Shameless brag

[SarahB]

I had a couple of parent-teacher conferences today (which my boys' school does twice a year for all the kids) and my 9 year old son's third grade teacher said to me, "Don't even worry about saving for college. He'll have no problem getting a scholarship. He's brilliant."

Let's hope so anyway. I'm so lucky... and proud! :)

[Jersey Devil]

1. Reality - scholarships are few and far between

Sounds like you have a real bright kid. Having had a few of those myself my experience is that unless your kid is in the top 10 in his high school class scholarships are not as available as teachers and guidance officers say they are and are usually based on need.

My oldest was 12th or so in a class of about 300 and got offered basically nothing, mainly because we couldn't show "need", although I would consider our family at or just slightly above what I consider "middle class".

He was admitted to every school he applied to applied to but with 2 other kids closely behind him I couldn't very well pay to send him to Syracuse (his first choice - offered him $1,000 in scholarships - big deal) and then tell the other 2 they had to go to community college.

Luckily in NJ we have a fine, affordable public college in Rutgers so he went there and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

So, my advice is certainly, be proud of him. But don't get lulled into a false sense of security about scholarships. My son's teachers said exactly the same thing - "don't worry, he'll get scholarships" -Save!

[SarahB]

2. Oh, I know the practicalities.

It was still nice though on an emotional level. :)

[Jersey Devil]

3. Absolutely! Hope my post wasn't a downer for you

I remember the kind of pride and emotional burst of good feelings that you have over my kids' accomplishments in school. Encouraging them to continue to excell and having them feel they are shooting for something (scholarships) I think is a good thing to do to motivate them further.

It's just that I also remember the disappointment when I found out that all the talk by my son's guidance counsellors about how he wouldn't have to worry about the scholarship offers that would come pouring in turned out to be just talk.

[phylny]

4. We were basically told the same thing.

Daughter #1 was National Honor Society, Foreign Language Honor Society, local, state, and regional debate champion, blah blah blah, Oh, you'll get terrific scholarships, this child won't have to pay for college!

B.S.

Since we also cannot show need (and the amount they said we could afford was equal to my salary at the time!) she got two one time scholarships for $1,000 each.

She got in-state tuition at a very prestigious state school, but the reality is that we've moved and are going to be paying out-of-state tuition for the last three years.