<p>Actually I was NOT being sarcastic. One issue many families face…and it makes for some very serious decision making with college bound and college students…is financial aid. There is no question that any information regarding help in this area is valuable. And BTW…I didn’t start the discussion about finaid…I believe you did. Like I said…please contribute any info you have.</p>
<p>“. I am also sure you are aware that the specific college your student will attend after his first year most likely offers many scholarships. Just so we are clear, after your kids finishes thier general ed requirements they will then apply to attend the college they want to go to. Colleges include the college of business, law, liberal arts and such”</p>
<p>I suggest that you do much more research before offering advice because much of the above does not hold for many universities.</p>
<p>I brought up financial aid back on the first page of this thread. I only explained to one person that financial aid is available. Some other parents started discussing and backing their believes with the subject though. I did not mention that YOU brought up financial aid. Also your posts seem to be extremely sarcastic or rude. Maybe it is the way I am reading them though. I will try to find out as much information as I can for those parents seeking financial aid for middle class families. I am not a professional and can not give professional advice on finding funds for college.</p>
<p>As I said they most likely do, this does not mean that all do. There are alot of colleges that offer these kind of scholarships. They are usually provided by alumni who were successful in that specific college. Usually they are not online.</p>
<p>Alienblue, the problem is that you are posting comments that show that you have very little knowledge about the admissions process and financial aid process, and when anyone posts something to correct or contradict you, you argue and repeat the same thing – plus you made a big point at the outset of saying that you have extra knowlege to share… and, of course, telling us to stop telling our kids what to do.</p>
<p>So basically we have tried to be nice but you are behaving like a little kid interrupting an adult conversation and quite frankly, it is very annoying to us. Sorry, but you either post something that is naive and rather obvious as if it is big news, or else you post something we all know by now is a common myth or misunderstanding as if it were proven fact. </p>
<p>We know more than you about college admissions and financial aid, o.k.? Collectively, we probably know more than you’ll ever know. After all, we have been around a lot longer than you. Many of us have been participating on this board for years, as long as the board has been around. Many of us also have older kids and are currently going through the college application process for the second, third, fourth, etc. time - and some of us are past that and simply hanging around to help others after us. I mean, I know at least one regular poster who has 12 kids - she’s figured things out pretty well by now. Plus – again collectively – we have had direct, personal experience working with the admissions and financial aid offices of hundreds of different colleges.</p>
<p>However, none of us adults go around lecturing the others as to how to raise their kids or presume to know more than they do about matters of financial aid & admissions. We know these are complicated issues that vary greatly with the individual. </p>
<p>You also committed the cardinal sin of any internet forum: as a newcomer, who had no history of posting or participating in the conversation, you jumped right in and started your own thread presuming to tell us or lecture us about what we ought to be doing. Try that anywhere and you will learn really quickly that unsolicited advice from newbies is rarely welcome. Especially when you are clearly outside the group that the forum is geared for. Or is there something about the designation “Parents Forum” that you don’t understand?</p>
<p>See the thread by cannednish “Help me with my dad” in the Parent’s forum about a poster whose father refuses to let him or her apply to Swarthmore because it isn’t a “top tier” school that he’s heard of. Obviously, there are parents out there who need enlightenment! Maybe we can get cannednish’s dad to read the forum! (Probably not–as is usually the case, the people who need to read it are not the ones who end up reading it.)</p>
<p>Calmom–thank you. </p>
<p>I am worried that when folks looking for solid advice land on these boards, they could read something like what was posted here on fin aid and be very sorry afterwards to find that is just not the case. </p>
<p>I have yet to see large, comprehensive institutional grants given to transfer students. Most of the scholarships for upperclassmen who have declared a certain major, etc…are substantially less, and oftentimes a one shot deal. </p>
<p>Ditto the local scholarships. You can cobble together a year or two if you are lucky, but they do not repeat each year, and each school has a different policy on how outside scholarships are applied. It’s a school by school decision that one person couldn’t begin to cover here. It takes a collective of people who have had personal experience with school x or school y. There is a big difference in 10K in outside scholarships for one year and 10K institutional grant each of four years (40K total).</p>
<p>For all those parents out there, who are on this forum, I would like to apologize if my message came off as rude. I would also like to say thank you to those who have given me some suggestions for transferring. I understand a great deal of you is here to help and I should have read through more thoroughly. Finals for summer B are amidst and I will be going home for 2 weeks where I have limited internet access, I also need to work and save money for the fall. Well I apologize again and thank you guys. I understand most of you share the same ideas as me on parental influence on college decisions.</p>
<p>Good luck on your exams Alien…and have a relaxing (and hopefully profitable) end to your summer. And thank you for the apology. I’ll look forward to hearing about your college plans for next year.</p>
<p>Best wishes on your exams, AlienBlue2005. Thank you for taking the time to apologize. Feel free to stop by if there’s anything parents here can do to help you as you prepare to transfer.</p>
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<p>Thank God. Now no one can confuse us.</p>