My gf and I were out eating dinner tonight and her daughter calls her. She is asking for my gf's personal info. She is filling out her financial aid for college. So the nosy guy that I am, I ask what website is she using.

She says Fafsa.com.:noway::( This site is a scam site.

Fafsa.ed.gov is the correct site.

So this is just a warning for any parents with college bound kids, make sure they are on the right website.

Fafsa itself is a scam. My son got accepted to MIT, one of 400 of the smartest kids world-wide to get early acceptance. We looked into financing, and we couldn't afford it. They say our technical world is being taken over by Asians and Indians, gee, I wonder why. Have you heard the Ben Folds song called Rockin' the Suburbs? It goes, "Y'all don't know what it's like, being male, middle class and white...."

"Y'all don't know what it's like, being male, middle class and white...."

Sure as hell do, what is financial aid? Thats when I get a paycheck for working 50 hours a week right?

Sure as hell do, what is financial aid? Thats when I get a paycheck for working 50 hours a week right?

no,no,no..its more like work 50 hrs and get paid for 40 ;)

Fafsa itself is a scam. My son got accepted to MIT, one of 400 of the smartest kids in the world to get early acceptance. We looked into financing, and we couldn't afford it. They say our technical world is being taken over by Asians and Indians, gee, I wonder why. Have you heard the Ben Folds song called Rockin' the Suburbs? "Y'all don't know what it's like, being male, middle class and white...."
I know a little bit, I'm going for my master's and the Indian man next to me hasn't paid for half of what I have. With the grants he gets, along with job (NASA) its no wonder why America if falling behind.

It won't get any better during the next 4 years either.

I know a little bit, I'm going for my master's and the Indian man next to me hasn't paid for half of what I have. With the grants he gets, along with job (NASA) its no wonder why America if falling behind.

I literally cried when I had to tell my son the numbers didn't add up for him to go to MIT. But what the heck, my oldest got accepted to Johns Hopkins before that, we couldn't afford that either. Now my 18 year old, as smart as his two older brothers, is looking at universities. Hey, state it is!

it won't get any better during the next 4 years either.




ibtl

I made it through my first four years of college with pell grants, ISAC Grants and such.. all from filling out a Fafsa.... The final two years... was all on me.... in the form of student loans, yeah... I'll be paying for those until I retire.. LOL...

Big D

"no,no,no..its more like work 50 hrs and get paid for 40"

My now long gone Boss got mad at me when I showed him my marked up calendars that I used to keep track of where I'd went and how long I was there when it tallied like 13.5 to 14 months of work for 12 months pay for years!!!!!

I begged them to put me on "salaried for 40, then hourly time and a half past 40" and they laughed at me as I was making them at least 10 times what they were paying me!

Oh, never mind b/c the old AP Green Firebrick Co. is now LONG GONE!!

pdq67

I do not have kids at the college age quite yet...one in middle school, one a sophomore in high school. I was talking to a colleague the other day...she has three daughters...all graduated from college now. All three of her daughters went out of NY state to big name schools. I was amazed and asked her how she paid for them. She makes about the same money as i do and there is NO WAY IN HELL I could send one kid to any of those schools, let alone all three. She told me that she knew how to work the system to make herself look broke. Something about re-mortgaging her house more than it was worth...taking the cash and putting it in a safe deposit box, her and her husband openned some type of small business that conveniently loses money every year....etc etc etc. Long story short....these big name schools let her kids go to their school for a fraction of the regular price...up to 50% less!!!!!!!!!!! All because she is so called "broke." It was cheaper, for example, to send her daughter to Boston College than it would have been for her to go to a state school in NY. My collegue's exact words were "anyone who sets up a college fund for their kids is a sucker." Her words, not mine. So if you don't save a dime for their education, you get all kinds of help. If you DO save money for college....it's gone and you still have to take on more loans. Any thoughts?

well I had to serve my country for 3yrs min to get 46000 for college my parents where broke and even though I had good grades and graduated with honers I couldnt afford college and that was back in 1993 I didnt get to college till 2000 and even then I had to work two jobs and go to school. still had car payments, rent, food, and other bills. hey but atleast college was free right?

I do not have kids at the college age quite yet...one in middle school, one a sophomore in high school. I was talking to a colleague the other day...she has three daughters...all graduated from college now. All three of her daughters went out of NY state to big name schools. I was amazed and asked her how she paid for them. She makes about the same money as i do and there is NO WAY IN HELL I could send one kid to any of those schools, let alone all three. She told me that she knew how to work the system to make herself look broke. Something about re-mortgaging her house more than it was worth...taking the cash and putting it in a safe deposit box, her and her husband openned some type of small business that conveniently loses money every year....etc etc etc. Long story short....these big name schools let her kids go to their school for a fraction of the regular price...up to 50% less!!!!!!!!!!! All because she is so called "broke." It was cheaper, for example, to send her daughter to Boston College than it would have been for her to go to a state school in NY. My collegue's exact words were "anyone who sets up a college fund for their kids is a sucker." Her words, not mine. So if you don't save a dime for their education, you get all kinds of help. If you DO save money for college....it's gone and you still have to take on more loans. Any thoughts?

Although, you could commend a person for "exploiting the system", IMO ethically what she did doesn't sit right. Nice lesson to teach her kids. I'm sure she figured this "scheme" out from a friend, relative, or co-worker that had done it before. What's wrong with "bucking up" when you can just find the loopholes to exploit the system. How nice. Meanwhile, you have kids that are more deserving, but really are broke, and can't. But this lady (and others) are pulling this junk to look broke and the deserving kids parent's have too much pride preventing them from pulling off that scheme. What's this lady's response when you ask "what do you think of retirement savings"?, "fraud, it's where the money's at"?

They say our technical world is being taken over by Asians and Indians, gee, I wonder why.

Its mainly because the Asians and Indians have really strong educational goals for their children (in general). How often have you seen asian "book worms", and rarely see them trying out for Sports teams, etc. They often take stuff like Music, and chess, stuff that is thought to be better for knowledge than Sports. In our American culture, you can see we like to have fun, our lives are a good balance. We push our kids to take up sports, we like to enjoy our money buying frivilous stuff. But for many asian cultures, education is above all else... This is also the culture where you see kids really respect their elders... 2nd and 3rd generation asians, don't have as much of this as they become integrated into "American culture"

In the workforce, it doesn't hurt that people from those regions/backgrounds are willing to work hard for less pay than what typical "Americans" demand... And coming to America is the dream of many people. This is still the "Land of Opportunity"...

My wife came from Vietnam, the communist hell-hole that it is... Because my father-in-law was "sympathetic" to the South (and the US), my wife's family was kicked out of their home, dad thrown in prison, lived in a very poor area in Saigon (basically slums)... Since they were not "communist", they lost out on a lot of opportunities for the best schools, etc... Yet my wife still took calculus in the 8th or 9th grade, Not that she was "that" smart, but those countries and regions place that much emphasis on education...
It was common, even in a poor communist country education was a priority.

My wife came here at age 25 and could not speak English at all (she took French and Russian growing up)... She worked her way through school (and had some student loans), and in 6-years she graduated with a degree in Civil Enginering (and a few units short of a minor in Computor Science) from Cal Poly (a pretty good school) with something like a 3.8+ GPA... She worked damn hard...


In many asian communities, the parents hope their kids will be doctors or engineers, not so they will be wealthy, but as a sense of pride for the parents... Here in America, Wealth seems to trump all (for most), but these other places, education is what is highly regarded...

now, I hear there are quite a few wealthy Chinese/Hong Kong families that can afford to "buy" the best education, but many of the students admitted to these schools/programs get there because of their academics and social standing... And those families will sacrifice EVERYTHING for their kids... My in-laws worked a gruelling minimum-wage job for 10-years, saving what they could to help their kids. My In-laws did not receive any government help for their kids education... Their children's education was just their biggest priority. No nice new fancy car, no dinners out (except the odd family celebration), no shopping sprees (well, maybe at Ross, Target, etc)... Heck, because of my wife, I had all my student loans and credit cards (from school) paid off about 2.5 to 3 years after I graduated (and I had already bought a house by that time)...

My F-i-L asked each of his kids for a framed copy of their diploma and a graduation picture... While he has them displayed, I was surprized that they are all displayed in the his "office" (a back room), and not where visitors will readily see them... he doesn't brag, but his kids are his biggest point of pride in his life (aside from his grandkids now... My sister in-laws are a Pharmacist and an accountant, and my brother-in-law is a Chemical Engineer...

No offense, but why don't you sell your Chevelle to help your kid attend that prestigious University?

Honestly, I'd have a hard time selling my cars too. Just pointing out that thats the kind of sacrifices many Asian families make... Just wanted to point out some of the cultural differences...


I'm going for my master's and the Indian man next to me hasn't paid for half of what I have. With the grants he gets, along with job (NASA) its no wonder why America if falling behind.

But that's America's biggest problems lately... we complain about "its not fair"... Life's not fair, get over it, or change the system... America is falling behind, because we feel we are "entitled" to everything...

I have no idea what Grants, etc the guy "next to you" gets, or his financial situation, but does he have enough money to afford a nice classic Chevelle? Do you really know if he gets any Grants? Or does he have "family money"? Does he work nights as a janitor or in some restaurant? Does he have nice stuff, or live in an apartment, with a small TV and a beat-up, used compact car?
I pretty much never knew what my classmates received (grants, loans, etc), and I didn't discuss what I got...

No offense, but why are you entitled to my tax dollars for your continuing education, while you get to keep you Chevelle? The sale of that classic would go a long way toward your education...

I don't like jobs going overseas, I don't like "illegal" immigrants and I don't like having to pay for the education of a foreigner that plans to go back to their country when there degree is done, But I have no problem with immigrants coming here, getting educated and finding a job here... Immigrants are what made America great...

Don't even get me started with student loans.:angry:
I have one (consolidated) of my daughters that ballooned from $8,700.00 to over $26,000.00!!!
She was in nursing school. We moved away to Colorado. While we were gone she dropped out and got married.
The college screwed up and instead of returning the money to Sallie Mae they cut her a check!!! Which her and her boyfriend/husband (now ex) blew throiugh before they caught up to the mistake.
She started to pay but then stopped using deferrments and forebearances until they were exhausted.
Ten years later they come after me as the parent/co-signer. I had no Idea any of this was going on until they came after me. I was never ever informed she wasn't paying!!!
I started paying and I was making payments until I became disabled. Then I applied to have the loans forgiven which they refuse to do! They say their interpitation of disabled is not the same as SSD's .
What it really is about is the government will only return the original amout of the loan and they will have to eat the interest late fees and penalties they kept adding.
If they had let me know she wasn't paying and came after me back then it would have been payed off a long, long time ago!!!
Then seeing that Bush signed a bill allowing them to garnish SS and SSD checks plus add late fees every month they have more incentive not to forgive a loan now!:sad:
Sorry for the rant.:)