Is The College Admissions Process Broken?

[Catcherinthetoast]

What did you tell your kid about college costs?

I will shed more light (lesson learned from my son) on my son’s experience. We had a family budget going in. My son was recruited by a few hockey coaches. Visited and skated with a couple of teams. Got multiple acceptances and merit awards. He narrowed it down to 1 that he liked and fit our budget based on the original letter and cost breakdown they sent him for his F1 VISA. In May, we began to see inconsistencies in what he was offered and the school’s web site. So he emailed international admissions, financial aid etc… to get an official cost break down before he accepted. We noticed, for example, that the base tuition in the letter was $6K lower than what was on the school’s site for 2024-25. Secondly, one scholarship said up to $10K, when the scholarship he won was supposed to bring the out-of-state rate down to state rate (more than $10K). Finally, the coach got involved. Get this. The original tuition they quoted was based on 12 credits. Good grief. He would need 5 years to gra…

It appears your recruited son was applying to a state school. Why should the tax paying citizens of a U.S. state subsidize your Canadian kids education? Your sense of entitlement to “affordable” options at someone else’s expense seems a bit off.

Based on the grievances you keep highlighting and your kids narrative (above), I get the sense that had your kid’s ability to play hockey led to a free ride you would conclude the system is less broken.