@noneofyours83 I’m glad that it’s not coming out of my pocket, I wouldn’t let my kids throw away my money like this. However, abuse of system takes away money from other needy people. Application waivers should have a limit so resources can be used for better things. NOBODY needs to apply to 56 colleges and have a race to rake most aid.
College admissions stories and advice are what we do out here. And if the student isn’t taking his best financial deal or close to it, and is burdening his mom with big debt for the option he picks, we are going to say that is a bad plan no matter who he is. Because it is not a good idea. All the acceptances in the world don’t do you any good if you pick an unaffordable school.
I’m hoping that he attracts some outside support so he can attend Morehouse. He’s already said that he won’t ask his mother to take out loans; so if nothing works out, I’m sure he’ll go to Clark-Atlanta or one of the other schools that are affordable. Let’s just celebrate that he’s whole and healthy and has a bright future – and I hope he inspires a lot of young people in Chicago to broaden their horizons and find ways to attend college. And if you’re not familiar with HBCUs, please do some research. They’re an important part of America’s history and higher education.
He’s a great kid, with a great message. Adding up the scholarship money is silly, but I’m sure that came as much from the reporter (big numbers are good headlines) as it did from the kids. I just can’t care that he applied to more colleges than necessary – he’s a kid chasing scholarships, give him a break. If he qualifies for fee waiver, then he should get as many as he wants. It’s a very small marginal cost to the university (particularly those schools that take most applicants, because they’re probably not spending a whole lot of time doing holistic reviews), there’s no diversion of resources. The schools do not care and it’s their decision. The same goes for College Board and ACT, the marginal cost of sending score reports for all of their fee-waiver kids is not even noticeable.
“ids throw away my money like this. However, abuse of system takes away money from other needy people. Application waivers should have a limit so resources can be used for better things. NOBODY needs to apply to 56 colleges and have a race to rake most aid.”
Are you needy, worryhurry? I thought your angst was that you make too much for financial aid.
And don’t worry, these kids weren’t competing for the spots at the fancy colleges you’re so worried about.
I’m glad to hear that he is seriously considering Clark-Atlanta. Too many African-Americans take on too much debt to attend the HBCUs. As a result, many end up unable to graduate due to finances (a significant reason for low 4 and 6 year graduation rates) or defaulting on their loans. Very good luck and much success to him.
Apparently they did need to apply to 56 schools. They only got 4 full rides out of that number. Most full rides are competitive. Few school offer automatic full ride. So if that’s what they were looking for applying to that many school make sense.
@itsgettingreal17 I agree 100%. Money is a big part of the low graduation rate. And they are not as funded as peer colleges to offer that much need base aid.
@GMTplus7 I don’t attend a boarding school, so you have me mistaken for someone else. I was not bashing them for their accomplishments. I said that considering his supposed stats he applied to mostly schools that should have been backups and safeties and how I think his claim was stupid that people tell him he can’t go to college when at his school 93% of students graduate.
I am amazed by his accomplishments, perfect attendance, 27 act, many awards. The kid is too bright for applying to many schools that have graduation rates sub 50%.
@noneofyours83 I am not bitter, their story is cool. Was it really surprising for a kid with a 27 act to get into Malcolm X community college? No, that is my beef. I don’t really care, but to me this seems like a vain attempt to get fame.
Dollars to donuts he is inspirational for HIS peer group and that’s just fine and dandy for me. Better his peer group applaud him for achieving college as a goal, than applaud him for being the nastiest gang member around. Sometimes you take your inspiration where you can find it.
@SeniorStruggling Something people apply to lower tier schools to have a greater chance of getting a full ride. Not everyone is chasing name brand. Some people can’t afford to. Could he have gotten into better schools? Yes. But could he have gotten a free ride at those school? Most likely not. Also, the high school in question is a charter school. They are usually in low-income areas with failing public schools. The only way to get into most charters schools is a lottery drawing. So him even getting accepted to an HS that has 93% graduation rate may be a blessing within itself.
He is picking Morehouse.The girl is still undecided but she is staying in-state to continue playing basketball. I don’t know which schools offer her a full ride. I wish I could call their mother up and say don’t let this boy go to Morehouse it’s a great school but you can’t afford it. Clark Atlanta share the same campus with Morehouse.
^^^ That (#88 and 89). Right on point.
And from a different perspective, my child goes to a private school that is fairly diverse, both racially (21% students of color) and economically (23% of kids on financial aid, averaging 70% of tuition – I’d guess 10-15% of the class is full ride, down to their laptops). We have amazing college counseling and we celebrate the kids who get into Morehouse, Spelman, and Howard as much as we celebrate the ones going to Princeton, Stanford, and Duke. It would never occur to anyone that a kid with his credentials was selling himself short by going to any of those schools. Trust me, Morehouse would be a tremendous opportunity for the young man, as would many of the other schools. You can’t judge HBCU’s solely on graduation rates; it’s often a money issue that does not reflect the quality of instruction or the student body.
I understand why this might be hard for you @SeniorStruggling. There’s no reason why the average high school student who is not African American would know much about HBCUs. I only do because of years in higher education, including some years teaching courses at a state flagship law school that was delighted to recruit from HBCUs. None of those students or my current colleagues who went to HBCUs would do it any differently.
@SeniorStruggling You still getting it wrong, they didn’t do this for fame. When you are a senior they tell you to apply to all kinds of schools, because you don’t know who will accept you. Maybe a person is scared to leave home at such a young age. I don’t know why he did apply to city colleges, but that don’t make a difference.
@SeniorStruggling wrote
To be competitive for merit, an applicant should be targeting schools where his/her stats compare near the top for that school. A 27 ACT is not going to trigger much merit award consideration at low admit rate schools. For FA at fully-meets-need schools, a 27 is probably not a competitive score for admission.
Charter schools in economically disadvantaged communities may graduate most of their low-imcome students, but the students academic abilities/stats are a far cry from Phillips Exeter.
@BunsenBurner - http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1879702-ivys-accept-student-who-writes-essay-about-costco-p1.html
I just skimmed this thread, and it didn’t look like anyone answered your question…
@ClaremontMom - thanks! 
The only part of this that annoys me is adding up all the scholarship offers into one big pile of money. We’ve heard about this elsewhere, and it makes no sense. It would be like me saying, “I went shopping at 50 different car dealerships, and was offered discounts that added up to $500,000.”