This thread amazes me. I was applying to college less than three years ago, and my personal experience was much different than what jc is talking about. I was poor graduating from High School, VERY POOR, and so were my parents. By your account, I should have been able to get funding at any school I could get into. Guess what, IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. I got accepted into some pretty good schools, but couldn't go because I still had to come up with 15k-20k per semester to go (sticker price was 30k/semester). Most of the reduction in that price came from merit-based awards, only 2 grants with a total of $1250.
I now attend a state-funded public institution that, by objective standards, is a much weaker education that I could have gotten at any of the other schools I was accepted to. I have gotten NOTHING for need-based funding, and it's hard for an incoming student to have more need than I did out of High School.
Maybe things have changed in the past few years, I dunno. But what jc has described is NOT what I went through 3 years ago.
P.S. I've paid nothing for tuition, room & board, books, food, or travel during my time in school. I have a scholarship award that pays for all of that plus a generous stipend. I don't mean this in an offensive way, but maybe if you worked harder & busted your butt, you could get a scholarship that has nothing to do with need. Then your parents' income wouldn't matter.
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