Paying for College 101

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t tell your kid they can go anywhere unless you are wealthy. That is stupid. Be forthright about what the budget is. We are actually wealthy Virginia residents and we told our kids it’s in state unless you get into HYPMS. The middling private schools are a huge waste of money imho. Higher ed is one big festering scam. Best to not lose your shirt over it.

So you would say no to Wharton or Hopkins or Carnegie Mellon or Williams?

Wharton is a different story. There is an obvious VALUE PROPOSITION there. I was referring to undergrad - the math is different for a final degree. Would I waste the extra money to send a kid to Williams over UVA undergrad? Not in a million years. Particularly since employers much prefer a state flagship over delicate snowflake U.

You can go to Wharton undergrad and there are very few employers who would cross off a Williams applicant (maybe Liberty media)

My point is simple. If you are a family of limited means or a value oriented family, it’s dumb to blow through a lot of extra money (or worse, debt) for a Williams, Oberlin, whatever. This is just common sense.

[Anonymous]

for self-employed people, there are some things you can do.

it's complicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t tell your kid they can go anywhere unless you are wealthy. That is stupid. Be forthright about what the budget is. We are actually wealthy Virginia residents and we told our kids it’s in state unless you get into HYPMS. The middling private schools are a huge waste of money imho. Higher ed is one big festering scam. Best to not lose your shirt over it.

Same. Thankfully- my senior got into UVA and WM last week. Unless HPY comes through it will be one of those. Truthfully, he may like the state options better which will be better for my pocketbook. The harder choice would be Brown/Dartmouth. Not sure if those are worth the $ over UVA/WM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t tell your kid they can go anywhere unless you are wealthy. That is stupid. Be forthright about what the budget is. We are actually wealthy Virginia residents and we told our kids it’s in state unless you get into HYPMS. The middling private schools are a huge waste of money imho. Higher ed is one big festering scam. Best to not lose your shirt over it.

Same. Thankfully- my senior got into UVA and WM last week. Unless HPY comes through it will be one of those. Truthfully, he may like the state options better which will be better for my pocketbook. The harder choice would be Brown/Dartmouth. Not sure if those are worth the $ over UVA/WM.

Employers will prefer the UVA/WM kid over the Brown kid. Brown has gone from being a place associated with excellence to a breeding ground for whiny litigiousness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure this is the best lead in to ask for help.

she's talking about the popular FB page Paying for College 101. There are a couple hundred thousand people on that site, all blasting insane advice.

Oh, I see. Did not realize this was about a specific page and thought she just was saying everyone here is mean then asking for advice! Sorry about that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:.. is this place crazy?

everyone is so mean. and usually wrong. Is this another site that's smart about actually paying for college for UMC families?

This site is definitely mean, but please explain how it is "usually wrong"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t tell your kid they can go anywhere unless you are wealthy. That is stupid. Be forthright about what the budget is. We are actually wealthy Virginia residents and we told our kids it’s in state unless you get into HYPMS. The middling private schools are a huge waste of money imho. Higher ed is one big festering scam. Best to not lose your shirt over it.

Yes, we framed things in terms of budget. For us, we get best aid (need based) at top tier private schools, but probably wouldn't qualify for much or anything at mid tier, and kid would need a lot of merit there. So, that actually drove her to do more with academics and activities because getting into state flagship is also hard, and she could easily be looking at next tier state schools. It’s all a complicated equation. She did get into top tier private in the end, which is cheaper than everything except in state school with significant merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t tell your kid they can go anywhere unless you are wealthy. That is stupid. Be forthright about what the budget is. We are actually wealthy Virginia residents and we told our kids it’s in state unless you get into HYPMS. The middling private schools are a huge waste of money imho. Higher ed is one big festering scam. Best to not lose your shirt over it.

Same. Thankfully- my senior got into UVA and WM last week. Unless HPY comes through it will be one of those. Truthfully, he may like the state options better which will be better for my pocketbook. The harder choice would be Brown/Dartmouth. Not sure if those are worth the $ over UVA/WM.

Employers will prefer the UVA/WM kid over the Brown kid. Brown has gone from being a place associated with excellence to a breeding ground for whiny litigiousness.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t tell your kid they can go anywhere unless you are wealthy. That is stupid. Be forthright about what the budget is. We are actually wealthy Virginia residents and we told our kids it’s in state unless you get into HYPMS. The middling private schools are a huge waste of money imho. Higher ed is one big festering scam. Best to not lose your shirt over it.

So you would say no to Wharton or Hopkins or Carnegie Mellon or Williams?

Wharton is a different story. There is an obvious VALUE PROPOSITION there. I was referring to undergrad - the math is different for a final degree. Would I waste the extra money to send a kid to Williams over UVA undergrad? Not in a million years. Particularly since employers much prefer a state flagship over delicate snowflake U.

I am not trying to get into a pissing match, but Williams has a very dedicated and very well-connected alumni network. I think my kid would hate Williams and doubt my kid is interested, but for the right kid it can be an excellent match.

I mean, do you really care if some Fortune 500 company doesn't want to hire you if you are working for any number of investment banks, private equity funds, etc. that were founded by or have senior management that graduated from Williams?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:for self-employed people, there are some things you can do.

it's complicated.

I am curious...have tried to figure some things out, but it usually requires actually employing your kid or other things. It mainly just results in being able to record college as an expense of the company.

Would actually love to hear any ideas you have (do have my own company).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.. is this place crazy?

everyone is so mean. and usually wrong. Is this another site that's smart about actually paying for college for UMC families?

This site is definitely mean, but please explain how it is "usually wrong"?

like literally, "Temple for 30K or UPenn for 60K" and 99% will say Temple, for sure, no doubt, end of discussion. that was today or yesterday.

and then yes, that wrong post about LLCs. "that's fraud and it's a crime!" um, no, it's not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t tell your kid they can go anywhere unless you are wealthy. That is stupid. Be forthright about what the budget is. We are actually wealthy Virginia residents and we told our kids it’s in state unless you get into HYPMS. The middling private schools are a huge waste of money imho. Higher ed is one big festering scam. Best to not lose your shirt over it.

It depends on the state schools and the kid.

The issue for Virginia and Maryland residents is that the flagships are just a little below Cornell in terms of quality and reputation.

For a DC resident or even a Delaware resident, the situation is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.. is this place crazy?

everyone is so mean. and usually wrong. Is this another site that's smart about actually paying for college for UMC families?

This site is definitely mean, but please explain how it is "usually wrong"?

like literally, "Temple for 30K or UPenn for 60K" and 99% will say Temple, for sure, no doubt, end of discussion. that was today or yesterday.

and then yes, that wrong post about LLCs. "that's fraud and it's a crime!" um, no, it's not.

Where is the LLC post? I absolutely want to understand if anyone knows anything about how you can leverage your company.

I have never seen a Temple vs. UPenn post...maybe it was a thread that didn't look particularly interesting from the headline.

[Anonymous]

I've never looked that Facebook group but I don't get what people need in terms of advice. Some PPs summarized on this thread in two sentences. What can you possible have to talk about for any length of time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.. is this place crazy?

everyone is so mean. and usually wrong. Is this another site that's smart about actually paying for college for UMC families?

This site is definitely mean, but please explain how it is "usually wrong"?

like literally, "Temple for 30K or UPenn for 60K" and 99% will say Temple, for sure, no doubt, end of discussion. that was today or yesterday.

and then yes, that wrong post about LLCs. "that's fraud and it's a crime!" um, no, it's not.

I saw that post and felt the same. Although I also wondered if they meant Penn State?