<p>Hi Carolyn and thanks for the thoughtful post. It was our son’s choice to persue merit aid because we agreed that he would be totally responsible for paying tuition, academic fees plus books and spending money. He probably could have been accepted to colleges such as Cornell or Wesleyan but chose the likes of Case, RPI, Allegheny and Wooster because of the merit aid considerations.</p>
<p>As a family we did not try to “hide” any funds and the fact that our son had a UGTM accout in excess of $75k clinched the deal regarding need based aid. We did not even file the requisite CSS form with Oberlin because we did not want to be considered in any way for need based aid.</p>
<p>In addition our son worked hard during HS and earned the right to be considered for merit aid. $15k of his merit aid was for the Rensselaer Medal which was awarded to him by his HS junior year. The prior year nobody was even designated and he was the first Medalist to attend RPI in 4 years.</p>
<p>My selfish attitude following the recent election comes from utter frustration with many of my fellow citizens and their unwillingness to understand the long term damage that is occurring to our great country. It goes against my nature and was a painful choice. I would rather be taxed more to make our country a better place for those with greater need and for the future of all our children. But that is not the world we currently live and the only way to marginalize the Norquist’s of the world is through the ballot box.</p>
<p>But Carolyn I understand your point.</p>