<p>I do appreciate all the different perspectives offered. Don’t get me wrong though, but I still see it as somewhat defeatist to say “Oh, I probably won’t get that, so I won’t bother.” she has already received some very nice merit scholarships from other inside and outside sources. This shows me she can be competitive. I don’t think her attitude was anywhere near as calculated as some are giving her credit for. Also, this particular scholarship only requires the 30 hrs volunteer work, no GPA minimum, which I thought was very attractive. She likes doing community service, and that is always a resume builder, if nothing else, which may be a better time investment than working at some minimun wage job. At this age, time spent in an activity is not always measured in the dollars and cents outcome, but in the future potential that the activity holds. Especially when you look at the amount that is assessed against the kid’s income in the finaid formulas. Any math people here who can calculate what they really make after the finaid formaula takes it bite out of their earnings? (She already has enough money saved to meet her expecte4d contribution from summer employment, anyhow.)
So, I’m still not happy about the situation, but realized I need to get more specific with her about my contribution vs hers which will come from work, scholarships and loans. Personally, I would much rather spend an hour or so per day for a few months being on top of scholarships and getting some money that way, than working a minimum wage job all summer, or having mega-loans upon graduation.
It’s hard coming up with a hard figure to tell her I can contribute, due to some unfortunate circumstances over the past few years and some unpredictable aspects I have to contend with…the true figure is “as little as possible”! Things have just been very unstable for us financially in recent years, due to illness and other things that were totally out of my control.</p>