<p>Maybe not community college, but maybe Ivy Leagues.</p>
<p>Why does colleges and universities have to make the system so unfair?</p>
<p>Money is power. It’s only common sense.</p>
<p>It’s a double edge sword. They want parents who could afford the tuition and able to donate, at the same time many adcoms are turned off by spoiled brat. One needs to be very careful on how one comes across on the application.</p>
<p>if the college is deciding between 2 kids, one who they wont need to give any money because he can afford, and the other has a low income so the college will need to give him financial aid, the choice is obvious
most colleges are actually not need-blind</p>
<p>Several of the Ivies have need-blind admissions. Therefore the income of the family isn’t taken into account. As a matter of fact several actively recruit rural, inner city and low income school districts because they want to get their name out and reach students who would never consider a Yale or Harvard.</p>
<p>But again, the list of ultra-rich schools that can eschew tuition is very small. While your point has some merit, it doesn’t affect all the tippy-top schools.</p>
<p>To ultimately answer your question: richer families live in circumstances where their kids can attend top level high schools with many resources. Richer families tend to have higher educated parents, which also increases the likelihood of high academically achieving kids.</p>
<p>This didn’t describe my family but I attended one of the (very rich) HYP colleges who made it very affordable for my blue-collar family.</p>
<p>colleges like rich kids because of the chance that in 40 or 50 years, those kids will give back to the colleges by making a $60 million donation, for example. Its sad, really, cause they are doing it for the money but nothing else in life is fair so why complain?</p>
<p>More money= More opportunities.</p>
<p>It is a fact that the richer a child is, the better the stats, such as SATs, due to ex*****ive prep classes, ECs, and leadship positions, often associated with connections. </p>
<p>While not all circumstances are like this, on average, this is the case.</p>
<p>SAT scores can be graph according to income and show an upward trend as income rises. They also can be graphed according to race, and accordingly, the richest African American students barely score as high as the poorest white students (interesting tidbit, if based on older information - I’d love to see a new graph or data set).</p>
<p>I’d say if you’re rich, it is easier to get into college. First of all, money is less of a problem, even if it can still be a problem. There are many more opportunities, like private schools or public schools in affluent areas, ECs that cost $$$, travel and study abroad experiences, tutoring, etc. The poorest students usually go to crappier public schools with fewer opportunities (since many opportunities require a monetary commitment). Many of the poorest students also work many hours outside of school, which may affect their academic performance. In addition, the poorest students are more likely to have apathetic parents and apathetic counselors.</p>
<p>these theories explain it more for the ultra-rich, not upper-middle class. then again for the upper-middle class or those that don’t qualify for financial aid but can’t afford $50K/year sometimes the problem is more where to actually go than getting in. i have plenty of friends who got into top-tier universities and LAC’s but are going to Binghamton or Geneseo or to a lesser school that gave them a lot of merit money.</p>
<p>Most of those top tier schools are missing students from families with $150-250,000 income range. Many of those families live in a high cost area where they are just making ends meet, most of them have not saved enough to pay full fare for their kids.</p>
<p>I don’t think being upper middle class excludes the students from opportunity, though. A student with a family in the upper 100s range isn’t spending day in and day out worry about where their next meal is coming from, to be extreme. Those students still have more (or, well, different and more college oriented) opportunities and can at least pay for schools like Binghamton or Geneseo - whereas a lower income student has little to no opportunity at all without serious financial aid and/or loans.</p>
<p>I hope I’m not coming off on the wrong foot but I think if kids can’t afford to go to top tier schools they should not apply there because they are taking up admissions to some one who could afford to go there but didn’t get in, even if they are smarter.</p>
<p>I still think the top schools, like the Ivys are need blind. They have huge endowments so they can afford to be so. It’s the smaller schools that depend more on tuition for operating costs that are having to factor in ability to pay these days. But a place like Harvard? No way, they are need blind.</p>
<p>According to the FASA, we “should” be able to pay the $53,000 per year Carnegie Mellon University costs. Our son, a national Merit Finalists, with a 2320 SAT was accepted in theri Science College as a physics major, but was declined admission into their computer science college. They did not offer a single penny in merit aid, so he had to decline the admission which about killed him since it was his dream scho. Did anyone get merit aid this year from Carnegie Mellon? Any other comments would be helpful?</p>
<p>Is it ever possible to be admitted after a person has declined the initial admission because money was found?</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies</p>
<p>To Pea where do you think endowment comes from? Money doesn’t magically appeAr. Techincally, higher education isn’t something required, it’s for those who can afford it. It’s probably because people started to complain about price that they offer aid. Just be grateful that you can afford to go to a college and stop complaining about not affording Ivies.</p>
<p>LaureanM5: I can’t help you with your specific questions but I just wanted to let you know that I feel your pain. We are a middle class family and when all was said and done our EFC was $48,000 per year. Full price at a private school is out of the question for us. The only thing that saved us was an unexpected merit scholarship from one of the colleges that my daughter was accepted at. Attendance at private schools is still out of reach of the middle class. You might want to post your questions on a new thread on the Carnegie Mellon site, I wish I could be of more help.</p>
<p>Haha pea, we posted at the same time. Someof my post regarded you. It’s on he last page.</p>
<p>Rich kids go to better schools are given more opportunities. they have more resources as their disposal and have higher expectations put on them so they reach higher</p>
<p>some studies show that rich parents teach their kids to feel entitled. so they are more confident and apply in bigger numbers to ivies</p>
<p>also they are rich, so they can pay for it.</p>
<p>The whole financial aid process comes about because of equal access. The EFC and even the CSS/PROFILE spits out different numbers for different people because it has to do with making the same contribution for everyone. There’s also income shelter - someone who makes $25,000 a year probably won’t have to contribute 30% of their income because there is no disposable income, whereas someone who makes $150,000 has disposable income. That person is expected to pay the disposable income plus more, which is why it comes out so high. Not necessarily in the case of anyone on this thread, but a lot of people are living way above their means or are not making realistic decisions. If the parent decides he or she wants to support the child in paying for a top tier college, then certain decisions and sacrifices must be made prior to application season. If the parent doesn’t or can’t make those decisions or sacrifices, that child doesn’t go to a top tier school. It’s the same for everyone. I have to make decisions and sacrifices as a low-income student, and so must the middle class. The rich, well, they either got lucky or worked hard (usually a combination of both), so they may not qualify for that statement.</p>
<p>I wasn’t trying to complain. Ironically we could have afforded an Ivy league college because they give more aid because of their large endowments. We can’t afford the sticker price at a top tier school, that is all I was saying.</p>