<p>Gordon: That is some of the absolute worst advice I’ve ever heard anyone give on CC! </p>
<p>First off, a student should not be applying to a college that they would not agree to attend, so every college on their list should be one they love! </p>
<p>Secondly, every college calculates a student’s financial need differently based upon their own institutional formula. Oftentimes there is a huge disparity between what some colleges offer in Financial Aid. For example, my son who is attending Yale, was also accepted to Brown, Dartmouth, Georgetown and Boston College. Although all of them are wonderful schools – schools that my son could have been happy at – the cost of attendance at all of them was more than DOUBLE the cost of Yale. Are those schools worth the cost, even if my son would have been happier at one of them instead? I think not!</p>
<p>Parents and students need to be educated shoppers and wisely take out their checkbook when deciding upon colleges. Otherwise they will end up like the girl from NYU: <a href=“Another Debt Crisis Is Brewing, This One in Student Loans - The New York Times”>Another Debt Crisis Is Brewing, This One in Student Loans - The New York Times;