@tpike12 I was thinking the same thing. Of my S19’s seven acceptances only 3 gave grants totaling ~$200K (4 years) and we are not using any of it.
I tried to post the go fund me here but it doesn’t meet TOS.
Just look up go fund me and jakelia baker college fund .
My guess is that we’re 4 (3) of the 6 donors.
I also tried to reach out to help with college advising (for younger classmates, siblings’ etc) but didn’t hear back.
@patsmom - I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
@tpike12 and @racereer you guys got me curious. This girl was low income, we are as well. My D’s was offered $100,000 over fours years from a school (we called, it was legit) before she even applied (she ended up not applying). Her first acceptance came with a offer of $120,000 over four years. Those two were merit based. Her ED offer came with $280,000 in grants (over four years). Her outside scholarship covers up to $160,000 over four years. Right there she’s at $660,000 from three schools and a scholarship. When they lump it all together her scholarships sound so impressive- a million dollars! Then you think about it and just feel bad for her. She really could’ve benefited from better guidance, I think.
Son’s former HS allowed students to apply to a maximum of 8 private colleges or universities. Forced everyone to be extremely strategic.
@patsmom Someone started another thread on this. This most incredible thing to me was her galling advice.
Let them get their kicks through this. Who cares getting into one or 25 colleges. You can only go to one.
Have read this whole thread, I fail to understand all of the outrage over this
I understand the concern about students making poor judgements about where to enroll.
Who is ultimately harmed by this?
Wasted a lot of people’s time at the schools where she never planned on attending.
@jmnva06 What upsets me is when schools/GC’s encourage this kind of nonsense for the sake of their own PR. It’s exploitative and not in the best interests of the kid(s) at all. Look at the original story that inspired this thread - the kid now can’t afford any of those colleges and ended up starting a GoFundMe, which is going nowhere. One good-fit school that you can afford is worth infinitely more than 100 that you can’t. And the total of all aid offers is an utterly pointless number that thinking people in the education world and in the media should not validate as a meaningful thing.
Kids who are starting from a place of socioeconomic disadvantage have enough barriers to overcome without willful stupidity on the part of their paid advisors being another. This scholarship-total arms race should be actively discouraged. The brass ring is that one great offer. In the absence of that one good outcome, building 50 bridges that each go only halfway across the river is indeed harmful to the person who does all that work only to end up floundering in the water. The story becomes viral “inspiration porn” and the kid is still in the struggle. The stupidity of it just burns.
If you’re outraged, not at the kid, but at the fact she received such poor advice that she now can’t afford college, you can donate to her go fund me page, Jakelia Baker college fund. Still 6 (5) donors, still $465, she needs $10,000 for her first year at PSU Beaver.
@MYOS1634 Why would anyone donate to this futile gofundme campaign that is actually at least $40k gap that she can’t even close for year 1 to attend a school that is likely no better than her local community college? I’m not seeing the sense in donating and obviously no one else is either, as the needle hasn’t budged.
Even if she ends up at community college she’ll need the money.
I just feel bad that she received such bad advice in application list then in choosing her college.
Maybe she might find her own sugar plum fairy, like the poster here.
What do you mean?
@MYOS1634 - read the last few pages of the thread above
No fairy, sugar plum or otherwise can fix the poor advice/lack of advice this person got unless she takes a gap year and starts again next year with better advice in formulating her list. That doesn’t sound like it’s even contemplated.
Similar to the poor fellow who posted on cc a day before decision day that he is looking for $45k in scholarships or loans (parents cannot cosign). So sad.