<p>*the real problem I have here is the disappointment factor, which I contributed to due to my ignorance of the real situation. We come from an extended family where going to a prestigious LAC has been considered a birthright and his cousins are all attending schools like that. His dad (who went to Dartmouth for crying out loud) had originally said that he would contribute, and I thought that only my income would really be considered for FA purposes. *</p>
<p>Yes, it can be very hard when extended family (who have different financial situations) are able to afford the elite schools and just “expect” that others do the same (and maybe are critical when they can’t). However, these relatives aren’t paying for your children’s education, so their opinions don’t matter in the long run.</p>
<p>As for classmates…unless these classmates already have the money set aside, don’t be surprised if some find out that they can’t afford to go their dream schools either. Calif has had a lot of setbacks and many who live in affluent areas are struggling just to get their big mortgages paid. I can remember the winter of my kids’ senior years at their private school. Many kids were bragging that they would be going to this or that elite school. but, when the FA packages came in and these schools expected larger family contributions than what were affordable and one set of parents split up and the funds were no longer there, several of these kids had to go to their safety schools. </p>
<p>*He could conceivably commute to UCSD. My understanding of UCSD though is that it is very math/science oriented, and although my son is very good at math and science, he is really exceptionally gifted in the humanities. He got two 800’s on the writing section of the SAT as well as 800’s in History and Literature. He is EC of the Lit Mag. He thinks that he would be happier at Berkeley, UCLA or even UCSB for this reason. Perhaps it is only a rumor about UCSD being weak in Humanities. We will definitely need to check that out further if he gets accepted. *</p>
<p>I would look into that. I find it hard to believe that UCSD is weak in humanities since it has that unique Oxford-style separate colleges set up. </p>
<p>*One of the features that sets UC San Diego apart from most major universities in the United States is its family of undergraduate colleges: Revelle, John Muir, Thurgood Marshall, Earl Warren, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Sixth. </p>
<p>The division of the campus community into small colleges was patterned after the concept which has served Oxford and Cambridge so successfully for centuries. The planners of the UC San Diego campus were convinced that students learn more, and find greater fulfillment in their personal lives, when joined academically and socially with a relatively small group of students. At the same time, the advantages of size in a university, including a faculty of international renown, first-rate teaching and research facilities, laboratories, libraries, and other amenities, were to be an important part of the design. </p>
<p>The result was an arrangement which combined the academic advantages of a large research university with the finest features of a small liberal arts college—the UC San Diego college system. Each of these semi-autonomous undergraduate colleges has its own residence facilities, staff, traditions, general-education requirements, and distinctive educational philosophy.
*</p>
<p>[Choosing</a> a College at UCSD](<a href=“http://www.ucsd.edu/catalog/front/Choosing.html]Choosing”>http://www.ucsd.edu/catalog/front/Choosing.html) Scroll down for a description of each college within UCSD</p>
<p>*Apparently the UCLA Regents is only $2,000 per year, </p>
<p>My thinking right now is that if he gets a Regents offer from UCLA and wants to take it, I am going to find some way to send him there. Otherwise, I am not sure what we will do, *</p>
<p>If your son can commute to UCSD and he gets $6k Regents there, then he could pay the rest with a student loan and some summer job earnings and some part time work during the school year.</p>
<p>however, if your son only gets $2k from UCLA and he must be a resident student, then the costs would rise significantly…</p>
<p>In-state tuition and fees: $10,781
Room and board: $13,734 </p>
<h2>Books and supplies: $1,608 </h2>
<p>About $27k in direct expenses…not counting “day to day” personal expenses, etc.</p>
<p>*but I do have other family members who will help some, *</p>
<p>Can you find out how much each can be counted on to contribute for each of the 4 years?</p>
<p>and I will get work eventually. 55 may be old, but I’m not dead yet.</p>
<p>Good for you! That’s the spirit! (BTW…I think Calif spousal support guidelines are awful. To expect someone in their 50’s to go from being a homemaker of a high income spouse to supporting herself in a reasonable fashion in a couple of years is a bit crazy. )</p>
<p>**</p>