# How The Hell Am I Gonna Pay for College? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2002, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-am-i-gonna-pay-for-college/116514 "2002-06-29T02:50:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-am-i-gonna-pay-for-college/116514/61 "2013-07-11T23:24:51Z")
Looking at his post history, I’m going to hazard a guess that he ended up [studying](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9775993&postcount=121) [physics](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9225558&postcount=23) at [Boston University](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9487120&postcount=17). See also [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6653019#post6653019). The BU is purely guesswork based on that one post, though. Actually, BU seems like a safe bet unless he went to Harvard/MIT: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5699757&postcount=7](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5699757&postcount=7) ---
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-am-i-gonna-pay-for-college/116514/62 "2013-07-11T23:30:58Z")
Yup, looking at the map, Hotel Buckminster is right on BU’s campus. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-am-i-gonna-pay-for-college/116514/63 "2013-07-11T23:45:55Z")
I know how old the thread is, but let me just say this: If you know that there’s a very good chance that you can get into some absolutely top colleges, apply to several of them no matter what. Fill out their financial aid forms. There’s a very good chance that they will offer you enough financial aid to attend them if you get accepted. The only proviso I need to make is that this will mean that your parents will have to pay a reasonable amount relative to their income. So if your parents make $500,000 a year and tell you, “We’re sorry, but we can’t pay anything for college for you. We have to buy that huge new house and that huge new car and that huge new boat and go on those expensive vacations,” then you’re screwed. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-am-i-gonna-pay-for-college/116514/64 "2013-07-12T13:58:05Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > So if your parents make $500,000 a year and tell you, “We’re sorry, but we can’t pay anything for college for you. We have to buy that huge new house and that huge new car and that huge new boat and go on those expensive vacations,” then you’re screwed. Complete tangent: I know parents in a lot of income brackets who don’t feel it’s their responsibility to pay for their kids’ educations. Those kids are truly screwed because the folks who made up the rules assume they will. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-am-i-gonna-pay-for-college/116514/65 "2013-07-12T16:01:38Z")
1. Their parents have saved. We have about $40k per year per kid saved for college ($160k per kid total). It won’t pay for four years at Harvard, but they aren’t going to Harvard. 2. They get scholarships. A lot of the top schools have no loan policies if your parents have a modest income (if your parents do not have a modest income, see #1). A lot of private schools have a lot of money to give out. 3. They take out loans. 4. They combine all of the above. and 1. They pick cheaper schools. I have a cousin going to a top 20 school who is paying $30k a year after grants - she could have gotten a free ride at half a dozen top 100 schools. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-am-i-gonna-pay-for-college/116514.md?page=3)