How does most of America pay for these elite schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of America doesn’t apply and if they did and get in the average family gets significant aid

We have a $125k HHI income (our all time peak!) and don't have enough saved. We did the fafsa paperwork and have realized that we won't bother applying to private colleges or out of state publics. Our kids are fine but don't have the rock star paperwork that would make attending a possibility.

My alma mater (Carnegie Mellon) had someone contact me about our kids coming for a tour. After a brief money discussion with them, we passed. I felt bad.

Montgomery College it will be. We'll see where it goes from there. He might end up going the military route or find an employer who will pay to continue his education.

Sorry, kid. You should have been born decades ago or chosen parents with more money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no thanks
also no evidence whatsoever “serving” makes you a better person

Military train people to kill.
That’s their full-time job.

You do understand that most of the military does not do this. The people who actually shoot at people is quite small in every branch. Less so in the Marines but that is it.

Especially if you go in as an officer from ROTC. It is unlikely you’ll be shooting people unless you decide you want that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no thanks
also no evidence whatsoever “serving” makes you a better person

Military train people to kill.
That’s their full-time job.

You do understand that most of the military does not do this. The people who actually shoot at people is quite small in every branch. Less so in the Marines but that is it.

Especially if you go in as an officer from ROTC. It is unlikely you’ll be shooting people unless you decide you want that.

Exactly. The military has physicians, scientist, linguists, nurses, lawyers, and just about any profession you could want to work. Sure, solider first. But the majority of the military isn’t out to kill anyone unless there are somewhere and getting shot at first. Obviously some kids can’t because of medical qualifications, but most kids would qualify and it is a great option to get an education with zero dept, lots of invaluable experience, some character building, and a good start to a career either in or out of military.

[Anonymous]

Grandparents, inheritance, real estate investments, home equity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In our case - both sets of grandparents are also paying, we only have two kids, and we can live comfortably from the lowest salary, so we also pay as he goes for DC1's med school. We make almost 500K/year and we moved to a lower COL area, so our mortgage is low.

This is either a troll or one of the most tone deaf posts I've ever read on DCUM!

It is real life, we are dime a dozen. My parents are from a culture that encourages savings and modest living. My ILs are the typical white, former MC boomers who benefited from cheap college education, abundance of well-paid jobs, great market returns, and continuous increases in real estate value. We went to great schools, had lucrative careers from the beginning, and delayed parenting until we were established at work and I could request flexibility. I stayed in the same industry and worked 10-12 hour days for decades until I had my kids in my early 40s. The kids went to public school until college.

You got lucky that you didn’t have fertility problems and need to spend a year or two or more worth of college tuition on building your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless my DC gets a large merit scholarship and can give us a good reason, we won't consider sending him to some teeny tiny liberal arts school that no one's heard of outside of the two or three states.

Some of these schools will be nearly six figures by the time DC graduates from HS-- it's ridiculous.

Not sure why you get a veto if kid gets a large merit scholarship and doesn't need your help.

There is pretty much no scenario that doesn’t involve parents’ help.

I always forget what weird rich people lives everyone on this board leads. Many kids live on their own and don't receive financial help from their parents all through college. It's not that rare.

pp here- yes, even with a large merit scholarship it would still likely cost more to send DC out of state and/or an expensive private college. Maybe many kids live on their own and are full time students without parents' help.I'm trying to imagine the scenarios-- non-traditional student with a full time job, someone who worked/saved then went back to school, full ride scholarship with all expenses paid, community college, a kid who successfully emancipated from his/her parents (combo financial aid and merit). None of these really encompass a traditional college experience with a high achiever at a four year college who is not an elite athlete or financially independent.

We have a 529 that would enable DC to pay for most/all of many schools, but it doesn't give him an equal vote on where to go to college, since we're the account holders and expect to see it used responsibly.