So many regrets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are real and not a troll ... DC attends a T50 private. DC worked hard and competed for a full tuition scholarship. DC likes the private school a lot, but make no mistake - the financial investment does not stop at tuition. There's greek organization dues, going out with friends, trips, study and travel abroad, and general keeping up with the (wealthy) crowd when your student attends a private college. Our second child attends a state school, for which we pay more in tuition, but does not have the same level of additional financial pressures.

Mine are at two different ivies. Not true there, they both spend far far less per month than our very good friends who have kids at UVA, UNC and UCLA. They spend $3-5k a semester on food outside of dining and all the parties and drinking.
Ivies have so much stuff for free or minimal cost on campus and on weekends, dues for clubs have to be kept very small for the kids on aid(OVER half), and greek is not that common so when it happens it is not a $ dump like the 5k per semester other places. Going abroad was the cheapest semester we had. Elite privates are much less wealth centric than preppy publics and non-elite privates like SMU, BC, NYU

But you pay so much for tuition. We're not rich but too rich for aid and I don't see how 80k/year with low expenses is possibly cheaper than 30k/year with higher expenses. I can see NYY due to housing, but not big publics.

DP
I spent 84k last year and 86k this year for my kid's ivy, all in. They have a paid job in their sci department that pays them 2k per semester and that is their spending though they save a lot because they do not need much extra $ there. Neighbor's kid is at UVA Engineering (50k in state!)and with frats and now expensive off campus housing second year and food points that do not cover any where near all meals, plus kid likes to drink a lot and parents buy it, and he does not have to have a job since he "saves them money"....They spent $67k last year and will be close to 75k this year. The dad complains all the time he wishes he got into an ivy where drinking and frat culture is not the center and where he would be among more intellectually invested kids. He had no job last summer, could not find one but did not even try to do an unpaid internship somewhere. My DC netted 5k last summer after paying for housing and food out of the salary and we let them keep it. They will likely earn far more this summer. They already have publishable data from their lab and have presented it twice, as a sophomore. They are getting a better education, more valuable experience earlier, already have 3 professors whom they know well enough to have recs, on and on it goes. Even at 86k vs 50k it is well worth it to us.

Lol so many made up claims in this comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are real and not a troll ... DC attends a T50 private. DC worked hard and competed for a full tuition scholarship. DC likes the private school a lot, but make no mistake - the financial investment does not stop at tuition. There's greek organization dues, going out with friends, trips, study and travel abroad, and general keeping up with the (wealthy) crowd when your student attends a private college. Our second child attends a state school, for which we pay more in tuition, but does not have the same level of additional financial pressures.

Mine are at two different ivies. Not true there, they both spend far far less per month than our very good friends who have kids at UVA, UNC and UCLA. They spend $3-5k a semester on food outside of dining and all the parties and drinking.
Ivies have so much stuff for free or minimal cost on campus and on weekends, dues for clubs have to be kept very small for the kids on aid(OVER half), and greek is not that common so when it happens it is not a $ dump like the 5k per semester other places. Going abroad was the cheapest semester we had. Elite privates are much less wealth centric than preppy publics and non-elite privates like SMU, BC, NYU

But you pay so much for tuition. We're not rich but too rich for aid and I don't see how 80k/year with low expenses is possibly cheaper than 30k/year with higher expenses. I can see NYY due to housing, but not big publics.

DP
I spent 84k last year and 86k this year for my kid's ivy, all in. They have a paid job in their sci department that pays them 2k per semester and that is their spending though they save a lot because they do not need much extra $ there. Neighbor's kid is at UVA Engineering (50k in state!)and with frats and now expensive off campus housing second year and food points that do not cover any where near all meals, plus kid likes to drink a lot and parents buy it, and he does not have to have a job since he "saves them money"....They spent $67k last year and will be close to 75k this year. The dad complains all the time he wishes he got into an ivy where drinking and frat culture is not the center and where he would be among more intellectually invested kids. He had no job last summer, could not find one but did not even try to do an unpaid internship somewhere. My DC netted 5k last summer after paying for housing and food out of the salary and we let them keep it. They will likely earn far more this summer. They already have publishable data from their lab and have presented it twice, as a sophomore. They are getting a better education, more valuable experience earlier, already have 3 professors whom they know well enough to have recs, on and on it goes. Even at 86k vs 50k it is well worth it to us.

Lol so many made up claims in this comment.

I pretty much assume any post longer than a few sentences is by a frustrated young adult novelist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are real and not a troll ... DC attends a T50 private. DC worked hard and competed for a full tuition scholarship. DC likes the private school a lot, but make no mistake - the financial investment does not stop at tuition. There's greek organization dues, going out with friends, trips, study and travel abroad, and general keeping up with the (wealthy) crowd when your student attends a private college. Our second child attends a state school, for which we pay more in tuition, but does not have the same level of additional financial pressures.

Mine are at two different ivies. Not true there, they both spend far far less per month than our very good friends who have kids at UVA, UNC and UCLA. They spend $3-5k a semester on food outside of dining and all the parties and drinking.
Ivies have so much stuff for free or minimal cost on campus and on weekends, dues for clubs have to be kept very small for the kids on aid(OVER half), and greek is not that common so when it happens it is not a $ dump like the 5k per semester other places. Going abroad was the cheapest semester we had. Elite privates are much less wealth centric than preppy publics and non-elite privates like SMU, BC, NYU

But you pay so much for tuition. We're not rich but too rich for aid and I don't see how 80k/year with low expenses is possibly cheaper than 30k/year with higher expenses. I can see NYY due to housing, but not big publics.

DP
I spent 84k last year and 86k this year for my kid's ivy, all in. They have a paid job in their sci department that pays them 2k per semester and that is their spending though they save a lot because they do not need much extra $ there. Neighbor's kid is at UVA Engineering (50k in state!)and with frats and now expensive off campus housing second year and food points that do not cover any where near all meals, plus kid likes to drink a lot and parents buy it, and he does not have to have a job since he "saves them money"....They spent $67k last year and will be close to 75k this year. The dad complains all the time he wishes he got into an ivy where drinking and frat culture is not the center and where he would be among more intellectually invested kids. He had no job last summer, could not find one but did not even try to do an unpaid internship somewhere. My DC netted 5k last summer after paying for housing and food out of the salary and we let them keep it. They will likely earn far more this summer. They already have publishable data from their lab and have presented it twice, as a sophomore. They are getting a better education, more valuable experience earlier, already have 3 professors whom they know well enough to have recs, on and on it goes. Even at 86k vs 50k it is well worth it to us.

Lol so many made up claims in this comment.

I pretty much assume any post longer than a few sentences is by a frustrated young adult novelist.

+1. In this case, the PP shouldn't quit their day job. The diarrhea post in the Hamilton vs Middlebury thread, on the other hand - that "author" has potential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are real and not a troll ... DC attends a T50 private. DC worked hard and competed for a full tuition scholarship. DC likes the private school a lot, but make no mistake - the financial investment does not stop at tuition. There's greek organization dues, going out with friends, trips, study and travel abroad, and general keeping up with the (wealthy) crowd when your student attends a private college. Our second child attends a state school, for which we pay more in tuition, but does not have the same level of additional financial pressures.

Mine are at two different ivies. Not true there, they both spend far far less per month than our very good friends who have kids at UVA, UNC and UCLA. They spend $3-5k a semester on food outside of dining and all the parties and drinking.
Ivies have so much stuff for free or minimal cost on campus and on weekends, dues for clubs have to be kept very small for the kids on aid(OVER half), and greek is not that common so when it happens it is not a $ dump like the 5k per semester other places. Going abroad was the cheapest semester we had. Elite privates are much less wealth centric than preppy publics and non-elite privates like SMU, BC, NYU

But you pay so much for tuition. We're not rich but too rich for aid and I don't see how 80k/year with low expenses is possibly cheaper than 30k/year with higher expenses. I can see NYY due to housing, but not big publics.

DP
I spent 84k last year and 86k this year for my kid's ivy, all in. They have a paid job in their sci department that pays them 2k per semester and that is their spending though they save a lot because they do not need much extra $ there. Neighbor's kid is at UVA Engineering (50k in state!)and with frats and now expensive off campus housing second year and food points that do not cover any where near all meals, plus kid likes to drink a lot and parents buy it, and he does not have to have a job since he "saves them money"....They spent $67k last year and will be close to 75k this year. The dad complains all the time he wishes he got into an ivy where drinking and frat culture is not the center and where he would be among more intellectually invested kids. He had no job last summer, could not find one but did not even try to do an unpaid internship somewhere. My DC netted 5k last summer after paying for housing and food out of the salary and we let them keep it. They will likely earn far more this summer. They already have publishable data from their lab and have presented it twice, as a sophomore. They are getting a better education, more valuable experience earlier, already have 3 professors whom they know well enough to have recs, on and on it goes. Even at 86k vs 50k it is well worth it to us.

Listen, I went to an ivy. My wife went to an ivy. Our kid, Lord willing, will go to an ivy. But your claims on behalf of ivies do not withstand scrutiny. No one pointed a gun at your neighbor kid's head and made him join a frat. His summer behavior is not typical for UVA students, most of whom work. It sounds like the kids had a budding drinking problem and/or his parents spoil him. All of which makes the situation incommensurable. But. Even. Still. Kid will graduate as an engineer, and yours won't. C gets the degree, as engineers say. We'll see how this story finishes. None of what you say overcomes the let's say 15 to 20 grand difference that does matter to a lot of people. It's worth it to you, but you are not everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents who blew their wad on ED to Tulane with a 3.3/1260/27 will be the ones with regrets when their kid ends up at the same grad/law/business school as your kid from Cheaperthan U and you're still sitting on a fat pile.

I hate this analogy...so everyone, let's stop using it. Grad school is often a complete waste of money and only 35% of college graduates pursue it.

Let's stick to the better script...which is plenty of people achieve from any school.

First of all, nerd, 35% is a lot. But OK, how about a different analogy? The OP's kid graduates from their cheap school and ends up working in a cubicle next to one of those average stat kids whose parents bought their way into Tulane ED. Who's going to have regret then?

I worked alongside a Vandy grad at my first job out of a very average university. He mentioned it at least once a day just like the guy in The Office would bring up Cornell. My response was always the same: "We work the same job at the same company."

I doubt that made him regret attending Vandy though.

His old man might have regretted dropping 140 G's on it (roughly the four-year COA back then) if he'd known I paid next to nothing for a lower-ranked school and ended up at the same place as his kid.

So...should the Vandy grads that ended up working at KKR and Goldman and equivalent get to feel absolutely superior to you and other "average state school" grads that were never even remotely considered for an interview?

Vandy doesn't have a huge presence on The Street. It might be more than PP's "average state school," whatever that was, but it's not a known feeder like Penn, Cornell, Williams, Bucknell, Middlebury, and the like.

OK...you are kind of missing the point. Replace The Street with Bain Consulting.

I just don't understand why people flex the equivalent of "I went to average state U and have average professional job and I love to rag on the Vandy person that also has average professional job"...yet rightfully so, nobody thinks it's cool for the Vandy grad at Bain to feel superior to the average state U kid that couldn't even get an interview to save their life.

I’ve worked at BCG and went to a small private liberal arts college in the Midwest that you have never heard of. I think the point is that very rarely is there only one way to get where you want to go.

Everyone has their dumb anecdote about how one kid who went to a no-name school did really well but ffs this is not the typical or expected outcome.

You do realize that it's not a rare occurrence for a smart, hard working student to go to a state school (or no-name school) - kick butt - and then succeed in life, right along side others from private schools.....right?

Obvious that you don't realize that it is a rare occurrence. Unless you're truly defining down "kick butt and succeed in life", lmao.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents who blew their wad on ED to Tulane with a 3.3/1260/27 will be the ones with regrets when their kid ends up at the same grad/law/business school as your kid from Cheaperthan U and you're still sitting on a fat pile.

I hate this analogy...so everyone, let's stop using it. Grad school is often a complete waste of money and only 35% of college graduates pursue it.

Let's stick to the better script...which is plenty of people achieve from any school.

First of all, nerd, 35% is a lot. But OK, how about a different analogy? The OP's kid graduates from their cheap school and ends up working in a cubicle next to one of those average stat kids whose parents bought their way into Tulane ED. Who's going to have regret then?

I worked alongside a Vandy grad at my first job out of a very average university. He mentioned it at least once a day just like the guy in The Office would bring up Cornell. My response was always the same: "We work the same job at the same company."

I doubt that made him regret attending Vandy though.

His old man might have regretted dropping 140 G's on it (roughly the four-year COA back then) if he'd known I paid next to nothing for a lower-ranked school and ended up at the same place as his kid.

So...should the Vandy grads that ended up working at KKR and Goldman and equivalent get to feel absolutely superior to you and other "average state school" grads that were never even remotely considered for an interview?

Vandy doesn't have a huge presence on The Street. It might be more than PP's "average state school," whatever that was, but it's not a known feeder like Penn, Cornell, Williams, Bucknell, Middlebury, and the like.

OK...you are kind of missing the point. Replace The Street with Bain Consulting.

I just don't understand why people flex the equivalent of "I went to average state U and have average professional job and I love to rag on the Vandy person that also has average professional job"...yet rightfully so, nobody thinks it's cool for the Vandy grad at Bain to feel superior to the average state U kid that couldn't even get an interview to save their life.

I’ve worked at BCG and went to a small private liberal arts college in the Midwest that you have never heard of. I think the point is that very rarely is there only one way to get where you want to go.

Everyone has their dumb anecdote about how one kid who went to a no-name school did really well but ffs this is not the typical or expected outcome.

You do realize that it's not a rare occurrence for a smart, hard working student to go to a state school (or no-name school) - kick butt - and then succeed in life, right along side others from private schools.....right?

Obvious that you don't realize that it is a rare occurrence. Unless you're truly defining down "kick butt and succeed in life", lmao.

This is one of the worst rebuttals I’ve seen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are real and not a troll ... DC attends a T50 private. DC worked hard and competed for a full tuition scholarship. DC likes the private school a lot, but make no mistake - the financial investment does not stop at tuition. There's greek organization dues, going out with friends, trips, study and travel abroad, and general keeping up with the (wealthy) crowd when your student attends a private college. Our second child attends a state school, for which we pay more in tuition, but does not have the same level of additional financial pressures.

Mine are at two different ivies. Not true there, they both spend far far less per month than our very good friends who have kids at UVA, UNC and UCLA. They spend $3-5k a semester on food outside of dining and all the parties and drinking.
Ivies have so much stuff for free or minimal cost on campus and on weekends, dues for clubs have to be kept very small for the kids on aid(OVER half), and greek is not that common so when it happens it is not a $ dump like the 5k per semester other places. Going abroad was the cheapest semester we had. Elite privates are much less wealth centric than preppy publics and non-elite privates like SMU, BC, NYU

But you pay so much for tuition. We're not rich but too rich for aid and I don't see how 80k/year with low expenses is possibly cheaper than 30k/year with higher expenses. I can see NYY due to housing, but not big publics.

DP
I spent 84k last year and 86k this year for my kid's ivy, all in. They have a paid job in their sci department that pays them 2k per semester and that is their spending though they save a lot because they do not need much extra $ there. Neighbor's kid is at UVA Engineering (50k in state!)and with frats and now expensive off campus housing second year and food points that do not cover any where near all meals, plus kid likes to drink a lot and parents buy it, and he does not have to have a job since he "saves them money"....They spent $67k last year and will be close to 75k this year. The dad complains all the time he wishes he got into an ivy where drinking and frat culture is not the center and where he would be among more intellectually invested kids. He had no job last summer, could not find one but did not even try to do an unpaid internship somewhere. My DC netted 5k last summer after paying for housing and food out of the salary and we let them keep it. They will likely earn far more this summer. They already have publishable data from their lab and have presented it twice, as a sophomore. They are getting a better education, more valuable experience earlier, already have 3 professors whom they know well enough to have recs, on and on it goes. Even at 86k vs 50k it is well worth it to us.

Lol so many made up claims in this comment.

+1. Plus they are comparing apples and oranges. I went to Harvard and DD went to UVA. Harvard is $86k; UVA Arts & Sciences (its largest college therefore what most students pay) is $40k, all in. We banked the difference of $46 a year; it compounded so now we can pay for law school, which is running $100k to $116 a year (no merit; no financial aid). What the PP fails to acknowledve in her rush to prove how smart their de ision to go Ivy is is that neighbor's kid is making expensive choices while her kid is a spendthrift. That does not make an Ivy a better or less-expensive option for many readers here.

Neighbor's kid CHOSE to attend UVA Engineering which is $10k more than regular tuition (but still a steal compared to most OOS programs or private). Neighbor's kid CHOSE to go Greek; he chose (and parents allowed) to move into "an expensive flat". The kid chooses to eat out a lot and drink a lot but how that comes to $3,000 extra a month is beyond me. There is simply no way this kid is racking up $27k extra a year (where are the parents in all of this? Even if he is dining at Charlottesville's finest weekly he can't run up a tab like that). Frat dues at UVA are only $500 to $1500 a semester - identical to Harvard's. Once in, the drinks are free which is the same system as Harvard's off-campus frats. PP also fails to acknowledge the costs of joining a finals eating club like Harvard's Porcellian and the extreme pressure of keeping up with the VERY wealthy there. So it's apples and oranges but pointing out neighbor's kid's conduct is irrelevant in comparing the actual real costs.

Finally, yes, 53% of Harvard's students get aid but that's because it IS $86k a year. UVA's aid and graduation debt figures are lower (and ranked in top ten for best financial deal in the US). UVA students don't take out as many loans because they don't need to to cover the nut. Also, Harvard's figures aren't actually aid being given by Harvard -that 50% figure includes all of the students who take out FAFSA loans from the feds like both of my kids did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are real and not a troll ... DC attends a T50 private. DC worked hard and competed for a full tuition scholarship. DC likes the private school a lot, but make no mistake - the financial investment does not stop at tuition. There's greek organization dues, going out with friends, trips, study and travel abroad, and general keeping up with the (wealthy) crowd when your student attends a private college. Our second child attends a state school, for which we pay more in tuition, but does not have the same level of additional financial pressures.

Mine are at two different ivies. Not true there, they both spend far far less per month than our very good friends who have kids at UVA, UNC and UCLA. They spend $3-5k a semester on food outside of dining and all the parties and drinking.
Ivies have so much stuff for free or minimal cost on campus and on weekends, dues for clubs have to be kept very small for the kids on aid(OVER half), and greek is not that common so when it happens it is not a $ dump like the 5k per semester other places. Going abroad was the cheapest semester we had. Elite privates are much less wealth centric than preppy publics and non-elite privates like SMU, BC, NYU

Non-elite private colleges. Why do people go there? Did they not get into their state schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are real and not a troll ... DC attends a T50 private. DC worked hard and competed for a full tuition scholarship. DC likes the private school a lot, but make no mistake - the financial investment does not stop at tuition. There's greek organization dues, going out with friends, trips, study and travel abroad, and general keeping up with the (wealthy) crowd when your student attends a private college. Our second child attends a state school, for which we pay more in tuition, but does not have the same level of additional financial pressures.

Mine are at two different ivies. Not true there, they both spend far far less per month than our very good friends who have kids at UVA, UNC and UCLA. They spend $3-5k a semester on food outside of dining and all the parties and drinking.
Ivies have so much stuff for free or minimal cost on campus and on weekends, dues for clubs have to be kept very small for the kids on aid(OVER half), and greek is not that common so when it happens it is not a $ dump like the 5k per semester other places. Going abroad was the cheapest semester we had. Elite privates are much less wealth centric than preppy publics and non-elite privates like SMU, BC, NYU

Non-elite private colleges. Why do people go there? Did they not get into their state schools?

I don't buy PP's claim that you can actually SAVE MONEY going to an ivy as full pay, but the specific contention that ivy kids are less brand obsessed and materialist/consumerist than schools like SMU or Ole Miss is perfectly accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are real and not a troll ... DC attends a T50 private. DC worked hard and competed for a full tuition scholarship. DC likes the private school a lot, but make no mistake - the financial investment does not stop at tuition. There's greek organization dues, going out with friends, trips, study and travel abroad, and general keeping up with the (wealthy) crowd when your student attends a private college. Our second child attends a state school, for which we pay more in tuition, but does not have the same level of additional financial pressures.

Mine are at two different ivies. Not true there, they both spend far far less per month than our very good friends who have kids at UVA, UNC and UCLA. They spend $3-5k a semester on food outside of dining and all the parties and drinking.
Ivies have so much stuff for free or minimal cost on campus and on weekends, dues for clubs have to be kept very small for the kids on aid(OVER half), and greek is not that common so when it happens it is not a $ dump like the 5k per semester other places. Going abroad was the cheapest semester we had. Elite privates are much less wealth centric than preppy publics and non-elite privates like SMU, BC, NYU

But you pay so much for tuition. We're not rich but too rich for aid and I don't see how 80k/year with low expenses is possibly cheaper than 30k/year with higher expenses. I can see NYY due to housing, but not big publics.

DP
I spent 84k last year and 86k this year for my kid's ivy, all in. They have a paid job in their sci department that pays them 2k per semester and that is their spending though they save a lot because they do not need much extra $ there. Neighbor's kid is at UVA Engineering (50k in state!)and with frats and now expensive off campus housing second year and food points that do not cover any where near all meals, plus kid likes to drink a lot and parents buy it, and he does not have to have a job since he "saves them money"....They spent $67k last year and will be close to 75k this year. The dad complains all the time he wishes he got into an ivy where drinking and frat culture is not the center and where he would be among more intellectually invested kids. He had no job last summer, could not find one but did not even try to do an unpaid internship somewhere. My DC netted 5k last summer after paying for housing and food out of the salary and we let them keep it. They will likely earn far more this summer. They already have publishable data from their lab and have presented it twice, as a sophomore. They are getting a better education, more valuable experience earlier, already have 3 professors whom they know well enough to have recs, on and on it goes. Even at 86k vs 50k it is well worth it to us.

Listen, I went to an ivy. My wife went to an ivy. Our kid, Lord willing, will go to an ivy. But your claims on behalf of ivies do not withstand scrutiny. No one pointed a gun at your neighbor kid's head and made him join a frat. His summer behavior is not typical for UVA students, most of whom work. It sounds like the kids had a budding drinking problem and/or his parents spoil him. All of which makes the situation incommensurable. But. Even. Still. Kid will graduate as an engineer, and yours won't. C gets the degree, as engineers say. We'll see how this story finishes. None of what you say overcomes the let's say 15 to 20 grand difference that does matter to a lot of people. It's worth it to you, but you are not everyone.

Mine is an engineer at an ivy. Engineering is a science.
All of their ivy friends in many majors have similar experiences to PP, getting research early and the rest. Elites are just better educationally and peerwise.

[Anonymous]

Op- search for a school on this board, any school. Each one gets bashed until an inch of its life. No one is ever satisfied here- no school is good enough and if someone deems the school amazing, the child did something shady to get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op- search for a school on this board, any school. Each one gets bashed until an inch of its life. No one is ever satisfied here- no school is good enough and if someone deems the school amazing, the child did something shady to get in.

100% accurate, no school is safe from DCUM. People are rabid on here to tear a school down for any reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are real and not a troll ... DC attends a T50 private. DC worked hard and competed for a full tuition scholarship. DC likes the private school a lot, but make no mistake - the financial investment does not stop at tuition. There's greek organization dues, going out with friends, trips, study and travel abroad, and general keeping up with the (wealthy) crowd when your student attends a private college. Our second child attends a state school, for which we pay more in tuition, but does not have the same level of additional financial pressures.

Mine are at two different ivies. Not true there, they both spend far far less per month than our very good friends who have kids at UVA, UNC and UCLA. They spend $3-5k a semester on food outside of dining and all the parties and drinking.
Ivies have so much stuff for free or minimal cost on campus and on weekends, dues for clubs have to be kept very small for the kids on aid(OVER half), and greek is not that common so when it happens it is not a $ dump like the 5k per semester other places. Going abroad was the cheapest semester we had. Elite privates are much less wealth centric than preppy publics and non-elite privates like SMU, BC, NYU

But you pay so much for tuition. We're not rich but too rich for aid and I don't see how 80k/year with low expenses is possibly cheaper than 30k/year with higher expenses. I can see NYY due to housing, but not big publics.

DP
I spent 84k last year and 86k this year for my kid's ivy, all in. They have a paid job in their sci department that pays them 2k per semester and that is their spending though they save a lot because they do not need much extra $ there. Neighbor's kid is at UVA Engineering (50k in state!)and with frats and now expensive off campus housing second year and food points that do not cover any where near all meals, plus kid likes to drink a lot and parents buy it, and he does not have to have a job since he "saves them money"....They spent $67k last year and will be close to 75k this year. The dad complains all the time he wishes he got into an ivy where drinking and frat culture is not the center and where he would be among more intellectually invested kids. He had no job last summer, could not find one but did not even try to do an unpaid internship somewhere. My DC netted 5k last summer after paying for housing and food out of the salary and we let them keep it. They will likely earn far more this summer. They already have publishable data from their lab and have presented it twice, as a sophomore. They are getting a better education, more valuable experience earlier, already have 3 professors whom they know well enough to have recs, on and on it goes. Even at 86k vs 50k it is well worth it to us.

Great, but for many people 30k a year is a huge difference. My dh went to uva and never joined a frat. He also worked in the summer. The child you know likely would be into the frat scene at an ivy as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are real and not a troll ... DC attends a T50 private. DC worked hard and competed for a full tuition scholarship. DC likes the private school a lot, but make no mistake - the financial investment does not stop at tuition. There's greek organization dues, going out with friends, trips, study and travel abroad, and general keeping up with the (wealthy) crowd when your student attends a private college. Our second child attends a state school, for which we pay more in tuition, but does not have the same level of additional financial pressures.

Mine are at two different ivies. Not true there, they both spend far far less per month than our very good friends who have kids at UVA, UNC and UCLA. They spend $3-5k a semester on food outside of dining and all the parties and drinking.
Ivies have so much stuff for free or minimal cost on campus and on weekends, dues for clubs have to be kept very small for the kids on aid(OVER half), and greek is not that common so when it happens it is not a $ dump like the 5k per semester other places. Going abroad was the cheapest semester we had. Elite privates are much less wealth centric than preppy publics and non-elite privates like SMU, BC, NYU

Non-elite private colleges. Why do people go there? Did they not get into their state schools?

1. They do not get in to the top instate options
Or
2. They need merit aid but make over 200k so they go to discounted privates that give significant merit making it cheaper than instate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are real and not a troll ... DC attends a T50 private. DC worked hard and competed for a full tuition scholarship. DC likes the private school a lot, but make no mistake - the financial investment does not stop at tuition. There's greek organization dues, going out with friends, trips, study and travel abroad, and general keeping up with the (wealthy) crowd when your student attends a private college. Our second child attends a state school, for which we pay more in tuition, but does not have the same level of additional financial pressures.

Mine are at two different ivies. Not true there, they both spend far far less per month than our very good friends who have kids at UVA, UNC and UCLA. They spend $3-5k a semester on food outside of dining and all the parties and drinking.
Ivies have so much stuff for free or minimal cost on campus and on weekends, dues for clubs have to be kept very small for the kids on aid(OVER half), and greek is not that common so when it happens it is not a $ dump like the 5k per semester other places. Going abroad was the cheapest semester we had. Elite privates are much less wealth centric than preppy publics and non-elite privates like SMU, BC, NYU

Non-elite private colleges. Why do people go there? Did they not get into their state schools?

1. They do not get in to the top instate options
Or
2. They need merit aid but make over 200k so they go to discounted privates that give significant merit making it cheaper than instate

Basically.

If a high stats Maryland resident gets rejected from UMDCP, Towson isn't it.

Virginia is different.