<p>The personal finance columnist shares her daughter's college admissions and finances.</p>
<p>Well, if her daughter had such top grades, perhaps she should have investigated schools that give merit aid and would have brought their costs down below what all of those state schools cost. They would have also figured out that the chances of getting into UNC-CH from out of state are about zero. The “cheapest” school on their list is $23,000. Given the mom’s career, I’m going to guess they aren’t going to qualify for financial aid and are probably full pay. What did they expect was going to happen. Even before the White House list, the information she needed was at her fingertips–either places like College Confidential–which comes up in pretty much any college search you do, or just by searching google. Add in the Net Price Calculators on every college website and no one should be in shock over how much a college costs.</p>
<p>It appears they are in state for Maryland.</p>
<p>I know that–comparing total COA–assuming this student lives on campus…</p>
<p>Did she mix apples and oranges for Towson and UMD?</p>
<p>[Cost</a> of Attendance- Towson University](<a href=“http://www.towson.edu/main/finaid/finaidbasics/cost.asp]Cost”>http://www.towson.edu/main/finaid/finaidbasics/cost.asp)
[Office</a> of Undergraduate Admissions · University of Maryland » Costs](<a href=“http://www.admissions.umd.edu/costs/]Office”>Office of Undergraduate Admissions | Tuition & Aid)</p>
<p>In state COA for both/each is 23k with room and board.</p>
<p>Another federal intervention into another area of our lives. </p>
<p>Oh brother. She should send her kid to CC instead. There is a market for colleges. Supply and demand. If she can’t afford one school there are plenty I’m sure she can. The article is so whiny and infantile it makes me question the author’s real motives.</p>
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<p>As a financial advisor (a savvy person), why would she only have her D apply to state schools, in and out of state? I just quickly browse through those 2 school’s websites and I don’t see too many merit aid for out of state students. As a financial advisor, shouldn’t she have planned better?</p>
<p>I was actually thinking that exact same thing, Oldfort.</p>
<p>Also, why on earth would anyone be taking her advice seriously. She clearly doesn’t do much research and wants to rely on a government “tool.” Good luck with that.</p>
<p>I want to know what she considered to be excellent grades. Is it CC excellent?</p>
<p>Oldfort: I am surprised she allowed her daughter to apply to just four schools, too. My oldest son, who is a college senior, applied to 11. My younger son, who is a HS junior, is looking to apply to six or more. They are excellent students, too, but they want merit money. I like reading Michelle’s columns (we get the Washington Post) because she generally has some solid advice on various subjects, but this time, I think she may be missing the mark.</p>
<p>Right? </p>
<p>I mean, youngest, who everyone knows I complain all the time about not being a great student, got into UNC OOS. (Granted we are legacies, but it counts for little these days)… but, great grades? Define great.</p>
<p>I think we probably are dealing with someone who doesn’t know what she is dealing with and thought it was all going to be “the way it was when I was a kid.” We see that here.</p>
<p>“excellent grades” are one thing, what are her test scores??? There are a lot of 4.0’s at not so good schools that score in the low 20’s on the ACT and comparable SAT scores…</p>
<p>poetgrl - I think your standard is too high or you are not giving your D enough credit. :)I wouldn’t UNC would give that much weight for legacy.</p>
<p>Loyal Singletary reader here:</p>
<p>I have no idea why the daughter didn’t look at any privates. Perhaps her particular major is best served by the institutions on the list. I do know from other articles that Singletary has written that she has college funds for all of her children. She also is a big believer in public Us. If the money is in Maryland pre-paids, then in-state would be a first choice for this family.</p>
<p>I also have a kid at Towson. When we were researching her options, TU was less expensive than UM-CP and UM-BC, but a bit more expensive than Frostburg. We didn’t look at Salisbury, Morgan State, or Bowie, so I don’t know where those fall relative to Towson. In Maryland the general sense is that UM-CP and UM-BC have the toughest admissions, TU and SU are somewhat easier, and Frostburg, Bowie, and Morgan State are easier still. The Singletary daughter’s list is typical of students from this area. What surprised me most (given her mother’s penny-pinching ways) was that OOS institutions even made the cut to begin with. I had expected the list to be UM-CP, Towson/Salisbury/Frostburg, and maybe Howard if she were looking at a private.</p>
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<p>Well, this would not be the first time I heard this. Of course, D would also laugh. The kid opened her books to do the bare minimum, imho. </p>
<p>I’m happy to say, though, that she seems to be working very hard now. I sometimes think she just did it to “get to” me, which, admittedly, this one did, from time to time.</p>
<p>Still, the author’s example is not one we haven’t seen on CC. Parent doesn’t “understand” the way it works now. Heck, the whole thing is a big puzzle anymore, anyway. It’s tough to put the pieces together until after your first one has gone through it.</p>
<p>“Why would she only have her D apply to state schools, in and out of state?”</p>
<p>Maybe they are the only schools her daughter wanted to apply to.</p>
<p>She is in-state for University of Maryland-College Park and her daughter also qualified for the honors college, so they may get a little bit of merit aid. We are also in-state and my son in the same situation got about $1,500 in 2009, as I recall (he went elsewhere). In my mind, UMCP honors is a great deal - it’s become increasingly difficult to be admitted to the university at all.</p>
<p>SteveMA – What you and many of the other posters forget is that 90% of parents don’t GET it. I was one of those parents until I joined CC. Just because Michelle is a financial advisor and columnist does not mean she’s done the type of research necessary.</p>
<p>So many of my friends don’t get it either. They’re stuck back in the 80s and 90s when they went to college. Sadly, it’s a nasty shock come April.</p>
<p>With grade inflation “excellent grades” aren’t enough anymore. They might get you accepted (in her case it wasn’t enough for UNC-CH) but to qualify for merit now you need “superlative” or “stratospheric” grades to even be considered. On top of that the tendency seems to be more awards for a smaller amount making that “full ride” quite elusive these days. (should have been posted between posts 8 and 9)</p>
<p>And really, how does Michelle know that grades were the issue? Her daughter’s denial could be due to a dozen other factors, including her major. UNC-chapel hill has low OOS acceptance rate IIRC, making acceptance that more difficult.</p>