<p>I guess being “generous” is all relative. Even though USC offered our daughter $20,000 in grants her freshman year, all the rest was in students loans and out of our pocket. And, that was only for the first year. On the other hand, had she been accepted to Stanford, her tuition would have been free and we would have just paid for room and board—about $12,000 a year. If we had made even less, it would have been a full ride. So, “middle class” means something different to each university. For USC, it still meant we would be struggling to pay for our daughter’s education. And, we were especially concerned that they wouldn’t continue with the grant after the first year. That happened to a school mate of hers. He’s a brilliant trumpet player who was in their music dept. He had to drop out and finish up at Cal State Northridge after his sophomore year. </p>
<p>Anyway…mostly for financial reasons, our daughter chose to attend Cal Poly SLO. She might apply to USC’s master of occupational therapy program, but I think she really wants to go back East.</p>