Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So I saw something and maybe this goes on more
than more than I know that I haven't seen for
for colleges and the school that they that they are
using as the reference point is Syracuse.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Yuck.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
So I have never I have never heard of this
happening now, granted when when I went to school for
my six weeks, this wasn't a big part.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
And then but what is it going to be like
in a room wi fi? No no no no no.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
And then like like for both boys, like the older
one like whether it was Arizona or Tennessee and the
younger one with Miami of Ohio like never this never
came up.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I'm gonna read. Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
By the time the usual May one college deposit deadline
rolled around this year, David Berger's daughter had already made
up her she would leave Alpharetta, Georgia and become a
Penn State Nitney Lyon. So clearly she was going to
Penn State, but Syracuse University, which had also accepted her,
(01:13):
wasn't done with her yet. After having initially offering offering
her zero merit aid, it's staff began poaching her. So
again May one, there's there's usually a deposit that you
have to put down right.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
And you don't. You don't have to.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
But some schools will tell you like this, this we
saw with Arizona is if you pay your deposit, you
get first choice on doors. Yeah, securing housing and stuff
like that, which is a huge issue at a lot
of schools. I get it, but you don't have to
do that. But anyway, so, but a lot of people
will put down a deposit.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Where was I? Here we go.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Syracuse, which had also accepted her, wasn't dumb with her
yet they'd offer her zero maritate here we go. On
May second, So a day after the deposit day, a
twenty thousand dollars per year offer arrived to the family.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
What there, I'm not done.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Then came a ten thousand dollars per year discount two
days later. Several weeks went by before Syracuse dangled an
additional twenty thousand dollars per year, so total of fifty.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
I'm at fifty right now.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
The last email said spaces will be filled on a
first come, first serve basis. The Burgers were one of
many families that received similar offers and left parents scratching
their head. Now, Burger said, it's almost like they became
(02:57):
a used car salesman. Their daughter is sticking with Penn State.
Have you ever heard of that? No where after the
deadline date. And keep in mind, it's not a deadline
in terms of saying no, it's just a deposit deadline.
And then you'll you'll have kids that are on like
a weight list, or they're deferred so they don't want
(03:19):
to accept at another school. So you play that game
of do we just say yes and we know do
we wait and see what the weight list looks like?
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Are we deferred for a year?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Is it one of those like some schools will do
like like I know for Tennessee, getting into Knoxville is
a problem, but they'll do like ut Gatlin Bird for
a semester or a year and then you could transfer in.
Some schools will do do our study abroad program for
a semester because we know some kids are gonna leave it.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Then you can come back in. I get all of that.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So not everybody makes that deposit on the first and
Syracuse may not have even known that the Burger family
had already made a deposit at Penn State.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Has anybody ever heard of this before?
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I'm not surprised but I am surprised because I've never
heard of this, but the fact that they have to
beg students to come, Okay, that's not surprising. Fifty thousand
dollars a year, so you're talking about and that was
for all four.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
You said, yeah, so it turned they just they just
offered them two hundred thousand dollars for their kid to
go to school at Syracuse.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Now listen, listen, I know it's not cheap, so you're
still on the hook for probably thirty thousand dollars a
year they said.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Out of state for Syracuse it's like sixty three grand,
but with.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Like room and board, it's eighty thousand to ten Syracuse,
so you're still you're still paying. And where they're from
Georgia though, so they're not paying in state to Penn State. Man,
this is crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Two hundred grand to go to.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Prior to that March first that May first deadline zero,
no money offered.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
And the Burghers weren't the only ones. Remember it was
first come, first serve. Now I know you said that,
but did they say how many?
Speaker 1 (05:14):
No, but they were able to find several families that
responded and said, oh yeah, we got that too.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Has anyone offered more that I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
I didn't see I didn't see financials from others just
the I don't know if it was the same. Actually
that's not true. Here we go. Oh no, this one's
also fifty.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Which again is a ton. That's a good chunk.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yeah it keep in mind that that's fifty a year.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
That's two hundred thousand dollars. Christian, will you do me
a favor.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Will you see if you've heard of anybody getting not
just from Syracuse. I was talking too well, one thing
at a time. You see, if you can find me
somebody who's either a heard of this, I've never heard
of this before. B has ever gotten an offer like
that before. It may not be Syracuse may not be
the only school doing it. Eight six six to Elliott
(06:15):
eight six six two three five five four six eight.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
And it's funny.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Jackie had friend with a at lunch with a friend
or hers yesterday, who's whose son just graduated from high school?
And so I said to Jackie, where is where is
where's the young man going to young man? Where's her
kid going to college? It's this exact same scenario.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
He's getting money too. No thrown at.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Him going to Penn State, but had also applied to Syracuse.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
That's funny. I want to tell Jackie, call your friend,
get in on something I don't know. Then, I don't
know that the parent care. They show me the money. Please.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
I know you can argue over financial aid, but for
merit aid. And again, these were unsolicited offers kept coming.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
I didn't go through the registrar's office and tried to
and tried to ask for help.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
But can you fight for merit aid? If you're offered some,
can you ask for more? Yes? And I'll tell you
how I know the answer to that. So my.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
I have a buddy's who's old, who has a kid
the same age as my older one. Right, And he
ended up going to what's the one in Philly, Saint Jose.
He ended up going to Saint Jose but had also
been accepted to another school, and he Saint Joe's was
number one, and I can't remember what number two was, right,
Number two offered him more aid. He went back to
(07:38):
Saint Jose and said, they offered me more money, give
me and it was merit Base.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
It was merit Base, yeah, absolutely, and they gave it
to They say, oh, they masked it. They gave it
to him.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Wow, and he was like, sweet, see you're in the
fall and he went and he loves it. But he
was like, why my number one isn't giving me what
I want? And yes, it was Merit Base and they
gave him them. They gave him the money. I was like,
good for him, great kid.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, that's awesome. God, damn, it's expensive. Oh please please?
Ugh do you read this sorry falling into darkness? Yeah?
Do you read this story with a sense of envy? Yes?
Oh God, yes, God yes.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
And then the only the only other part that I
don't that I don't know, and maybe maybe somebody will
know this if you if you give a school, because
they do talk about it in there, if you give
a school a deposit. So like, let's say, let's say
he would have taken the so they paid their deposit
for Penn State. I'll just use the Alfred Atlanta family.
(08:48):
They gave the deposit for Penn State, and I don't
know what the deposit is. And then they start getting
all this money thrown at him from Syracuse and they're like, uh,
we're going to Syracuse, right, How like is it hard
to break your agreement with Penn State.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Oh, it meaning that to get refunding. Yeah, the agreement
to enroll is not legally binding.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
No, but like a lot of times it does, like
and I can't remember which ones which, like if like
there's early decision in early action and I don't know
which one is which.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yes, decision is supposedly binding. It is not right, but
it does. It does flag your record. I do know that.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Early action is the one touted as you still have
options of viable.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
So early decision is the one that is quote binding.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
But it does, it does tag your record.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
I know people that blew that off like crazy, and
I was scared by it. It did when when you're
doing the college tours and they talk about that, You're like,
oh my god, okay, well you really got to want
to go here. And then when I got to college
and people are like, yeah, I got accepted early decision
to X, Y and Z.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Can just bailed on it, right you know where you
know where? So your record does get flagged? Number one?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
What does that mean? Number two? I know that I
like yours. There's no record that all these schools are seeing. No.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
No, but I know I know a kid who did that,
and it ended up on some record of his and
when he applied to law school, the first thing they
said to him is, you know what. When he was
applying to go to law school and ended up talking
to the law school, they made a big deal about
how you blew off a.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Decision that you had made that you were going to
You had told the school you were going there. Oh,
there's that flag.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
But do you an institution, if if desired, can inform
other institutions about your decision.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Now, I'll tell you who does that? Other students to
screw with people? Yeah, really, Students will go on Instagram
and find like, for example, this this goes on buddy
Mine's daughter.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
This will make Tyler happy because it was at Syracuse.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Buddy of Mine's daughter went to Syracuse above such of
her friends. She didn't do it, but a bunch of
her friends and they had like another friend that didn't
get in a bunch of her friends like went through
Instagram and found people that were accepted and were like,
this is what you're accepting. They would send it to
the registrar and go like, you accepted this girl she's
underage drinking? Oh my god, Yeah, no, this crap goes
(11:17):
on all the time. It's ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
This is like when I tried to see Taylor Swift
in Canada. By telling all this DUI cases, they couldn't
get over the border. Maybe too, I mean, I didn't
go to school when there was social media, so this
that didn't go on anyway?
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (11:33):
So if you if you pay the deposit, a is
it hard to get that deposit back? Because I'll tell
you the other thing. If I were the if I
were the Atlanta family, I would go to Syracuse and
go listen. I'm happy to take your aid. But I
did pay a deposit at Penn State.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
So no, you want more, absolutely ref me.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Penn State's not going to give me my money back.
You pay me my money back. So I want two
hundred and I don't know what's the deposit ten grand,
five grand, I don't know what it is.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I want. I want my.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Deposit paid back by you.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
He said you could argue for more merit aid. Of course,
maybe you would have to phrase it differently and argue
that it's just more for the student's performance in high school.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
No, I would. I would be honest to go.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
We paid the deposit, but we want to take you
up on this, but I want my Penn.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
State's not going to get me the money back. I'm
already in the hole. So you just need the university
to code it as more meriti. You code it whatever
you want. Carlos, that's our financial guy here. I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
Have you had a fight with him or you've had
to drop that on it on poor Carlos Line's It
sounded like he was defending and you refuted.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Hi Elliott the morning. Hey, who's this?
Speaker 5 (13:00):
This is Laurie from Richmond.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Hey, Laurie, Yes, what can I do for you?
Speaker 5 (13:04):
So about five or six years ago, my daughter had
applied to a couple of schools and got accepted, and
we made a decision to go to Mary Washington based
on some aid given. Other schools had done the same,
and VCU came in after the fact and gave her
a full ride scholarship academic. So you know, we jumped
on that and canceled our other reservation and we got
(13:26):
our money back.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Wait, so Mary Washington gave you your deposit back?
Speaker 5 (13:31):
Yes, I gave you was in within a couple of days.
Like this, It happened within a couple of days. But
vc had only offered her a small amount, so we went,
you know, we're following the money because she's going to
med school, right, And they end up coming back to
us a couple of days later. What a full ride academic?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Where where was that? Wow?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Before we made our.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Decision, don't ask stupid questions?
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Take that full ride? Yeah, I would drive by Mary
Washington slipping them off there. Did you try to go
back to Washington and give them a.
Speaker 6 (14:02):
We absolutely did.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
Yep, we did, and we went back to Mary Washington
and told them, and they came back, but they.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Couldn't beat it.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Oh yeah, and they told you put your d in
the sand. All right, very good, very good? Oh my god,
oh my god.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I'm ready to hear these Syracuse cases and the questions
that do arise. This One parent said, Uh, since they
didn't tell us why they made these offers, we couldn't
help but feel they were desperate. Are they in trouble financially?
Are they now going to over enroll and cause other problems?
Do they generally just not have their act together?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And what was the answer? No, these were thoughts they had. Oh,
oh I gotcha, I gotcha. It would it would?
Speaker 3 (14:46):
I mean it be appealing obviously just based on the
bottom line, you want kids in the school, but you
you would also you would ask yourself similar query.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yes if all of a sudden you're like out of nowhere.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Like the one thing that we did make both boys
do is because they applied to several schools, if they
got into a school that they weren't going to go to.
Because a lot of kids just don't even respond. They're like,
I got into my first choice or my second choice,
third and fourth, and now because of that.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
What is that stupid app that.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Where it's like click click, click click, and your crap
gets sent to five hundred schools and they don't know
that it costs money. God, kids are dumb, but they
won't go back and tell school like if they if
they take their second choice, but they also got into
three and four, they don't decline three and four. We
made the boys do that school somebody else schools are
(15:45):
sitting there waiting and going I don't know if we're
in or if we're not, and there's deferment and stuff
like that.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
I get it. So is this the common app? Common app?
That's it? God damn, that's a money making machine. Do
you feel like you thought of that before they were
able to actually build the software.
Speaker 7 (16:02):
No.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
No, but I kicked myself in the ass ere i'd
want to call it. I'm like, I'm gonna do Elliott
Common or whatever. Those kids click on it like it's
a video game. Well I'll just send it here. Why
that's money?
Speaker 3 (16:15):
What was the most ill advised application sent out by
one of your kids.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
I knew there was no even though even though at
one point the younger one had said, I think it
would be fun to go to school there, by the
time it was college time, we knew he wasn't going
to go to school. And that's why. And again, all
you got to do is you just go through it
and you click, oh, we'll send it here. We'll send
it here. I lost my mind. We're not going to
the University of Hawaii.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
We'll see if I can get in. We're not going
to the University of Hawaii. But he applied. Oh yeah, yeah,
I hope. By the way, I hope it's a great
vacation spot. They got fifty of my dollars. Oh my god,
I lost my mind. Line eight.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
I have buddies who's kids. They applied to fifty sixty schools.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Wow, I'm like, you're sixty yeah, but not like, oh well,
this one like at least fifty bucks a pop, Diane.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
It's not. There's no conversation. Scroll like it like it,
like it like it, like it, like it like it,
scroll like it like it like it like it like it,
scroll like it, and it just goes. You don't have
to send anything that money.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
These friends children weren't the ones that end up on
the news because they were accepted to all of them.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
No, you don't get in any of these schools. No,
I know they're kids, no offense, they're not getting into there.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Please Line eight. Hi Elliott the Morning.
Speaker 6 (17:38):
Hy This is Emily from Herndon.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yes, what can I do for you?
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Hi?
Speaker 6 (17:43):
I'm playing. My situation was a little bit different because
it was for grad school, but I actually had this
happen to me with Nyu. I had visited a bunch
of schools after I had been accepted, and I ended
up deciding that I was going to go to Wake four.
But I emailed everyone I had met with at other
schools to let them know, like it was nice to
(18:06):
meet them, but I've decided to accept another offer. And
NYU kept on badgering me, probably two or three times.
I had to tell them no, but they kept on
trying to up their offer of a scholarship to try
and match what Lake Forest had offered me initially before
I had even visited them, And it was really kind
(18:29):
of off putting that it was like, Okay, well, now
you've offered me fifty percent off for tuition when you
only initially offered me nothing. So it was just kind
of like, why wouldn't have offered me this at the beginning?
Why didn't you? Why?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Why was it off putting?
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Though? Like I understand the frustration part of it, right,
like I understand the well why didn't you offer this
to me originally?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
But why is it off putting?
Speaker 6 (19:01):
I think because I had to tell them no several times,
So it felt like I was being harassed a little bit,
Like I don't know if they thought I was trying
to to negotiate, but I really wasn't because wake Forest
just off that that had offered me a really great scholarship.
The cost of living was better, I was looking forward
(19:22):
to the weather in North Carolina, and I liked the
program better just overall.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
So there was no amount of money there was no
amount of money and why you could throw at you
where you would have taken it.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
No, if they if they had offered me a full ride,
I would.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Have gone there.
Speaker 6 (19:39):
It was just that because that they offered me was
only to try to match what Wake four was offering
me intuition, but wasn't going.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
To like do anything.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Understand, I understand, I mean I get it, I get it,
and it would be it would be weird.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Thank you, ma'am. Thank you for the arts because that's
one of your favorite names.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
The oh tish. Yeah, the I do get where it
would be like, well why now, like why what did
I do? But at the same time, think about going
through life. There's gonna be something where they'll come back
and go okay, okay, okay, okay, we'll give you an
(20:20):
extra little whatever, or we'll take more off. Whether you're
getting more or spending less, it's the same thing. Don't
look a gift horse in the mouth, don't ask why,
ask how much?
Speaker 2 (20:33):
And how much more?
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Yeah, well you could see that with like salaries for jobs. Yes,
well I'm looking at uh, I'm looking at this job
over here. Well, mister Siegel, how about it. By the way,
I jump at a dollar, dollar more jumping a dollar
even if it's a tish dollar. Damn it, they got
me again. Hi Elliott in the morning.
Speaker 8 (20:59):
Hey Elliott's Kristin from Alexandria.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
How are you.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I'm doing great? Thank you? What can I do for you?
Speaker 8 (21:03):
Well, my kid is about to be a senior at Syracuse.
And let me tell you, the outrage on the Syracuse
parent Facebook community is palpable. We started hearing rumors that
this was happening, you know, towards the end of the spring,
like the end of the admission cycle, that Syracuse was
(21:23):
throwing money at other kids. But until this article came out,
like everyone just assumed it was anecdotal and sour grapes.
But yeah, apparently they really missed their yield, which is
the number of students who accept the offer of enrollment.
They really really missed that this year, and so they're
trying to make it up in order to fill the beds.
(21:47):
But it's expensive. I mean, Syracuse is a private school.
There is no in state, there is no out of state.
Everybody pays the same freight ninety two thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Jesus, it is really.
Speaker 8 (22:02):
Exceptive and it's seven hours from out from Alexandria, so
you know there's transportation, there's don't factor that.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
In, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
You chose that, I think about how far Hawaii is.
Speaker 8 (22:12):
Right, that's true. When she chose it because it's her,
it's the program that she's always wanted, like that's she
had her sits on that she went for it and
she and she did it. But the folks who are
already there, like us, you know, who got nothing from
Syracuse three years ago, are just so yeah, exactly Dane
(22:32):
that that they would be throwing fifty grand a year
to kids who, as the article said, this isn't financial data,
don't necessarily need it. You know that one kid the
dad was like, we don't need this. We can afford
to send our kids somewhere else and somebody who needs
this might actually be able to benefit from it.
Speaker 7 (22:52):
So anyway, it's so you're saying, and when you say yield,
like just for just to use round numbers, right, they
accepted one hundred kids thinking whatever, they know math, they
know what these cycles are.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
If we accept one hundred, seventy are going to come.
I'm making that up.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
But they would use historical data to know that, and
so this year they got like thirty to come, and
they're like, oh, throw money at them.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
We got to get people in here exactly.
Speaker 8 (23:18):
Yeah, they have all, like you said, all that historical data.
They've got people. This is their job figuring out how
many people are going to come and between the economy
and you know, I assume this matters. Tyler would say,
this matters. The Syracuse sports haven't necessarily been burning it
up in recent years. I mean, there's just a lot
of factors that go into it. But they didn't enroll
(23:38):
as many kids as they had counted on enrolling, and
so they needed to fill those beds. And if they're
going to have the lack or the inability to enroll
the international kids because of visa issues and immigration issues
with the administration saying, you know, schools are not going
to be able.
Speaker 6 (23:56):
To do that.
Speaker 8 (23:57):
Most of the international kids pay full fair and sometimes
they even pay a little bit extra, and so you great, right,
but without that, you know, each class maybe has you know,
ten percent or international students. If those ten percent are
suddenly unexpectedly maybe not coming, that makes that sense probably
(24:20):
a panic down the spine of every admissions officer at
every school, so I love it.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
I love that the parents are hot, though. I mean,
I paid this craft for three years and I get nothing.
Speaker 8 (24:31):
Yeah, you can't even imagine.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yeah, it was my mind.
Speaker 8 (24:34):
Here is my mind. Are like ken, We're kind of
call the admissions office today and demand extra money.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
But then, like in the same article again, it wasn't
like the first one was Penn State. They were talking
to somebody else who's kid excepted to go to Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Same thing.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Letters started showing up. Come to Syracuse, Come to Syracuse.
We'll give you half off. My kids going into his
last year at Tennessee. If Syracuse sends me a letter today,
I will pull him out and graduate.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
His final year there. They're both orange. All right, very good,
Thank you man,
So I saw something and maybe this goes on more
than more than I know that I haven't seen for
for colleges and the school that they that they are
using as the reference point is Syracuse.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Yuck.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
So I have never I have never heard of this
happening now, granted when when I went to school for
my six weeks, this wasn't a big part.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
And then but what is it going to be like
in a room wi fi? No no no no no.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
And then like like for both boys, like the older
one like whether it was Arizona or Tennessee and the
younger one with Miami of Ohio like never this never
came up.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I'm gonna read. Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
By the time the usual May one college deposit deadline
rolled around this year, David Berger's daughter had already made
up her she would leave Alpharetta, Georgia and become a
Penn State Nitney Lyon. So clearly she was going to
Penn State, but Syracuse University, which had also accepted her,
(01:13):
wasn't done with her yet. After having initially offering offering
her zero merit aid, it's staff began poaching her. So
again May one, there's there's usually a deposit that you
have to put down right.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
And you don't. You don't have to.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
But some schools will tell you like this, this we
saw with Arizona is if you pay your deposit, you
get first choice on doors. Yeah, securing housing and stuff
like that, which is a huge issue at a lot
of schools. I get it, but you don't have to
do that. But anyway, so, but a lot of people
will put down a deposit.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Where was I? Here we go.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Syracuse, which had also accepted her, wasn't dumb with her
yet they'd offer her zero maritate here we go. On
May second, So a day after the deposit day, a
twenty thousand dollars per year offer arrived to the family.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
What there, I'm not done.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Then came a ten thousand dollars per year discount two
days later. Several weeks went by before Syracuse dangled an
additional twenty thousand dollars per year, so total of fifty.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
I'm at fifty right now.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
The last email said spaces will be filled on a
first come, first serve basis. The Burgers were one of
many families that received similar offers and left parents scratching
their head. Now, Burger said, it's almost like they became
(02:57):
a used car salesman. Their daughter is sticking with Penn State.
Have you ever heard of that? No where after the
deadline date. And keep in mind, it's not a deadline
in terms of saying no, it's just a deposit deadline.
And then you'll you'll have kids that are on like
a weight list, or they're deferred so they don't want
(03:19):
to accept at another school. So you play that game
of do we just say yes and we know do
we wait and see what the weight list looks like?
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Are we deferred for a year?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Is it one of those like some schools will do
like like I know for Tennessee, getting into Knoxville is
a problem, but they'll do like ut Gatlin Bird for
a semester or a year and then you could transfer in.
Some schools will do do our study abroad program for
a semester because we know some kids are gonna leave it.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Then you can come back in. I get all of that.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So not everybody makes that deposit on the first and
Syracuse may not have even known that the Burger family
had already made a deposit at Penn State.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Has anybody ever heard of this before?
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I'm not surprised but I am surprised because I've never
heard of this, but the fact that they have to
beg students to come, Okay, that's not surprising. Fifty thousand
dollars a year, so you're talking about and that was
for all four.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
You said, yeah, so it turned they just they just
offered them two hundred thousand dollars for their kid to
go to school at Syracuse.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Now listen, listen, I know it's not cheap, so you're
still on the hook for probably thirty thousand dollars a
year they said.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Out of state for Syracuse it's like sixty three grand,
but with.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Like room and board, it's eighty thousand to ten Syracuse,
so you're still you're still paying. And where they're from
Georgia though, so they're not paying in state to Penn State. Man,
this is crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Two hundred grand to go to.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Prior to that March first that May first deadline zero,
no money offered.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
And the Burghers weren't the only ones. Remember it was
first come, first serve. Now I know you said that,
but did they say how many?
Speaker 1 (05:14):
No, but they were able to find several families that
responded and said, oh yeah, we got that too.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Has anyone offered more that I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
I didn't see I didn't see financials from others just
the I don't know if it was the same. Actually
that's not true. Here we go. Oh no, this one's
also fifty.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Which again is a ton. That's a good chunk.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yeah it keep in mind that that's fifty a year.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
That's two hundred thousand dollars. Christian, will you do me
a favor.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Will you see if you've heard of anybody getting not
just from Syracuse. I was talking too well, one thing
at a time. You see, if you can find me
somebody who's either a heard of this, I've never heard
of this before. B has ever gotten an offer like
that before. It may not be Syracuse may not be
the only school doing it. Eight six six to Elliott
(06:15):
eight six six two three five five four six eight.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
And it's funny.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Jackie had friend with a at lunch with a friend
or hers yesterday, who's whose son just graduated from high school?
And so I said to Jackie, where is where is
where's the young man going to young man? Where's her
kid going to college? It's this exact same scenario.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
He's getting money too. No thrown at.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Him going to Penn State, but had also applied to Syracuse.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
That's funny. I want to tell Jackie, call your friend,
get in on something I don't know. Then, I don't
know that the parent care. They show me the money. Please.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
I know you can argue over financial aid, but for
merit aid. And again, these were unsolicited offers kept coming.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
I didn't go through the registrar's office and tried to
and tried to ask for help.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
But can you fight for merit aid? If you're offered some,
can you ask for more? Yes? And I'll tell you
how I know the answer to that. So my.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
I have a buddy's who's old, who has a kid
the same age as my older one. Right, And he
ended up going to what's the one in Philly, Saint Jose.
He ended up going to Saint Jose but had also
been accepted to another school, and he Saint Joe's was
number one, and I can't remember what number two was, right,
Number two offered him more aid. He went back to
(07:38):
Saint Jose and said, they offered me more money, give
me and it was merit Base.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
It was merit Base, yeah, absolutely, and they gave it
to They say, oh, they masked it. They gave it
to him.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Wow, and he was like, sweet, see you're in the
fall and he went and he loves it. But he
was like, why my number one isn't giving me what
I want? And yes, it was Merit Base and they
gave him them. They gave him the money. I was like,
good for him, great kid.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, that's awesome. God, damn, it's expensive. Oh please please?
Ugh do you read this sorry falling into darkness? Yeah?
Do you read this story with a sense of envy? Yes?
Oh God, yes, God yes.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
And then the only the only other part that I
don't that I don't know, and maybe maybe somebody will
know this if you if you give a school, because
they do talk about it in there, if you give
a school a deposit. So like, let's say, let's say
he would have taken the so they paid their deposit
for Penn State. I'll just use the Alfred Atlanta family.
(08:48):
They gave the deposit for Penn State, and I don't
know what the deposit is. And then they start getting
all this money thrown at him from Syracuse and they're like, uh,
we're going to Syracuse, right, How like is it hard
to break your agreement with Penn State.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Oh, it meaning that to get refunding. Yeah, the agreement
to enroll is not legally binding.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
No, but like a lot of times it does, like
and I can't remember which ones which, like if like
there's early decision in early action and I don't know
which one is which.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yes, decision is supposedly binding. It is not right, but
it does. It does flag your record. I do know that.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Early action is the one touted as you still have
options of viable.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
So early decision is the one that is quote binding.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
But it does, it does tag your record.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
I know people that blew that off like crazy, and
I was scared by it. It did when when you're
doing the college tours and they talk about that, You're like,
oh my god, okay, well you really got to want
to go here. And then when I got to college
and people are like, yeah, I got accepted early decision
to X, Y and Z.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Can just bailed on it, right you know where you
know where? So your record does get flagged? Number one?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
What does that mean? Number two? I know that I
like yours. There's no record that all these schools are seeing. No.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
No, but I know I know a kid who did that,
and it ended up on some record of his and
when he applied to law school, the first thing they
said to him is, you know what. When he was
applying to go to law school and ended up talking
to the law school, they made a big deal about
how you blew off a.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Decision that you had made that you were going to
You had told the school you were going there. Oh,
there's that flag.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
But do you an institution, if if desired, can inform
other institutions about your decision.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Now, I'll tell you who does that? Other students to
screw with people? Yeah, really, Students will go on Instagram
and find like, for example, this this goes on buddy
Mine's daughter.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
This will make Tyler happy because it was at Syracuse.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Buddy of Mine's daughter went to Syracuse above such of
her friends. She didn't do it, but a bunch of
her friends and they had like another friend that didn't
get in a bunch of her friends like went through
Instagram and found people that were accepted and were like,
this is what you're accepting. They would send it to
the registrar and go like, you accepted this girl she's
underage drinking? Oh my god, Yeah, no, this crap goes
(11:17):
on all the time. It's ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
This is like when I tried to see Taylor Swift
in Canada. By telling all this DUI cases, they couldn't
get over the border. Maybe too, I mean, I didn't
go to school when there was social media, so this
that didn't go on anyway?
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (11:33):
So if you if you pay the deposit, a is
it hard to get that deposit back? Because I'll tell
you the other thing. If I were the if I
were the Atlanta family, I would go to Syracuse and
go listen. I'm happy to take your aid. But I
did pay a deposit at Penn State.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
So no, you want more, absolutely ref me.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Penn State's not going to give me my money back.
You pay me my money back. So I want two
hundred and I don't know what's the deposit ten grand,
five grand, I don't know what it is.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I want. I want my.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Deposit paid back by you.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
He said you could argue for more merit aid. Of course,
maybe you would have to phrase it differently and argue
that it's just more for the student's performance in high school.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
No, I would. I would be honest to go.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
We paid the deposit, but we want to take you
up on this, but I want my Penn.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
State's not going to get me the money back. I'm
already in the hole. So you just need the university
to code it as more meriti. You code it whatever
you want. Carlos, that's our financial guy here. I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
Have you had a fight with him or you've had
to drop that on it on poor Carlos Line's It
sounded like he was defending and you refuted.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Hi Elliott the morning. Hey, who's this?
Speaker 5 (13:00):
This is Laurie from Richmond.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Hey, Laurie, Yes, what can I do for you?
Speaker 5 (13:04):
So about five or six years ago, my daughter had
applied to a couple of schools and got accepted, and
we made a decision to go to Mary Washington based
on some aid given. Other schools had done the same,
and VCU came in after the fact and gave her
a full ride scholarship academic. So you know, we jumped
on that and canceled our other reservation and we got
(13:26):
our money back.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Wait, so Mary Washington gave you your deposit back?
Speaker 5 (13:31):
Yes, I gave you was in within a couple of days.
Like this, It happened within a couple of days. But
vc had only offered her a small amount, so we went,
you know, we're following the money because she's going to
med school, right, And they end up coming back to
us a couple of days later. What a full ride academic?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Where where was that? Wow?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Before we made our.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Decision, don't ask stupid questions?
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Take that full ride? Yeah, I would drive by Mary
Washington slipping them off there. Did you try to go
back to Washington and give them a.
Speaker 6 (14:02):
We absolutely did.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
Yep, we did, and we went back to Mary Washington
and told them, and they came back, but they.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Couldn't beat it.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Oh yeah, and they told you put your d in
the sand. All right, very good, very good? Oh my god,
oh my god.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I'm ready to hear these Syracuse cases and the questions
that do arise. This One parent said, Uh, since they
didn't tell us why they made these offers, we couldn't
help but feel they were desperate. Are they in trouble financially?
Are they now going to over enroll and cause other problems?
Do they generally just not have their act together?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And what was the answer? No, these were thoughts they had. Oh,
oh I gotcha, I gotcha. It would it would?
Speaker 3 (14:46):
I mean it be appealing obviously just based on the
bottom line, you want kids in the school, but you
you would also you would ask yourself similar query.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yes if all of a sudden you're like out of nowhere.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Like the one thing that we did make both boys
do is because they applied to several schools, if they
got into a school that they weren't going to go to.
Because a lot of kids just don't even respond. They're like,
I got into my first choice or my second choice,
third and fourth, and now because of that.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
What is that stupid app that.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Where it's like click click, click click, and your crap
gets sent to five hundred schools and they don't know
that it costs money. God, kids are dumb, but they
won't go back and tell school like if they if
they take their second choice, but they also got into
three and four, they don't decline three and four. We
made the boys do that school somebody else schools are
(15:45):
sitting there waiting and going I don't know if we're
in or if we're not, and there's deferment and stuff
like that.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
I get it. So is this the common app? Common app?
That's it? God damn, that's a money making machine. Do
you feel like you thought of that before they were
able to actually build the software.
Speaker 7 (16:02):
No.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
No, but I kicked myself in the ass ere i'd
want to call it. I'm like, I'm gonna do Elliott
Common or whatever. Those kids click on it like it's
a video game. Well I'll just send it here. Why
that's money?
Speaker 3 (16:15):
What was the most ill advised application sent out by
one of your kids.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
I knew there was no even though even though at
one point the younger one had said, I think it
would be fun to go to school there, by the
time it was college time, we knew he wasn't going
to go to school. And that's why. And again, all
you got to do is you just go through it
and you click, oh, we'll send it here. We'll send
it here. I lost my mind. We're not going to
the University of Hawaii.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
We'll see if I can get in. We're not going
to the University of Hawaii. But he applied. Oh yeah, yeah,
I hope. By the way, I hope it's a great
vacation spot. They got fifty of my dollars. Oh my god,
I lost my mind. Line eight.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
I have buddies who's kids. They applied to fifty sixty schools.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Wow, I'm like, you're sixty yeah, but not like, oh well,
this one like at least fifty bucks a pop, Diane.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
It's not. There's no conversation. Scroll like it like it,
like it like it, like it, like it like it,
scroll like it like it like it like it like it,
scroll like it, and it just goes. You don't have
to send anything that money.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
These friends children weren't the ones that end up on
the news because they were accepted to all of them.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
No, you don't get in any of these schools. No,
I know they're kids, no offense, they're not getting into there.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Please Line eight. Hi Elliott the Morning.
Speaker 6 (17:38):
Hy This is Emily from Herndon.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yes, what can I do for you?
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Hi?
Speaker 6 (17:43):
I'm playing. My situation was a little bit different because
it was for grad school, but I actually had this
happen to me with Nyu. I had visited a bunch
of schools after I had been accepted, and I ended
up deciding that I was going to go to Wake four.
But I emailed everyone I had met with at other
schools to let them know, like it was nice to
(18:06):
meet them, but I've decided to accept another offer. And
NYU kept on badgering me, probably two or three times.
I had to tell them no, but they kept on
trying to up their offer of a scholarship to try
and match what Lake Forest had offered me initially before
I had even visited them, And it was really kind
(18:29):
of off putting that it was like, Okay, well, now
you've offered me fifty percent off for tuition when you
only initially offered me nothing. So it was just kind
of like, why wouldn't have offered me this at the beginning?
Why didn't you? Why?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Why was it off putting?
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Though? Like I understand the frustration part of it, right,
like I understand the well why didn't you offer this
to me originally?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
But why is it off putting?
Speaker 6 (19:01):
I think because I had to tell them no several times,
So it felt like I was being harassed a little bit,
Like I don't know if they thought I was trying
to to negotiate, but I really wasn't because wake Forest
just off that that had offered me a really great scholarship.
The cost of living was better, I was looking forward
(19:22):
to the weather in North Carolina, and I liked the
program better just overall.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
So there was no amount of money there was no
amount of money and why you could throw at you
where you would have taken it.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
No, if they if they had offered me a full ride,
I would.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Have gone there.
Speaker 6 (19:39):
It was just that because that they offered me was
only to try to match what Wake four was offering
me intuition, but wasn't going.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
To like do anything.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Understand, I understand, I mean I get it, I get it,
and it would be it would be weird.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Thank you, ma'am. Thank you for the arts because that's
one of your favorite names.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
The oh tish. Yeah, the I do get where it
would be like, well why now, like why what did
I do? But at the same time, think about going
through life. There's gonna be something where they'll come back
and go okay, okay, okay, okay, we'll give you an
(20:20):
extra little whatever, or we'll take more off. Whether you're
getting more or spending less, it's the same thing. Don't
look a gift horse in the mouth, don't ask why,
ask how much?
Speaker 2 (20:33):
And how much more?
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Yeah, well you could see that with like salaries for jobs. Yes,
well I'm looking at uh, I'm looking at this job
over here. Well, mister Siegel, how about it. By the way,
I jump at a dollar, dollar more jumping a dollar
even if it's a tish dollar. Damn it, they got
me again. Hi Elliott in the morning.
Speaker 8 (20:59):
Hey Elliott's Kristin from Alexandria.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
How are you.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I'm doing great? Thank you? What can I do for you?
Speaker 8 (21:03):
Well, my kid is about to be a senior at Syracuse.
And let me tell you, the outrage on the Syracuse
parent Facebook community is palpable. We started hearing rumors that
this was happening, you know, towards the end of the spring,
like the end of the admission cycle, that Syracuse was
(21:23):
throwing money at other kids. But until this article came out,
like everyone just assumed it was anecdotal and sour grapes.
But yeah, apparently they really missed their yield, which is
the number of students who accept the offer of enrollment.
They really really missed that this year, and so they're
trying to make it up in order to fill the beds.
(21:47):
But it's expensive. I mean, Syracuse is a private school.
There is no in state, there is no out of state.
Everybody pays the same freight ninety two thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Jesus, it is really.
Speaker 8 (22:02):
Exceptive and it's seven hours from out from Alexandria, so
you know there's transportation, there's don't factor that.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
In, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
You chose that, I think about how far Hawaii is.
Speaker 8 (22:12):
Right, that's true. When she chose it because it's her,
it's the program that she's always wanted, like that's she
had her sits on that she went for it and
she and she did it. But the folks who are
already there, like us, you know, who got nothing from
Syracuse three years ago, are just so yeah, exactly Dane
(22:32):
that that they would be throwing fifty grand a year
to kids who, as the article said, this isn't financial data,
don't necessarily need it. You know that one kid the
dad was like, we don't need this. We can afford
to send our kids somewhere else and somebody who needs
this might actually be able to benefit from it.
Speaker 7 (22:52):
So anyway, it's so you're saying, and when you say yield,
like just for just to use round numbers, right, they
accepted one hundred kids thinking whatever, they know math, they
know what these cycles are.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
If we accept one hundred, seventy are going to come.
I'm making that up.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
But they would use historical data to know that, and
so this year they got like thirty to come, and
they're like, oh, throw money at them.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
We got to get people in here exactly.
Speaker 8 (23:18):
Yeah, they have all, like you said, all that historical data.
They've got people. This is their job figuring out how
many people are going to come and between the economy
and you know, I assume this matters. Tyler would say,
this matters. The Syracuse sports haven't necessarily been burning it
up in recent years. I mean, there's just a lot
of factors that go into it. But they didn't enroll
(23:38):
as many kids as they had counted on enrolling, and
so they needed to fill those beds. And if they're
going to have the lack or the inability to enroll
the international kids because of visa issues and immigration issues
with the administration saying, you know, schools are not going
to be able.
Speaker 6 (23:56):
To do that.
Speaker 8 (23:57):
Most of the international kids pay full fair and sometimes
they even pay a little bit extra, and so you great, right,
but without that, you know, each class maybe has you know,
ten percent or international students. If those ten percent are
suddenly unexpectedly maybe not coming, that makes that sense probably
(24:20):
a panic down the spine of every admissions officer at
every school, so I love it.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
I love that the parents are hot, though. I mean,
I paid this craft for three years and I get nothing.
Speaker 8 (24:31):
Yeah, you can't even imagine.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yeah, it was my mind.
Speaker 8 (24:34):
Here is my mind. Are like ken, We're kind of
call the admissions office today and demand extra money.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
But then, like in the same article again, it wasn't
like the first one was Penn State. They were talking
to somebody else who's kid excepted to go to Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Same thing.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Letters started showing up. Come to Syracuse, Come to Syracuse.
We'll give you half off. My kids going into his
last year at Tennessee. If Syracuse sends me a letter today,
I will pull him out and graduate.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
His final year there. They're both orange. All right, very good,
Thank you man,
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