Another parent circling back on the cost issue --every spring, it is heartbreaking when kids post about getting into schools that parents either refuse, or cannot, pay for. Sometimes parents still haven’t really appreciated that full pay means $60,000 a year, or sometimes parents were willing to liquidate assets to send a kid to an Ivy, but won’t do that for other schools. No matter what the cause, there are distraught seniors with few good choices because the finances were not clarified early in the process.
College applications and decisions are loaded emotionally, because they represent parents’ and teenagers’ hopes, dreams, plus the cold reality of money, all thrown together in an ugly, messy mix. Clarity at the beginning helps keep the whole process neater. If you have some time, and don’t mind watching the CC equivalent of roadkill, you can go back through College Selection and Admissions boards from March-May, and see the posts from kids saying their kids just found out they cannot afford their dream school. Actually, a much better use of your time would be to get your parents to sit down with the Net Price Calculator on some school websites, if they are thinking they will rely on financial aid. If you are not applying for financial aid, please make sure they know it is $60k+ and that there is no merit aid at Ivys or NESCAC schools. If merit aid is needed to make the college cost affordable, then showing interest to schools like Denison and St Lawrence, will be important.