Paying for a second or third tier college

[Anonymous]

Tier 1
HYPSM, Chicago, JHU, Upenn, Columbia, Northwestern, Brown, CalTech, Duke.

Tier2
Cornell, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory, WashU, Berkeley, UCLA, Notre Dame, Umich, CMU, Williams, Amherst, Georgetown

Tier 3
USC, NYU, Gatech, UNC, UVa, UF, BC, Tufts, BU, Swarthmore, Pomona, UT, Northeastern, Barnard, Bowdoin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tier 1
HYPSM, Chicago, JHU, Upenn, Columbia, Northwestern, Brown, CalTech, Duke.

Tier2
Cornell, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory, WashU, Berkeley, UCLA, Notre Dame, Umich, CMU, Williams, Amherst, Georgetown

Tier 3
USC, NYU, Gatech, UNC, UVa, UF, BC, Tufts, BU, Swarthmore, Pomona, UT, Northeastern, Barnard, Bowdoin

Hahaha. Good troll attempt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many Georgia parents of high stats kids are wrestling with this and normally it’s been a no-brainer. UGA or GA Tech with the Zell Miller scholarship (full tuition) wins over paying for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 privates a lot of the time (even in full pay families).

I just looked up. It seems that they award many such scholarships each year. No wonder GA Tech is able to maintain such a high standard. For those who are not STEM inclined though, it’s a tough choice, as UGA is such a downgrade!

Were I a GA resident and could send me kid to either of these schools practically free I'd do it in a heartbeat over just about any school. One of my kids' UVA roommate was a GA resident who turned down GA Tech for engineering and paid OOS tuition to UVA instead and that never made sense to me.

that was 100% a dumb decision. I'm betting that the kid just wanted to go oos, and to the best oos they could get into.

To turn down GT for UVA for eng... that's a 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Have you toured GT? We did and it was the land of super, super nerdy STEM kids. I'm married to a geeky engineer who spent his college Friday nights doing problem sets with friends but my kid is mainstream and couldn't see herself there at all. She hated the vibe and we spent hours and hours on the campus trying to see if she could see herself there.

There is more to college than just a rating.

It's funny - I turned down GT for UVA Engineering back in the early 2000s. I met my now surgeon wife in college Can't promise that will happen for everyone, but yes there's more to college than just a rating.

[Anonymous]

I saw a few “tiers lists” floating around in this thread. OP: Can you confirm what your cutoff is and what your kid’s top choices are? Rutgers is a very solid school. I honestly don’t see anything wrong with attending Rutgers if your kid is not academically strong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many Georgia parents of high stats kids are wrestling with this and normally it’s been a no-brainer. UGA or GA Tech with the Zell Miller scholarship (full tuition) wins over paying for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 privates a lot of the time (even in full pay families).

I just looked up. It seems that they award many such scholarships each year. No wonder GA Tech is able to maintain such a high standard. For those who are not STEM inclined though, it’s a tough choice, as UGA is such a downgrade!

Were I a GA resident and could send me kid to either of these schools practically free I'd do it in a heartbeat over just about any school. One of my kids' UVA roommate was a GA resident who turned down GA Tech for engineering and paid OOS tuition to UVA instead and that never made sense to me.

that was 100% a dumb decision. I'm betting that the kid just wanted to go oos, and to the best oos they could get into.

To turn down GT for UVA for eng... that's a 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Have you toured GT? We did and it was the land of super, super nerdy STEM kids. I'm married to a geeky engineer who spent his college Friday nights doing problem sets with friends but my kid is mainstream and couldn't see herself there at all. She hated the vibe and we spent hours and hours on the campus trying to see if she could see herself there.

There is more to college than just a rating.

It's funny - I turned down GT for UVA Engineering back in the early 2000s. I met my now surgeon wife in college Can't promise that will happen for everyone, but yes there's more to college than just a rating.

Who is to say you wouldn’t have met an awesome AI founder at GT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tier 1
HYPSM, Chicago, JHU, Upenn, Columbia, Northwestern, Brown, CalTech, Duke.

Tier2
Cornell, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory, WashU, Berkeley, UCLA, Notre Dame, Umich, CMU, Williams, Amherst, Georgetown

Tier 3
USC, NYU, Gatech, UNC, UVa, UF, BC, Tufts, BU, Swarthmore, Pomona, UT, Northeastern, Barnard, Bowdoin

Hahaha. Good troll attempt.

Whats troll about this? Let me guess you went to Cornell?

[Anonymous]

The Virginia of it all really distorts this question—Virginia and California are really the only states with more than one public college that is on par with nationally renowned privates.

That said, I am the oldest of three kids and went to any Ivy. My brother, the second oldest, went to a top 50 school with high name recognition. My sister, the youngest, went to a no-name regional SLAC on a full ride merit scholarship. I have an excellent, high-earning career. My brother has a very good career and is married to an extremely successful woman. My sister has been laid off multiple times and is still struggling to find her purpose.

People complain about paying full freight for these schools in the lower half of the top 50 but ime the outcomes are good because the peer group is solid. But if the choice is between noname private or non-flagship public, it gets tough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many Georgia parents of high stats kids are wrestling with this and normally it’s been a no-brainer. UGA or GA Tech with the Zell Miller scholarship (full tuition) wins over paying for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 privates a lot of the time (even in full pay families).

I just looked up. It seems that they award many such scholarships each year. No wonder GA Tech is able to maintain such a high standard. For those who are not STEM inclined though, it’s a tough choice, as UGA is such a downgrade!

Were I a GA resident and could send me kid to either of these schools practically free I'd do it in a heartbeat over just about any school. One of my kids' UVA roommate was a GA resident who turned down GA Tech for engineering and paid OOS tuition to UVA instead and that never made sense to me.

that was 100% a dumb decision. I'm betting that the kid just wanted to go oos, and to the best oos they could get into.

To turn down GT for UVA for eng... that's a 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Have you toured GT? We did and it was the land of super, super nerdy STEM kids. I'm married to a geeky engineer who spent his college Friday nights doing problem sets with friends but my kid is mainstream and couldn't see herself there at all. She hated the vibe and we spent hours and hours on the campus trying to see if she could see herself there.

There is more to college than just a rating.

It's funny - I turned down GT for UVA Engineering back in the early 2000s. I met my now surgeon wife in college Can't promise that will happen for everyone, but yes there's more to college than just a rating.

But were you a Georgia resident though?

[Anonymous]

Floridian here. Can someone explain why NJ has such weak state schools when the taxes are so high there?

And I agree with the others that the state matters. We have a great option here (which I’d actually claim is tier 2 not 3 as claimed earlier) so for us the decision is simple. But if it was basically pay for a good school or don’t go to a good school at all, I’d be more likely to pay. Actually have you looked at UF? The OOS sticker price is probably equivalent to in state at many others but for a stronger college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tier 1
HYPSM, Chicago, JHU, Upenn, Columbia, Northwestern, Brown, CalTech, Duke.

Tier2
Cornell, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory, WashU, Berkeley, UCLA, Notre Dame, Umich, CMU, Williams, Amherst, Georgetown

Tier 3
USC, NYU, Gatech, UNC, UVa, UF, BC, Tufts, BU, Swarthmore, Pomona, UT, Northeastern, Barnard, Bowdoin

From my perspective those are all Tier 1.

Tier 2 are the T50-down to directional schools.

Tier 3 are directional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Virginia of it all really distorts this question—Virginia and California are really the only states with more than one public college that is on par with nationally renowned privates.

That said, I am the oldest of three kids and went to any Ivy. My brother, the second oldest, went to a top 50 school with high name recognition. My sister, the youngest, went to a no-name regional SLAC on a full ride merit scholarship. I have an excellent, high-earning career. My brother has a very good career and is married to an extremely successful woman. My sister has been laid off multiple times and is still struggling to find her purpose.

People complain about paying full freight for these schools in the lower half of the top 50 but ime the outcomes are good because the peer group is solid. But if the choice is between noname private or non-flagship public, it gets tough.

Did your sister have the option of going to a college in the same league as your brother’s T50 (private?) school?

I personally wouldn’t waste time and money going to a no-name school, private or public. Just pick up a skill you enjoy. Read some good books in your leisure time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tier 1
HYPSM, Chicago, JHU, Upenn, Columbia, Northwestern, Brown, CalTech, Duke.

Tier2
Cornell, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory, WashU, Berkeley, UCLA, Notre Dame, Umich, CMU, Williams, Amherst, Georgetown

Tier 3
USC, NYU, Gatech, UNC, UVa, UF, BC, Tufts, BU, Swarthmore, Pomona, UT, Northeastern, Barnard, Bowdoin

From my perspective those are all Tier 1.

Tier 2 are the T50-down to directional schools.

Tier 3 are directional.

Are you the OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Floridian here. Can someone explain why NJ has such weak state schools when the taxes are so high there?

And I agree with the others that the state matters. We have a great option here (which I’d actually claim is tier 2 not 3 as claimed earlier) so for us the decision is simple. But if it was basically pay for a good school or don’t go to a good school at all, I’d be more likely to pay. Actually have you looked at UF? The OOS sticker price is probably equivalent to in state at many others but for a stronger college.

In the Northeast, the long tradition of top tier private colleges means the elites were never going to use the public colleges. There were also pushes for open enrollment at places like CUNY to ensure access but that cut into any lingering prestige. The taxes in these states are often just paying for bloated public sector pensions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That works only if the state school has a good reputation for that specific major, OP. My kid is in International Affairs. At UMD, where he was accepted, he would have had to cobble together the classes he wanted. He went to GWU instead, which is known for IA. We can afford it.

Terrible investment...IA doesn't exist anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Virginia of it all really distorts this question—Virginia and California are really the only states with more than one public college that is on par with nationally renowned privates.

That said, I am the oldest of three kids and went to any Ivy. My brother, the second oldest, went to a top 50 school with high name recognition. My sister, the youngest, went to a no-name regional SLAC on a full ride merit scholarship. I have an excellent, high-earning career. My brother has a very good career and is married to an extremely successful woman. My sister has been laid off multiple times and is still struggling to find her purpose.

People complain about paying full freight for these schools in the lower half of the top 50 but ime the outcomes are good because the peer group is solid. But if the choice is between noname private or non-flagship public, it gets tough.

Did your sister have the option of going to a college in the same league as your brother’s T50 (private?) school?

I personally wouldn’t waste time and money going to a no-name school, private or public. Just pick up a skill you enjoy. Read some good books in your leisure time.

Yes, by the time my sister was applying she’d heard my parents’ complaints that my brother’s school was even more expensive than mine despite not being as prestigious. So she skipped applying to this tier of schools and was rejected or waitlisted at T20s.