“My main point was that, given the little we know from the article, a little less preaching and “holier than tho” would be the order of the day. I often wonder reading some posts, how many are quietly shills or have a conflict of interest, or if the main goal is good old fashioned shadenfruede. If you expect others to come to you for your expertise and advise, assuming we are all doing our level best is probably a good starting position to take.”
Since this thread was started by referring to an article in the NYTs none of the advice given was for the benefit of the people in the article. Any advice given was more of the “be aware” type of advice to those who might be in or soon be in similar situations. The article was primarily a point of reference. The people in the article seemed to believe that the FAFSA EFC actually should be an indication of what they might expect to pay and were surprised, disappointed, and seemingly a bit bitter that it wasn’t . To all those parents who aren’t aware it isn’t! I agree we can’t know the entire situation. The FAFSA and even the CSS profile will not seek to delve into a much of a families circumstances. Mostly it seeks to understand the families income and non retirement assets and base federal aid on this information. What we can say with a degree of confidence is that it is important to know what you are willing to pay then make your decisions accordingly. You can only choose based on your current circumstances, what you did in the past cannot be undone. Many times in CC we see parents and students who in March are shocked and surprised that the school they were sure their student was entitled to was unaffordable. This article was another opportunity for some to make others aware of some of the misconceptions concerning FA and college costs. I