<p>Well, my dad has evidently been lying about his income, which affects child support. I’ll call Chicago on monday. I’ll figure it out. Thanks for all of the advice. /thread</p>
<p>*Also, the only reason I know he has good income is because of the bad aid I got. I truly have no indicator of what he does or what his profession is. </p>
<p>Well, my dad has evidently been lying about his income, which affects child support. *</p>
<p>Your dad may have gotten a better job, inherited some money, perhaps has remarried, or maybe has a good amount of equity in his home.</p>
<p>If your mom hasn’t taken your dad back to court in recent years to increase child support, then he probably wasn’t obligated to reveal a change in income.</p>
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<p>You were just given a $220K package at Vanderbilt. Believe me, you just received a lot more than what you worked for - it’s not even close. Look around these forums for awhile; others only dream about a situation like this.</p>
<p>You’re actually living the fantasy.</p>
<p>I am definitely not complaining about Vanderbilt at all. Far from it. I have been on food stamps all of my life, so I understand that I was blessed by their scholarship. </p>
<p>A lot of people would love to be in the FA situation that I am for Vanderbilt, but most of those people wouldn’t have wanted to be in the socioeconomic situation that I have been in the last 17 years, living off food stamps and stuff. </p>
<p>Please do not continue to post and tell me that I should go to Vanderbilt or talk about my great situation. The tautology is unnecessary. I just want this thread to die.</p>
<p>When you’re older, you will eventually realize the incredible amount of effort and perseverance it takes to earn, save and protect $200,000. Someday you will appreciate the sheer magnitude of this immensely awesome gift that society has so generously made available just for deserving folks such as yourself.</p>
<p>People telling you you’re “privileged” or that other kids would love to be in your situation are jerks. It’s sick what they’re saying. You’ve succeeded against all the disadvantages, and you deserve a great education at somewhere you love.</p>
<p>I hope that Chicago gives you the money you need, or than Vanderbilt turns out to be better for you than you thought.</p>
<p>Good luck, Polyosophsy. Getting accepted to UChicago and getting big money from a school like Vanderbilt… those things don’t happen by accident. You obviously have a lot of talent. One way or the other, this will work out and you’ll have a great time at whatever college you attend.</p>
<p>would you consider going to Vanderbilt and doing your best there and then going to UChicago for grad school? I assume if you are the “type” to love Chicago this passionately, you are the type who will go on to Grad school. I mean, by all means, attempt to get the noncustodial waiver and speak to Uchicago about your situation, right up to the point of explaining your package at Vanderbilt. (This can be an influence). But, if you can’t get the package you need for Chicago, perhaps going there for grad school would be a great path. Four years fly by when you are in college. Time, as you know, is relative, and it is nothing like the amount of time it takes to get through high school.</p>
<p>Good luck. I hope you get what you want. But, at the very least, you have a fantastic and free offer at a school you originally thought you wanted to attend.</p>
<p>This is one of those classic examples of why not to fall hopelessly in love with one school. It is unfortunate that Vandy, and the huge grant, is seen as a disappointment compared to Chicago. Good luck talking to Chicago (other posters on cc have had luck goting back to the coffer with Chicago) but congrats too on Vandy!! Way to go!</p>
<p>So, is Vandy completely “off the table” and won’t be considered? </p>
<p>This reminds me of a foster child I knew that had an opportunity to get a Sony recording contract (for her singing) but refused when she found out that they wanted her to sing a certain genre that she didn’t want to do. We tried to convince her that she would only have to sing that genre for a short time and then she’d have the power/money to do what she wanted. But…no go…stubborness trumped common sense.</p>
<p>Polyosophy - You did get what you worked for. You got essentially a full-ride at a very find university! And, if you qualify for that, you probably could have similar offers from many other institutions that have similar financial aid and admissions policies. Without knowing exactly how U of Chicago makes its admissions and financial aid decisions, there is no way possible for you to “work for” a good aid package there.</p>
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<p>What, I hope you aren’t raising your kids with this same mentality. Or maybe you are a kid, because only a childish person would respond like that. This is exactly why she is confused. I am sure a very high percentage of kids going to college would have not even questioned the Vandy offer. Some people Just expect to much. The World owes you nothing! Who is anyone to say who deserves what? There are no free rides on this planet. How childish!</p>
<p>I am an 18 year old senior. So I guess in all these “wise” parent’s views I am a “childish kid.” Might I note though, that I won’t be sitting on collegeconfidential lecturing teenagers when I’m in my 40s. If I did find the time to come on CC, it would be to help teenagers get through a difficult transition period, because I remembered how difficult it was for me – especially with minimal assistance from parents. You also must remember YOUR kids clearly had parents who were EXTREMELY involved and proactive – since you guys are all on CC flowing with knowledge. The OP was not so lucky.</p>
<p>You have no idea the circumstances the OP went through. You have no idea what hardships or what struggles he/she has had to deal with. We all know the “world owes us nothing.” But the OP clearly feels they’ve been screwed by the system – and let’s face it, they have! UChicago screwed them because, look, my parents make over 100k and they got only 4k more than I did. There NEEDS to be some kind of reform because financial aid is clearly not doing what it’s supposed to be doing if this kid got so little from a school who guarantees to meet 100% of demonstrated need. And this is coming from a girl who probably won’t be able to attend Chicago herself because they didn’t even match MY need. </p>
<p>Of course in the end, the OP need to suck it up and go to Vanderbilt. And yes a lot of people would love to be in their shoes, but it shows total ignorance for random strangers to call the OP a “privileged kid.” If you are going to reply to the board, offer advice, don’t judge the person. Act like the adult you consider yourself to be.</p>
<p>You guys are putting words into my mouth. Of course I will go to Vandy if it is impossible to go to Chicago, but this thread was created only to determine if it was possible to get more aid from Chicago. I end up getting responses to say that I don’t deserve anything and the world owes me nothing. </p>
<p>I don’t need to be lectured. I was just trying to get some advice. This had nothing to do with Vanderbilt at all; I only used it to compare how bad the aid was. I think it is absurd that you would consider me ungrateful because you saw some text that I wrote.</p>
<p>polysophy–</p>
<p>I’m a parent, and I hope you did not see me as seeing you as ungrateful. Mostly, I’m horrified that your father is not stepping up to the plate to contribute to your education if he has enough money to make your “profile” this way. I’m actually surprised more of the adults here haven’t commented on that and not your desire for a better package at Chicago.</p>
<p>As I said before, I do hope you are able to get them to meet your actual need. If not, I do hope you will be able to find what you need at Vanderbilt, just because, at my age, I do understand how debilitating debt like that can be. But, if you have been able to forgo many things in order to study as hard as it takes to be this kind of student, I am certain you will arrive at this delayed gratification concept on your own.</p>
<p>Again, good luck. As insane as it sounds, a lot of parents are really stressed to the limit about their own kids’ financials, especially on this board. I’m sure you will be fine.</p>
<p>Threads on public forums don’t die out because an OP goes away or wants the thread to fade away. That’s why it is always smart to use an anonymous name and not to reveal too much information about oneself. When a thread annoys you or outlives its purpose, whether you are the OP, a participant or lurker, the best and really only thing to do is stop clicking and reading the thread. It can be difficult to leave a forum chat thread and not know what is being babbled about after you leave, but that is the nature of this kind of forum.</p>
<p>As for my unasked for 2 cents, UChicago has a pool of money, it divided it up in a way to attract a certain pool of students knowing FULL WELL that the money would not be enough for some of the students. UChicago, like all colleges, know a certain percentage of accepted students will take other offers. I don’t think UChicago screwed up per se, and it will adjust the types of offers it makes next year based on how their yields went this year. Any notion of “will meet 100% of need” is basically baloney as we know and thank goodness the OP has at least one offer from Vandy that may fit that bill. No way does it make sense that colleges must or should be forced to meet 100% need for all students unless it wants to AND the college has the funds to make that a reality. Only a few colleges are even close to that reality these days.</p>
<p>*Mostly, I’m horrified that your father is not stepping up to the plate to contribute to your education if he has enough money to make your “profile” this way. I’m actually surprised more of the adults here haven’t commented on that and not your desire for a better package at Chicago.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>You’re right…it is horrific. The OP’s father has either been very dishonest/misleading about his income to avoid paying more child support or he’s only recently increased his financial standing and the mom didn’t know to return to court to get an increase in support. </p>
<p>Frankly, I’m SHOCKED that he would have bothered to fill out CSS when he knew he wasn’t going to contribute AND he had to know that his income/assets were high enough to demand a high contribution…which would let the financial cat out of the bag.</p>
<p>If the OP has younger siblings, then the mom does need to haul his fanny back into court. </p>
<p>The reason that I didn’t bash the dad about not paying for college (as much as he deserves to be bashed), it seemed pointless because the dad has a LONG history of not properly supporting his child/ren…the OP mentioned being on food stamps!!! </p>
<p>Only a NCP waiver from UChi is going to make this work, but I don’t think the student will get one since the dad did fill out the NCP info. At some point, this dad will likely refuse to fill the paperwork out in the future if the results reveal his financial situation (indirectly).</p>
<p>*Mostly, I’m horrified that your father is not stepping up to the plate to contribute to your education if he has enough money to make your “profile” this way. I’m actually surprised more of the adults here haven’t commented on that and not your desire for a better package at Chicago.
*</p>
<p>I don’t know what the split would be but not everyone believes it is a parent’s duty or obligation to provide for college if he or she has the funds. For the sake of this comment, let’s assume the parent has enough funds, retirement is on track, and is able to live comfortably and support all or any other children he or she brought into this world or has chosen to be responsible for through marriage, adoption, etc. That list is a very long set of “ifs”–especially the retirement account, which many parents forgo and instead pay for their kids’ colleges instead which I do think is a foolhardy mistake. Chances are this father does <em>not</em> have a good retirement fund. But let’s assume otherwise for now.</p>
<p>There are plenty of parents who believe that a child of 18 is now an adult, and considering the average child will live to the age of 75+, there are plenty of ways to get a college degree without using the sweat equity of the parent. Two obvious ones are to do service in the military or to work and do other jobs until the student turns 24 and can be determined independent. The pricing-system for universities is beyond ridiculous and the only reason it costs upwards of 25 - 55K for many colleges is that college has become a 4-year country-club experience with state of the art gym facilities, dorm rooms that are more like upscale apartments, and new mega-buildings being built as fast as one can say boo. Not every college is doing this, but the majority of them are. </p>
<p>Also problematic is the assumption that every adult child with enough smarts to get into a college <em>should</em> go to college (and at any cost). There are countries that have set up a much different higher-education system, such as in Germany, where many young adults go off to trade schools to learn a trade and make a good living from that route. We have created a society here in the USA that has in many ways over-emphasized the importance and need of a college education–nevermind the college dropouts, the graduates who come out with 100,000+ in debt, the Basketweaver Major who will never in his or her life weave a single basket for pay and the idea was never reasonable in the first place. </p>
<p>Yes, there are many reasons why a parent might decide that the costs of higher education are not “worth it” and frankly, in a free land, that is the parent’s right. There are simply OTHER WAYS OF SEEING the situation… and someone can have an opinion about it, even a very angry judgmental opinion, but I will stand here and represent for those voices who just might be seeing it differently.</p>
<p>Well, once you get to the point where the student has been admitted to UChicago and Vanderbilt with this aid? You have gotten beyond whether or not this particular student “should” go to college.</p>
<p>I’m aware of the sytem in Germany. It tracks far too soon, though, imho, to be sure it is correct. </p>
<p>All that said, it is definitely a parent’s perogative to pay or not pay. Also, there are many who would be better served if a college education wasn’t necessary, if we had living wage jobs one could enter without a college degree. However, the undeniable fact is that the unemployment rate for those with a college degree is at or slightly below 5%, and nearer 17% without one. A parent would have to be a fool to not, at least, point this out.</p>
<p>I agree that Germany tracks too quickly. I feel the ideal situation would develop more vocational opportunities here in the US and at the same time have a movement toward “budget colleges” – all the seriousness of academics without the frills so that the costs can start coming down. It just seems that the majority of colleges are caught up with “keeping up with the Jones” and that just drives the amenities and the related costs upwards and through the roof. Tons of articles about how the cost of higher education greatly outstrips the rate of inflation.</p>