So I love Dartmouth . . .

TheDukeofEarl
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:25:16 +0000

I dunno, hmom5 (#15). It seems to me kind of defeatist to throw in the towel without seeing what may happen. No question that paying the full boat is out of the question for her folks (as it was for mine too) but I ended up falling into a nice turn of financial aid events and stumbling upon a couple of scholarships that I could never have anticipated at the time I was beginning to fill out my college applications.

To dismiss the dream out of hand seems like overkill. For the $75 application fee, HapaGirl (OP) can at least potentially have an offer in hand to decide upon. I do agree with you that the comfort level of what she and her parents can afford needs to be decided and held to, which may mean rejecting some good school(s) once the offer letters come. But to generalize and say that there are no scholarships out there so don’t even bother trying seems like giving up before the race even starts…

Did I misinterpret your advice? Sorry if I did.