My parents, bless their hearts, told us they had "raised us" to go to whatever college we could get into (and my mom rode us more like a nightmare, LOL) and they did NOT expect to be in America but we all got to go WHEREVER we could get into. My brother went to Carnegie Mellon and last 2 years at brown, I went to Swarthmore College (which at the time was the #1 liberal arts college in the country and "big universities" scared me at that time) my sister went to Yale, and my little brother went to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. NONE of them we cheap (even then) and NONE of them were in town. Granted, I think they were like pulling in close to 300K a year between the pair of them, but sometimes there were two of us at once.
It is a gift, and one she will probably remember and be grateful for but it's not exactly a Christmas present though. I did not get a printer in college but I had those super cool like floppy disks to take down to the computer lab so it wasn't a big deal. Heh. If I had a keyboard and it went wrong, my parents would probably (correctly) assume it might have been my fault. I did work part time in school but it was pretty much for drinking/play money but I must have been hyperindustrious in my youth since I had a double major and a minor.
My (in town) Master's Degree was SO MUCH more expensive. They also let you borrow a TON back then, but I needed really good (hence expensive) babysitters for my kid while I was there, and I could not possibly have worked at that time. I keep enrolling in aid programs and then moving. I am NEVER paying it off man, it's annoying. My sister is worse off she went to the university of Austin for law I think it was, she had 2 kids under five, her husband worked from home (some) but she pretty much did her studying from when the kids slept to oh 1 am. Don't know how she did it. They also had to take out PRIVATE loans the cost was so prohibitive.
"Driving to" doesn't make as much difference, not anymore. I agree dorms and/or apartments add to it, but the cost of education is the Suck. It truly is. There should be some sort of limits.
Swarthmore, who maintains a Very Healthy endowment has a pledge that any student selected for admission and who is "worthy" of being there pays NO student aid nor do their families. Not a cent. Their admissions committee is "blind" and they admit and then figure out the finances. IDK if they still do it but I thought it was cool (sadly for my parents they did not qualify financially) but I remain INCREDIBLY grateful for the education I got there....
Everyone has to handle their kids differently. I would have paid for my son's college or tried but he did not want to go.
Anna
It is a gift, and one she will probably remember and be grateful for but it's not exactly a Christmas present though. I did not get a printer in college but I had those super cool like floppy disks to take down to the computer lab so it wasn't a big deal. Heh. If I had a keyboard and it went wrong, my parents would probably (correctly) assume it might have been my fault. I did work part time in school but it was pretty much for drinking/play money but I must have been hyperindustrious in my youth since I had a double major and a minor.
My (in town) Master's Degree was SO MUCH more expensive. They also let you borrow a TON back then, but I needed really good (hence expensive) babysitters for my kid while I was there, and I could not possibly have worked at that time. I keep enrolling in aid programs and then moving. I am NEVER paying it off man, it's annoying. My sister is worse off she went to the university of Austin for law I think it was, she had 2 kids under five, her husband worked from home (some) but she pretty much did her studying from when the kids slept to oh 1 am. Don't know how she did it. They also had to take out PRIVATE loans the cost was so prohibitive.
"Driving to" doesn't make as much difference, not anymore. I agree dorms and/or apartments add to it, but the cost of education is the Suck. It truly is. There should be some sort of limits.
Swarthmore, who maintains a Very Healthy endowment has a pledge that any student selected for admission and who is "worthy" of being there pays NO student aid nor do their families. Not a cent. Their admissions committee is "blind" and they admit and then figure out the finances. IDK if they still do it but I thought it was cool (sadly for my parents they did not qualify financially) but I remain INCREDIBLY grateful for the education I got there....
Everyone has to handle their kids differently. I would have paid for my son's college or tried but he did not want to go.
Anna
it! I want some SPACE even if it's a freaking CAVE JUST a place to call alone FOREVER!! I don't mind EXITING my cave on my terms but you better not follow me home.
NOPE - That's a silly question, especially since Ya' know I've got to get a coffemaker & microwave tomorrow . . . 
