any surprises in terms of financial aid for upper middle class kids?

[Anonymous]

I don't think this explains it. At most there twice as many graduates. But acceptance rates fell from over 50% to less than 10% at many schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think this explains it. At most there twice as many graduates. But acceptance rates fell from over 50% to less than 10% at many schools.

Part of the reason is that it is so much easier to apply to lots of schools than it used to be. The Common App has enabled students to add schools to the roster with ease and little effort (and sometimes no money at all).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think this explains it. At most there twice as many graduates. But acceptance rates fell from over 50% to less than 10% at many schools.

Part of the reason is that it is so much easier to apply to lots of schools than it used to be. The Common App has enabled students to add schools to the roster with ease and little effort (and sometimes no money at all).

but then those students are not really better? i mean there are twice as many great students, say, but not really 5 or 10 times more.

[Anonymous]

The Common App should limit the number of colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Common App should limit the number of colleges.

Never going to happen. That means it would limit the application fees each college gets. They aren't going to give up that free money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Common App should limit the number of colleges.

Never going to happen. That means it would limit the application fees each college gets. They aren't going to give up that free money.

It would also mean that their acceptance rates would be higher, causing them to drop in the USNWR rankings.

Never going to happen.

[Anonymous]

So yes, kids can attend less-expensive schools or less-prestigious schools, and it's not the end of the world. But it is disappointing, because for a very long time those tradeoffs didn't have to be made by people who worked and planned and behaved responsibly with respect to financing college. And the effect is that the only students at prestigious schools are those whose parents can pay $70K X 4 years X # of children, and those who qualify for need-based aid.

+1 As a parent with 2 in college and 1 to go, this is my observation. I feel like only the schools with huge endowments can give $ out for people earning over $200K. We earn good $- close to $300K but can't afford $70K a year for 3 kids. And it's not like we earned that for years- we had our own loans to pay back. So they go to state schools, we get DC Tag and they get some merit $. We would like them to get out of undergrad without loans. For grad school, that won't be an option. The price of tuition for an undergraduate degree is not sustainable.

[Anonymous]

I know a person from a medium-rich country (GDP per capital similar to Brazil) who got accepted at the number schools (pretty much everywhere except Harvard) all with all her costs covered. Now she is a very good student though didn't pass the entrance exam to the best magnet. Regardless... the thing is, this girl is not poor not by any stretch. Her father is a very highly ranked government official (like Supreme Court justice type) and they live a very charmed life comparable to upper west side family. But because the country is rraltively she appears poor because her fathers salary appears low (yet it affords so much more).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Common App should limit the number of colleges.

Sadly, it has become a vicious cycle. Schools are admitting smaller percentage of applicants, it seems in a somewhat random way, so students have to apply to more schools for "safety" reasons. What used to be a sure-thing safety school is no longer that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a person from a medium-rich country (GDP per capital similar to Brazil) who got accepted at the number schools (pretty much everywhere except Harvard) all with all her costs covered. Now she is a very good student though didn't pass the entrance exam to the best magnet. Regardless... the thing is, this girl is not poor not by any stretch. Her father is a very highly ranked government official (like Supreme Court justice type) and they live a very charmed life comparable to upper west side family. But because the country is rraltively she appears poor because her fathers salary appears low (yet it affords so much more).

International applicants get need based scholarships? I thought they were full freight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a person from a medium-rich country (GDP per capital similar to Brazil) who got accepted at the number schools (pretty much everywhere except Harvard) all with all her costs covered. Now she is a very good student though didn't pass the entrance exam to the best magnet. Regardless... the thing is, this girl is not poor not by any stretch. Her father is a very highly ranked government official (like Supreme Court justice type) and they live a very charmed life comparable to upper west side family. But because the country is rraltively she appears poor because her fathers salary appears low (yet it affords so much more).

International applicants get need based scholarships? I thought they were full freight.

Nope

https://admissions.yale.edu/international

it's the same at almost all top 20 schools.

[Anonymous]

The difference is international students are not evaluated on a need-blind basis at an otherwise need-blind school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The difference is international students are not evaluated on a need-blind basis at an otherwise need-blind school.

read the yale statement. they are on fact so evaluated.

[Anonymous]

Okay, so maybe not Yale but I do remember this from a lot of the elite colleges we visited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so maybe not Yale but I do remember this from a lot of the elite colleges we visited.

depends what you mean by elite. harvard,columbia, princeton, chicago have the same policy as yale. once you get out of top 20 schools though it's hard to get any financial aid for foreign students, much less need blind one.

however, most of the very top elite schools give full financial aid to foreigners on a need blind basis. this leads to the situation in which upper class students from abroad get to study at elite colleges at no cost.