Parents of the HS Class of 2024 (Part 2)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
2591

Disagree with your framing. There are lots of families who may not be able to afford an elite school education for many reasons.

Donut hole families actually can afford to pay for elite education (those very generous meets needs schools have determined that)…but they might have already allocated their high incomes to other purchasing choices/decisions and therefor paying for that elite education feels very/too pricey to them.

Everyone has to make purchasing decisions and trade offs are inevitable. It isn’t ‘harder’ being upper income.

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2592

No and they aren’t asking you to.

But if a college is - and you agree - then shame on you (from this example).

2593

Im not sure what you’re referencing. I see this all the time on CC where kids have to make decisions based on ability to pay.

And tons of these kids’ families make “too much” for aid so now they have the burden of putting their families in a much worse financial situation or not going to the the school that they worked their butt off for 4 years. Sure they could go to a “lower cost” school but it’s a choice that others dont have to make.

Not everyone wants to go to Alabama.

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2594

Most kids totally have to make the choice of the “lower cost” school. The vast majority in fact.

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2595

No but neither have the people who made $75k. Everyone’s income goes up (hopefully) but you can certainly start saving at way less than $300k!

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2596

And for many of the kids who want to attend the elite schools (earned it through tons of hard work, super high accomplishments - academic and otherwise and were accepted) , it’s because their families “make too much money” but it’s a financial burden on their families. At the elite schools, we all know they give very little (if any) merit aid.

It’s all need based.

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2597

I took the initial comment as - if you had to pay based on income (and at many schools you do), it’s a choice you make.

Of course, if one is going to a full pay school at $90K, they’re likely not thinking but this person only had to pay $20K and this person $40K and this person $70K, but it likely is true.

They were asked to pay $90K and they did.

It all goes back to choice.

I chosee not to pay over $80K for one of my daughter’s schools or $60K for her alleged initial top choice - although I don’t think it ever was her top choice (and she dropped it without hesitation).

My son initially wanted WUSTL and I never would have paid full price. When they bludgeoned attendees with the importance of ED for the 10th time in our info session and spoke to us afterward, I said he will not let him ED. And they said, if you aren’t able to afford the offer, we’ll release you - to which I said it’s not a question if I can but if I want to.

And everything comes down to that - if someone can (whatever the amount they’re asked to pay), do they want to?

I agree with you - families can decide if they want to spend or not - based on the bill presented. You know before you go to Outback the cost - and you can decide, is this what I can afford or do I have to go to Sizzler? Or - Outback - I don’t feel I’m getting value - I’d rather spend my money, even full pay - at Flemings. There’s a parent right now deciding if the Flemings “UNC” is a better value than the “Outback” priced Rutgers Honors College.

That’s all this is about.

Alabama is not low cost for everyone so everyone cannot make that choice. It is low cost (relative to what is low cost to someone) for those more higher (not the highest) level statistically. But if someone is choosing between $80K and they get an offer there of $20K -it’s not a question of (not everyone wants to go - and there are other similar high merit schools) - it’s a question of - do you want to pay $80K when you can $20K - and if you don’t want to or are unwllling to pay $80K, then what are your alternatives? Many choose alternatives - including schools high priced for many - due to low cost (the school says, you can’t afford us so for you, special student, the price is x% of what your dorrm mate will pay.

In our case, I wanted to spend more. I wanted him to attend a different school that would have been $80K-ish more for us. He chose otherwise and he was the student so his input counted most. But had he chosen the higher priced school, I would have gladly paid.

For those who couldn’t afford that higher priced school, then they have to choose.

My point to your comment was simply - everyone has a choice.

If Panera charges me $20 whereas they charge you only $10 - and this happens at most every school - I had a choice whether to give my money to them…or dine at a different place.

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2598

:wink:

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2599

Every family has to decide what they value most. If a high income family decides that full pay at a highly selective schools isn’t where they want to spend their money - that’s a choice, not a financial burden. Trade offs exist for all of us.

As you say. And those schools determined the families didn’t have need.

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2600

There’s not a trade off if you get to go for free.

Ok. I’m done on this topic.

2601

The vast majority of students, of any income or stat level, are not going to college for free.

I don’t have supporting data but I would expect there are far more students who can’t attend college for financial reasons than students who pay nothing for college.

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2602

I was only referencing the elite colleges, not college in general. If you get into an elite college, they are generous with need based aid.

2603

Yes, for families who have financial need (generally…some highly rejective schools do offer some merit).

If you are really going to go with families making $300k-$500k are ‘upper middle class’ and the woes of having to be full pay at non-merit giving schools, the answer seems simple. The family breadwinner/breadwinners can just quit their jobs in the oldest kid’s junior year of HS. Problem solved.

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2604

Just remember to quit two years before applying. And get rid of pesky assets.

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2605

That’s probably a good strategy if you have multiple kids who may get into elite schools.

You could save about $300k in costs. You would have to earn $500k pay to get $300k after tax. Earning $500k to pay for college?

That’s a lot of time better spent doing something else than the corporate grind or working 80 hrs/week on your small business.

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2606

Maybe something else to talk about? How quickly does a student need to withdraw from the enrolled school if there is an offer from the waitlist?

I understand that some schools only give admission from the waitlist after a phone call to make sure you will accept. This might make things hard if you need more time to decide.

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2607

You don’t have to withdraw from the first school until you deposit at the waitlist school. For waitlist offers, sometimes you will have 24-48 hours to do that, sometimes a bit longer.

If the deposits overlap for a few hours or even a day or two that’s ok. Schools don’t have visibility to that.

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2608

And the few who go for free had a much tougher life/path to get there. Most wouldn’t have made that trade if given a choice

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2609

Yup. S24s 1580 was the highest (reportedly) at his school this year but he was rejected or WL at every T20 he applied to (and,yes, he had an excellent app overall).

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2610

CFP, your kids can do what my husband and I did. We joined the Army to pay for college via the GI Bill. This allowed us to attend top institutions. We are very proud to have worked hard, lived within our means, and made saving for college a financial priority. As for your complaining about the inequity, life isn’t fair and I bet a lot of people who are getting financial assistance would be happy to trade places with you.

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