# I Pit Lack of Finacial Aid for my Kid's College Education! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 2, 2011, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068 "2011-06-02T07:10:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/201 "2011-06-03T18:07:41Z")
> [@Taters](#): > > My son scored in the high 1800s on his SAT, has a really good GPA, etc, but there isn’t much out there if you’re white and middle class. Many of his friends had lower GPAs and lower SAT scores, but they received substantially more help. It wasn’t need based, it was based on ethnicity or color. I feel like a shit saying that, but it’s true. Can you not conceive of the possibility that maybe his friends have something else interesting about them deserving of a scholarship other than their SAT scores and GPA? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/202 "2011-06-03T18:18:36Z")
> [@Vihaga](#): > > So, being born smart, enjoying standardized tests, taking the PSAT on a day where I was not sick, or tired, or otherwise underperforming, and having parents and counselors to help me make the most of it, and I’m supposed to pretend it wasn’t luck? It’s not a matter of pretending. If you define “luck,” so broadly, then _every single accomplishment by anyone is a matter of luck_. > [@](#): > > Because of ONE day in high school, No. That sounds like everyone in high school showed up one day and drew numbers. That’s not the case. That one day was the culmination of years of having the discipline to attend class instead of party; to work on studying instead of seeing a movie; to strive for the A instead of settling for the C in class after class after class. That one day was not luck. How did you know what answers to write down on your one day? Because your years of preparation brought you to that moment. Now, you can say that you had the “luck” to like school, and thus studying was not a burden to you. That’s not luck. Luck is extrinsic factors to you that innure to your benefit. Your genetic makeup is not “luck” – if it is, then, as I say above, every single act by any single person is luck, and human agency is naught. Nonsense. Are you “lucky” you’re not in jail as a serial murderer? After all, whatever genetic or environmental factors that made serial killers could have been visited on you, right? But that view of luck is absurd and meaningless. > [@](#): > > Yeah, work and such plays a role in these things, but that came later, when I was old enough to really understand what that meant… Nice specious definition. How do you come by that realization, if not for your lucky IQ and your lucky upbringing? > [@](#): > > When you’re a kid you don’t really have the perspective for that shit. If you work hard, it’ll be because your parents drilled you or you liked school. All luck. Pretending it’s not is just a way for people to justify pretending that they’re better than everyone else, and so they can convince themselves that if they continue to do everything “right” that nothing bad can happen to them. That’s also bullshit. I have no illusions that bad stuff cannot happen to me. However, I do everything I can to stack the deck my way. I keep my spare tire full, and check it and my oil every time I fill my tank. Does that mean I won’t get a flat? No. But it means I’m much less likely to be disabled by a flat for a long period of time. I’m less likely to have an undetected oil leak seize up my engine. Possible? Of course. But isiots like you look at the flat tire and the flat spare and sigh, “Oh, what bad luck!” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/203 "2011-06-03T18:23:00Z")
> [@Taters](#): > > My son scored in the high 1800s on his SAT, has a really good GPA, etc,… That’s an old SAT equivalent of about 1275. Hardly dramatic. And a “really good” GPA? What does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/204 "2011-06-03T18:38:45Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > That’s an old SAT equivalent of about 1275. Hardly dramatic. > > And a “really good” GPA? What does that mean? To put it in terms you’re more familiar with, **Tater** ’s son only measures 0.93 brickers on the Bricker Scale. As you well know, anything less than 1.00 brickers (within measurement error) represents a substandard human being, whose problems can be safely disregarded as unimportant. Interesting side note: theorists have recently predicted the existance of a so-called “super Bricker”, a person with a Bricker value of greater than one, but to date Bricker has not acknowledged the possibility of such an organism. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/205 "2011-06-03T18:44:36Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > To put it in terms you’re more familiar with, **Tater** ’s son only measures 0.93 brickers on the Bricker Scale. As you well know, anything less than 1.00 brickers (within measurement error) represents a substandard human being, whose problems can be safely disregarded as unimportant. > > Interesting side note: theorists have recently predicted the existance of a so-called “super Bricker”, a person with a Bricker value of greater than one, but to date Bricker has not acknowledged the possibility of such an organism. :rolleyes: No, not me. But, please, **Giraffe** – name the top tier college that looks at an applicant with an (old) 1275 SAT, or a new 1900 SAT, and says, “My gosh, we MUST get this one!” Are you so dim as to believe that it’s only me and my unrealistic standards looking at that score and failing to judge it remarkable? Really? I’m the only one who thinks that SAT score is not indicative of a top-notch academic career? What an idiot you are. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/206 "2011-06-03T18:51:07Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Moreover, I have just confirmed that my alma mater’s cost has not gone up anywhere near that much: for the [2009-2010 year (PDF)](http://www.admiss.vt.edu/forms/finaid.pdf), in-state tuition to Virginia Tech was about $14,629 per year in-state, to include room, board, tuition, and fees. Here is a full report on the tuition costs for all of the state schools in Virginia: WARNING PDF: [http://http://www.schev.edu/Reportstats/TuitionAndFees2009-10.pdf](http://http://www.schev.edu/Reportstats/TuitionAndFees2009-10.pdf). Virginia Tech appears to be a little high for tuition but the room and board appear to be quite reasonable. My son is currently going to school at one of those. He doesn’t qualify for any aid. Tuition costs and fees are running below $8,000 a year. Add another $1,000 for books. Living costs are living costs IMO, in school or out, so I don’t really include them in the cost of school. He could have gone out of state to a couple of places for about 2X the tuition costs. So I always wonder when people say college costs $40,000 or $50,000 a year, I’ve even heard a quarter of a million for a degree. Where do these numbers come from? ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/207 "2011-06-03T18:51:48Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > It’s not a matter of pretending. > > If you define “luck,” so broadly, then _every single accomplishment by anyone is a matter of luck_. It kind of is. You do what you can, but you have to know to do it, and be able to do it. If what makes us what we are is a combination of our experiences and our genes, those things shape us to the point that what we do almost has to be the result of that. I’m okay with that. Our job is to do the best we can with what we get. I got a lot. Some people don’t. I am thankful that I’ve been lucky, but I’m not going to run around patting myself on the back because my genes and upbringing were generous, nor am I going to deride others that weren’t so lucky, especially children. Your mileage may, and obviously does, vary, but I don’t want you to run around thinking that the only people who believe that luck plays a role are those who have slacked off. Isn’t being happy enough? Why do I have to think I’m better than anyone? ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/208 "2011-06-03T19:03:59Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > To put it in terms you’re more familiar with, **Tater** ’s son only measures 0.93 brickers on the Bricker Scale. As you well know, anything less than 1.00 brickers (within measurement error) represents a substandard human being, whose problems can be safely disregarded as unimportant. > > Interesting side note: theorists have recently predicted the existance of a so-called “super Bricker”, a person with a Bricker value of greater than one, but to date Bricker has not acknowledged the possibility of such an organism. This post measures 1.0 giraffes on the Giraffes Scale of Funny. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/209 "2011-06-03T19:06:38Z")
> [@Vihaga](#): > > It kind of is. You do what you can, but you have to know to do it, and be able to do it. If what makes us what we are is a combination of our experiences and our genes, those things shape us to the point that what we do almost has to be the result of that. I’m okay with that. > > Our job is to do the best we can with what we get. I got a lot. Some people don’t. I am thankful that I’ve been lucky, but I’m not going to run around patting myself on the back because my genes and upbringing were generous, nor am I going to deride others that weren’t so lucky, especially children. Your mileage may, and obviously does, vary, but I don’t want you to run around thinking that the only people who believe that luck plays a role are those who have slacked off. Isn’t being happy enough? Why do I have to think I’m better than anyone? On the other hand, you can’t even out luck. I’m luckier than a lot of people in that I’m fairly smart, middle class, white. I have parents who cared about my education. I got some good breaks out of school, married a wonderful guy. But I didn’t get as lucky as George W. Bush. I wasn’t born into a family of wealth, power and connections. I don’t have a legacy into an Ivy League School. And as much as we like to make fun of G.W.'s brains - he isn’t stupid. I’m way luckier than my friend Ken - whose father took off when he was a baby and who was raised in poverty by his mother who had five children and no time. Society can - and California is one of the states that really has - make an effort to give everyone some sort of “minimum luck” in terms of making education affordable and accessible. But it isn’t going to cross the gap between Ken and George W. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/210 "2011-06-03T19:12:39Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Are you so dim as to believe that it’s only me and my unrealistic standards looking at that score and failing to judge it remarkable? Really? I’m the only one who thinks that SAT score is not indicative of a top-notch academic career? Are _you_ so dim that you think my problem with your posts in this thread have anything to do with what does and does not constitute a good SAT score? I know you’re still bathed in the afterglow of remembering how well you did on the PSAT so it’s hard to see yourself objectively, but you’re being a huge fucking prick in this thread. Saying “people should just get a scholarship, I got a scholarship” as an answer to how hard it is to afford college these days without financial aid is obnoxious. Telling people their kids’ SAT scores aren’t that good, since yours had to be a lot higher in order to get that scholarship doncha know, is also obnoxious. And, given that the thread is about how the non-Brickers of the world can afford to go to college, totally irrelevant and unhelpful to the topic at hand. Go find a mirror to make finger guns in and stop crapping up this thread with your self-love. ---
**Author:** ![Taters](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taters/32/2845_2.png) [@Taters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taters)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/211 "2011-06-03T19:23:24Z")
My son’s GPA is a 3.75. Considering that most of his classes are AP and have been since he was a sophomore, this is pretty damn good. While we’re still waiting for this year’s test results, he’s scored 4s on all the previous years tests. Yes, I can conceive that some of his friends smay have done something else to merit the help, but I know for a fact most didn’t. Like my son, they went to school and worked. Very little in the way of extras. They all had to do community service; it’s part of the senior culmination project. Look, we do talk to him and his friends. His friends spend a lot of time here and I run into many of his friends while out and about. We always chat. I don’t begrudge them their good fortune; I really don’t. That would be petty. That’s why I felt like a shit even expressing it. As for his SAT scores, they could have been higher, and he’s kicking himself for it. I’ve also been corrected; his scores were high 1900s. Still not super great, but nothing horrible either. The one friend who received substantially more aid scored 1100. To be fair, his GPA is about the same as my son’s. Look, I’m not going to get into any kind of hassle with any of you. I’m not looking for sympathy. As for our finances, we made the mess, we’ll continue cleaning it up. All I was doing was expressing what many parents that I’ve spoken to feel. As for you **Bricker.** I don’t often say anything, but just for once, could you not be such an ass? Once in a great while you’re actually human, but it seems whenever someone is having a hard time, you’re right in there stepping on his or her neck. We can’t all be lawyers and we can’t all be well off. We’re not in the poor house, but we’re just regular middle class folks. I don’t really care if that seems to be beneath you. If it is, it speaks volumes about you. Some of us just do what we can with what we have and hope our kids do better. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/212 "2011-06-03T19:33:03Z")
> [@Taters](#): > > Not all in state schools are a “bargain”. No one ever said they were. And to be honest, I have no idea why what **Bricker** is saying is so inflammatory to you all. If it were anyone but him saying it, I doubt the reaction would be as serious. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/213 "2011-06-03T19:43:00Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > What an idiot you are. He might be an idiot, but I know who I’d rather hang out and drink beer with, and whose mailbox I’d rather piss in when we’re done. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/214 "2011-06-03T19:56:04Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > No one ever said they were. > > And to be honest, I have no idea why what **Bricker** is saying is so inflammatory to you all. If it were anyone but him saying it, I doubt the reaction would be as serious. It’s the utter lack of helpfulness, seasoned by smug. Your comments about reducing expectations and going to a community college in order to save money might be unpalatable to the OP, but are generally good advice. Bricker’s advice is essentially “You should be one of the 1/2-1% of students who qualify as a finalist for the National Merit Scholarship and your troubles will be over”. He has also completely ignored the evidence presented in this thread that college costs have outstripped inflation and somewhat dishonestly, in my opinion, bolstered his argument with outdated costs from his alma mater, ignoring the fact that costs have jumped ~20% in the past two years. ---
**Author:** ![Taters](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taters/32/2845_2.png) [@Taters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taters)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/215 "2011-06-03T19:56:05Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > No one ever said they were. > > And to be honest, I have no idea why what **Bricker** is saying is so inflammatory to you all. If it were anyone but him saying it, I doubt the reaction would be as serious. Let’s face it; his posting history pretty much explains why some are upset. To be clear, I’m not upset; it’s just **Bricker,** and he’s just electrons on the internet to me. I do not expect the government to provide my son a free education, all I was very unsuccessfully trying to say, was that there is less aid available than there has been in the past; especially in this state. It’s just a little frustrating. Speaking as a parent, we want our kids to do better and have better opportunities. It’s pretty simple, really. My son wants to major in engineering, with a minor in aerospace engineering. This has always been his goal. The school he’s going to is one of the top three schools on the West coast for recruitment after graduation. He plans on graduate school after and has already talked to Boeing about an internship starting his junior year. The kid is \*focused \*and I believe he will succeed. Yeah, yeah…I’m just the Mom, and it’s my job to believe he’ll do well. However, what’s more important is that he has the drive, the will and the belief that he’ll do it, whatever it takes. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/216 "2011-06-03T19:59:06Z")
> [@Vihaga](#): > > It kind of is. You do what you can, but you have to know to do it, and be able to do it. If what makes us what we are is a combination of our experiences and our genes, those things shape us to the point that what we do almost has to be the result of that. I’m okay with that. > > Our job is to do the best we can with what we get. I got a lot. Some people don’t. I am thankful that I’ve been lucky, but I’m not going to run around patting myself on the back because my genes and upbringing were generous, nor am I going to deride others that weren’t so lucky, especially children. Your mileage may, and obviously does, vary, but I don’t want you to run around thinking that the only people who believe that luck plays a role are those who have slacked off. Isn’t being happy enough? Why do I have to think I’m better than anyone? Then I reiterate: this definition of luck encompasses every single asepct of every single life. Under this model, it’s all luck. I’m lucky I don’t buy this model, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/217 "2011-06-03T20:03:20Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Are _you_ so dim that you think my problem with your posts in this thread have anything to do with what does and does not constitute a good SAT score? > > I know you’re still bathed in the afterglow of remembering how well you did on the PSAT so it’s hard to see yourself objectively, but you’re being a huge fucking prick in this thread. Saying “people should just get a scholarship, I got a scholarship” as an answer to how hard it is to afford college these days without financial aid is obnoxious. Telling people their kids’ SAT scores aren’t that good, since yours had to be a lot higher in order to get that scholarship doncha know, is also obnoxious. And, given that the thread is about how the non-Brickers of the world can afford to go to college, totally irrelevant and unhelpful to the topic at hand. > > Go find a mirror to make finger guns in and stop crapping up this thread with your self-love. Piss off. Someone who posts in MPSIMS about their difficulties gets no backtalk from me. Someone who posts in the Pit about how fucked up the world is because Little Johnny Snowflake, with a mediocre GPA and test scores, might have to - gasp - go to community college for two years, gets no sympathy from me. You’re a useless freaking idiot. Go back to your useless board with its four remaining members and pretend to be someone important, you shitstain. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/218 "2011-06-03T20:03:41Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > No one ever said they were. > > And to be honest, I have no idea why what **Bricker** is saying is so inflammatory to you all. If it were anyone but him saying it, I doubt the reaction would be as serious. It’s probably because what he is claiming is that everybody who is not getting scholarships, or a full ride, or paying their own way happily through college is either a) not as smart as they think, b) not smart at all, c) not willing to work at all and wants everything handed to them, or d) not willing to do what he easily made happen about 30 years ago in a totally different circumstance. It’s like when people compare two totally different things, and declare “If these circumstances were completely different, why, they’d be exactly the same!”. Well no shit, but the situation isn’t the same as it was back then. **Bricker** has demonstrated that the top 1% will probably find a way to get their education paid for, and anyone who isn’t the top 1% is fooling themselves. He proudly points at National Merit Scholarships as though it’s the answer for everyone, and somehow by demonstrating that scholarships _still exist_, that everyone has access to them. When I was in high school, I had a 3.9 GPA, a 30 ACT score, worked 25-30 hours a week, volunteered, played varsity level sports, went to state on the debate team, and was prom royalty. If there was a more well-rounded student, I want to meet her. I got exactly $250 in scholarships and financial aid, and I promise my parents were not rolling in the cash. These were merit-based scholarships I applied for, over $50,000 worth, and I received **one** for $250. This is not to sneak brag at all, this is to demonstrate that you can be a really kick ass student on paper and do very well in school and be well rounded and still not get shit in terms of financial aid to pay for school. So what should I have done differently? Been smarter? Scored better? Worked harder? If I had not had Florida Prepaid Tuition, I would not have been able to afford school. Thanks to my parents, who were the ones to invest in that in the 80’s. But not all states have a locked-in tuition option, and not all parents can invest in their kid’s education from day 1. When I went to school, I had to work 45 hours a week while taking a full load of classes to support myself, just for my living expenses alone. The school I graduated from for my BA, a public school in FL, charges $170 per _credit hour_. So a 15 credit load would cost $2550 a semester (not including fees) and the entire degree (of 120 credits) will set you back over $21k (also not including fees). That is not chump change to a lot of people, and it’s been demonstrated that tuition inflation has comprised more and more hours of work based on a minimum-wage earning level. Nobody is arguing that it is easy, trust me. But the people who aren’t able to outright pay for school end up amassing a huge amount of debt to get there, which puts them in a position of further disparity as compared to the people who had the money to pay for school and not go into debt to get there. So, the top 1% is set, we’ve already determined that. The 4.0 kids, the 2400 SAT, the 36 ACT, the kids who never had to work during high school and got to spend all their time volunteering and taking AP classes to spiff up their CV, they’re golden. Everybody else gets more or less screwed by a system that benefits the top 1% performers, and the rich people. Unless you go to a cheap school. (Is CSU seriously that cheap for in-state tuition? $312 a semester? That is not even in the same ballpark as most schools, so perhaps I’ll take those stories with a large grain of salt now) ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/219 "2011-06-03T20:04:17Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Then I reiterate: this definition of luck encompasses every single asepct of every single life. Under this model, it’s all luck. > > I’m lucky I don’t buy this model, I guess. Must it be all or nothing? Most of us have the wisdom to tell the difference between things we can and cannot reasonably control. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068/220 "2011-06-03T20:04:29Z")
> [@Taters](#): > > My son’s GPA is a 3.75. Considering that most of his classes are AP and have been since he was a sophomore, this is pretty damn good. Sorry, but if that’s a weighted GPA, that’s not “damn good.” At two of my state’s (Virginia) public schools, a 3.75 doesn’t even crack the 25th percentile. > [@](#): > > Look, I’m not going to get into any kind of hassle with any of you. I’m not looking for sympathy. As for our finances, we made the mess, we’ll continue cleaning it up. All I was doing was expressing what many parents that I’ve spoken to feel. Well it IS the Pit, after all. If you still want to beat the oppression-of-middle-class-whites drum, it sounds like there will be many receptive ears at your next PTA meeting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lack-of-finacial-aid-for-my-kids-college-education/584068.md?page=12)