Anonymous wrote:Short version of this thread: I want people to say nice things to me but the truth is I ignored all advice about affording college and overestimated my kid’s competitiveness as an applicant.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just go to UMD. If your kid can’t get into UMD in-state, you are probably leaving out a key bit of information. Perhaps they are not as high performing as you think. Let me guess, SAT under 1500, but just “doesn’t test well.”

Nice snark. We know multiple kids from neighboring counties who got into U Maryland with 2.8 unweighted GPA and less than 1100 SAT. Facts.

Anonymous wrote:Your DC could take a gap year to regroup and, as a PP said, save a good amount of money. There are a few schools that are test optional that might give her excellent merit. The first to mind if Oberlin, which has merit awards between 35-45K for high stats kids. You could do a little hw to see if test-optional kids ever get those. Excellent for pre-med. Case Western, too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just go to UMD. If your kid can’t get into UMD in-state, you are probably leaving out a key bit of information. Perhaps they are not as high performing as you think. Let me guess, SAT under 1500, but just “doesn’t test well.”

Can nobody read? OP already said the kid was rejected at UMD and had a “slightly above average” SAT. If that means 1100, med school is a pipe dream. Silly to forego a good undergrad experience for a career that will never materialize.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious…what are the out-of-budget schools that admitted your kid?

Not stating here bc of keyboard warriors, but accepted at one private, two out-of-state flagship schools, waitlisted at another OOS flagship school, deferred at another OOS flagship. Acceptance rates for schools they were accepted range from 20%-60%.

Anonymous wrote:Your DC could take a gap year to regroup and, as a PP said, save a good amount of money. There are a few schools that are test optional that might give her excellent merit. The first to mind if Oberlin, which has merit awards between 35-45K for high stats kids. You could do a little hw to see if test-optional kids ever get those. Excellent for pre-med. Case Western, too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just go to UMD. If your kid can’t get into UMD in-state, you are probably leaving out a key bit of information. Perhaps they are not as high performing as you think. Let me guess, SAT under 1500, but just “doesn’t test well.”

Nice snark. We know multiple kids from neighboring counties who got into U Maryland with 2.8 unweighted GPA and less than 1100 SAT. Facts.

Anonymous wrote:Just curious…what are the out-of-budget schools that admitted your kid?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. Didn't you discuss the financials and run the NPCs for every school before applying? Sounds like substantial college savings means no need-based aid. Your child shouldn't have applied to any schools you both weren't willing to cover the difference for (given limited merit almost everywhere except a few schools for NMSF/NMF). Unfortunately you set your DC up for disappointment, which is a shame.

An alternative is taking a gap year to work and save as much money as possible, and to plan on working during school years and summer to help offset the extra costs. But a smart motivated kid will can do very well no matter where they attend UG!

Don't be a dick. Until you do it, you don't realize how stingy the FA or merit aid at these school really is. You hope for the best. Rubbing it in that "you did this" is just an a-hole thing to say.

Not everyone has time to research every school, possibility, etc. like the people on this board.

OP- my child had a D1 sports offer to a very high academic school (top 15). DC turned it down. That school was $90K a year. Even with athletic money (but no FA and no merit given by this school at all to anyone), it was not worth it. That's an absurd price tag to pay at almost full freight. We didn't know how stingy they'd be until DC got the offer. It was devastating to turn it down but . . .

DC is at a high performing d3 program at a school that people on here often mock. But DC is Dean's list, an athlete, and having a great experience. DC will graduate debt free with prob $100K+ left over for grad school. While many of DC's peers will be drowning in undergrad debt. Spin it as such.

Also DC talked to lots of professionals in the field of study and all said "it doesn't matter where you go to undergrad."

OP here. Thank you for your story! For those who said we didn't prepare perfectly and I set my child up for disappointment, maybe. But we thought their solid gpa (3.8 unweighted, 4.8 weighted, multiple 5s on AP exams, slightly above average SAT), plus multiple meaningful awards and varsity sports would be enough. And it wasn't. Lesson learned. And we are still learning as this process continues. At this point we've determined around 40k per year is around our max, with medical school down the road. This is actually a good lesson, although disappointing, in making informed decisions about finances. We don't hear enough about kids who do NOT go to their dream schools because of money but end up loving where they go.

Anonymous wrote:Just go to UMD. If your kid can’t get into UMD in-state, you are probably leaving out a key bit of information. Perhaps they are not as high performing as you think. Let me guess, SAT under 1500, but just “doesn’t test well.”