Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t know poor people make $150k or $100k.

Yeah, that's us, and I consider us middle class. Do the $200k+ people really think they are middle class? Maybe UMC at closest.

You must be one of those people posting from rural Kansas.

200K is middle class when the average house sells for 618K and 30 year mortgage rates are 7.2% and progressive federal and local taxes eat the first 40%+ of that income.

You chose to live here. Why didn’t you choose to live in rural Kansas?

DP.. jobs, presumably.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL. OP, they are for rich people, with a smattering of merit-based poor and middle-class famliies so the rich can feel like they also made it on merit.

Yet 2/3 of students are receiving need based aid. So “primarily” doesn’t seem to work. And as I mentioned international students (typically full pay) are 10 pct. Doesn’t leave a lot of full pay domestic students. And half of them may not qualify for aid but parents are struggling to pay for it, borrowing against 401ks etc

Idiots in bolded.

Lol, you think it's a bad idea to wipe out your retirement assets to buy your daughter a $320k Bachelors degree in Anthropology from Bryn Mawr?

What if the 320k anthro degree from Bryn Mawr is a 320k artificial intelligence degree from Carnegie Melon or a 320k quantitative economics degree from MIT? It's not just majors that you consider to be lightweight at SLACs that have become unaffordable

I would never borrow against a 401K, take out a HELOC, co-sign for a private student loan or take out Parent Plus loans. Not even for a CS degree from CMU.

Would you spend all your life savings outside of retirement on it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t know poor people make $150k or $100k.

Yeah, that's us, and I consider us middle class. Do the $200k+ people really think they are middle class? Maybe UMC at closest.

You must be one of those people posting from rural Kansas.

200K is middle class when the average house sells for 618K and 30 year mortgage rates are 7.2% and progressive federal and local taxes eat the first 40%+ of that income.

In the DC area, the upper band of MC is about $220K.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/02/middle-class-income-in-major-us-cities.html

And $220K is not all that different from $250K after taxes, certainly not enough to pay for $80K/year tuition.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re free to quit your job if being poor is so awesome. *Crickets*

I suspect a lot of families do somehow game the financial aid system this way. Like maybe one parent stops working. Getting 320k of aid bears a pre tax income of 80k or whatever

This is what I was thinking of all the many families that own their own businesses, are consultants ... There are probably so many ways to adjust your income with expenses that it shows you're making way less than you really are.

My college roommate was getting a full ride, family owned a restaurant, they dropped him off in a fancy Lexus sedan (this was the 90s). My parents were teachers, had to take a lot of loans. Drove an Oldsmobile.

Seems like your roommate was probably getting merit aid since back then schools weren’t as interested in meeting full need with grants, as evidenced by your parents’ situation.

It was Ivy so no. His family just must have had low reported income and assets. That was the point. FAFSA can be gamed just as taxes can esp by business owners.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re free to quit your job if being poor is so awesome. *Crickets*

I suspect a lot of families do somehow game the financial aid system this way. Like maybe one parent stops working. Getting 320k of aid bears a pre tax income of 80k or whatever

This is what I was thinking of all the many families that own their own businesses, are consultants ... There are probably so many ways to adjust your income with expenses that it shows you're making way less than you really are.

My college roommate was getting a full ride, family owned a restaurant, they dropped him off in a fancy Lexus sedan (this was the 90s). My parents were teachers, had to take a lot of loans. Drove an Oldsmobile.

Seems like your roommate was probably getting merit aid since back then schools weren’t as interested in meeting full need with grants, as evidenced by your parents’ situation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t know poor people make $150k or $100k.

Yeah, that's us, and I consider us middle class. Do the $200k+ people really think they are middle class? Maybe UMC at closest.

You must be one of those people posting from rural Kansas.

200K is middle class when the average house sells for 618K and 30 year mortgage rates are 7.2% and progressive federal and local taxes eat the first 40%+ of that income.

You chose to live here. Why didn’t you choose to live in rural Kansas?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top LACs with big endowments have generous aid too though.

I guess low income is the new privileged. If your family makes 80k a year, full ride. If they make 200k, you’re screwed.

Exact opposite. How many kids from families making $80k do you think are getting into top schools?

How is the $200k family more screwed than the $80k family? If the latter has it so good, the fox is simple for the $200k family. Live off $80k (if you tho k they have it so good) and you save $120k for college per year. Fully funded in NO TIME! There! Solved it for you.

This.

You know who doesn't get in to top private colleges? Stupid people, and their stupid kids.

Huh?

I shouldn't have worked so hard to get two degrees (state school and worked my way through) and have worked for 30 years. sheesh.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t know poor people make $150k or $100k.

Yeah, that's us, and I consider us middle class. Do the $200k+ people really think they are middle class? Maybe UMC at closest.

You must be one of those people posting from rural Kansas.

200K is middle class when the average house sells for 618K and 30 year mortgage rates are 7.2% and progressive federal and local taxes eat the first 40%+ of that income.

But the median HHI in Bethesda is barely over $200k. Are you telling me that Bethesda is a middle class place?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re free to quit your job if being poor is so awesome. *Crickets*

I suspect a lot of families do somehow game the financial aid system this way. Like maybe one parent stops working. Getting 320k of aid bears a pre tax income of 80k or whatever

This is what I was thinking of all the many families that own their own businesses, are consultants ... There are probably so many ways to adjust your income with expenses that it shows you're making way less than you really are.

My college roommate was getting a full ride, family owned a restaurant, they dropped him off in a fancy Lexus sedan (this was the 90s). My parents were teachers, had to take a lot of loans. Drove an Oldsmobile.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top LACs with big endowments have generous aid too though.

I guess low income is the new privileged. If your family makes 80k a year, full ride. If they make 200k, you’re screwed.

Exact opposite. How many kids from families making $80k do you think are getting into top schools?

How is the $200k family more screwed than the $80k family? If the latter has it so good, the fox is simple for the $200k family. Live off $80k (if you tho k they have it so good) and you save $120k for college per year. Fully funded in NO TIME! There! Solved it for you.

This.

You know who doesn't get in to top private colleges? Stupid people, and their stupid kids.

Many I love these threads about those lucky poors!

They don't have the burden of all that money!

They don't have that big house to clean (unless of course we hire them to, in which case they get money to do it and we don't when we do it! More luck for them!)

When they are relaxing with family we have to sit through Mad Money on MSNBC to ensure our 401Ks are re-balanced while they watch sitcom reruns.

They slothfully grunt through life and then their kids waltz into Harvard with 26 ACTs, while my kid has to disappoint so many coaches, tutors and consultants by getting shafted to hellholes like Colgate or Case Western.

They are so lucky, the poors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re free to quit your job if being poor is so awesome. *Crickets*

I suspect a lot of families do somehow game the financial aid system this way. Like maybe one parent stops working. Getting 320k of aid bears a pre tax income of 80k or whatever

This is what I was thinking of all the many families that own their own businesses, are consultants ... There are probably so many ways to adjust your income with expenses that it shows you're making way less than you really are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t know poor people make $150k or $100k.

Yeah, that's us, and I consider us middle class. Do the $200k+ people really think they are middle class? Maybe UMC at closest.

You must be one of those people posting from rural Kansas.

200K is middle class when the average house sells for 618K and 30 year mortgage rates are 7.2% and progressive federal and local taxes eat the first 40%+ of that income.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL. OP, they are for rich people, with a smattering of merit-based poor and middle-class famliies so the rich can feel like they also made it on merit.

Yet 2/3 of students are receiving need based aid. So “primarily” doesn’t seem to work. And as I mentioned international students (typically full pay) are 10 pct. Doesn’t leave a lot of full pay domestic students. And half of them may not qualify for aid but parents are struggling to pay for it, borrowing against 401ks etc

Idiots in bolded.

Lol, you think it's a bad idea to wipe out your retirement assets to buy your daughter a $320k Bachelors degree in Anthropology from Bryn Mawr?

What if the 320k anthro degree from Bryn Mawr is a 320k artificial intelligence degree from Carnegie Melon or a 320k quantitative economics degree from MIT? It's not just majors that you consider to be lightweight at SLACs that have become unaffordable

I would never borrow against a 401K, take out a HELOC, co-sign for a private student loan or take out Parent Plus loans. Not even for a CS degree from CMU.

It would be stupid to do so. Anyone qualified to get a CS degree from CMU will do well at any university. They will still find a FAANG job if that is what they want. Main difference is they will spend less to get their degree.
So if you can afford CMU great, but if not, find a school you can afford and get that CS degree