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<p>That was my point. We shouldn’t be surprised that 80% of community college students who apply to UCs get accepted. The weaker students were already weeded out by the community college. The weak students didn’t pass the required transfer courses, so they never applied to transfer.</p>
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<p>This is where you came in, knowing nothing of the reasons why Garland’s son dropped out of college. You intimated that he showed disrespect to his parents without knowing not one iota about him and the circumstances that led to a decision his parents supported. And you call that not attacking? Wow…</p>
<p>The Carpenters : Hurting Each Other Lyrics…</p>
<p>“Can’t we stop hurting each other?
Gotta stop hurting each other
Making each other cry, breaking each other’s heart
Tearing each other apart”
“Can’t we stop hurting each other?</p>
<p>purpleflurp - for what’s worth, I get what you are saying. All of us on this site make assumptions and pass judgment on every issue on this site. I have posted about some problem with my kids, and people have felt it’s their right to come down on me or my family, based on some little information I have posted. But if I didn’t want other people’s opinion then I shouldn’t have posted. Over all I have received some great information and advice on this board.</p>
<p>I do not like personal attacks. But it seem like some posters get a free pass when it happens, and others are treated with “how dare you?” How often have we read other people previous posts and draw some conclusion about that person, then throw it back in their face? I have.</p>
<p>Just for the record I have never read any of Garland’s posts about her kids because it’s of no interest to me.</p>
<p>Back to the topic.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse - Regarding posts 139 and 140 - very thoughtful comments. Thank you.</p>
<p>Cardinal,</p>
<p>It is the mandate to take those community college students OVER the four year/CSU students…</p>
<p>Of course, these CC students will be the better students coming in if they have met those transfer requirements. There are also honors programs that make it easier, and the guaranteed transfer option for some students. But I know students who have had a high GPA with a full transfer load at a CSU who have been rejected by the UC’s. </p>
<p>Those CSU students are taking the same required classes - but because the UC’s mission is to take transfers from primarily the CC’s, the CSU’s/private school students may find it harder to gain admission, all things being EQUAL. </p>
<p>This favoritism is just something that students should be aware of, if they think they will transfer from a CSU. I know many students who think they have a better shot coming from a 4 year, like a Cal State…but it doesn’t always work for them. It might even work against them.</p>
<p>Robyrm,</p>
<p>Needy seems to mean different things at the different schools. The student’s mom, single parent, made just above the threshold for “free aid”, but has another student in college right now. MIT used one formula. UPenn used another one. Hence, the difference in the aid packages.</p>
<p>LGM:</p>
<p>This is not the first time that I’ve heard of MIT’s finaid offer being lower than at other comparable institutions. I’ve posted before about the young man who was offered $7k per year less at MIT than at Princeton. I’m not sure it has to do with formula as much as MIT’s finances which have always been less robust than those of Princeton (and perhaps Penn’s).</p>
<p>Marite,</p>
<p>Perhaps. MIT did allow him to appeal…and that is when they increased the FA offer. Just not enough.</p>
<p>Endowments do make a huge difference. Plus, they have to balance how much they have already given to other applicants. It is such a big game. </p>
<p>I have one more kid to get through this process (plus all my students). I have tried to counsel parents along the way to save money and not be shocked about that EFC. Everyone has “great” kids and so many just assume it will be recognized. Someone has to pay into those scholarship funds. </p>
<p>I am hoping that these funds recover in the next few years. Otherwise, it will be even tougher for students in the years to come.</p>
<p>I did not read through all posts, but it appears to me that one mistake people make about merit aid is that their first-choice school is going to give it to them. In my very limited experience, it seems as though some of the best merit offers come from schools away from where you live. State schools like to cherry pick top students from other states and it makes sense. They get great students while regionally diversifying their student bodies. As college gets to be more and more expensive, young people need to be more and more open minded IF they want merit money.</p>
<p>True, MD. </p>
<p>I have seen that, too. Kids have to have an open mind. Those colleges want kids from all points on that map. They will often give nice offers to kids who meet their profile…and especially if they are in an underrepresented area on their map!</p>
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<p>Indeed. Parents who do not think they can afford to pay full fare but have high-achieving kids ought to look into honors programs and merit aid, or, in CA, go the CC route and transfer. I have to say, though, that the Berkeley price tag is high for in-state and up there with the most expensive private colleges for OOS.</p>
<p>I believe the Berkeley price tag is the highest of all the UC’s…and staggeringly high for those from out of state. </p>
<p>There is also the WUE/WICHE program that students in the western states should look into. They can get tuition at 150% the in-state rate for certain programs at many public colleges. </p>
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<p>Here is the link. It has made out of state colleges quite affordable for many students.<br>
[WICHE</a> - Student Exchange Programs](<a href=“http://wue.wiche.edu/]WICHE”>http://wue.wiche.edu/)</p>
<p>From the point of view of California taxpayers, of whom I am one, we want to encourage students to take their first two years at a cheaper community college and then transfer to a UC or a CSU. It saves us money!</p>
<p>I’m a junior in college, and when I applied to college, I picked my schools SPECIFICALLY based on the probability of merit aid (my family’s EFC fell in the “doable but rather painful” category,about half the COA of a private university before need). I got accepted to all 7 of my schools, with awards ranging from disappointing to excellent and post-merit aid COA’s ranging from $7k to $20-23k. I choose the cheapest school (a midsized public flagship) and due to mixture of merit aid and a job which will cover approximately tuition, fees, room, and board for my senior year, my parents will probably end up paying about $22k total for ALL FOUR years (including two summer classes), about what one year at my most expensive option would have cost. I’ve worked to get the most out of my university (multiple TAships and a couple of classes which I’ve taught independently, a paid RAship [quite rare for undergraduates in my field], work in other labs [unpaid], multiple full theses, a winning poster presentation, government internship, clinical position, double major, a minor, not to mention things like my sorority, community involvement, etc. </p>
<p>Yet…</p>
<p>I still remember how much it sucked to watch all of my classmates go off to those expensive, elite universities. I was a “CC kid” (4.0 UW, Top 2%, 12 APs, 33ACT leadership positions, Girl Scout Gold Award, proficiency and passion in an unusual language), and here I was attending an unprestigious and relatively unknown university, I wondered if I had wasted the past four years of my life. As selfish is it is, was, and seems, part of me honestly felt like I “deserved” a prestigious school, which I didn’t apply to, as I didn’t see any point in setting myself about to be rejected or having to turn down a school for financial reasons.</p>
<p>I’ll tell you how my decision turns out next year, when I see whether or not I get into grad school. On one hand, yes, I’m very, very glad I picked a “cheap” school, especially in this economic climate. On the other hand, I know I’ll be graduating from a relatively “no-name” school, one without a “name” to carry me, so to speak…</p>
<p>Psych, my kids picked “no name” schools coming out of a high school where nearly all the kids went to selective schools and about a quarter of them went to ivies. They just didn’t care.</p>
<p>Yes, my point is that I can understand “prestige angst.” It may be or seem silly in retrospect, but it can FEEL very real.</p>
<p>Psych,</p>
<p>Pat yourself on the back. I speak for all parents on here at CC by telling you that your parents THANK you for being exceptionally gracious, hardworking and understanding how hard it is to pay for a college education. </p>
<p>You are making the best of these opportunities, and trust me. When it comes to grad school, those experiences will shine through! I wish you the best of luck, but from what you describe, you don’t need luck. You just need a long enough application to fill in all of your amazing experiences while an undergrad!</p>
<p>Prestige Angst. You should copyright it. It sounds about right. It is hard to deal with friends who seem to have it all. But you have no idea what kind of debt these kids and their parents may have taken on for those “names” on a diploma. </p>
<p>Best of luck to you, psych. I want to hear back next year with those grad school acceptances. :)</p>
<p>Psych:</p>
<p>Thank you for posting. I hope the parents featured in the article get over their sense of disappointment, just as you did. As for graduating from your no name college, I think you will do fine in the grad school sweepstakes. Your achievements so far are pretty impressive!
You asked in another thread about paying for grad school. If either of my Ss had been headed to med or law school, we probably would not have wanted to pay full fare for their colleges and would have steered them toward totally different sets of colleges.</p>
<p>psych_ Good luck! I would love for you to work with me OR my children. It is blissfully easy to see what a wonderful, young person you have become IN SPITE OF the challenges (you might call them “obstacles”) you have faced. Indeed, the “cat fight” by some (like Garland and others) against Purpleflurp for deigning to express his opinion (and clearly he was NOT attacking) should serve as a clarion call for all of us to take a breath and remember that CC is a wonderful forum for many disparate viewpoints. Thank goodness we have a constitututional right to free speech, which includes bickering and complaining, and…oh…by the way…disagreeing without being disagreeable!</p>