I also think there are many alternative to school scholarships. DH went to Harvard in 1976. Tuition was $5000. He won a local Newcastle, PA scholarship that paid his tuition for 4 years. They were not expecting Harvard and capped it after he won it, because tuition disparity was different then, I guess.
And he won some other financial awards etc that he had 3 full years free. But he also worked construction during the summer as kids had whatever summer jobs you could get. And he had medical school to pay for after.
I do not know the work involved in getting alternative type of scholarships and aren't there websites where you can search for things that define qualifications and other parameters?
Besides the financial planning, I am also coming up with the plan. I know of MG kid who did really well but had legacy at Princeton and decent soccer skills got into Princeton with engineering. I think a great choice for a girl for entrance. Of course, just like in that Gladwell book, she found herself with all these HG+ kids and had a nervous breakdown in the first semester and took a year off.
The thing about being on this forum is that after the testing and hearing stories, you really know where your kid is at. I know DD's IQ since we had her tested for a gifted preschool, then all the NYC stuff and again for the Toronto gifted school. I know she can get the scores, I know she has the dance at the level Harvard likes, with National ballet school. And as mentioned, I have the U of Toronto as a back up and I have no doubts she will make it there unless she suddenly goes off and becomes a drug addict.
My comment, before I digressed, was that when DH went to Harvard, it wasn't based on parental income. Right now they have that huge endowment. We go into freefall on the market, maybe they won't offer financial aid for anyone accepted making under 65K per annum. Yale had the biggest endowment for a while in the mid decade and then the market blew them up. So counting on today's practices may not work so the whole Walmart greeter plan could go the way of 8 track music.
