<p>thehoods, welcome. Your story should be required reading for everyone here who thinks they are disaster-proof and won’t ever have to make financial compromises for themselves or their kids. I hope your son is doing well.</p>
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<p>There’s a difference, monydad. PG comments on what she thinks is right for her kids, and doesn’t disparage others’ choices. collegehelp, on the other hand, throws out specious generalizations about how parents who don’t “give till it hurts” must not love their kids or how students at non-top-tier schools are bigger drinkers and druggies and of lower moral character (not to mention higher BMI).</p>
<p>Re: #812</p>
<p>Looks like his parents gave him his first lesson in finance and accounting.</p>
<p>If someone hasn’t read the thread, you can search and see all the comments made here by OP, put it together and decide if it makes sense or is grabbing at straws. Nothing here tells us his relative has what it takes to get into an elite or why she truly needs a particular small set of colleges. But, even if she were admitted:
why shouldn’t collegehelp’s relatives put their money where their mouth is too, if they can afford the loan payments?</p>
<p>All along, the direction OP led us in that the family cannot. </p>
<p>Sure, he posts “average” costs or average financial aid or how large percentages of high school kids would choose Harvard over somewhere else. Doesn’t explain why that family should go into debt. </p>
<p>It’s not about collegehelp’s “feelings”- it’s not his budget, maybe not his business. He may be interfering with a family’s own best decisions. He hasn’t articulated why School X is truly the right match for this relative. You can go back further and see other comments that show his perspective, like: choose the college with the highest SAT scores. </p>
<p>At least one of the ROI studies includes ASU. You can’t just find some article that seems to bear up your point. You’ve got to read it. And assess it. The study about selective colleges and health, eg, (mostly requiring a fee to read, but I found a free copy) notes marijuana use goes down, but binge drinking goes up. That BMI is better- but among females, not males. Not apparent from the little paragraph(s) that appear on a google search. (Plus the core initial research seems to have been based on Wisconsin in the 60’s and a longitudinal study there.) </p>
<p>And, for all the posters who think PG disses elites, you missed her consistent point.</p>
<p>ps. In NY, go can go to cc then transfer into Cornell.</p>
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<p>If the OP does not want to have to interact with other college students who were not able to get admitted to a place like Cornell, will s/he be able to [talk</a> to a plumber](<a href=“http://theamericanscholar.org/the-disadvantages-of-an-elite-education/]talk”>The American Scholar: The Disadvantages of an Elite Education - <a href='https://theamericanscholar.org/author/william-deresiewicz/'>William Deresiewicz</a>)?</p>
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<p>If collegehelp had just said that in his family he would take out huge loans in order to send his own children to “elite” schools because that prestige is more important to him than his financial security in retirement, this thread wouldn’t be on it’s 55th page.</p>
<p>Instead he asks why more families don’t do this and suggests that those who don’t are selfish and don’t love their children enough. That is why he needs to justify himself which btw, he hasn’t been able to do.</p>
<p>I still think that collegehelp has no children of his own and that this thread has been a successful exercise in ■■■■■■■■, but it has been fairly entertaining so I suppose the discussion is interesting enough.</p>
<p>Re the study about selective colleges and health, summarized by lookingforward in #825 (I didn’t read the original), might the lower BMI among females reflect some eating disorders rather than a broccoli-promoting school culture?
Just throwing out that tangent in case this thread hasn’t gone on long enough.</p>
<p>I thought of that too, Ruthie. I knew numerous girls with eating disorders at my elite university. I also knew a lot of skinny cokeheads. The commoners at state schools who can’t afford cocaine and have to settle for marijuana are OF COURSE going to gain more weight–because “munchies.”</p>
<p>New College would be a good option for her? But it’s not a top college…</p>
<p>ucbalumnus- There is one good educational option out there for those who have no concern about the character of classmates. It is tuition-free, you can earn your degree if you are not in any hurry, no charge for room and board, they even pay YOU a small stipend!!</p>
<p>[Benefits</a> for Inmates | LIVESTRONG.COM](<a href=“http://www.livestrong.com/article/133244-benefits-inmates/]Benefits”>Government Grants for Ex Convicts | Pocketsense)</p>
<p>Maybe collegehelp could contribute the $350 per month for 30 years. After all, it’s not that much out of the large salary collegehelp must be receiving as a graduate of an elite school.</p>
<p>By the way, the state university my kids will attend is a “flagship.” No guilt here.</p>
<p>collegehelp:
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<p>Well that’s a reasonable, mature, and not at all hyperbolic comparison. It also makes no sense, given that the page you cited only refers to GEDs and trade certifications. Was reading comprehension not a priority at your elite school?</p>
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<p>I must say, that is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever read on CC. Not just in this thread, but ever.</p>
<p>I second that.</p>
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<p>What you probably want to do is start a separate thread for help for your relative here. She has time to plan, and if she keeps the top end grades/rank and gets high test scores, she should have plenty of low cost options. But lose the “expensive/prestige school or bust” attitude.</p>
<p>At the very least, her planning could start with figuring out if the divorced father is willing to contribute or at least cooperative with financial aid forms, and to try some net price calculators to see what the net prices of various schools are. It is still early to do a full college search, since she may not have fully defined her criteria yet, but starting the preliminaries early is better than in November of senior year.</p>
<p>C’mon, the inmate comment was funny! I think somebody’s a little grumpy…
Raneck, I thought the article did make a reference to college…read again.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus- I may start a thread to help my cousin when she gets closer to her senior year. In her case, I think she will wind up attending a school that is not a good academic fit for her but her record may really stand out wherever she goes and she may be able to get into a fully funded PhD program or something very low cost.</p>
<p>So, you have no intention of yourself ponying up big bucks to send your cousin wherever she wants to go but expect her parents or the schools or taxpayers to do so? People make choices ALL the time about college. It is very easy to spend other people’s money. Lower cost schools and then a fully funded PhD program (which will somehow materialize) are your plan?</p>
<p>You were being funny? To be honest, based on the content of your posting, I thought you were just being dumb. </p>
<p>In regards to a new thread, I would suggest making one for her at the beginning of her junior year. Nothing like starting early. Gives adequate time for PSAT info and once she has her scores in the list can be made.</p>
<p>Hope it’s a competitive high school.</p>
<p>Right now, you could do her far more good by helping her commit to the sort of ECs elite adcoms like. Not rote, not just what the hs offers, not “passion,” not just to “stand out,” but to show she has the perspective and can build on it.</p>
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<p>I don’t mean to be dismissive of your cousin, whom I’m sure is a perfectly lovely and smart young woman, but there are 30,000 valedictorians in this country, most of whom go on to live perfectly ordinary lives and aren’t curing cancer. BTW, why the PhD as a goal for her? I confess I’ve never quite gotten the CC obsession with getting PhD’s.</p>