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Just as a counter anecdote, I went to Cornell, and they offered a very generous aid package. Between loans and grants, about 80% of total costs were covered. No

Just as a counter anecdote, I went to Cornell, and they offered a very generous aid package. Between loans and grants, about 80% of total costs were covered. No, I wasn't an athlete or some other special situation. Please don't avoid applying to a school just because you assume you won't be offered enough aid. Also, if an aid package doesn't work for you, please call the aid office to explain your situation. Tell them you want to attend, but money is the only barrier. They will work with you.

an_opabinia 6y ago
You don’t need aid! It is incredible any family says no to a top tier college program for any reason. It’s like winning the lottery. Taking out federal loans to pay to go to Cornell is still a fantastic deal, as long as you study the right things, even considering the loans are mispriced due to all the people who do not pay them back. It’s just basic arithmetic, so I cannot believe that the obstacle for families is knowledge of how the system works. Something else is always at play when people make completely drop dead stupid financial decisions, things that are usually personal and ancestral, deep problems that cannot be solved by arithmetic. On the financial flip side it’s also why people go into dentistry - the arithmetic is terrible considering how much dental school costs, but something about the relationship between the family and the kids is coercing kids into dental school anyway. This is not an unorthodox opinion.
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war1025 6y ago
> Between loans and grants Just because you can get a loan to cover the cost doesn't mean it's affordable. I've noticed a definite difference between lower and middle income people in this regard. People without much income, "working class" if you will, view loans as "something to help make ends meet" More middle and upper-middle class people view loans as "access to cheap credit." I.e. ways to leverage a little excess money into a lot of excess money. The main difference is the level of confidence that the leverage isn't going to turn on you and flip your life upside-down because you can't make the payments.

an_opabinia 6y ago

You don’t need aid! It is incredible any family says no to a top tier college program for any reason. It’s like winning the lottery. Taking out federal loans to pay to go to Cornell is still a fantastic deal, as long as you study the right things, even considering the loans are mispriced due to all the people who do not pay them back. It’s just basic arithmetic, so I cannot believe that the obstacle for families is knowledge of how the system works. Something else is always at play when people make completely drop dead stupid financial decisions, things that are usually personal and ancestral, deep problems that cannot be solved by arithmetic. On the financial flip side it’s also why people go into dentistry - the arithmetic is terrible considering how much dental school costs, but something about the relationship between the family and the kids is coercing kids into dental school anyway. This is not an unorthodox opinion.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

war1025 6y ago

> Between loans and grants Just because you can get a loan to cover the cost doesn't mean it's affordable. I've noticed a definite difference between lower and middle income people in this regard. People without much income, "working class" if you will, view loans as "something to help make ends meet" More middle and upper-middle class people view loans as "access to cheap credit." I.e. ways to leverage a little excess money into a lot of excess money. The main difference is the level of confidence that the leverage isn't going to turn on you and flip your life upside-down because you can't make the payments.