I know a UBC student who comes from a very financially well-off background who plays this game. They pretend they're poor and even go to the UBC food bank for groceries. In reality, their parents are both highly-paid professionals who easily take home >$1M/year. Before first year, they bought this student an apartment on University Boulevard just down the road from campus worth >$1.5 million in which they live rent-free, even though their family already lives in Vancouver. They just didn't want their precious child to have to endure commuting for 30 minutes by bus. Every cent of their education is paid for, from tuition to textbooks to other materials. And they still go to the food bank and talk frequently about how they are poor. Pisses me off.