My view of the college funding situation is colored by the fact that after taking the PSAT I received monthly mail from the university of Tulsa offering free tuition, free board, and a stipend if only I would agree to attend their school. (In retrospect, I think that would have been a good idea... ah, hindsight.) I'm pretty sure there are other scholarships around that require more than the absolutely zero effort that took.
I would have killed to have someone offer me that. :( You were lucky to have so many options available to you; I applied for 40+ scholarships at the time and placed as runner up for one and was awarded one other. It wasn't enough to meet even in state coa, sadly.
6 years later I got a full tuition science scholarship at a community college, but that took a ridiiiiiiculously huge effort and it only lasted for a year since I wasn't an 18 year old anymore (meh). I'm still incredibly grateful to my chemistry professor who helped me get it, though.
Thank you. I hate having to explain myself over and over again, especially when so many people just call me lazy, stupid, etc...but it's a serious problem, and if someone with my academic chops has trouble, then that really says a lot about how awful the system is for everyone else.
I think a lot of it is that people don't want to accept that their own college degree was more a factor of luck and money than anything else. Passing classes isn't hard at all, paying for them is.
