<p>This is a very general article about college admissions and tuition. I’d suggest there is no need to pick apart the young lady’s grades and test scores like a flock of feeding vultures. Assuming the young lady gave her mother permission to write about her admissions, I suspect she may regret it if she reads this thread.</p>
<p>Why does a personal finance columnist have such hard time figuring out how much college costs? And why does she seem so surprised? :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Mokuatsu – As I posted above, not everyone understands that the game has changed, especially so since 2008. Michelle should’ve done a bit more research, but so many parents don’t understand that they even need to DO the research. </p>
<p>And yes, Bovertine, her daughter must be very understanding. Mine would be mortified.</p>
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<p>not true…many schools use a simple class rank/SAT score chart. My S received many decent merit awards with good, but not great stats. One college I recently visited showed me the chart they used for merit awards…class rank on x axis and SAT/ACT scores on y axis. I thought it was absurd to group the 1%er with the 25th…I would take the top 5%er with a lesser SAT any day.</p>
<p>I can see why she may not have looked at private schools. She has a daughter with good grades , but no mention of test scores. Most merit awards heavily weight test scores. She probably has run the NPCs and EFC calculator and knows that her expected contribution towards college is at least the cost of UNC-CH, maybe more. Which means, they do not qualify for financial aid to the point that makes college affordable to them. I’m basically in the same danged boat. My maximum contribution that I can make each year is $35K.</p>
<p>When we looked at private colleges, the ones that DS liked all had prices up around the $60K level. Test scores said not likely, in fact, practically impossible that he would get merit money at them. In fact, getting accepted was going to be a big question. So, it came down to looking at private schools where he would have a chance at getting significant merit, and state schools, both in state and OOS. Though OOS publics were over what we were going to contribute, with the Stafford loans, working part time,and summers, plus with what he already had saved, they were doable as long as they did not go much over the $40K range. UNC-CH which will be on my youngest son’s list, is at the high end in cost without scholarship money, and the chances of getting any merit money from any school of that calibre is small indeed.</p>
<p>Also, some of my kids, despite my love for LACs, like the big state rah rah schools better. They like having a school that has great sports teams and my one in college now revels in going to the games as part of his social life. It’s what they like. And it was instrumental ih his picking a big OOS over a smaller Catholic school that did ante up enough money to make it possible for him to go there. He preferred the national name recognition, the size, the facilities, location, amenities and atmosphere of the OOS U over privat. </p>
<p>So I don’t think Michelle Singletary was off at all in her DD’s college search. Also when you are in a state with a great flagship with honors programs at a good affordable price (to the given family), why apply to 10 other schools? That our state schools are not so well known and do not have the name appeal was/is why my kids were not so hep about going to them, and looked elsewhere. But if we’d had a very good school that was pretty much in the bag and some safeties, just in case, there would have been no reason to add a whole lot of others schools to the list,</p>
<p>The big problem is for those families for whom paying for the state flagship is just not doable and their kids’ choices are limited to those state schools within a commutable distance. Some times the pickings are very slim locally. And then the problem arises when it’s a two year school and a boarding transfer is needed to get one’s degree.</p>
<p>I live in Maryland and have a kid at UMD-CP and another at UNC-CH. I think Ms. Singletary’s, article is representative of the application process of most families in the area. UNC was her daughter’s reach, UMD-CP was her match and the others were safeties. Her family is in that sour spot of not qualifying for financial aid. And despite the CC belief, most private colleges don’t offer enough merit aid to drop the COA below that of a state flagship for more than a few students. Those that would offer enough merit to match the instate COA most probably wouldn’t be a match in terms of fit. Sounds like this student wants a big school experience. The colleges offering merit are for the most part very small LAC’s.</p>
<p>Agentninetynine–I get that the “average parent on the street” doesn’t get it but if you are a financial adviser writing for the Wall Street Journal for crying out loud you BETTER get it…part of responsible reporting is doing research–10 minutes on CC would have told her all she needed to know–or ask a friend that has been through the process before…sorry but she SHOULD know if she is giving advice to others for a living.</p>
<p>eastcoascrazy–again, she is writing for a national publication–I would argue that your experience in MD is not typical. Sure, maybe your state schools end up being less expensive but there are schools all across the nation she could have attended, both private and public, for less then paying the instate cost in MD, big schools, small schools and everything in between. As a financial adviser knowing she won’t qualify for financial aid, seeking out merit aid would have been key—maybe not specifically for them, but to tell people that your state schools are your only option is irresponsible.</p>
<p>I completely agree, SteveMA, she should have researched this further, especially since it’s her daughter’s future on the line here. She may have assumed that with all of her expertise that she needn’t delve deeper. She may have done some research but ignored the sage advice that one is often given on this forum and threw the dice, hoping that her daughter might win the lottery and be accepted into UNC CH.</p>
<p>A financial planner and a college financial planner are two different animals. Hopefully for her clients she’s the former rather than the latter.</p>
<p>And, perhaps the daughter isn’t interested in casting a wider net. We won’t really know. This is why I like reading Lynn O’shaughnessy’s blog. She clearly outlines her thinking process and the financial reality of each step.</p>
<p>I didn’t read this article as being a statement that only one’s in state schools would do. I read it as a report on the inadequacy of the new White House college info. link, and as a general commentary on the cost of higher education. The former issue is something to be expected of a brand new web resource, and the latter is something almost every parent in the nation can agree to. Singletary has discussed various issues related to paying for college in previous columns. I expect that today’s issues were just about all she could squeeze into today’s column inches.</p>
<p>It is all well and good to say that someone else should have cast a wider net because there are some other places out there that could have been more affordable, but the fact remains that most students in this country are not going to be attractive enough to those other places. Most students are going to end up at a local community college, or at a homestate public U. Just like my kid did, and just like Singletary’s kid probably will. And yes my kid is at the in state public U because it is what we can afford.</p>
<p>My kids applied to 17 schools. Even with merit, the cheapest schools were UMD-CP (instate) and UNC-CH. that might not be true for every student, or every family, but that was the truth of our experience. So stop bashing the author for outcomes based on your evaluation of a stranger’s kid whose statistics were not included in an article that wasn’t about college applications.</p>
<p>Our kids applied to 19 schools between the 2 of them and the state schools were by far the most expensive…</p>
<p>The point is not what her D found, the point is she is saying that state schools are the least expensive option and that is NOT true for most better students. When you write for probably the most respected newspaper in the country, research would be a good idea.</p>
<p>SteveMA -</p>
<p>Where in that article to you read that “she is saying that state schools are the least expensive option” for anyone but for her own daughter just now? I don’t see that at all.</p>
<p>And to be perfectly honest, I have to disagree with you that “most” better student can find less expensive options than their home-state public institutions. “many” maybe, but certainly not “most”. There just aren’t that many merit-based scholarships out there that will really and truly bring the family’s cost down below the cost of an in-state public.</p>
<p>Thank you, happymom. I was starting to feel like I had entered an alternate universe there for a minute.</p>
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<p>Agreed. Stop bashing her.</p>
<p>Sorry–she never once mentions private schools and the cost savings their merit aid has, ever. Again, it’s a poorly researched article for someone writing for the Wall Street Journal professing to be a “financial adviser”.</p>
<p>I think the point of her article was, don’t rely on the government tool, it’s got big flaws.</p>
<p>I think it is funny how everyone is picking apart the choices the daughter made regarding where she applied. My only requirement with kid #2 was she had to apply early to at least 1 instate school (public), because it was a sure bet that we could afford that. She chose to apply to more schools, but state U is still on her short list & she may end up there. </p>
<p>I suspect Michell’es daughter wanted to go to a big public U. Maybe she/her daughter looked at LACs and Private U’s and didn’t feel drawn to apply. My mantra is, as long as they have a financial safety they like/love…</p>
<p>Sorry–she never once mentions private schools and the cost savings their merit aid has, ever. Again, it’s a poorly researched article for someone writing for the Wall Street Journal professing to be a “financial adviser”.</p>
<p>Not writing for the WSJ. She writes for the Washington Post. </p>
<p>And she did mention merit aid:</p>
<p>“During a recent college tour, we saw one parent become very disheartened because her daughter, a good but not great student, wouldn’t be able to afford college — and she was a state resident visiting a state school. If a degree is a ticket to a middle-class job, then we’ve got to do something about bringing down the price of attending. Even with a lot of merit and need-based scholarship and grant money available, there isn’t nearly enough to go around.”</p>
<p>In my opinion the student described above is way more typical than the student who can take advantage of their great grades/scores/class rank and get lots of merit $$$ at private schools.</p>
<p>Her article could only be so long–the point was to discuss: a) the government planning tool has flaws, don’t rely only on that in your planning and b) college is expensive</p>
<p>I think changing the focus to finding merit aid etc would dilute her message, and also would exclude the many, many families whose students are very ‘average’ stats-wise, but who still want to help their children achieve an advanced degree.</p>
<p>This is a very odd article, a mix of parental anguish with a heavy dose of Government is planning to help figure out parents the cost of college and where the money is. Really? Does the government know how these colleges determine how they hand out the merit aid?</p>
<p>Do the state schools not set up the net price calculators or does the financial advisor not know they exist? Not a single mention.</p>