The Real Cost of Applying to College {slide show}

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/money-gallery/2011-10-04/the-real-cost-of-applying-to-college.html#slide1

each slide adds to the pot.

remember this is just applying to college.

[yardwork]

1. Reccing in anticipation of the unrec crowd arriving soon to tell you it's all b.s.

[xchrom]

3. ...

:rofl: oh-- i'm sure.

[aikoaiko]

7. Its not BS, but its BS in the same way that it costs me $1000.wk to eat

If I eat out at very nice restaurants for breakfast lunch and dinner and include the $50 bottle of wine each night.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. which makes the claim that this is the 'real cost' bullshit

[aikoaiko]

19. I agree you.

[roguevalley]

24. I lived at home, paid instate resident tuition and only needed

gas, a sandwich and book/lab fees. It doesn't have to cost a zillion dollars but sometimes it does.

[Orangepeel]

11. It *is* b.s.

This list includes $5000 to participate in community service, $10,000 to spend a summer at an ivy league college, a $2000 essay coach, $350 to take alumni out to dinner, etc.

If somebody wants to pay all that to try to get a kid into a particular school, more power to them. But it ain't the "real" cost of getting into college.

[yardwork]

13. But people who can afford to actually do these things!

This is a stark example of the chasm between the haves and the have-lesses and the have-nots in the U.S. The affluent at the top can afford to do all this, and they do it, to make sure that their sons and daughters get into elite schools and go on to be part of the elite who run the country.

The rest of us, who can't dream of affording all this nonsense, don't get our children into Ivy League schools or even, increasingly, private schools. We send our kids to state schools - which the Republicans are working hard to make just as expensive as privates.

[Warren Stupidity]

16. but claiming this as the 'real cost' is bullshit

the 1% spend lots of money on lots of stuff they don't need. After all, they have lots of money.

[yardwork]

22. The OP simply posted the title of the article.

[Warren Stupidity]

25. the title of the article is simply bullshit

and OPs aren't off the hook just because somebody else writes the crap they post.

[Starry Messenger]

2. k&r

[lonestarnot]

4. K & R!

Is this some bullshit or what! I hate the fucking racket! And those ignorant SAT bullshit tests! More racket! racket racket racket! RICO should apply!

[aikoaiko]

5. Sure, its easy to rack up a 31K bill applying to colleges, but totally unneccesary for most.

Work hard in HS and then all you have to do is take the SATs and apply to a couple of state schools.

[yardwork]

6. Until all the state schools are defunded and have to raise tuition. It's happening in NC and CA.

[aikoaiko]

8. The story is about applications not enrollment.

[yardwork]

10. I was responding to your assurance that "all people need to do" is apply to state schools.

The Republicans in my state are working hard to take away that option.

[aikoaiko]

14. In terms of costs of applying to college, what I said is true.

But yes, republicans are defunding public higher ed. In 1999 when I started teaching, GA supplied 75% of the funding and now it is about 50%. Tution has gone up , but we've also cut the budget.


In another ten years, state funding may be as low as 15% I fear and tuition will be double what is now.

[JDPriestly]

9. Back in the 1950s, we couldn't dream of that kind of money,

I took the PSAT, then the SAT, sent off my applications and a performance tape (music major) and was accepted. I applied to only one school -- the one I wanted to go to -- and it was easy.

No prep courses (other than my parents reading to me and my siblings almost from day one of our lives), no report on extracurricular activities (although I had a lot thanks to my parents), far less money spent.

I rode over 800 miles in a Greyhound bus to get back and forth to college.

Why is it so complicated and expensive now?

That is just ridiculous, although some of the costs on Bloomberg are exaggerated. You don't have to leave home to volunteer in a meaningful way. My kids did well on their SATs, and we did not pay for prep courses.

Apparently, doing homework and talking together as a family about what was learned at school each day beginning in first grade saves a lot of money. That is how you teach your children good study habits. Ask them after the first day of school, "What happened." That is called review.

I hate to be so arrogant, but why does this have to cost so much? Somehow I just don't believe that story.

[Warren Stupidity]

18. 1955 $1 == $8.21 in 2011

So in 1955 you would be dreaming of $3775.81 dollars, or about the price of a Cadillac.

[Nikia]

12. Wealthier students definitely have an advantage when it comes to applying to college

Even with everything else being equal. A poorer student does have less of a chance at getting into a top school if they can only take the ACT or SAT once with only reviewing with a book from the library. They are less likely to apply to reach schools if they can only afford to apply to a couple. They are less likely to apply to places further from home if the price of traveling for a visit would be a hardship.
Having been a less affluent high school student applying to places further from home, I recommend scheduling an interview at the campus visit, scheduling more than one school visit on consecutive days if applying to schools that are somewhat close together but far away from home, and staying on campus instead of a hotel for the visit. I did this and and know an even poorer student from Chicago who scheduled visits and interviews at several D.C. schools over the course of a week.

[Warren Stupidity]

15. Happy to call this complete bs.

I've put three kids through college and the only things we spent money on in that list were:
1) SAT tests - taking the test and sending the results out.
2) college visits - 2 or 3 per kid, usually day trips by car.
3) application fees, around 4 per kid.

All this other stuff - schmoozing alumni? Seriously? 31,000 per child? Absolut Bullshit.

[hughee99]

20. All necessary, kids can't get into college without a trip to Thailand

to do volunteer work, a summer at an ivy league school, and $2500 to College Advisory services to tell you which schools you might want to apply to.

This is kind of like saying it would cost $75 million to fly across country and then list buying a Gulfstream G5 as a necessary expense.

[knitter4democracy]

21. Much of that is part of my job as the senior English teacher.

My students are writing their college application essay rough drafts for tomorrow with work on them this week in class with me. I'm not letting them call those things done until they're perfect.

I write recommendations all the time, and I sure as heck don't get thank you notes or flowers or anything silly like that. It's my honor to write those, and I love to get the chance to explain why my students should get selected.

As for needing some silly trip in order to write a smashing essay: that's a bunch of crap. Some of the best essays I've read for college apps (over 700 and counting) are far simpler and about stuff that's closer to home. Honestly, those essays make readers roll their eyes.

Books? They're in the guidance office at the high school for free. Help figuring out where to go? Ask a teacher or the counselor or both. I agree on visits being the best, but honestly, a lot of the other stuff is ridiculous.

[yardwork]

23. Some posters are missing the point of this. This is what the top 1% thinks is necessary.

Obviously most of us can't afford this. Most of our kids don't get all this. But pay attention. Bloomberg published this. It's a rare look into the real lives of the 1%. They give their kids these advantages to get them into elite schools so that their kids will continue to be the elite.