself lucky.</p>
<p>Just never understood why people are so upset by the idea that the wealthy have more (just plain more) than they do. Very few people accrue money for its own sake; it's almost always for the sake of what can be done with it.</p>
<p>~Aries, who is $83,000 in educational debt :p</p>