"Help!! I want to go to Notre Dame!"

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I agree that it's tacky to basically panhandle to strangers to fund your education, but if it works, great for her. If it proves to be trend based on a generational sense of entitlement, people will probably stop giving. Problem solved.

I may have mentioned this before, but back in August, a young woman who's a sophomore at my undergrad sent me an e-mail. She basically gave me "i'm so qualified!" song and dance before asking me if I could help her with her educational expenses...to the tune of $30K. Since she got my e-mail through the alumni mentoring website, I called Alumni Relations at once to ask them what would happen if I chose to report this. Let's just say that the consequences were serious.

I think it's mini-generational. I'm not that much older than this girl, but there's no way in hell I'd e-mail a total stranger asking for $30K. These kids are part of the "MySpace" generation where it's totally okay to blast your personal information for the world to see.

[MexicanMami0286]

It's not as tacky as some sites, though. Some months ago, I ran into a website for high school seniors, similar to Facebook, where they list their activities, honors & awards, and top schools. Apparently, this site is looked at by admissions people, but I doubt there's much validity to that. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of the site...

At least this girl's site was organized. I wouldn't go about it this way. A lot of times, it's not as important as where you go, but what you do there...

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I may have mentioned this before, but back in August, a young woman who's a sophomore at my undergrad sent me an e-mail. She basically gave me "i'm so qualified!" song and dance before asking me if I could help her with her educational expenses...to the tune of $30K. Since she got my e-mail through the alumni mentoring website, I called Alumni Relations at once to ask them what would happen if I chose to report this. Let's just say that the consequences were serious.

I think it's mini-generational. I'm not that much older than this girl, but there's no way in hell I'd e-mail a total stranger asking for $30K. These kids are part of the "MySpace" generation where it's totally okay to blast your personal information for the world to see.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's weird and kind of shady to assume that other people should just pitch into to take care of your financial obligations, particularly when you are electing to buy an upgraded and maybe even luxury product (private university vs. local cheap public).

And the girl who approached you compounded this by violating the terms of the mentoring program, so I'd regard her as even more morally questionable.

But I don't see this Notre Dame page as being that bad. You can give or not give. One doesn't even have to visit the site.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I may have mentioned this before, but back in August, a young woman who's a sophomore at my undergrad sent me an e-mail. She basically gave me "i'm so qualified!" song and dance before asking me if I could help her with her educational expenses...to the tune of $30K. Since she got my e-mail through the alumni mentoring website, I called Alumni Relations at once to ask them what would happen if I chose to report this. Let's just say that the consequences were serious.

I think it's mini-generational. I'm not that much older than this girl, but there's no way in hell I'd e-mail a total stranger asking for $30K. These kids are part of the "MySpace" generation where it's totally okay to blast your personal information for the world to see.

Yeah, I think that's definitely over the line. If one of the students I did telephone interviews with had asked me for a donation, I have no idea what I would have done.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

Yeah, I think that's definitely over the line. If one of the students I did telephone interviews with had asked me for a donation, I have no idea what I would have done.

It's crazy! She is going to school to be an architect too; I let her know that she might not find too many 27 year-old architects who had $30K to spare. Alumni Relations called me a few weeks after I called them saying that other architect alumni here in the city had called them to complain; they said that they'd work with her financially, but restrict her access to alumni-related intranet indefinitely.

The interview kids can be pretty crazy too, but since they're in high school and still eager to impress, I can't imagine they'd do that.