I wonder if any high school guidance counselors routinely follow CC? It should be required!
@momof2atl for what? College costs? Ability to pay? Financial aid? At our schools, the GCs are there to discuss admission and are prohibited, due to privacy issues, to discuss family finances. The best they can do is to encourage families to be realistic about the costs of the colleges and what the families can afford. They can also tell families merit and, and suggest they complete the financial aid forms if the family wants to be considered for need based aid.
They cannot ask about family finances.
My one kid was on the deans list all but one term. It never dawned on me...at all...to think this would net this kid any kind of money. At all.
Some families live in the magical world where they think money for college will materialize out of no where when in reality, that doesn’t happen.
If parents really want to know IF there is new merit money READILY available for upperclass students, they should ask this question at each college.
mom2collegekidsForum Champion Financial Aid, Forum Champion AlabamaPosts: 84,818Forum Champion
There also seems to be a large amount of entitlement on the part of the parents, as well as delusional thinking. Among other things, a 3.5 GPA is not that uncommon, and if any good school had to reduce tuition for all kids who have that GPA, they'd go under in a year or two.
Even if it was rare, did anybody tell them that this would happen?
Nobody of any authority told them that. Maybe their child told them that they had heard that, but no one should rely on that info as kids often are talking to other kids who don’t know any more than they do....
Why were the high costs "unexpected"?
It was “unexpected” as they had convinced themselves that the first semester of good grades would be rewarded with merit.
mom2collegekidsForum Champion Financial Aid, Forum Champion AlabamaPosts: 84,818Forum Champion
But I try and help as many as possible understand the stakes. I have a friend (very successful accountant) who thought his son would be on the hook for a 40K per year loan (child received 5K per year scholarship) to go to a public university OOS.
Once he heard the truth (you are the one who would be on the hook), he had a conversation with his child who is currently happy at his local in-state institution. I am still shocked that he would have let his 18 year old take out a 40K loan if it were possible.
We’ve had a few of such posts here on College Confidential. In fact, the saddest ones have been where the student has repeatedly said that his parents told him, “don’t worry about cost,” only to find out in the spring of senior year that the parents thought the child could borrow “all the costs”. Once they found out that THEY would have to cosign, suddenly the student was left high and dry. Ugh.
At our schools, the GCs are there to discuss admission and are prohibited, due to privacy issues, to discuss family finances. The best they can do is to encourage families to be realistic about the costs of the colleges and what the families can afford. They can also tell families merit and, and suggest they complete the financial aid forms if the family wants to be considered for need based aid.
Do the counselors mention the net price calculators?
ucbalumnusRegistered UserPosts: 75,458Senior Member
edited February 6
I have heard of small rare scholarships given to current high achieving college students. But not anything big given automatically to large numbers of students based on a GPA like 3.5.
Where did people get the notion that the latter is expected?
Perhaps a more common type of misconception about lowering costs after starting college involves gaining state residency after enrolling at an out of state public university, while the parents of a traditional age student remain in the original state. Most states make it difficult to do that.
Frankly, judging by the naivete of some of the kids posting on CC, I am not surprised by parent's ignorance. I love CC, but often find myself scratching my head at these poor kids trying to navigate this process without parental help or guidance (at best) or total parental idiocy at worst.
often find myself scratching my head at these poor kids trying to navigate this process without parental help or guidance (at best) or total parental idiocy at worst.
Or with parental "help" that is counterproductive like "don't worry about the cost, we'll figure that out later".
Or the occasional stories of students who first choice is something affordable, but the parents are pushing a higher cost higher debt choice that the student is less interested in.
There is still an air of your daughter wasn't good enough for the Ivy league from friends and family. People seem to think the tippy top schools award big scholarships for top students. With all the merit out there for the 25-100 ranked colleges it seems looking back why anyone who is full pay would go the route of actually full pay if it could be avoided with an equally academically solid school. I think among the general population this scholarship myth widely exists. It does not surprise me to hear that people think scholarships will be awarded for Deans list etc once in school. The whole educated consumer thing goes without saying here...
@mom2collegekids
“I don’t know if that happens in foreign colleges because often that question comes from int’l parents/students. “
Yes, In my country the Universities don’t give merit scholarships for your grades in High school, normally you pay full price for first semester and some universities if you have excellents grades is posible a full tuition and fees for the next semester and is renovable.
For e.g. mi mom paid for her first semester and the the othes had a fulltuition and fees.
(We don’t have rooms).
I’d pay full price for first semester and I won a design competition and the prize was a full tuition and fees for second semester.
You receive a full tuition and fees for five years in the university than you choose if you are accepted, if you are a low income and have excellent grades in test, but normally is a Government program.
But as parent you need to do your homework and known about the College rules where your child is gonna study.
mom2collegekidsForum Champion Financial Aid, Forum Champion AlabamaPosts: 84,818Forum Champion
Or with parental "help" that is counterproductive like "don't worry about the cost, we'll figure that out later".
I absolutely hate seeing that response. That one and the one where the student or parent says, “we’re going to apply to a number of schools regardless of cost, then in the spring we’ll put all the FA pkgs on the table and decide which ones are best.”
What if none of them are affordable? What if the kid applied to a bunch of pricey schools that don’t give much or any aid? Why would they assume that if one applies to 8-10+ schools that at least one of them is going to have an affordable aid pkg?
Replies to: Do NOT assume that a Scholarship will be given to Current College Student for Being on Dean’s List!
@momof2atl for what? College costs? Ability to pay? Financial aid? At our schools, the GCs are there to discuss admission and are prohibited, due to privacy issues, to discuss family finances. The best they can do is to encourage families to be realistic about the costs of the colleges and what the families can afford. They can also tell families merit and, and suggest they complete the financial aid forms if the family wants to be considered for need based aid.
They cannot ask about family finances.
My one kid was on the deans list all but one term. It never dawned on me...at all...to think this would net this kid any kind of money. At all.
Some families live in the magical world where they think money for college will materialize out of no where when in reality, that doesn’t happen.
If parents really want to know IF there is new merit money READILY available for upperclass students, they should ask this question at each college.
No assumptions.
@homerdog I’m talking about current college students. Dean’s LIst at college.
Nobody of any authority told them that. Maybe their child told them that they had heard that, but no one should rely on that info as kids often are talking to other kids who don’t know any more than they do....
It was “unexpected” as they had convinced themselves that the first semester of good grades would be rewarded with merit.
We’ve had a few of such posts here on College Confidential. In fact, the saddest ones have been where the student has repeatedly said that his parents told him, “don’t worry about cost,” only to find out in the spring of senior year that the parents thought the child could borrow “all the costs”. Once they found out that THEY would have to cosign, suddenly the student was left high and dry. Ugh.
Do the counselors mention the net price calculators?
Where did people get the notion that the latter is expected?
Perhaps a more common type of misconception about lowering costs after starting college involves gaining state residency after enrolling at an out of state public university, while the parents of a traditional age student remain in the original state. Most states make it difficult to do that.
Or with parental "help" that is counterproductive like "don't worry about the cost, we'll figure that out later".
Or the occasional stories of students who first choice is something affordable, but the parents are pushing a higher cost higher debt choice that the student is less interested in.
“I don’t know if that happens in foreign colleges because often that question comes from int’l parents/students. “
Yes, In my country the Universities don’t give merit scholarships for your grades in High school, normally you pay full price for first semester and some universities if you have excellents grades is posible a full tuition and fees for the next semester and is renovable.
For e.g. mi mom paid for her first semester and the the othes had a fulltuition and fees.
(We don’t have rooms).
I’d pay full price for first semester and I won a design competition and the prize was a full tuition and fees for second semester.
You receive a full tuition and fees for five years in the university than you choose if you are accepted, if you are a low income and have excellent grades in test, but normally is a Government program.
But as parent you need to do your homework and known about the College rules where your child is gonna study.
I absolutely hate seeing that response. That one and the one where the student or parent says, “we’re going to apply to a number of schools regardless of cost, then in the spring we’ll put all the FA pkgs on the table and decide which ones are best.”
What if none of them are affordable? What if the kid applied to a bunch of pricey schools that don’t give much or any aid? Why would they assume that if one applies to 8-10+ schools that at least one of them is going to have an affordable aid pkg?
Summer between 11th and 12th grade, "Money is not a factor in the decision": https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1789885-best-schools-for-math-comp-sci-with-undergrad-research.html
Winter/spring 12th grade, "The problem is the money": https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1866912-need-advice-on-college-choice-etc-p1.html