<p>Ellemenope, I am so tired of hearing those friends, teachers, etc. say that my son will get a free ride based on SAT, GPA, ECs, etc. Even one of the college counselors said that. Well, guess what? He has two, full tuition scholarships, but they are not from big-time colleges. One is from National Merit. The other, a small LAC. Now, one of the college counselors says that he should take the best academic deal – do not worry about loans. That’s nice … if you never worry about money. My son plans to major in economics – glad that he does understand money if when his college counselor doesn’t.</p>