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Are expensive American undergraduate educations worth it for foreign students?

Mo Nickels — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:44:41 -0800

Is it worth it for a foreign parent to squeeze his budget to manage very expensive undergraduate educations for his children in elite American schools? A respected colleague in Asia writes with this query. It's not so much about how to get financial aid when you are a parent of foreign student seeking an undergraduate education in the United States so much as it is a question as to whether it is worth it at all, even if you can pay.

His words are below, posted with his permission. I have stripped out identifying information. The family is not in Singapore, for what that is worth.

«I have 2 children entering university at the same time this year.

My son has won a partial scholarship to the Eastman School of Music, but even then, the amount we'd have to come up with to send him there is rather forbidding.

My daughter has been accepted into New York University to do Liberal Arts -- but without any aid, which makes it virtually impossible for us to help her realise her dream.

What resources can I apply for in the US or elsewhere to help them? We've tried ones in our country but so far without success.

Would you recommend they take up the places offered them by the 2 schools, given the constraints? Are the schools really worth the astronomical expense? (Well, I know Eastman is about second to Juilliard, and NYU is reputable, although its Arts programme is 15th in the world.)

Would it really count so much that these would be for undergraduate study? Do people look more at one's postgrad pedigree? Would it be just as well that they did their first degree elsewhere (more affordable) and seek to go higher at Eastman and NYU afterwards? (In fact, my son has also obtained a full scholarship to theYong Siew Toh Coservatory of Music in Singapore. But then, what is YST compared to Eastman?)

I'm sorry if I sound inane but this issue of my children's further education has been keeping me from sleep for quite a while.»

Lifestyles of the rich and stupid?

jdroth — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:29:39 -0800

What are some of the stupid things rich and famous people have spent their money on? I know about Michael Jackson and his ten AIBOs, for example. What are some other examples? Actors, politicians, athletes, past and present — tell me about their excesses. [This is lazyweb research for a future article.]

Space Simulation - the dead genre of games

TheOnlyCoolTim — Wed, 17 May 2006 11:20:17 -0800

Recommend me some good sci-fi space simulation games I'm missing. Yeah, I like me a dead genre.

I've played (assume I've played the series where appropriate): X-Wing, Independence War, Freespace, Elite, Wing Commander, and maybe some others I've forgotten.

I want some quality single player story driven joystick fare. In space. Open-endedness like Elite or I-War 2 is cool, but not necessary.

I have not played the X series or the free Babylon 5 game, are there any recommendations there?

How did you prove your eliteness?

monsta coty scott — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 17:02:33 -0800

Elite BBS access. What were some of the most common questions used to verify a new user's level of elite in the late 80s, early 90s? There were a lot of acronym related questions, such as What does ACiD stand for?, What is the CDC? that were asked before a sysop would grant a new user access to a warez or phreak board. I can only remember those two and I'm hoping to compile a much larger list.