<p>Half a million dollars to put one kid through undergrad and med school.</p>
<p>Marite: I donât understand your question. </p>
<p>âDoes the Med School give full finaid to needy students?â</p>
<p>What does needy mean in terms of an adult going to med school?</p>
<p>"After paying through the nose in property taxes or private school tuition to provide their kids with socio-economically advantaged peers in K-12, will they still want to pay $200K to send their kids to school populated mostly by kids from lower-income backgrounds? (And wonât the lower-income parents be disappointed by this as well?) "</p>
<p>Wow! Bay, did you really say this?!? Iâm really shocked by this comment. Are kids from lower-income backgrounds of less value than kids from higher-income backgrounds?</p>
<p>Iâm from Orange County, Calif. (beach community). I feel extremely blessed to be in the financial situation that Iâm in. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to pay tuition for my kids. I donât think itâs fair that because someone else doesnât have the same blessings that my kids have that their kids shouldnât have the same education/opportunities that mine have. That would be extremely cruel of me to be so elitist. </p>
<p>We keep talking about money, what about the brilliant kids whoâs parents just donât earn enough for a Harvard education? Should they not have the opportunity? Where talking about education and everyone future. Who do you want running large corporations? or what about when you get sick, do you want to go to a doctor who went to the best school only because their parents could afford to send them there but they werenât very bright? or do you want to go to a doctor who is the best, regardless of how they paid or didnât pay for their education?</p>
<p>Again, if we donât like the way they do things at H, then attend one of the other thousands of schools.</p>
<p>âI donât think itâs fair that because someone else doesnât have the same blessings that my kids have that their kids shouldnât have the same education/opportunities that mine have. That would be extremely cruel of me to be so elitist.â</p>
<p>This is perhaps true for an undergraduate education where students are coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, lousy inner city schools etc. However there are many who we know at Harvard who have âgamed the systemâ and are on financial aid. My issue is much more in regards to graduate school. Two students graduating from Harvard with different backgrounds and getting accepted into medical school are now on the same playing field. They are also adults. As far as your suggestion in regards to going somewhere else - all medical schools that I know of have this idiotic policy in regards to financial aid. Besides, why should 1 student have to settle for Podunk U while another gets huge aid as an adult at HMS?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Dear Guitars,</p>
<p>Itâs very impressive that you reside in the OC but you clearly benefit from the current FA system. Please keep this in mind before posting PC scoldings of parents struggling under the burden of full-pay.</p>
<p>Oh, and I live in a very low-income part of the country in a 1950s ranch worth perhaps $100K in todayâs market. Yup. Iâm one of those high-living full-pay parents.</p>
<p>How many people on here make 180K and are getting financial aid. Unless there has been an illness in the family or some really extenuating circumstances, that income should have been enough to save for college. Those who did save are penalized because they most likely have much larger assets than those who blew their money out their *** on cars, vacations etc. A lot of us are driving around in cars with 250k miles on them and have not taken fancy or any vacations for that matter as some have implied. I guess weâre the idiots!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I knew my comments would elicit this type of misinterpretation. No, I absolutely do not think kids from lower-income backgrounds are âof less valueâ than kids from higher-income backgrounds, and I said nothing of sort. Our family believes it is very valuable for a college student body to be composed of students from a wide range of backgrounds.</p>
<p>However, I donât think it can be denied this benefit includes being educated among peers who have the experience and connections that come from a high-income upbringing. We all know the one constant in academic achievement is socio-economic status. But there is more to it than that. Even our resident-communist mini, provided a diatribe about the additional social value he believes he gained from being one of the minority FA/scholarship students being educated among the economically elite at private Williams College back in the day.</p>
<p>It is not helpful to simply respond with âgo somewhere else if you do not like it.â This attitude is a little insulting, as it implies that our kids are a disposable product. I donât think anyone at H et al, benefits when the high-achieving high-income admits go elsewhere. (Just like when the high-achieving low-income admits go elsewhere.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, perhaps, this suggestion from you might apply to them, as well:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>To date, I donât think Harvard has experienced a paucity of high-income, high-achieving students. When and if it becomes an issue, H officials will have to address it â just as they addressed the obvious issue of the paucity of low- and middle-income students. </p>
<p>Also, I am confused by all this complaining about Harvard Med Schoolâs financial aid policies. Donât virtually ALL medical schools consider parentsâ income (regardless of the studentâs age) when considering student requests for financial aid?</p>
<p>YES - however since we are parents of Harvard undergraduate students, its being discussed here. Its just as absurd to consider parental income for a 30 year old at Yale or any other place.</p>
<p>By the way, although I havenât seen a study, Iâd be willing to bet that a significant factor in choosing to go into medicine is dependent on whether a student will qualify for financial aid. I know Harvard students who are not going into medicine because of the cost factor, this is something that doesnât impact a 30 year old who is going to get financial aid. By the way, even though my kid applied to HMS, she will definitely not go if she gets in because of the cost factor.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This most certainly is a factor in our family. We have 3 kids. Although we are full-pay, we do not have $1.5million saved to pay for our kidsâ college and medical school educations. Yes, when offered the opportunity to attend H (and Y, in the case of my other D), we chose to make the sacrifices for this to happen, and fully accept this responsiblity.</p>
<p>However, our deal with our kids is that we will pay for their undergrad, but they are on their own for graduate school. Under policies like HMSâ, none of them will qualify for med school aid. Although our D at H was as talented in math/science as in the humanities, fortunately for us and her she is not choosing the med school route, because it could not happen unless she took on $300K in debt.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I havenât been successful at convincing my D not to go into medicine. She doesnât have a clue what 300k in debt means.</p>
<p>There is a program for young MDs to work on a Native American reservation (or other underserved community) for a few years, and the Feds will pay off/excuse all student med school loans. This seems to be a win-win solution.</p>
<p>Sewhappy,</p>
<p>please REREAD my post. My son EARNED his scholarships (not Harvard grants either) ALL OUTSIDE SCHOLARSHIPS!!! </p>
<p>before you attack someone elseâs position get your facts straight. We all have different opinions on this issue and everything else in life. Just donât attack people for their points of view. DocT was only stating his position and I respect him/her for not attacking anyone elseâs, only stating their frustration. I apologize if I have attacked anyone it was not my intent.</p>
<p>DocT - I agree with your post #1413. Iâm encouraging my kid to look carefully at state schools for medicine. Like Bay, my kids are on their own for grad school, which is exactly FAFSA should no longer pertain to me.</p>
<p>Guitars,</p>
<p>Sorry but my son also has considerable outside scholarships and we do NOT receive financial aid packages from Harvard, nor does he qualify for a lap top. Simply donât think youâre being completely truthful here.</p>
<p>The program fauve was referring to has some obvious benefits, but some potentially serious drawbacks. I spoke with a young woman who had signed up for the program and had indicated that she was interested in medical field #1 (donât remember what field), a field which is supported by the program. After interning for a semester in field #1 she decided that she did not want to do field #1 and wanted to do field #2. Unfortunately, field #2 was not supported by the program. She thought that she could simply repay the program for the costs that had been paid, but instead was told that if she did not complete the program in field #1 she would have to repay TRIPLE the amount paid by the program to her medical school. Be sure to read the fine print.</p>
<p>sewhappy,</p>
<p>you must not understand how the computer reimbursement works⊠My son received awards (scholarships) that exceeded his total in student contribution and work study for his entire 4 years at Harvard. This has nothing to do with our family contribution. This is strictly the students portions. </p>
<p>Iâm not sure why you are so upset at the way that Harvard handles their financial aid? You also have no idea how much Harvard offered us in financial aid or anyone else for that matter. If you think that itâs simply on the sliding scale they advertise, then I suggest you call them up and ask them. Because every situation is different. Ours is quite complicated and as a matter of fact, USC offered my son more $ than Harvard. We are actually paying more here than at Brown. My son just decided he liked Cambridge better. </p>
<p>Itâs best to deal with your situation only unless you have absolute evidence otherwise. No more need to explain myself to someone who apparently wants to believe what they want to believe.</p>
<p>I do understand completely on grad school, just like DocT suggested, but I do not agree with undergrad. Every student should have the same opportunity regardless of their parents choices in life.</p>
<p>Guitars,</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It is preposterous to argue this point with you, Guitars. Full-pay students donât qualify for work study for one thing. And the enitire concept of âstudent contributionâ does not exist in our world.</p>
<p>It is obvious that your son, in fact, is receiving FA from Harvard. No shame at all in that. MY son loves that FA puts the finest students onto the campus. Your son sounds like a fantastic scholar, as are just about every single one of the kids being admitted these days. My point is that your family does, in fact, receive FA and so I do think posturing as a full-pay parent with some merit scholarships just is, well, a bit misleading in this discussion.</p>