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40% turn down top choice due to costs


8filltheheart
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In this case, students generally don't know what the actual costs will be until financial aid packages arrive, which come after admissions.

 

I think students should not have a top choice if they don't know what the costs will end up being. Most other goods and services you know the price before you make your choices.

Which is exactly why we need price transparency and end price discrimination.

 

 

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It's not going to go down anytime soon TBH.  Applications are up, yields are often up, and more students (and parents) are impressed with the things schools are spending money on - from aesthetics to research to better food in the dining halls.  Very, VERY few students or parents come back from visits to "run down" schools or those offering fewer options of various sorts (academics, food, etc), saying that's the school they want to go to.  Many don't even apply.  THOSE schools are the ones having trouble with their rankings and attracting students.  Only so many want "cheap."  

 

It's a very human trait to think one gets what they pay for (even when the actual item is exactly identical - like if the same wine is in two differently labeled bottles with different cost, folks will swear the more expensive one tastes better).  As with wines, schools do vary in content, but if one school is priced much lower than their peers, folks will start to assume they aren't as good.  Ditto with the school that has less of a landscaping job or a gym that isn't new, etc.  Perception is everything.

 

My son said this wasn't necessarily true for him. His third choice school had somewhat worn dorms and overall aesthetics were lower than everywhere else he looked. However, he felt so welcome on campus, connected strongly with the professors he met with, and was so impressed with the administration, that they stayed in the running until the very end even though it wasn't a perfect fit with his academic focus.  Their mission statement was incredibly inline with our homeschool philosophy.  If ds has had decided to stick with economics, that's where he would have gone.

 

What people miss is that the money isn't going to improve the academic experience.  That pisses me off to no end. So many good professors not getting the financial support they need, but hey, the gym has better equipment than most private ones.  Because like the gym is so much more important than the professional who's teaching your student about national security. :tongue_smilie:

 

I probably should have read the rest of the replies before ranting, but this issue makes me crazy.

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My ds just got his financial aid package from one school where he was considering transferring. It's out of state, so they wanted him to have 35k in loans, not sure how they were split out, for this year. It's a good school, but not potentially 100k (over the next few years) better than where he is. Instead he'll graduate with little debt. For instate students, the cost would be much lower. 

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We chose to move to Tennessee because of the cost of College is so low here.  If it weren't for the Promise (2 years free at Community College) Hope Scholarship (3500-4500 per year) low tuition (8,800/per year) at the University 5 miles away there's no way we'd be able to afford for the kids to go to College.  As it is we'll likely have to have them take out some loans (that we will pay) or we'll have to use DH's bonus each year (I have one 9th grade, one 10th grade, and two 11th grade next year).  There's some possible relief, DSD is considering just getting an LPN (12 months and it's totally free!), DN is considering moving back to Indiana with his mom so he can get the pell which is more than the Hope, and DD wants to take a Gap year, which will mean we can space the cost out a bit more.

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My ds just got his financial aid package from one school where he was considering transferring. It's out of state, so they wanted him to have 35k in loans, not sure how they were split out, for this year. It's a good school, but not potentially 100k (over the next few years) better than where he is. Instead he'll graduate with little debt. For instate students, the cost would be much lower.

35K in loans per year is nuts! Did you have any idea financial aid would be that awful when you applied? I'm sorry transferring didn't work out for him, but having little to no debt is a great way to start life after graduation. Hopefully he's mature enough to appreciate that.

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35K in loans per year is nuts! Did you have any idea financial aid would be that awful when you applied? I'm sorry transferring didn't work out for him, but having little to no debt is a great way to start life after graduation. Hopefully he's mature enough to appreciate that.

 

We had hoped they might offer more in merit aid, but we knew it would be a financial stretch, so he had not gotten his hopes up. Yeah, he has no problem not accepting that offer. He's starting to find his niche here, so I know part of him is glad to not to start over. 

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We chose to move to Tennessee because of the cost of College is so low here. If it weren't for the Promise (2 years free at Community College) Hope Scholarship (3500-4500 per year) low tuition (8,800/per year) at the University 5 miles away there's no way we'd be able to afford for the kids to go to College. As it is we'll likely have to have them take out some loans (that we will pay) or we'll have to use DH's bonus each year (I have one 9th grade, one 10th grade, and two 11th grade next year). There's some possible relief, DSD is considering just getting an LPN (12 months and it's totally free!), DN is considering moving back to Indiana with his mom so he can get the pell which is more than the Hope, and DD wants to take a Gap year, which will mean we can space the cost out a bit more.

If your DC can qualify for the honors program for the AA, many of the TN state schools add money to the HOPE for honors program participants. For MTSU, the honors scholarship for transfers is about as good as the freshman honors acholarship. TN state has a $5000 scholarship for CC grads, and several full rides for transfers going into STEM.

Edited by dmmetler
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If your DC can qualify for the honors program for the AA, many of the TN state schools add money to the HOPE for honors program participants. For MTSU, the honors scholarship for transfers is about as good as the freshman honors acholarship. TN state has a $5000 scholarship for CC grads, and several full rides for transfers going into STEM.

DN is the only one likely to qualify for Honors (a 28 or 29 on the ACT?) and he's likely to go to IU or Purdue.  The others are smart kids but have deficits in one area or the other (DS is dyslexic, DD hates math).

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