There was another discussion about why someone would apply to Ivy League schools if they cannot afford them.
When the Ivy League schools visit the high school they tell the students that if they get accepted that the school will make sure that they can afford the school. They do not tell them that their parents may need to pay 60k or more because according to financial aid forms they do not need the money. So the kids want to apply even though the parents may be telling them that it is not affordable. This happened to my daughter and I am very upset with the Ivy League schools telling the kids that the schools will be affordable. You can tell your son or daughter that the school is not affordable but it is difficult to ruin their dreams of going to an Ivy League school. You hope they wont get accepted so that you do not have to ruin their dream.
Why did you not bother looking on their websites to see more details about their promise? I found Harvard’s, and was able to do the financial calculations, within minutes:
https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid
If you and your daughter could not do (or be bothered to do) that, why in the world would you expect admission anyway?
I did the calculations and told my daughter. The problem is that the college recruiters come to the school and convince the kids that they will help them out. So they do not believe the calculators.
And why didn’t your daughter look on the website as well and do her own research? She’s nearly an adult and should be capable of acting like one.
My net price for 1 kid, based on my current income and assets, is over $60k for Harvard. Is that “affordable”? I could pay it, but I wouldn’t want to, and I wouldn’t consider a $60k annual bill, on top of other obligations, “affordable”. But I could pay it if I had to, so it sounds as though our financial situations are similar. I’m certainly not wealthy, but the cash could be available if it needed to be.
You know what? It doesn’t matter what a college recruiter says. Every family needs to establish an annual budget for their college kids. As a parent, you should have done so. When you set this budget, you very clearly state that this is the amount you are able pay…and that the student will need to be prepared to walk away from any college financial aid offer that does not bring your net cost down to that amount.
Did you do this?
Yes, we actually set aside a fixed amount of money that she would receive for college. It was up to her to come up with the rest of the money. If she spent less than what we set aside then she could keep the difference. In her case she has a very good scholarship so she will actually be getting paid to go to college.
I am just raising an issue as to why kids would apply to schools that would be considered unaffordable.
When the recruiters are coming in and saying they will take care of them financially if they get accepted it is hard to listen to reason like financial calculators and they give false hope.
So you take no responsibility whatsoever in this situation?
The recruiters are salespeople. Of course they are going to tell you the school is affordable, because their job is to get students to apply.
If you go visit car dealers, each dealer is going to tell you his/her car is the best and that they can work out a deal so you can afford it. I would hope that you teach your kids to be skeptical, to do the research in Consumer Reports and Car & Driver about which car is REALLY the best. It’s up to your family to figure out whether you really can afford the loan to buy a Lexus or BMW.
If your kid visited one car dealer and came home and told you, “Lexus is the best and the dealer said I can afford it,” would your response be – great, let’s go buy a Lexus? I certainly hope not. I would certainly hope that you would tell your kid to visit a few other dealers and test drive several cars and to look closely at your budget to determine what you can afford.
Why should college applications be any different?
I think you’re being harsh, HappyAlumnus. OP’s point is that these reps misrepresent the true cost of Ivies as part of a pitch to a financially naive and starry eyed group of consumers (most of whom don’t even have a snowball’s chance of actual admittance.) It’s misrepresentation of costs not unlike that done by for-profits. Of course, it’s parents’ responsibility to check the website and discuss costs with kids. But that doesn’t absolve the Ivies who cynically exploit the brand-name conscious high schoolers.
Not exactly sure what responsibility you are talking about.
If you are saying do I take responsibility for my daughter applying to schools that are unaffordable?
Yes, I would agree that I would also be responsible and also trying to make my daughter happy by at least giving her a chance. You never know when someone will just happen to drop a pot of gold in front of our door.
But, I would also appreciate the college recruiters not just blatantly saying we will make the school affordable and do not worry about the cost.
This seems like one of those stereotypical rich person problems. The facts are that for 95+% of high school students the Ivies will almost certainly be affordable if they can get in. Many students, ESPECIALLY lower income ones, erroneously assume sticker price = actual price.
The Ivies and other schools with excellent FA aren’t going to a West LA private school and telling rich kids that the school won’t cost them. No, they’re going to college fairs, underrepresented high schools, etc and telling middle and lower income students not to balk at the $60k price tag.
@kaliamom, fair enough, but the way I see it:
- The school sends a recruiter that probably went on and on about how generous the aid packages are.
That’s true; the school will give enough aid so that by the school’s calculations, the tuition and fees will be affordable.
- The father set aside less money than necessary to pay the school's "affordable" costs.
- The daughter didn't realize that her father's decision actually impacted how much money was available for college and did not do the math.
Unfortunately that’s a harsh lesson to learn: you always have to verify the details of what people tell you in a major decision like this. I’ve been told all sorts of grandiose promises in job interviews, dating, etc., and so often, those grandiose promises didn’t pan out. I do my research and don’t just assume things based on grandiose promises.
There are several solutions to this predicament:
- The father can sell assets, take out loans, or just pay more out of pocket.
- The daughter can work in the summers or take out loans.
- The father and daughter can search for additional scholarships; who knows where funds can turn up.
Just blaming the school isn’t a way to fix the situation.
My daughter goes to a suburban public high school with a mix of all kinds of incomes. It is considered a very good school district. I do not think in this case that there should be any assumptions about incomes.
My daughter ended up having very good choices, but she did apply to 14 schools. She got a hold of the credit card and went wild. I got an earful from my wife just like I am getting here, lol.
I ended up having to visit so many schools.
I am just wondering if you told your daughter what you could afford? Did you ever tell her that you couldn’t afford EFC for certain schools. Unless you were prepared to be full pay, at some point it was important to have a financial discussion with your kid.
Exactly. The Ivies are so generous, that for our family, they were less expensive than the instate UC.
You visited 14 schools, knowing that some were unaffordable; is that what happened? Or did you visit only schools that you knew were affordable?
I will add to that “exactly”. When our income was high, we understood affordable meant we could pay it, if we chose. When our income went down, the amount required was drastically reduced. Ivy FA is so generous, that I truly believe not thinking it is enough is on the family, not on the school.
All colleges say this to students. It really only applies to low income students. To hell with the middle class