@katliamom : “Clearly, your parents have substantial assets and/or unearned income (from your own post, enough to holiday in France while unemployed). That they don’t feel that they want to spend the money for Brown or Cambridge is their choice. Of course, it is their right to make that choice, but excoriating the US government and educational system for your parent’s choices is not reasonable.”
This is where the misunderstanding lies. As I said before they do have 50,000 in savings for my college education. I don’t know about substantial assets. You mean our house? What should we sell our house just so I could have a college education? Ridiculous. If the educational system in America expects parents to make sacrifices of that nature, then there is most definitely something wrong with it.
It’s not a matter of my parents not wanting to spend their money for Brown/Cambridge. It’s that they DONT HAVE THE MONEY. My parents still believe we were cheated by the financial aid offices at these schools because we simply don’t have the money. 50,000 is one year of college.
Please don’t make assumptions about our financial situation and what we can afford. I wasn’t “on holiday” in France. I was there for a math competition, and we stayed with family at no cost.