gouf78, You know my kid? 
It would go back to how things were when I was in college. The more well to do went to college and got educated and the others didn’t. It would eliminate any opportunity to move yourself upward in the socioeconomic structure.
I think college students (just like their parents) tend to hang out with like minded people. My D who was at a school with many full pay students (and some on FA, it was a meet needs school) I found that most (many) of her friends were the students who had the same value system as her. They ate in the dining hall and didn’t go anywhere on spring break or fall break. Bought their books used and when they bought clothes they were from target or forever 21.
My niece who has different parents and a different socioeconomic value system has different friends. Who wear the designer names and goes to the Caribbean on spring break and skiing over Presidents Day weekend.
My D is not comfortable with friends that she can’t hang with economicly and I’m sure my neice wouldn’t hang with people who don’t do the things she can.
Saying all that, the article was a silly thing someone who doesn’t get it wrote. And probably never will have to. Lucky her 
I was the FA kid who received that kindness from classmates who/whose families were better off financially back in undergrad. Sometimes, positive karma can come about and manifest years down the road.
I’m now fortunately in a position to return the favor to some who were hit hard by the 2008 recession.
Cobrat, love your attitude. We need more of that.
My family was far from well to do. I did very well in high school and got merit scholarships to attend college.
Scholarships should be awarded based on merit, not socioeconomic status.
That’s so true. That must be a beautiful area.
In contrast, this home in a desirable area of my city lists at $1,999,000
http://www.ebby.com/property/36009591/6018-Meadow-Road-Dallas-TX-75230
I’m not crazy about the exterior, but it’s a lovely home.
That seems like an awful lot of money for a small lot. The house is pretty big and has some nice features (love the pool and backyard), but I don’t like the exterior and some of the interior designs either. I can see that price for a house like that in some ultra expensive areas of the country, but is Dallas that expensive now, or did they overprice it?
I prefer Palo Alto.
@busdriver, parts of Dallas are expensive. Other parts you can get 4000 sq. feet for 400 K.
You can even more for $2 million in other areas. For example, the home at http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/40-Pfeiffer-Rd-Boerne-TX-78006/28653853_zpid/ in Boerne, TX has 43,000 sqft (may be misprint) with 11 beds, 10 bath, 5 acres, multiple guest houses larger than the palo alto homes, etc. Although I’d favor something more like the 16,000 sqft 6 bed / 8 bath home at http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1868-Sam-Snead-Dr-Braselton-GA-30517/55032499_zpid/ with theater, exercise room, etc.
For most college students, the federal loan limit is $31,000 for all of undergraduate education. The interest rates were 3.86% last year and 4.66% this year. So it is not like students will be running up $100,000+ in government loans at 3%.
The education market through college is largely not a normal market, since the decision makers and payers are largely not the same as those who receive the service. This has been true generally throughout history, regardless of how much government involvement there was (in the past, higher education was mostly reserved for those with wealthy parents who paid for it).
"(Once at Michigan I was accosted with the clothing I was supposed to know and be impressed by: Patagonia, Lululemon, Hunters, Tori Burch and much more. "
How is one “accosted” by clothing? If someone is just walking around wearing whatever clothing, how does one conclude that the wearer “expects” onlookers to know the label and be impressed by it?
Sorry, unless the wearer walks up unbidden and says “hey, there, do you know who made my outfit? Do you? DO YOU?” this is projection on the part on the onlooker. No one is being “accosted” by someone else’s clothing any more than the BMW sitting next to my car in the parking lot is “accosting” me and passing judgment on my car.
Pure, pure projection.
Wanted to see what a $2 million house looks like in my area, but there isn’t one on the market. Looks like the most expensive one is listed for 640K, 4 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 5600 sqft, very pretty.
Nrdsb4,
That house is half, no a third of the price per square foot than the houses DS is looking at in SF 
“Once at Michigan I was accosted with the clothing I was supposed to know and be impressed by: Patagonia, Lululemon, Hunters, Tori Burch and much more.”
this made me think of Black Friday 2014. We were all visiting family in a cold midwest plains city. EVERYONE went to the mall that weekend.
My sis from the Bay Area was overwhelmed at this; how shopping was the activity of choice. I think it’s (somewhat) part of the midwest culture to go shopping in malls – it’s warm and social – and name brands can become a focus.
i think the author of the article is awfully immature, but i sort of understand this one comment she made, as she’s in the cold midwest now.
I haven’t read all this thread, and I have little CA experience, but I question that idea that you have to live in a 2M house in that area. I just did a quick search of San Jose, not that far from PA, I believe, and there were lots and lots of single family homes in the 3 and 4 hundred thousands. Now, maybe they’re not in the “best” areas, or maybe they’re old and/or need work, but isn’t that what “middle class” is supposed to mean? If you need the best (the best schools, the best neighbors, the best house etc etc) maybe you’re not middle class. cuz the vast majority of the middle class is living in houses that look like the pics I aw in SJ.
People tell you that the NY/NJ metro area is too expensive, too, yet I’m living in a house that will fetch less than 200,00 when I sell it. Twenty minutes from NYC. My D bought a house in a very trendy town nearby for just over 200K. It really is just a sense of perspective, and unacknowledged assumptions about what one “needs” vs. what one would “like to have.”
People have different definitions of middle class. It is a wide range. I’d imagine that most people think they are middle class because they don’t consider themselves poor, and they don’t think they are rich. Upper middle class is far different from lower middle class, but it’s all “middle class”.
If after you pay for your taxes, housing, and what you considered necessary items, you don’t have much extra—you probably consider yourself middle class. Some may consider necessary items to be newer cars, private school for the kids, and funding one’s 401K. Others might think you’d have to be rich to pay for those things, but both parties may think they are middle class. Sure, it’s all a matter of choices, but who gets to tell people that if they make those choices, than they must consider themselves rich?