COLLEGE AWARD LETTERS WHICH NUMBERS MATTER
It’s that time of year again: award letter season. At some point within the next month or two, your high school senior should receive mail from all the colleges that have accepted them. These letters will break down the financial aid awards your child will receive and give you the final cost of tuition. After the final award letter arrives, it’s time to make the difficult decisions. Now you know how much each institution will cost — at least in theory. The sad truth is that there’s currently no universal format for these award letters. This can make comparing awards from different schools difficult and misleading. This is especially true in the case of loans. Many institutions don’t provide a clear breakdown of how much of a final award is derived from loans vs. grants and scholarships. They do this by failing to provide details on interest rates and monthly payments within the letter itself. Some don’t even use the word “loan” at all. Watch out for this. Some award letters look very attractive when you simply look at the total dollar value, but this number may be inflated by costly loans that will plague you or your child well after graduation. Once you’ve taken loans into account, the other deceiving number you have to get past is the cost of attendance. The sticker prices of most colleges are pretty frightening these days. It’s easy to look at the total cost of an out-of-state, Ivy League school and shake one’s head, but this
shouldn’t be the number you dwell on. Instead, you have to calculate the net price. This is the cost of attendance minus the amount of aid your child will end up accepting. This is the actual monetary cost you’ll be paying semester to semester. Once your child has received their last award letter and you’ve pieced together how much you’ll actually be paying in tuition and loans, the hardest decision remains: Which of these colleges will your child call home?
LEFTOVER TURKEY RAMEN
HAVE A LAUGH
INGREDIENTS
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1 leftover turkey carcass
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4 eggs
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6 scallions, divided
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4 ounces bacon
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8 slices ginger
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4 portions fresh, not instant, ramen noodles
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6 dried shiitake mushrooms
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2 cups leftover turkey, shredded
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16 cups water
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Remove most of the meat from the turkey carcass, shred, and set aside. Put carcass in a large stockpot, along with 3 scallions, ginger, mushrooms, and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 3 hours. 2. Place eggs in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then immediately remove pot from heat and let sit for 4 minutes. Transfer eggs to an ice bath to cool. 3. Cook bacon until crisp. Drain, chop, and set aside. Chop remaining scallions. 4. Once the broth is done simmering, prepare the fresh noodles according to package directions. Divide noodles among 4 bowls and cover with broth. Add shredded turkey, chopped scallions, chopped bacon, and an egg to each bowl. (Recipe inspired by TheWoksOfLife.com.)
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