320 Years of History
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I don't know if you know who Mrs. McEnany is, but she's a very, very committed Trump surrogate who appears frequently on CNN. Now I know that strictly speaking, she's a very smart woman. But I swear that when she is called to discuss topics related to Trump and politics in general, I'd swear she packs up her brain and sticks it in the fridge for safekeeping while she's on the air.
Just a few minutes ago, she said that there are people sitting at home in poverty who can't afford to send their kids to college. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, if one is in poverty, there's no way one can't muster the money to send one's kid to college, indeed, to a very fine college no less.
One may care to call the "going to and affording college" process a "game" if one wants. One can even not like playing the game. Make no mistake; however, if one (the child) plays the game well, it's not terribly hard to come out a winner, regardless of the kid's financial situation. And unlike so many chess, multiple people can and do win at the same time. The reason that can and does happen is that college is largely one's child, not about the parents. The kid is who makes college happen for themselves. The way they do that is by performing well in high school. There's a huge thing that happens most of the time in high school classes that mostly doesn't happen in and after college.
In high school, if one earns an "A," one gets an "A." In college and in professional life one's performance is measured on a curve. Not being graded on a curve keeps the "playing field" level for most high school students, thereby allowing them to gain admission to schools such as the ones noted above. In college, and in many professional fields, however, one truly is in competition with one's colleagues; thus, if one is at a highly competitive admission school, everyone there will, like oneself, be a high performer. That, in turn, ups the effort, innovativeness and cognition one must demonstrate in order to remain in the top 10% of the class. But therein again is part of the game. Prospective students should decide carefully between, all other things being equal, going to a larger school with comparatively large class sizes versus going to a smaller school that has smaller class sizes. Sitting in a classroom full of geniuses when one is just "smarter than the average bear, but hard working" is a sure way to get a lot of "Bs" and "Cs." (That's a very good reason for a lot of pretty bright rather than very bright kids not to bother trying to go to CalTech, U. of Chicago, or Harvey Mudd, for example, even if they do get admitted.)
(In small classes, the curve is rarely used, if at all. You have to draw the line somewhere when you have ten students and they are all very skilled and hardworking; you can't flunk a student who consistently earns 90% but because she's in a class nine other students who earn 91%+, she gets an "F.")
So what's the key point of all that? The point is merely to illustrate that being destitute is not at all a reason to worry that one may not be able to afford to send one's kid to college. The folks who have worries like that are the folks who earn between $150K/year and $300K/year and who live near the limit of their means, yet even they have a "way out." (People in that situation need to send their kids to schools that offer more merit based scholarships than need based scholarships.) But those folks aren't, as Mrs. McEnany stated, living in poverty, far from it, in fact.
Just a few minutes ago, she said that there are people sitting at home in poverty who can't afford to send their kids to college. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, if one is in poverty, there's no way one can't muster the money to send one's kid to college, indeed, to a very fine college no less.
- Williams College -- "Our financial aid program is based entirely on need, and we meet 100 percent of every student’s demonstrated need."
- Amherst College -- "Students leave Amherst with an extraordinary education, a long list of exceptional accomplishments – and the freedom to build their future without the burden of student loan debt. 75% of Amherst graduates in the Class of 2015 graduated with no student loan debt. Nearly 60% of our students receive financial aid. Our average financial aid award last year was more than $50,000. So the majority of our students pay less – often far less – than the cost of attendance."
- Harvard -- "Your financial circumstances have never kept you from great achievement, and they will not keep you from Harvard. All our scholarships are based on demonstrated financial need. We take all aspects of your family’s financial circumstances into account when determining aid to make sure you get the level of support you need. Amount that parents making less than $65,000 are expected to contribute: $0.00."
- Harvey Mudd College -- "Our policy is to provide 100 percent of every student’s demonstrated need"
- Stanford University -- "We meet the full demonstrated need, without loans, for every admitted undergrad who qualifies for financial assistance."
- Middlebury College -- "Middlebury will offer an aid package that meets 100 percent of your financial need. The maximum level of awarded student loan debt after four years for all Middlebury financial aid recipients ranges from $7,000 (for our neediest population) to $19,000. Awarded loan amounts will rise slightly in subsequent years. The average Undergraduate Federal loan indebtedness at Middlebury is $15,517."
One may care to call the "going to and affording college" process a "game" if one wants. One can even not like playing the game. Make no mistake; however, if one (the child) plays the game well, it's not terribly hard to come out a winner, regardless of the kid's financial situation. And unlike so many chess, multiple people can and do win at the same time. The reason that can and does happen is that college is largely one's child, not about the parents. The kid is who makes college happen for themselves. The way they do that is by performing well in high school. There's a huge thing that happens most of the time in high school classes that mostly doesn't happen in and after college.
In high school, if one earns an "A," one gets an "A." In college and in professional life one's performance is measured on a curve. Not being graded on a curve keeps the "playing field" level for most high school students, thereby allowing them to gain admission to schools such as the ones noted above. In college, and in many professional fields, however, one truly is in competition with one's colleagues; thus, if one is at a highly competitive admission school, everyone there will, like oneself, be a high performer. That, in turn, ups the effort, innovativeness and cognition one must demonstrate in order to remain in the top 10% of the class. But therein again is part of the game. Prospective students should decide carefully between, all other things being equal, going to a larger school with comparatively large class sizes versus going to a smaller school that has smaller class sizes. Sitting in a classroom full of geniuses when one is just "smarter than the average bear, but hard working" is a sure way to get a lot of "Bs" and "Cs." (That's a very good reason for a lot of pretty bright rather than very bright kids not to bother trying to go to CalTech, U. of Chicago, or Harvey Mudd, for example, even if they do get admitted.)
(In small classes, the curve is rarely used, if at all. You have to draw the line somewhere when you have ten students and they are all very skilled and hardworking; you can't flunk a student who consistently earns 90% but because she's in a class nine other students who earn 91%+, she gets an "F.")
So what's the key point of all that? The point is merely to illustrate that being destitute is not at all a reason to worry that one may not be able to afford to send one's kid to college. The folks who have worries like that are the folks who earn between $150K/year and $300K/year and who live near the limit of their means, yet even they have a "way out." (People in that situation need to send their kids to schools that offer more merit based scholarships than need based scholarships.) But those folks aren't, as Mrs. McEnany stated, living in poverty, far from it, in fact.
