Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I think the PP is very rude to accuse the "ivy league professor" of lying, I do wonder about one thing: the nearest ivy is, I guess, Princeton. It would be an awfully long commute from the DC area to Princeton. So, why are you on DCUM?

Was just wondering this myself. Penn is marginally closer than Princeton, but still a 2+ hour commute.

Is the poster living elsewhere and browsing DCUM from a distance? What I could not understand In his/her case was the high HHI and the employer-reimbursed tuition for the DC. I do not know of any university in the US that reimburses for a DC's pre-collegiate Education (unless it might be a university-sponsored lab school perhaps at Columbia?). I am really perplexed by the poster's situation -- intrigued might bE a better adjective -- and admittedly also skeptical about the assertions RE quality of education. I was an admissions officer for a highly-selectiVe small liberal arts college. There are considerable and measurable differences between some independent and some public schools, based on factors including location, level of parents' education, quality of teaching and professional development of staff, access to grants, etc. I would also be curious o know the Ivy League poster's field and how many first-year students s/he teaches directly -- without a TA's support.

Anonymous wrote:

14:47 here. No, I wasn't saying white families don't receive financial aid, nor was I saying it's based strictly on diversity. Not at all. But I think most independent schools here participate in the Black Student Fund and Latino Student Fund. Is it surprising that consideration is given to diversity in awarding financial aid? Colleges and universities give even more consideration to this and often have special funding for racial/ethnically diverse applicants, especially in grad school. In fact, the universities where I've taught offer higher salaries to minority faculty members in an effort to increase minority representation on their faculties. Am I spilling the beans here?

21:02, I think it's fantastic that you got financial aid!

My experience, and from the undergraduate and graduate schools I have taught at, the male faculty are paid higher than female faculty.

I have been at several institutions of higher education (IHE) and have not found this to be true at all; it is true that there is a differential by discipline and so perhaps the PP is referencing situations in which more men than women are employed. That's why it is critical to support women in all disciplines -- we need to strive to eradicate gender gaps or perceptions thereof for the sake of our children.

All of you sound rich and privileged to me. I am a single mother making $12,000 a year, even with my Master's degree. Finally I've gone back to
school at age 41 to earn a doctorate in hopes the job market will be better in my new field. My son is 4 and I am so sad I can not find him a place
to go to school because his father makes lots of money but won't share it with us. However the SSS form counts his income.

Perhaps in comparison you will realize your problems aren't so serious and that you surely can find a way to pull things together.

We have household income of $ 160,000 with one child. Our debt is low and we still rent. We got roughly 35% in financial aid this year at Sidwell. It is still a huge sacrafice for us but we feel a good education is more important than fancy cars and vacations. Plus, we are in a terrible inbound school.

Anonymous wrote:You people are fucking nuts. Selling your homes so your kids can go to private school? Jesus Christ, Montgomery County and Fairfax County have some of the best public schools in the country. Move 10 miles away and send your kids for free. Really it won't make any difference in the long run. You may think it will, but it wont.

Why don't you get off this thread. You clearly don't have a dog in this fight.

Our kids were in a private but spouse lost job and we had to put them in public. Lost house moved a few times etc. Kids have done very well academically in spite of situation. We are now both employed, income~90k. Applied to big 5 schools, told yes but no offer of FA??? Miffed.

You people are fucking nuts. Selling your homes so your kids can go to private school? Jesus Christ, Montgomery County and Fairfax County have some of the best public schools in the country. Move 10 miles away and send your kids for free. Really it won't make any difference in the long run. You may think it will, but it wont.

Anonymous wrote:We have a HHI by relative standards (only ~$300k), but support three elderly parents, including one in a nursing home to the tune of ~$5000/month, and got zero financial aid because all they looked at was income.

The other big disappointment was that a lot of the people who got FA do nothing at the school -- not even showing up for their kids class functions. We volunteer alot, and didn't even get "brownie points" for doing it. I guess that means the school values "takers" as long as they pad the statistics.

Gag ! My DC receives some FA. I would love to be there for every school party ,love to help with every fund raiser, but I am a single parent who works three jobs to pay DC's tuition...so , no, you might not see me a lot, but I guarantee you my DC isn't "padding" anything , except the narrow upper end of the bell curve. I'd put a lid on that attitude of yours, it is real unattractive and schools take notes on stuff like that.

They were private schools in Baltimore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they penalize SAHMs?

The 3 schools I applied to stated in the FA materials that they expect both parents to be employed full-time once all children in the family start school FT if they are to receive FA.

What schools were these?

Anonymous wrote:We send our kids to private, and sure don't like paying the 60K bill every year, but there's no way we'd be doing this if it meant we would have to forego our mortgage and savings (especially 401K's, IRA's, and college funds). Maryland and Virginia have very good public schools (we live in DC) and we'd move there if we had to cut it that close. Not saving for retirement is just foolhardy.

We live in VA and still do private. It is more than worth it to us. We researched our public options extensively and felt there was no comparison. We love the school and our kids are thriving. We have three kids. DH and I both come from lower middle class families that valued education over all else. Our parents scrimped and saved to send us to the best schools. We both went to ivies, have careers that we love, and have been fortunate enough to have this option. I want the same for my kids.
Our HHI is 490k. So while we can clearly afford three private school tuitions, it of course money that could be going to other places, like retirement or savings. But we still contribute to those things - we just live a more frugal life than people in our income bracket otherwise would. We have chosen the school as our big ticket item, and are very happy with this choice.

We have a HHI by relative standards (only ~$300k), but support three elderly parents, including one in a nursing home to the tune of ~$5000/month, and got zero financial aid because all they looked at was income.

The other big disappointment was that a lot of the people who got FA do nothing at the school -- not even showing up for their kids class functions. We volunteer alot, and didn't even get "brownie points" for doing it. I guess that means the school values "takers" as long as they pad the statistics.

PP, I've been there. DH and I started out careers with a HHI of $100K and more than $90K in college-grad school debt. It seemed impossible then, but you'll pay it off before you know it.

Anonymous wrote:Don't judge PP, maybe 14:41 has school debt, parents who they support, other expenses... it's not as easy as you make out.

I have school debt and tuition at $31K on a salary of $150K. Even if they are also supporting an elderly parent, they are still making 500K and its crazy to complain about inability to save on that salary.

Don't judge PP, maybe 14:41 has school debt, parents who they support, other expenses... it's not as easy as you make out.