Not everyone qualifies for financial aid! If her mother, whom she lives with, makes much money, she doesn't apply for grants. Maybe she can't find a job, and therefore can't pay back a loan in the allotted time. Maybe she doesn't qualify for scholarships. But she still should have talked to her mom about it first.

#74- If Cornell is like other Ivies, their family only wouldn't qualify if the mom were making $200k or more a year. In which case I doubt the OP would be worried about making her pay.

You'd be surprised who qualifies for financial aid. There is usually a cold calculation (in my day, it was called the FAF, Finanacial Aid Form) to determine what you are supposed to be able to afford. If you are smart enough to get into one of those elite schools, there is a good chance that they will lower your cost even further. I went to one of America's best universities and all the tuition was paid for and most of my room and board was, too. The FAF reckoned that my folks could have paid about 4-5 times as much. The point is that you need to see how the school can help you before you reject them.

Hmmm, yeah, I qualify for them paying every penny of my tuition and supplies, with a little left over. However, not enough for room and board, I don't think. And my family doesn't have a single dime left over for my college. It's ok though, I know I'm getting an education, making something of my life, and as you said "aiming high". That's what matters to me.

Easy. Get a J O B. Work. Pay for college. Take out loans for anything extra. I walked out of college with less than $20,000 in debt -- and the average cost per semester was more than that. How? I worked for a living. My parents could have helped -- if I asked them, but I didn't.

Actually, I'd say most people here went to college within the past 20 years (those who are out of high school, at least). I'm class of 2010 at an Ivy League university. The financial aid is damn good, I work summer jobs, I take out loans. My parents helped me the first two years, but since then they haven't had to pay a cent. They're invested in my education, because they know that eventually, if I don't have too much debt, I'll be able to help support them, and because they know that if you're not willing to work to give your kid the best life possible, then it's not worth having kids. We all struggle, but the struggle is worth it. It's how it goes. I'd say these days, if you can get into an elite school, you'll come out of it with less debt than you would at your state school. That's the case for me, at least. The OP is a fool for not talking to the financial aid offices before throwing those letters away.

Keep saying get a J O B. When I had a job I could barely afford community college, and I've been unemployed since December due to the economy, so even just saying get a job isn't a sure fire solution right now. I'm going to a 4 year state college now, I'm on unemployment checks, and I even with loans I can barely afford it. It's great it worked for you, it doesn't for everyone.

Actually, most of the really expensive colleges are private and have huge endowments (like the Ivy League), so they have much better financial aid packages. Private schools have much better financial aid overall. The Ivy League schools now won't make you pay more than 10% of your income unless your family makes over $160k per year.

Your are mistaken. In the UK most university courses are heavily subsidized by the government. In the US most people going to a private university (which are far more widespread than the UK) pay the full cost of their education ($40k pa) . That was why Oxford was considering leaving the government system. They were not allowed to charge as much as Harvard for a comparable education.

OP, make the best of your situation now and either transfer into the higher ranked school or go to a better school for grad school. Undergrad is nothing nowadays anyway. Edit: I have no idea why this posted as a reply to your comment.