Ivy worth full pay?

[Anonymous]

My child got off an Ivy waitlist. I hope this post doesn't get derailed on that point. My question is---->is a close to full pay Ivy worth it? We were offered $10k in aid. Total cost will be roughly $80-85K.

I'm not going to say which school it is.
In general, would you stretch to pay it?
We're currently set to pay half the money for a school ranked around #30.

[Anonymous]

Princeton yes. Brown no. Maybes in the middle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Princeton yes. Brown no. Maybes in the middle.

Full-pay at Brown, no regrets.

[Anonymous]

Depends on which Ivy and which major. Not saying either and asking if it's worth it doesn't make much sense.

[Anonymous]

You won’t get a good answer by vagueposting.

[Anonymous]

Not identifying the current “around 30” makes it kind of tough tough because there is a significant tier break around this point. This is also a very personal question, but short answer is “yes” for all Ivies if you can swing it and the current school is not a better fit. Particularly worth the stretch if your child will be happier/energized by the change.

[Anonymous]

I would pay that for Princeton or Yale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You won’t get a good answer by vagueposting.

NP: This is not vague, it's quite specific. You can weigh in with what Ivies you would pay all but $10k for if you have an opinion.

[Anonymous]

I would pay for HYP and some specific programs at Penn. Rest of the ivies I am not sure I would pay for unless my kid convinced me that they are a good fit and really wanted to go there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would pay for HYP and some specific programs at Penn. Rest of the ivies I am not sure I would pay for unless my kid convinced me that they are a good fit and really wanted to go there.

This.

[Anonymous]

So it sounds like the price difference would be about $160K, which is a pretty significant amount of cash for most. I would say if you can comfortably swing this amount and your kid is super excited about attending the Ivy, then go for it. Unless your DC is gunning for a job that targets that particular Ivy and not the other option, then this should help with your decision. You don't want a situation where they forego the Ivy (assuming you can pay comfortably) and have an awful time at the other school and then blame you for their misery...

[Anonymous]

IMO yes. Ivies are among the few schools charging that much that we would do full pay for, assuming it was also a good fit for our kid and they wanted to go (and of course assuming they got in).

Where I really question the 80k+ sticker price is small SLACs that don't have particularly good reputations. If you are very wealthy and can spend over 300k on a school like that, and it makes your kid happy, sure. But for most family that's a serious chunk of change and I do think there should be a cost/benefit analysis. But when you do it for an Ivy, the benefits are obvious: well vetted peer group, strong alumni networks, and a degree from a school that well respected throughout the US and abroad. In your situation, we'd find a way to make it work.

[Anonymous]

OP, you big silly. It depends on your wealth and whether the other options have a great reputation for teaching that major.

My kid got into an expensive private T60. Even with 20K merit aid, it's a horrific price, and we're paying it, because it's actually top notch for his specific major. The cheap state flagship is not specialized in what he wants to study.

It would be my dream for my second child to get into an Ivy. At least her major can be done at many universities! And yes, I'd be paying full price, since they don't offer merit aid.

[Anonymous]

I would as long as the program at the Ivy is materially better than the program at the other school.

Ex: I wouldn’t pay for Ivy CS over CMU/GT/Berkeley CS. But I would pay for Ivy CS over, say, UVA CS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on which Ivy and which major. Not saying either and asking if it's worth it doesn't make much sense.

+1. It also depends on your personal financial situation, child’s ambitions, etc. A kid who wants to be a Supreme Court justice someday and they just got into Yale? Sure, stretch for it. A kid who seems like a natural-born engineer who wants to work for NASA someday and they just got into Cornell? Sure. A kid who isn’t sure what they want and is planning to major in English and they got into Dartmouth? Well, I probably wouldn’t.