Is anyone not saving to pay for all of their kids' college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We aren't intentionally not saving. Our HHI is 105k with two kids in childcare. Theres just not much to go around.

The contingent on the DCUM money forum have a lot of wealth and have no concept of what it is like to live like normal people. Many of them also have generational wealth with grandparents that helped them buy their house or pay for their kids private school tuition etc. Completely out of touch with most of the world. There are many, many people who cannot afford to save enough to completely cover college for their kids. College is so incredibly expensive now.

Cue some jacka** who will tell us how they make 100k a year and have a mortgage in this area and yet are maxed out for retirement and save huge amounts of money a month for college or some such BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people can't afford to save anything. I'm a single parent and a teacher and I took on 2 second jobs just to save anything at all. I might have around $20k saved by the time she starts college next year.

If you pick the right school, with your income, she will get a ton of financial aid. So pick a school that fully meets need, ideally one that uses grants after the basic ~$5k in student loans, so you don't need to do parent loans. Find a school where she is at 75% and the acceptance rate is over 50%. She will likely get grants/merit so that you only need to pay a minimal amount each year (ie. probably less than $10K).

You can also target more elite schools with an income level like that, unless the other parent has to be considered on Financial Aid (which may be the case).

Either way, pick a school that meets need/good merit aid and where you DD is at 90% (and acceptance rates over 50%) and your kid could get significant merit aid. So affordable college is possible, it just may not be a "T20" school.

There are affordable options for everyone, you just have to search and not be obsessed with rankings. Find the place that will pay for your DD to attend.

She isn't that good of a student for an elite school and the schools where she is above 75% of crappy schools with low graduation rates. I won't take out any parent loans.

Then I guess she needs to look at CC for the first 2 years. Work part time during the school year, live at home those 2 years and work full time during summer and all breaks. Then transfer to a state school for the final 2 years. Or other choice is "where she is above the 75% of crappy schools with low graduation rates". I agree that you cannot afford to take out parent loans. So in order for her to do this, she needs cheap, affordable college. So that means CC and transfer or continue to look for lesser known schools where the graduation rate is acceptable to you and find one that will give financial aide and/or merit.

Just curious, what is her GPA (W and UW) and SAT/ACT? And what might she want to study? There is a huge range between "elite qualified" and "really crappy grad rate schools". You'd be surprised that there are a ton of colleges out there, so with a bit of searching you might find the right one. And with lower income, you may be able to get application fees waived, which would allow her to apply to a few more schools in the search for the right financial aid package. Don't give up---there are affordable colleges out there.

As far as "crappy graduation rates", be sure to look into the "real graduation rates". What is the 5/6 year graduation rate vs 4 year. For a school that has a high rate of first generation or lower income students (not mutually exclusive), their rates are often somewhat lower, as those kids might take breaks to help family, because they need to work to have $$ for the next semester or for whatever reasons as navigating college when you don't have family to help you can be challenging. Most schools provide the data somewhere and if you delve deep into it, you find that there can be a 5-10% difference in graduation rates for first gen students and everyone else at many good schools---no matter how much assistance the school provides, there are still issues outside of their control (finances often being a large part of it). Since you are not first generation and your DD has you at home to help her navigate, her experience would be different, I suspect.

Her GPA is a 3.3 unweighted and maybe 3.5 weighted. She goes to a private school on a mostly full scholarship. I pay a few thousand per year. Her school only reports unweighted. She's interested in business. We will look at the in-state options (Towson, UMBC, SMCM). I don't want her to go to community college.

I'm curious what you have against community college? MD has some great CCs and it is an awesome way to get part of college completed at a much more affordable rate. If you won't take parent loans, she just might not be able to attend college without other financial aid/merit aide. An 18yo cannot take more than the ~$5K in federal loans. It just isn't a possibility; and that's a good thing as no 18 yo should really be signing away more than $20K for college.

However, could she live at home and attend Towson or UMBC? Or do you want her to have the "full college experience"---because that will cost a lot more.

CC tends to be drop-out factories. Why would I want my kid to go to school there? She can live at home and go to school nearby. I took out the max amount in student loans and so will my daughter. I had no issues paying them back either. I took out loans for grad school too.

To all of the people crowing about how great community colleges are, I ask a serious question: Have you ever actually set foot on a community college campus? I have, and there were so many people pushing strollers I thought I was at the mall. I tried to find a report I read a few years ago asking heads of colleges about transferring from community colleges, and they said that it’s better to go to a lesser university than to a CC because the overall culture of low achievement wound up keeping people from graduating or pursuing opportunities beyond CC. I did find this article about the low transfer rate of CC students to 4-year schools in CA.

https://www.communitycollegereview.com/blog/why-60-of-community-college-students-never-transfer

Man, how about the kids who sometimes spend their senior high school year taking NVCC classes? Since it's at NVCC they are doomed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people can't afford to save anything. I'm a single parent and a teacher and I took on 2 second jobs just to save anything at all. I might have around $20k saved by the time she starts college next year.

If you pick the right school, with your income, she will get a ton of financial aid. So pick a school that fully meets need, ideally one that uses grants after the basic ~$5k in student loans, so you don't need to do parent loans. Find a school where she is at 75% and the acceptance rate is over 50%. She will likely get grants/merit so that you only need to pay a minimal amount each year (ie. probably less than $10K).

You can also target more elite schools with an income level like that, unless the other parent has to be considered on Financial Aid (which may be the case).

Either way, pick a school that meets need/good merit aid and where you DD is at 90% (and acceptance rates over 50%) and your kid could get significant merit aid. So affordable college is possible, it just may not be a "T20" school.

There are affordable options for everyone, you just have to search and not be obsessed with rankings. Find the place that will pay for your DD to attend.

She isn't that good of a student for an elite school and the schools where she is above 75% of crappy schools with low graduation rates. I won't take out any parent loans.

Then I guess she needs to look at CC for the first 2 years. Work part time during the school year, live at home those 2 years and work full time during summer and all breaks. Then transfer to a state school for the final 2 years. Or other choice is "where she is above the 75% of crappy schools with low graduation rates". I agree that you cannot afford to take out parent loans. So in order for her to do this, she needs cheap, affordable college. So that means CC and transfer or continue to look for lesser known schools where the graduation rate is acceptable to you and find one that will give financial aide and/or merit.

Just curious, what is her GPA (W and UW) and SAT/ACT? And what might she want to study? There is a huge range between "elite qualified" and "really crappy grad rate schools". You'd be surprised that there are a ton of colleges out there, so with a bit of searching you might find the right one. And with lower income, you may be able to get application fees waived, which would allow her to apply to a few more schools in the search for the right financial aid package. Don't give up---there are affordable colleges out there.

As far as "crappy graduation rates", be sure to look into the "real graduation rates". What is the 5/6 year graduation rate vs 4 year. For a school that has a high rate of first generation or lower income students (not mutually exclusive), their rates are often somewhat lower, as those kids might take breaks to help family, because they need to work to have $$ for the next semester or for whatever reasons as navigating college when you don't have family to help you can be challenging. Most schools provide the data somewhere and if you delve deep into it, you find that there can be a 5-10% difference in graduation rates for first gen students and everyone else at many good schools---no matter how much assistance the school provides, there are still issues outside of their control (finances often being a large part of it). Since you are not first generation and your DD has you at home to help her navigate, her experience would be different, I suspect.

Her GPA is a 3.3 unweighted and maybe 3.5 weighted. She goes to a private school on a mostly full scholarship. I pay a few thousand per year. Her school only reports unweighted. She's interested in business. We will look at the in-state options (Towson, UMBC, SMCM). I don't want her to go to community college.

I'm curious what you have against community college? MD has some great CCs and it is an awesome way to get part of college completed at a much more affordable rate. If you won't take parent loans, she just might not be able to attend college without other financial aid/merit aide. An 18yo cannot take more than the ~$5K in federal loans. It just isn't a possibility; and that's a good thing as no 18 yo should really be signing away more than $20K for college.

However, could she live at home and attend Towson or UMBC? Or do you want her to have the "full college experience"---because that will cost a lot more.

CC tends to be drop-out factories. Why would I want my kid to go to school there? She can live at home and go to school nearby. I took out the max amount in student loans and so will my daughter. I had no issues paying them back either. I took out loans for grad school too.

To all of the people crowing about how great community colleges are, I ask a serious question: Have you ever actually set foot on a community college campus? I have, and there were so many people pushing strollers I thought I was at the mall. I tried to find a report I read a few years ago asking heads of colleges about transferring from community colleges, and they said that it’s better to go to a lesser university than to a CC because the overall culture of low achievement wound up keeping people from graduating or pursuing opportunities beyond CC. I did find this article about the low transfer rate of CC students to 4-year schools in CA.

https://www.communitycollegereview.com/blog/why-60-of-community-college-students-never-transfer

Wow god forbid mothers try to better themselves to provide a better life for their kids. The horror.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people can't afford to save anything. I'm a single parent and a teacher and I took on 2 second jobs just to save anything at all. I might have around $20k saved by the time she starts college next year.

If you pick the right school, with your income, she will get a ton of financial aid. So pick a school that fully meets need, ideally one that uses grants after the basic ~$5k in student loans, so you don't need to do parent loans. Find a school where she is at 75% and the acceptance rate is over 50%. She will likely get grants/merit so that you only need to pay a minimal amount each year (ie. probably less than $10K).

You can also target more elite schools with an income level like that, unless the other parent has to be considered on Financial Aid (which may be the case).

Either way, pick a school that meets need/good merit aid and where you DD is at 90% (and acceptance rates over 50%) and your kid could get significant merit aid. So affordable college is possible, it just may not be a "T20" school.

There are affordable options for everyone, you just have to search and not be obsessed with rankings. Find the place that will pay for your DD to attend.

She isn't that good of a student for an elite school and the schools where she is above 75% of crappy schools with low graduation rates. I won't take out any parent loans.

Then I guess she needs to look at CC for the first 2 years. Work part time during the school year, live at home those 2 years and work full time during summer and all breaks. Then transfer to a state school for the final 2 years. Or other choice is "where she is above the 75% of crappy schools with low graduation rates". I agree that you cannot afford to take out parent loans. So in order for her to do this, she needs cheap, affordable college. So that means CC and transfer or continue to look for lesser known schools where the graduation rate is acceptable to you and find one that will give financial aide and/or merit.

Just curious, what is her GPA (W and UW) and SAT/ACT? And what might she want to study? There is a huge range between "elite qualified" and "really crappy grad rate schools". You'd be surprised that there are a ton of colleges out there, so with a bit of searching you might find the right one. And with lower income, you may be able to get application fees waived, which would allow her to apply to a few more schools in the search for the right financial aid package. Don't give up---there are affordable colleges out there.

As far as "crappy graduation rates", be sure to look into the "real graduation rates". What is the 5/6 year graduation rate vs 4 year. For a school that has a high rate of first generation or lower income students (not mutually exclusive), their rates are often somewhat lower, as those kids might take breaks to help family, because they need to work to have $$ for the next semester or for whatever reasons as navigating college when you don't have family to help you can be challenging. Most schools provide the data somewhere and if you delve deep into it, you find that there can be a 5-10% difference in graduation rates for first gen students and everyone else at many good schools---no matter how much assistance the school provides, there are still issues outside of their control (finances often being a large part of it). Since you are not first generation and your DD has you at home to help her navigate, her experience would be different, I suspect.

Her GPA is a 3.3 unweighted and maybe 3.5 weighted. She goes to a private school on a mostly full scholarship. I pay a few thousand per year. Her school only reports unweighted. She's interested in business. We will look at the in-state options (Towson, UMBC, SMCM). I don't want her to go to community college.

I'm curious what you have against community college? MD has some great CCs and it is an awesome way to get part of college completed at a much more affordable rate. If you won't take parent loans, she just might not be able to attend college without other financial aid/merit aide. An 18yo cannot take more than the ~$5K in federal loans. It just isn't a possibility; and that's a good thing as no 18 yo should really be signing away more than $20K for college.

However, could she live at home and attend Towson or UMBC? Or do you want her to have the "full college experience"---because that will cost a lot more.

CC tends to be drop-out factories. Why would I want my kid to go to school there? She can live at home and go to school nearby. I took out the max amount in student loans and so will my daughter. I had no issues paying them back either. I took out loans for grad school too.

To all of the people crowing about how great community colleges are, I ask a serious question: Have you ever actually set foot on a community college campus? I have, and there were so many people pushing strollers I thought I was at the mall. I tried to find a report I read a few years ago asking heads of colleges about transferring from community colleges, and they said that it’s better to go to a lesser university than to a CC because the overall culture of low achievement wound up keeping people from graduating or pursuing opportunities beyond CC. I did find this article about the low transfer rate of CC students to 4-year schools in CA.

https://www.communitycollegereview.com/blog/why-60-of-community-college-students-never-transfer

Wow god forbid mothers try to better themselves to provide a better life for their kids. The horror.

I've had a few valedictorians in my classes and many high achievers. Often the only barrier for many of my students is financial resources. Community college may not be the path for everyone but it makes financial sense for some. The culture of low expectations may be more of a high school dynamic. I don't really see it among my students.

CC professor

[Anonymous]

Widowed parent of 3 here. DD1 got full-ride scholarship to art school. DS is currently halfway through. Between 529, savings, a tiny bit of aid, some nice checks from in-laws, plus his part-time job during the year and him working full-time summers, we will squeak by without loans. I'm expecting a similar scenario for the youngest, who will be starting college as DS finishes.

Social security benefits continuing through university would be wildly helpful, but alas, that program ended in 1981. Like many parents, I am balancing retirement savings and college expenses while living in our current inflationary time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people can't afford to save anything. I'm a single parent and a teacher and I took on 2 second jobs just to save anything at all. I might have around $20k saved by the time she starts college next year.

If you pick the right school, with your income, she will get a ton of financial aid. So pick a school that fully meets need, ideally one that uses grants after the basic ~$5k in student loans, so you don't need to do parent loans. Find a school where she is at 75% and the acceptance rate is over 50%. She will likely get grants/merit so that you only need to pay a minimal amount each year (ie. probably less than $10K).

You can also target more elite schools with an income level like that, unless the other parent has to be considered on Financial Aid (which may be the case).

Either way, pick a school that meets need/good merit aid and where you DD is at 90% (and acceptance rates over 50%) and your kid could get significant merit aid. So affordable college is possible, it just may not be a "T20" school.

There are affordable options for everyone, you just have to search and not be obsessed with rankings. Find the place that will pay for your DD to attend.

She isn't that good of a student for an elite school and the schools where she is above 75% of crappy schools with low graduation rates. I won't take out any parent loans.

Then I guess she needs to look at CC for the first 2 years. Work part time during the school year, live at home those 2 years and work full time during summer and all breaks. Then transfer to a state school for the final 2 years. Or other choice is "where she is above the 75% of crappy schools with low graduation rates". I agree that you cannot afford to take out parent loans. So in order for her to do this, she needs cheap, affordable college. So that means CC and transfer or continue to look for lesser known schools where the graduation rate is acceptable to you and find one that will give financial aide and/or merit.

Just curious, what is her GPA (W and UW) and SAT/ACT? And what might she want to study? There is a huge range between "elite qualified" and "really crappy grad rate schools". You'd be surprised that there are a ton of colleges out there, so with a bit of searching you might find the right one. And with lower income, you may be able to get application fees waived, which would allow her to apply to a few more schools in the search for the right financial aid package. Don't give up---there are affordable colleges out there.

As far as "crappy graduation rates", be sure to look into the "real graduation rates". What is the 5/6 year graduation rate vs 4 year. For a school that has a high rate of first generation or lower income students (not mutually exclusive), their rates are often somewhat lower, as those kids might take breaks to help family, because they need to work to have $$ for the next semester or for whatever reasons as navigating college when you don't have family to help you can be challenging. Most schools provide the data somewhere and if you delve deep into it, you find that there can be a 5-10% difference in graduation rates for first gen students and everyone else at many good schools---no matter how much assistance the school provides, there are still issues outside of their control (finances often being a large part of it). Since you are not first generation and your DD has you at home to help her navigate, her experience would be different, I suspect.

Her GPA is a 3.3 unweighted and maybe 3.5 weighted. She goes to a private school on a mostly full scholarship. I pay a few thousand per year. Her school only reports unweighted. She's interested in business. We will look at the in-state options (Towson, UMBC, SMCM). I don't want her to go to community college.

I'm curious what you have against community college? MD has some great CCs and it is an awesome way to get part of college completed at a much more affordable rate. If you won't take parent loans, she just might not be able to attend college without other financial aid/merit aide. An 18yo cannot take more than the ~$5K in federal loans. It just isn't a possibility; and that's a good thing as no 18 yo should really be signing away more than $20K for college.

However, could she live at home and attend Towson or UMBC? Or do you want her to have the "full college experience"---because that will cost a lot more.

CC tends to be drop-out factories. Why would I want my kid to go to school there? She can live at home and go to school nearby. I took out the max amount in student loans and so will my daughter. I had no issues paying them back either. I took out loans for grad school too.

To all of the people crowing about how great community colleges are, I ask a serious question: Have you ever actually set foot on a community college campus? I have, and there were so many people pushing strollers I thought I was at the mall. I tried to find a report I read a few years ago asking heads of colleges about transferring from community colleges, and they said that it’s better to go to a lesser university than to a CC because the overall culture of low achievement wound up keeping people from graduating or pursuing opportunities beyond CC. I did find this article about the low transfer rate of CC students to 4-year schools in CA.

https://www.communitycollegereview.com/blog/why-60-of-community-college-students-never-transfer

Man, how about the kids who sometimes spend their senior high school year taking NVCC classes? Since it's at NVCC they are doomed?

This^^^. We have Running start in our area. Kids that plan correctly can graduate HS with a FULL AA degree from the local community college and the only costs are transportation (you have to get yourself there---we have a bus system that works well if you don't have a car, not most convenient but it works well) and books. So for $2K or so you can have an AA degree. Then you need at most 2-3 years at a 4 year to graduate.

Our CC are filled with HS students and mostly kids under 25. Yes, it's not the traditional 4 year path, but it's a very viable reasonable path to take. Many in our state use the CC as a way to transfer into the state flagship---if they dont' get in straight from HS, it's much easier to transfer in after 1-2 years at CC.

Also, who cares what "CC looks like" and the other people on campus?!?!?! You are there to get a degree. If you cannot afford a traditional 4 year university, be smart and take the approach where you are not saddled with major debt for 10+ years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We aren't intentionally not saving. Our HHI is 105k with two kids in childcare. Theres just not much to go around.

The contingent on the DCUM money forum have a lot of wealth and have no concept of what it is like to live like normal people. Many of them also have generational wealth with grandparents that helped them buy their house or pay for their kids private school tuition etc. Completely out of touch with most of the world. There are many, many people who cannot afford to save enough to completely cover college for their kids. College is so incredibly expensive now.

Cue some jacka** who will tell us how they make 100k a year and have a mortgage in this area and yet are maxed out for retirement and save huge amounts of money a month for college or some such BS.

It’s a tough call. I have a rising senior who after this year will have a year of college under his belt. His dream is to go to UVA. He’s one track mind with it. He currently has a 4.4 and that probably won’t cut it for him to get into UVA as a white male. If he doesn’t get in he’s strongly considering NVCC for a year to finish his associates and leverage the guaranteed admissions.

I really struggle with this entire concept for him because he’s way better than that. He’s an excellent student and really bright. I hate to see him at NVCC for any amount of time. I hope he comes to his senses after this summer and visiting schools and gets excited about some other schools. However he’s a very goal oriented kid and once he wants something that’s what he goes for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most expensive schools are now close to 80k all in. Even if a kid gets a full tuition scholarship, which is rare, you could be looking at loans that still add up to 50k plus (for 4 years) just for dorms and living expenses.

Cost of Attendance has breached 80k for year 2022-23 for both of my kids. One is 82k+ and another is 83k+. I expect at least 5% increases for subsequent years.

That’s why many of us send our kids to state schools. You don’t get the discussion.

[Anonymous]

We are saving some but hoping that our child will get scholarships, go to one of the service academies or pay as they go. Possibility of free tuition due to one parents service connected disability. This area is over priced and full of rich people. Regular folks aren’t saving 500k per kid.

[Anonymous]

I'm targeting to pay 4 years of instate tuition for my 4 kids.
So, my goal is to pay $30k/year each.

Kids can get work hard to get merit or earn money if they want to go to a pricier private college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We aren't intentionally not saving. Our HHI is 105k with two kids in childcare. Theres just not much to go around.

The contingent on the DCUM money forum have a lot of wealth and have no concept of what it is like to live like normal people. Many of them also have generational wealth with grandparents that helped them buy their house or pay for their kids private school tuition etc. Completely out of touch with most of the world. There are many, many people who cannot afford to save enough to completely cover college for their kids. College is so incredibly expensive now.

Cue some jacka** who will tell us how they make 100k a year and have a mortgage in this area and yet are maxed out for retirement and save huge amounts of money a month for college or some such BS.

It’s a tough call. I have a rising senior who after this year will have a year of college under his belt. His dream is to go to UVA. He’s one track mind with it. He currently has a 4.4 and that probably won’t cut it for him to get into UVA as a white male. If he doesn’t get in he’s strongly considering NVCC for a year to finish his associates and leverage the guaranteed admissions.

I really struggle with this entire concept for him because he’s way better than that. He’s an excellent student and really bright. I hate to see him at NVCC for any amount of time. I hope he comes to his senses after this summer and visiting schools and gets excited about some other schools. However he’s a very goal oriented kid and once he wants something that’s what he goes for.

Why is he "way better than that"??!?!?! Smart kid who has set the goal of attending UVA, knows that it can be a crapshoot so plans to attend CC with a guaranteed path to UVA if he attains a certain GPA (I'm assuming that's the case from what you said) at CC and will follow this plan if he doesn't get direct admissions. WTH is wrong with that? He's set his goals and found a few paths to achieve it. Why wouldn't you be happy and excited for him? Ultimately, he would get a diploma from UVA? Same as if he attended UVA for 4 full years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are saving some but hoping that our child will get scholarships, go to one of the service academies or pay as they go. Possibility of free tuition due to one parents service connected disability. This area is over priced and full of rich people. Regular folks aren’t saving 500k per kid.

This area is full of people who are willing to overspend on housing, travel, eating out and luxury items vs. college savings. We are regular folks who have made under $175K (and that is recent) but we bought the cheapest house we could find, live way under our means and were able to do a prepaid and room/board and a year of graduate school in a 529. Life is about choices. Its very hard to go to a service academy and regular people cannot pay as they go. You are just as tone death as many others. OP cannot afford to save. There is a huge difference from someone who cannot afford it and someone who made lifestyle choices that don't allow them to save.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We aren't intentionally not saving. Our HHI is 105k with two kids in childcare. Theres just not much to go around.

The contingent on the DCUM money forum have a lot of wealth and have no concept of what it is like to live like normal people. Many of them also have generational wealth with grandparents that helped them buy their house or pay for their kids private school tuition etc. Completely out of touch with most of the world. There are many, many people who cannot afford to save enough to completely cover college for their kids. College is so incredibly expensive now.

Cue some jacka** who will tell us how they make 100k a year and have a mortgage in this area and yet are maxed out for retirement and save huge amounts of money a month for college or some such BS.

It’s a tough call. I have a rising senior who after this year will have a year of college under his belt. His dream is to go to UVA. He’s one track mind with it. He currently has a 4.4 and that probably won’t cut it for him to get into UVA as a white male. If he doesn’t get in he’s strongly considering NVCC for a year to finish his associates and leverage the guaranteed admissions.

I really struggle with this entire concept for him because he’s way better than that. He’s an excellent student and really bright. I hate to see him at NVCC for any amount of time. I hope he comes to his senses after this summer and visiting schools and gets excited about some other schools. However he’s a very goal oriented kid and once he wants something that’s what he goes for.

Why is he "way better than that"??!?!?! Smart kid who has set the goal of attending UVA, knows that it can be a crapshoot so plans to attend CC with a guaranteed path to UVA if he attains a certain GPA (I'm assuming that's the case from what you said) at CC and will follow this plan if he doesn't get direct admissions. WTH is wrong with that? He's set his goals and found a few paths to achieve it. Why wouldn't you be happy and excited for him? Ultimately, he would get a diploma from UVA? Same as if he attended UVA for 4 full years.

Because NVCC is an academic joke. It’s a means to an end, but a year of educational sacrifice to get into uva.

Sorry, but sorry.

I’m not not happy for him it excited or sad for him. You are really stretching with your hysterics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We aren't intentionally not saving. Our HHI is 105k with two kids in childcare. Theres just not much to go around.

The contingent on the DCUM money forum have a lot of wealth and have no concept of what it is like to live like normal people. Many of them also have generational wealth with grandparents that helped them buy their house or pay for their kids private school tuition etc. Completely out of touch with most of the world. There are many, many people who cannot afford to save enough to completely cover college for their kids. College is so incredibly expensive now.

Cue some jacka** who will tell us how they make 100k a year and have a mortgage in this area and yet are maxed out for retirement and save huge amounts of money a month for college or some such BS.

It’s a tough call. I have a rising senior who after this year will have a year of college under his belt. His dream is to go to UVA. He’s one track mind with it. He currently has a 4.4 and that probably won’t cut it for him to get into UVA as a white male. If he doesn’t get in he’s strongly considering NVCC for a year to finish his associates and leverage the guaranteed admissions.

I really struggle with this entire concept for him because he’s way better than that. He’s an excellent student and really bright. I hate to see him at NVCC for any amount of time. I hope he comes to his senses after this summer and visiting schools and gets excited about some other schools. However he’s a very goal oriented kid and once he wants something that’s what he goes for.

Why is he "way better than that"??!?!?! Smart kid who has set the goal of attending UVA, knows that it can be a crapshoot so plans to attend CC with a guaranteed path to UVA if he attains a certain GPA (I'm assuming that's the case from what you said) at CC and will follow this plan if he doesn't get direct admissions. WTH is wrong with that? He's set his goals and found a few paths to achieve it. Why wouldn't you be happy and excited for him? Ultimately, he would get a diploma from UVA? Same as if he attended UVA for 4 full years.

Because NVCC is an academic joke. It’s a means to an end, but a year of educational sacrifice to get into uva.

Sorry, but sorry.

I’m not not happy for him it excited or sad for him. You are really stretching with your hysterics.

Then help him find a 4 year colleges that’s are targets and safeties if you want him to go to “a better school” than CC. UVA nay ge the dream but have a reasonable backup, like normal people do if they want their kid to not get disappointed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We aren't intentionally not saving. Our HHI is 105k with two kids in childcare. Theres just not much to go around.

The contingent on the DCUM money forum have a lot of wealth and have no concept of what it is like to live like normal people. Many of them also have generational wealth with grandparents that helped them buy their house or pay for their kids private school tuition etc. Completely out of touch with most of the world. There are many, many people who cannot afford to save enough to completely cover college for their kids. College is so incredibly expensive now.

Cue some jacka** who will tell us how they make 100k a year and have a mortgage in this area and yet are maxed out for retirement and save huge amounts of money a month for college or some such BS.

At an income of $100k, a kid would probably be eligible for financial aid. The point of many of these posts is that kids from higher income families are screwed if their parents didn’t save because their parents families’ higher income keeps them from receiving financial aid.