You cannot pass up a free ride IMHO. So, I'd say USF. |
The networking value of being an Ivy athlete isn’t being properly weighted in this thread. |
Are kids in your kid's sport able to play 4 years, keep their scholarships and pursue their choice of majors? I would talk to athletes, and ask those questions.
If sports weren't a factor, then I'd probably suggest taking an academic full ride but I would want a lot more info about the lives of athletes at the school. |
Ivy athletes are mocked at both of my kids ivies. There are so many who can’t keep up in the harder classes, most are seen as nonacademic and everyone knows they got in on sports talent. It’s not like other schools where sports are valued. Sports dont matter at ivies. |
Are you willing to name the two Ivy League schools at which student athletes are mocked ? (I assume that Columbia may be one of those two schools; is Princeton the other ?) |
It seems like the common factor between those two schools is your kids. Who raised them so poorly as to mock people? |
My Yale kid and friends might generalize that sports recruits are not as intellectual, but they seem to have plenty of respect for them as athletes. I’ve never heard any mocking or begrudging their admittance. |
I know a kid who plays football/basketball at an Ivy. Super smart - likely would have gotten in anyway. Not a superstar athlete but definitely a contributor. I have met some of their teammates and there is definitely a range. Some are like this kid. Others clearly are less strong academically. Similarly, some of the smartest people I have worked with on Wall Street are former Ivy athletes.
I would not generalize because there is a wide range (and even the less bright kids are not dumb). |
Not true as I know well a current Ivy League athlete who was admitted "test-optional" who refrains from speaking during class because he/she didn't want to continue to be laughed at in humanities classes. |
Omg. No they aren’t. My kid is on club and is good friend with several varsity athletes, some walk ons. For most sports, they had to have the same academic record to be admitted. Yes- they aren t celebrated and treated differently like at the big sport universities, with separate dormitories and dining halls. They get the same random room assignments and live among the students not in their special world. |
LOL - you are incredibly wrong or just plain ignorant |
If you can shell out $100K a year and be completely unaffected, then why not an Ivy? Don't worry about the poster who indicated it may be too difficult to excel academically. The hardest part is getting in. |
Meh, who cares. They'll still get hired over your kid when the hiring partner sells it as, "AND they were the WR at Princeton!" |
Ivy. You can afford it. He will still get to play the sport. When he is 25 or 33, being from Dartmouth will have more benefits than being from USF. |
100% take free college. Saving $400K is amazing and you can give DC $250K in cash for a down payment on a home. Also SF is a great place to go to school and work! Congrats to your DC! |