In defense of guidance counselors (I am not one): If a GC tells the student that he has less than a “really great chance” of being admitted to HYPSM etc. the student and parents will rage at the principal and school board for destroying their kid’s dreams, even if those dreams are fantasies worthy of Disney and Pixar.
Don’t kill a kids dream. Sure, parents can get heated if they are told their son/daughter isn’t cut out for a certain school, but this can be a reasonable reaction sometimes.
I was told my my guidance counselors to not bother applying to the schools I did because I would have NO chance due to my test scores. That was heartbreaking to be told I was not good enough.
Well, look where I am now. I have been accepted into Top 10 schools, and am bubbling inside out with excitement for my future. I would not be where I am today without encouragement from other mentor figures in my life.
I hope no student is told what I was told by my counselor, because I would not have even tried if it were not for the encouraging words of my parents (who DID write a heated letter to school administration for being discouraging). I found this to be a reasonable act.
Just make sure the kid can afford the applications and has a fair amount of safety schools in their back-pocket. Several college applications are totally doable even if the student is low income. I am a low-income student and was able to waive many of my application fees and applied to 17 schools.
Counselors should be honest and say it will be really difficult to get into these top schools, I agree. However, they should also encourage the students to try if they truly could see themselves there.
It would be nice if I could make $500,000/yr but I don’t. I just posted an article about a hypothetical family and their expenses. It ended up being a discussion about how expensive it can be to live in certain cities.
I’m annoyed about the family of the poster (not the poster himself or herself) in which the parents’ income is more than $200,000 but the parents and grandparents can pay only $12,000 per year for college. I have great sympathy for the poster.
How about the family who,wants to become low income in hopes that their kid can get more need based aid?
I was just thinking about adding that one, @thumper1.
Any thread or poster who can’t understand why grandparents are not contributing to their grandchilds education. When did it become the grandparents responsibility. It is the parents and/or students responsibility. Please allow grandparents the chance to finally enjoy their lives/money/retirement without being made to feel guilty for not helping…no matter how much money they have.
If grandparents have a lot of extra money, their retirement is well funded (through very advanced age), and they want to help out with the grandkids’ education, that is very nice. But IMO, grandparents should not be under any obligation or pressure to pay for college for their grandchildren.
Threads where they berate posters for berating posters.
Threads where lack of reading comprehension cause people to completely miss the point.
Threads where people who can dish it out real good prove they can’t take it.
Threads where people compete to see who is the most frugal.
Threads where people need to use a thesaurus in order to give their opinion more weight or present their opinions as fact.
Threads where people state opinions as fact, usually regarding one school or particular program being “better” than another.
Threads where posters don’t understand that context matters are annoying. A kid wants to go cross country for college? Whether or not the parents can pay matters. Just because parents are willing to borrow the bulk of the COA doesn’t mean it’s affordable. A student has a slew of acceptances to expensive schools and wants to challenge waitlists? The reason for the appeal matters. Having higher stats than some accepted students and parents who can pay for any school they want aren’t legitimate reasons for waitlist appeals. We aren’t being kind to students by glossing over important details.
Why not? Could fit in perfectly well with institutional needs.
@Consolation Maybe those factors were considered when the student was placed on the waitlist in the first place , so why would that be a legitimate reason for appeal?
IMHO the idea of potential “legitimacy” of reasons for “appeal” is purely nonsensical. In the first place, there is no such thing as an “appeal.” The kid fills out a card and accepts a place on the list. And/or the kid may write a letter stating his or her case if they wish, declaring their intention to attend if accepted, and adding any new info if applicable. End of story.
Who the hell cares if the kid’s case is a “good” one or not? Who gets to say? Who gets to say whether the new information is “good enough” to send in? It’s all in the eye of the beholder, and the only beholder that matters is the school.
What difference does it make to anyone here?
^^^grumble grumble.
Can anyone think of instances where a student got into a college on an appeal? I can’t.
No. It seems like a huge Pandora’s box for any college.