<p>My older two with very good and fantastic stats (respectively) both found better financial offers at private schools. With the fantastic stat kid, Pitt was a close second though.</p>
<p>Youngest with above average stats isn’t quite doing as well as his older brothers financially, but his private school still beats Penn St and Pitt. It’s about equivalent to the true state schools (Bloomsburg, West Chester, etc).</p>
<p>I encourage many in our state to consider/compare private, esp if they can score merit aid or have a bit of need.</p>
<p>Editing to stay on topic… </p>
<p>Least favorite threads? I skip them if they say “Chance Me” or “Only Ivies are worthwhile” or “Only publics are worthwhile” or there’s very little to go on in them.</p>
<p>Amen. Half the posts on this forum are internationals expecting to come to the U.S. They all seem to have mediocre stats and want to attend what they consider prestigious schools on scholarship.</p>
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<p>Even those with good stats seem to just assume that US schools will fund their educational experience. </p>
<p>Also annoying are the domestic students with very modest stats asking what schools will give them big scholarships. Do they understand what the purpose of a scholarship is? Why give them to someone who just showed up for high school?</p>
<p>Ok, I will defend both the international students and mediocre students who think they can give big scholarships: 1. Most other countries fund their students’ education. If that’s the only model you know, it’s reasonable to expect that other countries are like this. Yes, they can research but most simply don’t understand our educational system. Luckily, CC is there to help them :). 2. There’s a myth that America is this land of opportunity and flush with money. It’s reasonable to think that there are opportunities to everyone if you listen to the myth we work so hard to portray to other countries- especially poor countries. 3. We’re told from a young age “Don’t worry- just get into school and the money will fall into place!” We’re told that by parents, teachers, college reps, and even GCs. If that’s the message you constantly hear, it is extremely reasonable that a 17 year old isn’t going to know anything else. </p>
<p>CC is supposed to be here as an educational resource to these misguided students. How dare they come on here and state their assumptions and ask for advice!
Carry on. </p>
True, but most do not fund students from other nations/politico-economic unions, and I think the average 17 y/o on cc would know how it works with higher ed in his/her own country, and not have the expectation that it is different in the US.</p>
<p>I was at a dinner last night talking to a friend who is from an EU country. University, masters, PhD…all free. He came to the US to do post-doc work at MIT and still lives here. Kind of a raw deal for his country to have paid for all of that education as he pretty quickly took it here to the US.</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>I feel sad when I read posts from international kids who are clearly poor and have a US college dream. I wouldn’t call it “annoying”, only sad.</p>
<p>It is a bit of a myth that the EU countries are funding the entire tertiary education. While the tuition is kept very low, it remains that a student needs support for lodging and other expenses. There are few residential colleges. The equivalent of our zero EFC students would pay more. </p>
<p>I believe he said it was around 500e per year. It is interesting that his D, same grade and school as my D, is looking at US LACs - none in their home country, even though she has dual citizenship. He prefers the system here and for her especially as she has not decided on a major yet.</p>
<p>I know a few families in our same town whose kids attend university in Scotland, but all are full pay and find it cheaper, even the ones without dual citizenship. </p>
<p>In any case, sorry to threadjack. I will add a most annoying thread:</p>
<p>One in which a predictable set of posters attack each other over and over again in a variety of topics and forums, but basically over the same thing.</p>
<p>The tuition is indeed in the 500 Euro range, but the services are not comparable to the US, and especially not to our residential colleges. This said, even with the extra fees imposed on non-EU citizens and the typical 2 years in European programs, the cost of pursuing a Master’s in a typically non-funded program can be lower, and a real bargain for the US student who could stay with family or friends of the family. </p>
<p>Of course, one ought to add the substantial cost of all that family travel to go visit the little one in Europe. Perhaps we ought to start a thread dedicated to the CC Moms to start planning sending one of the kiddos to Europe and HAVING to have to visit them often! :)</p>
<p>Hmm… this is an interesting topic. My least favorite posts are those by people are clearly venting their own displeasure at something related to a specific student’s post, whether it may be international students, OOS students seeking scholarships, or students with sub-par preparation. Besides that, I think the sense of entitlement really bugs me as well - where people think that just because they live in _<strong><em>state/city/province/country, they believe that only people from </em></strong> state/city/province/country should get education there. </p>
<p>Fwiw, I do think that your definition of entitlement hardly matches the usual CC one, which is usually about the misaligned expectations of teenagers. As far as your point about local, regional, or national preferences, I think most do not mind OOS or internationals as long as they do NOT receive unreasonable levels of aid. The entitlement by internationals is indeed a perennial annoyance on CC. On par with a high level of arrogance! </p>
<p>post #169- if it were my kid I’d visit but not be allowed in the building based on his college and post college habits. Nothing like waiting in the car for son to appear for the ride or whatever visit.</p>
<p>I think a lot of those countries that provide a free or low cost college education heavily track kids during their younger years and prevent many from being eligible for university education. It is not like here where we have systems that allow virtually anyone to try going to college…and even have a CC system that admits nearly anyone.</p>
<p>As for the friend from the EU country…yes, that happens…brain drain. If that continues to happen, likely their countries will implement some rules/changes. My son had a Chemistry prof like that…came to the US after getting his free education in his home country, did his post-doc at UTexas, and now is a prof here. </p>
<p>I’m always tempted to respond in “Chance me” threads with the most recent admissions statistics. “8.6%” That’s the truth after all, right? </p>
<p>The “all student loans are evil” threads get to me. There’s a balance there and some debt is reasonable. Going to a CC for a couple years is not always more affordable if you need to purchase a car to do so or if your credits don’t end up being transferable. I did considerable number crunching to evaluate differences in total cost (including lost years of earning a starting salary by going part time for 6-8 years instead of graduating in 4 years) and if the loan amounts are reasonable, then it is worth it. It’s just something each family needs to evaluate on their own. </p>
<p>Tracking might be a more pragmatic response than our organized dropout system. Our system either abandons the kids or graduates them without any marketable skills. Tracked kids in Europe might have a leg up on our kids who will learn a skill or pretend to be qualified to repair cars or houses. A high school diploma in a Europe is often the requirement for a corporate or government job similar to one that requires a college degree in the US. And the qualifications are pretty much on par because of our less than stellar K12.</p>
<p>In the end, their system is a lot more egalitarian than ours. We just pretend or think ours is. The reality is that our system is meant to create huge divides between the have and have nots and chasms between the well-educated and the rest. </p>
<p>Hey guys, isnt this thread about annoying cc threads? Perhaps the side discussion can be discussed in a separate thread so as not to hijack this one.</p>
This. Yes! Certain posters need to utilize the Ignore button. I am thinking of one particular group of posters in particular. If a certain poster posts, two other posters regularly pounce and attack. It’s as if they seek this poster out to attack. Very predictable. But still annoying! </p>
<p>I agree with @2016BarnardMom - the “all student loans are evil” threads are annoying, especially to those of us who struggled to send our kids to even a less than top tier university.
The other type of thread that annoys me is the "How can I keep my child from drinking in college/how can colleges allow drinking/etc. ones. Um, you can’t. All you can do is prepare them for what lies ahead and make sure they understand what the consequences are. </p>
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