@ucbalumnus like I’ve said, they’re unwilling to talk about college (mainly my mom). Last year I mentioned wanting to go to an Ivy (I used to be a semi-prestige hound) and she directly shot my suggestion down solely upon the typical political standing of the Ivy League. I sat down with her a couple months ago and ran the net price calculator for Williams and she was impressed with how much aid they give, even though it isn’t quite in our range. So the problem doesn’t lie with them knowing I won’t be able to afford any of these colleges (they would never have done the research to figure this out for themselves)–the problem lies with them not wanting to talk about it.
And again, as I’ve said, they’ve never let me know how much they’ll be able to help me financially. I’ve been asking them more often recently but they appear miffed at my desires to attend a private out of state college, again for the (you guessed it) political standing, and the idea that I might become a snob.
I’m most afraid that, because of the political standing of these colleges and their preconceptions from the sticker prices, they’ll refuse to hear me out about them and undermine my efforts to make attendance at one possible.