do you have to pay the fees all in one go, or do you get to pay it in installments afterwards? Because if it's afterwards then there's no real reason why you need to rely on their help, it's all really achievable. It won't exactly be comfortable, but it provides good experience on how to handle money and time.

Is it 23 that's a cutoff limit there? really? Ours is still just based around 16-18 being accepted for being independent I believe. Household income is a deciding factor in what grants/loans you're avaliable to get, so if you move out/live on your own you should be able to get more money.

I don't know what it's like in U.S, I do think relying on parents for aid is pretty bad/lazy, but I ain't a spoilt rich kid so what do I know?

do you have to pay the fees all in one go, or do you get to pay it in installments afterwards? Because if it's afterwards then there's no real reason why you need to rely on their help, it's all really achievable. It won't exactly be comfortable, but it provides good experience on how to handle money and time.

Is it 23 that's a cutoff limit there? really? Ours is still just based around 16-18 being accepted for being independent I believe. Household income is a deciding factor in what grants/loans you're avaliable to get, so if you move out/live on your own you should be able to get more money.

I don't know what it's like in U.S, I do think relying on parents for aid is pretty bad/lazy, but I ain't a spoilt rich kid so what do I know?

you don't understand how US financial aid works! federal aid is based off of your parents. they automatically assume based on your parents income how much they will pay. so you get very little and it's nigh impossible to declare yourself independent from your parents unless you've been living alone for quite awhile and don't rely on them at all.

and uhh if you move out and live on your own any extra money you get towards college will easily be null if you consider how much rent is.

edit: why am i spelling aid as aide.

if coming from a fairly poor immigrant family has taught me anything, it's that going to the most expensive school you were accepted to is the worst mistake you can make


especially if you don't like hearing "why didn't you just go to *decent school with great financial package* ?????" every time your parents have to pay a bill, every time your parents' employers lay off workers, every time the financial situation comes up in conversation, every time you get a B or a C, every time they hear a story of a friends' son/daughter paying next to nothing for school/spending their savings on going abroad for a semester/ asd;;f;j

taking HISTORY OF THE JEWISH CONSPIRACY 101

Wow did you really had that class?

Yeah man I haven't gone to college but I can guarantee you that as you get a little bit older you're not going to want to have to depend on your parents for shit, despite how giving and ok they might be with it.

I'd honestly try to go to a cheaper school and pay for the difference on my own if it was possible because you sure as hell don't want a heavy debt hanging over your head and like ase said. someone bringing up some shit about paying for your school.

My mom paid a few grand for me to go to seaschool and it was a cool thing for her to do but after I started making good money I paid her some of it back and will hopefully never have to borrow money from them again.

From what I know it's pretty much standard to have your parents pay some if not all of the tuition. It's not a RELIANCE thing, it's like you're going to college so pretty obviously you won't be able to pay for it. Most people get jobs and whatnot to help out and pay for as much as possible, but I don't know anyone who's expected to pay for it all at 18.

Dude, just take out loans.  That is what I did, because my parents couldn't afford for me to go to college.  Yea, it sucks that you have pay them off for the rest of your life, but the fact of the matter is no matter what you are going to be in debt all your life, so atleast you'll be in debt for a good reason.  I actually just had to start paying my student loans off, and it isn't really bad.  I pay about $200 month for my loans, which is pretty good.

What are you going to UPenn for?  I live in the King of Prussia area, and there are a lot of tech related jobs there if you are interested in that.

I think that everyone is going to say either 1. Buck up and act like a man and pay for your own shit or 2. Buck up and act like a man and get student loans to pay for your own shit.

You were accepted into a prestigious university and everyone is very impressed!  However it is probably not a very good idea to stretch your or your family's income to go there.  There are ways to come up with the money (I could outline a package of Stafford loans, PLUS loans, and private student loans from banks that would pay for the whole thing) but the interest payments will be criminal and somebody is going to have to suffer big time for the next 20 years.  Your family is not wealthy and that is really a serious problem.

Would it be too humiliating for you to go to a junior college or a normal state school?  It's a struggle to come up with the money just to pay for an education at a 4-year university; you can compare it to the cost of a brand new sports car.  Paying the tuition at a place like Penn is probably more like coming up with the money to buy a new house.

I was in the exact same problem when I graduated high school - I had a full-ride scholarship to attend a pretty nice school and everyone was very proud of me.  I couldn't afford the extortionate hidden fees or housing, however, and I'm glad I decided to swallow my pride and go to a more reasonable university.

From what I know it's pretty much standard to have your parents pay some if not all of the tuition. It's not a RELIANCE thing, it's like you're going to college so pretty obviously you won't be able to pay for it. Most people get jobs and whatnot to help out and pay for as much as possible, but I don't know anyone who's expected to pay for it all at 18.

Are you a delusional upper-middle-class suburban kid because nearly everyone I know pays for their own schooling and has to work really hard to stay afloat

Middle-middle class, yeah. I didn't mean people don't pay for their own colleges, but from what I know for the most part it's standard to expect your parents help you out, at least.

Are you a delusional upper-middle-class suburban kid because nearly everyone I know pays for their own schooling and has to work really hard to stay afloat

Now what the fuck does this mean? You know you're putting down every single student who actually gives a shit about their education enough to try to go to a private school rather than a community college because....i don't know....maybe the education there is just better?!? And of course its fucking expensive, which is why we need our parents to chip in the majority. It seems that there's a vicous cycle present because those who can afford to go to expensive colleges have an advantage in that they actually have the money available. And it sucks that the majority of people our age either go to shitty colleges where neither students nor teachers care or don't go at all, but thanks for insulting those who got a decent hand dealt to them by upper-middle-class suburban living situations.

ps: And yes it is incredibly expensive to go to private colleges, ridiculously so, but (I'd like to think that) the money goes towards improving the school and making it worth attending. Cheaper tuition = less resources commonly.

Now what the fuck does this mean? You know you're putting down every single student who actually gives a shit about their education enough to try to go to a private school rather than a community college because....i don't know....maybe the education there is just better?!? And of course its fucking expensive, which is why we need our parents to chip in the majority. It seems that there's a vicous cycle present because those who can afford to go to expensive colleges have an advantage in that they actually have the money available. And it sucks that the majority of people our age either go to shitty colleges where neither students nor teachers care or don't go at all, but thanks for insulting those who got a decent hand dealt to them by upper-middle-class suburban living situations.

ps: And yes it is incredibly expensive to go to private colleges, ridiculously so, but (I'd like to think that) the money goes towards improving the school and making it worth attending. Cheaper tuition = less resources commonly.

you're so dumb I feel like I'm getting stupider by reading your post.

first off is this belief you've created that going to a private institution to guarantee a better education is reality. I mean, I didn't think anyone fucking believed this. George W. Bush went to Yale, does this not tell you that maybe it isn't because he wanted...the best education? maybe status has something to do with it? then you've got some dichotomy of private vs community. did you forget the majority of colleges are neither? and that some of the finest minds ever come out of and teach at state universities?

and yeah he's gonna diss you for assuming your parents pay for your education always. many many people do not get the benefit you (I'm assuming) and I had (and I still had to apply for a lot of scholarships, grants, and workstudy programs)! he didn't "put down" anyone, he said there's a group of people who don't get the same benefit. you took that as free reign to come in here and bloviate about how you just "gave a shit" and therefore went to a private school because you could afford paying a good year's salary every semester to pay for a set of new lawn jockeys on the campus.

here's the best part; you wasted your time. you do not get a better education coming out of undergrad from anywhere. its almost all the same. a private high school will teach you more. but you'll be marginally above a community college student and indistinguishable from a public university student with regards to how much you've learned. the benefit, aside from the status, is how it looks for graduate schools and degrees. and that's where the fancy professors go and teach. your university may have a rep of creating the finest engineers in the world but it's the teacher's aide getting paid 8.50 an hour who actually gives you the lecture, they save the real teachers for the real students.

lastly the tuition is just to keep the poorer kids out, not to sustain the university. the private universities live on donations, and they want only richer kids with richer parents to become richer alumni who will pay out the ass for a new library when their own rich kid comes up for undergrad.

you're so dumb I feel like I'm getting stupider by reading your post.

first off is this belief you've created that going to a private institution to guarantee a better education is reality. I mean, I didn't think anyone fucking believed this. George W. Bush went to Yale, does this not tell you that maybe it isn't because he wanted...the best education? maybe status has something to do with it? then you've got some dichotomy of private vs community. did you forget the majority of colleges are neither? and that some of the finest minds ever come out of and teach at state universities?

and yeah he's gonna diss you for assuming your parents pay for your education always. many many people do not get the benefit you (I'm assuming) and I had (and I still had to apply for a lot of scholarships, grants, and workstudy programs)! he didn't "put down" anyone, he said there's a group of people who don't get the same benefit. you took that as free reign to come in here and bloviate about how you just "gave a shit" and therefore went to a private school because you could afford paying a good year's salary every semester to pay for a set of new lawn jockeys on the campus.

here's the best part; you wasted your time. you do not get a better education coming out of undergrad from anywhere. its almost all the same. a private high school will teach you more. but you'll be marginally above a community college student and indistinguishable from a public university student with regards to how much you've learned. the benefit, aside from the status, is how it looks for graduate schools and degrees. and that's where the fancy professors go and teach. your university may have a rep of creating the finest engineers in the world but it's the teacher's aide getting paid 8.50 an hour who actually gives you the lecture, they save the real teachers for the real students.

lastly the tuition is just to keep the poorer kids out, not to sustain the university. the private universities live on donations, and they want only richer kids with richer parents to become richer alumni who will pay out the ass for a new library when their own rich kid comes up for undergrad.

How is it not fact that community colleges are worse than real colleges? State colleges are a good point, and I don't know why I forgot to differenciate, but state colleges are still like 10 grand a year for tuition, which is considerably more than community colleges. The problem still is that if you can't afford a state school then community colleges are a shitty alternative. I mean, going down from a private to a state college with minimal loss in quality isn't a bad step so yeah my bad for not pointing out that part.

The guy used the word "delusional" to describe the community in which the other guy grew up in. Yeah I get where I over reacted to the statement, since he did say that not EVERYONE gets aid from their parents, but I felt that he implied more....as if it is dumb to try to get a good education....though I hate status stuff too and I guess that is why people go to IVYs, but not every college has status attached to it. And I also got aid worth I think about half my tuition I'm not exactly sure but it brings it to about the same as NJ state school tuition. But ROOM AND BOARD fucking mad expensive.

Wait so going to private high school makes you even with a public uni student? That sounds like a good deal! Can't wait to see where you rank private colleges....assuming that's a typo though, I get your point. I jumped the gun a bit, but it pissed me off to see someone dissing someone for being able to go to a good college.

i repeat, unless you are in grad school, undergrads are not really that important. you dont need brilliant people to teach dumb freshmen the basics. what you need is good teachers. brillaint people is when someone is supervising your PHD dissertation not when they teach you how to find a derivative.

How is it not fact that community colleges are worse than real colleges? State colleges are a good point, and I don't know why I forgot to differenciate, but state colleges are still like 10 grand a year for tuition, which is considerably more than community colleges. The problem still is that if you can't afford a state school then community colleges are a shitty alternative. I mean, going down from a private to a state college with minimal loss in quality isn't a bad step so yeah my bad for not pointing out that part.

The guy used the word "delusional" to describe the community in which the other guy grew up in. Yeah I get where I over reacted to the statement, since he did say that not EVERYONE gets aid from their parents, but I felt that he implied more....as if it is dumb to try to get a good education....though I hate status stuff too and I guess that is why people go to IVYs, but not every college has status attached to it. And I also got aid worth I think about half my tuition I'm not exactly sure but it brings it to about the same as NJ state school tuition. But ROOM AND BOARD fucking mad expensive.

I said junior college or state school.  Also I disagree that community colleges are worse than other colleges. 

Did you know that most of the professors at junior/community colleges teach classes at state schools also?  Most of my professors at Century college taught one or two classes at the community institution because they felt they could teach better in a more intimate setting as well as generate some income (it is like taking a part-time job).  They had full-time appointments at other public and private schools in the area.  Junior colleges are part of state university systems, so they have the same standards, courseworks, exams, and textbooks as their sister universities (not to mention the same instructors).  And, like Steel said, at expensive schools you are learning from grad students who barely make more than minimum wage and often not from professors.  When I was at a junior college I was never taught by a teaching assistant, and there was not a single one employed there (as there is no graduate program).  There is more evidence that you receive a better education than you do at other universities.

When I complained about delusional upper-middle-class kids who look down on people attending junior colleges and state schools on their own dime, I was describing people who are are completely uninformed about the realities of the situation and the lives of the majority of public school students whose parents can't afford to help them.  You only reinforced my point. 

If you go to the University of Wisconsin in Madison, you'll find a lot of people whose parents can afford to pay a $12,000 tuition and who will have the same views as you.  They believe they are getting a better education than everyone else who is going to UW-River Falls or UW-Stout and paying less than $3000 for their tuitions.  This is even though the standards, coursework, exams, and textbooks are all the same, and in spite of the fact that at UW-RF and UW-Stout there is no such thing as a teaching assistant.  This also applies to junior colleges in Chippewa Falls or whatever where the tuition is $1200 whose faculty comes primarily from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities professors teaching in their spare time.

But whatever man.  I am glad your parents can afford to pay your way!  That is awesome.  I am not going to hate you for being fortunate and I am really happy to hear that there is good in the world.  But, it is naive and extremely offensive when people in expensive schools are flabbergasted that everyone else has a hard time coming up with the money to afford tuition.  One of the posts in this thread seriously said Why not ask your parents for money? and the following poster's only problem with that was naw man . . . you will feel guilty if you ask your parents for too much.  What about the idea that most parents don't have the money anyway?  You are being disrespectful to the people who have work full time in order to afford to go to school who have the exact same degree program as you.  Are they really second-class citizens?

Did you know that most of the professors at junior/community colleges teach classes at state schools also?

I wanted to make this point, as panda has told me this and my roommate did too, but I have no personal experience with it.