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^^^ Apologies to ucbalumnus for leaving such a loophole. (Are you a lawyer?) I did somewhat address the issue in my subsequent post, by saying that I’d spend the money allocated for a kid who chose a generous merit offer by helping with grad school or other expenses. We expected to spend a certain amount per kid for college, and while we weren’t going to spend more, we were perfectly willing to spend all of what we budgeted.</p>
<p>I am not one of those parents who makes sure that everyone has the same number of green jelly beans. All of our kids were strong students, ready to succeed in college, although one was more so. We weren’t going to tell the valedictorian to apply anywhere because she was number 1, and tell the others to set their sights on less expensive options because they were only in the top 10 percent of the class. None had their majors or future professions carved in stone at the age of 18, so the notion of spending more on a more financially secure major never occurred to us, either.</p>