Which college is worth $90k?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:In state UVA vs WashU? 40/50k vs 90k? These are similar ranking in the 20s I think

Both are great. If you had the money you would likely pick WashU though.

Hell no. WHY? No one has heard of Wash U! What does Wash U give you that UVA does not? UVA ranks above Wash U in every category, including UVA being the No. 1 public producer of Rhodes Scholars. My kid is at Oxford via UVA. No one at Oxford has heard of Wash U. From there he launched to Yale law school. That doesn't happen from Wash U

And to remind: Wash U is $97,995 and UVA is $40K instate. Bank the difference and you can afford to pay for grad school or a down payment for your kids.

I’m a happy Wash. U. alum. who worked at UVa. briefly.

I think that UVa., William & Mary and Va Tech are all comparable to Wash. U., both in terms of student life and in academics, and that it would be absurd for a donut hole family to pay $90,000 per year for Wash. U. instead of, say, $40,000 all in for Wash. U.

On the other hand:

- Wash. U. has very generous financial aid. The average net cost is about $23,000, compared with $18,000 per year at UVa. Even for Virginia residents who just want to go out of state for school, spending the extra $5,000 might be worth it.

- Virginia has terrific, relatively small state schools, but a lot of states (example: Missouri) don’t have state universities that are anything like Wash. U. California has much better known schools that are a lot tougher on the undergrads. So, for a donut hole family in Missouri or California, the value calculations might look a lot different than in Virginia.

- UVa. is a great school with a great reputation, but Wash. U. is a great school, too. The idea that it’s impossible to become a Rhodes scholar at Wash. U. or that it’s hard to get into Yale Law School from Wash. U. is off the mark. Here, for example, is a list of Wash. U. Rhodes scholars: https://libguides.wustl.edu/wustl-faq/rhodes And the Yale and Harvard law schools both have Wash. U. on their lists of schools that have sent them students in the past few years.

I am sure UVA is lovely, but for DC (Maryland) UVA OOS COA is $92-93K. On top of my mind, UVA and UMichigan are the two top public schools which provide very few/no merit aid for OOS. WashU, on the other hand, has a COA of $98K, but DC receives full ride tuition merit + annual stipend + guaranteed research funding , which brings down the COA to essentially just room & board $23K/year.

So tongue in cheek, DC's answer to "Which college is worth $90K" would be WashU. BTW, DC was accepted at UVA and UMichigan, zero merit aid.

This entire debate was about in-state UVA vs WashU, not OOS.

Nope, the entire debate is about "Which college is worth $90k?" - duh!

No, please learn to follow a sub thread and when people reply to each other’s comments. The very first comment in this chain of comments is “In state UVA vs WashU?” Use that Click to Show Earlier Quotes button.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In state UVA vs WashU? 40/50k vs 90k? These are similar ranking in the 20s I think

Both are great. If you had the money you would likely pick WashU though.

Hell no. WHY? No one has heard of Wash U! What does Wash U give you that UVA does not? UVA ranks above Wash U in every category, including UVA being the No. 1 public producer of Rhodes Scholars. My kid is at Oxford via UVA. No one at Oxford has heard of Wash U. From there he launched to Yale law school. That doesn't happen from Wash U

And to remind: Wash U is $97,995 and UVA is $40K instate. Bank the difference and you can afford to pay for grad school or a down payment for your kids.

I’m a happy Wash. U. alum. who worked at UVa. briefly.

I think that UVa., William & Mary and Va Tech are all comparable to Wash. U., both in terms of student life and in academics, and that it would be absurd for a donut hole family to pay $90,000 per year for Wash. U. instead of, say, $40,000 all in for Wash. U.

On the other hand:

- Wash. U. has very generous financial aid. The average net cost is about $23,000, compared with $18,000 per year at UVa. Even for Virginia residents who just want to go out of state for school, spending the extra $5,000 might be worth it.

- Virginia has terrific, relatively small state schools, but a lot of states (example: Missouri) don’t have state universities that are anything like Wash. U. California has much better known schools that are a lot tougher on the undergrads. So, for a donut hole family in Missouri or California, the value calculations might look a lot different than in Virginia.

- UVa. is a great school with a great reputation, but Wash. U. is a great school, too. The idea that it’s impossible to become a Rhodes scholar at Wash. U. or that it’s hard to get into Yale Law School from Wash. U. is off the mark. Here, for example, is a list of Wash. U. Rhodes scholars: https://libguides.wustl.edu/wustl-faq/rhodes And the Yale and Harvard law schools both have Wash. U. on their lists of schools that have sent them students in the past few years.

I am sure UVA is lovely, but for DC (Maryland) UVA OOS COA is $92-93K. On top of my mind, UVA and UMichigan are the two top public schools which provide very few/no merit aid for OOS. WashU, on the other hand, has a COA of $98K, but DC receives full ride tuition merit + annual stipend + guaranteed research funding , which brings down the COA to essentially just room & board $23K/year.

So tongue in cheek, DC's answer to "Which college is worth $90K" would be WashU. BTW, DC was accepted at UVA and UMichigan, zero merit aid.

This entire debate was about in-state UVA vs WashU, not OOS.

Nope, the entire debate is about "Which college is worth $90k?" - duh!

No, please learn to follow a sub thread and when people reply to each other’s comments. The very first comment in this chain of comments is “In state UVA vs WashU?” Use that Click to Show Earlier Quotes button.

😂

[Anonymous]

We told our child we will pay 90K for T15. After that, we need to discuss whether the cost difference makes sense compared to UMD ( assuming he is admitted).

[Anonymous]

None.

But we are still doing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ omg. UVA or any public is not worth $90k. The top 15 or so schools, yes.

No school, whether private or public, is worth $90k. That's just delusional.

I think that, for really bright, hardworking students who would be more comfortable at a small or midsize school, and who don’t have Virginia state schools as an option, schools like HYPSM, Cal Tech, Harvey Mudd, Emory, Vanderbilt and Wash. U. are worth the money for a family that could afford to send their kids there without eating into retirement savings or reducing their quality of life.

If you have a kid with the stats and activities to get into Tufts without help from a consultant, you can afford Tufts, and your kid would strongly prefer to go to Tufts rather than UMd., why would you nickel and dime your wonderful kid over college ROI calculations? Why not just send a check to Tufts and give thanks to God that you ended up with a kid who can get into Tufts and cares about getting a good education?

But, if you can’t afford Tufts, you can’t afford it. That’s life. You and your kid might need to accept that your kid will have to go to UMd., not Tufts, and try to learn to love UMd.

Tufts is well worth the money for a kid who gets enough aid or has plenty of cash, but, for a donut hole family who gets too little aid, it’s not worth selling a kidney or holding up a bank.

i and most people would choose umd along with a slew of other state schools over emory

You would have to get into Emory first which the avg umd students isnt doing that. Some people appreciate selectivity, thats why we would choose Emory over a slew of state schools.

Yes, a big reason people pay for the 100k schools is they believe it’s imperative to segregate their children away from the vast majority of middle-class and UMC college-educated people in their own generation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In state UVA vs WashU? 40/50k vs 90k? These are similar ranking in the 20s I think

Both are great. If you had the money you would likely pick WashU though.

Hell no. WHY? No one has heard of Wash U! What does Wash U give you that UVA does not? UVA ranks above Wash U in every category, including UVA being the No. 1 public producer of Rhodes Scholars. My kid is at Oxford via UVA. No one at Oxford has heard of Wash U. From there he launched to Yale law school. That doesn't happen from Wash U

And to remind: Wash U is $97,995 and UVA is $40K instate. Bank the difference and you can afford to pay for grad school or a down payment for your kids.

I’m a happy Wash. U. alum. who worked at UVa. briefly.

I think that UVa., William & Mary and Va Tech are all comparable to Wash. U., both in terms of student life and in academics, and that it would be absurd for a donut hole family to pay $90,000 per year for Wash. U. instead of, say, $40,000 all in for Wash. U.

On the other hand:

- Wash. U. has very generous financial aid. The average net cost is about $23,000, compared with $18,000 per year at UVa. Even for Virginia residents who just want to go out of state for school, spending the extra $5,000 might be worth it.

- Virginia has terrific, relatively small state schools, but a lot of states (example: Missouri) don’t have state universities that are anything like Wash. U. California has much better known schools that are a lot tougher on the undergrads. So, for a donut hole family in Missouri or California, the value calculations might look a lot different than in Virginia.

- UVa. is a great school with a great reputation, but Wash. U. is a great school, too. The idea that it’s impossible to become a Rhodes scholar at Wash. U. or that it’s hard to get into Yale Law School from Wash. U. is off the mark. Here, for example, is a list of Wash. U. Rhodes scholars: https://libguides.wustl.edu/wustl-faq/rhodes And the Yale and Harvard law schools both have Wash. U. on their lists of schools that have sent them students in the past few years.

I am sure UVA is lovely, but for DC (Maryland) UVA OOS COA is $92-93K. On top of my mind, UVA and UMichigan are the two top public schools which provide very few/no merit aid for OOS. WashU, on the other hand, has a COA of $98K, but DC receives full ride tuition merit + annual stipend + guaranteed research funding , which brings down the COA to essentially just room & board $23K/year.

So tongue in cheek, DC's answer to "Which college is worth $90K" would be WashU. BTW, DC was accepted at UVA and UMichigan, zero merit aid.

False. UVA cost of attendance is $80-$81k for OOS. Instate is $40k. https://sfs.virginia.edu/financial-aid-new-applicants/financial-aid-basics/estimated-undergraduate-cost-attendance-2025-2026

Not for engineering or business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure that MIT is worth 90K per year.

as an engineer, I agree. 90% of engineering jobs top out at a salary that has no foundation in where you went to college. it's like nursing in this way

if you're going into finance or startups etc, it's different.

If you find your co-founders like the Cursor guys or the Scale AI guys (or the countless other MIT founders)…then it’s worth it. Heck, if you dropout after two years, then it’s not even $360k.

Sure…you can claim you can find this at UMD…but there is a reason schools like MIT, Stanford, Harvard et al create nominally more companies than UMD (and of course, per capita it’s widely more). They attract a ton of like minded kids trying to find their people to do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We told our child we will pay 90K for T15. After that, we need to discuss whether the cost difference makes sense compared to UMD ( assuming he is admitted).

Why are you impressed with a publication like USNWR stating "T15" is the question you need to answer. In other words, what attributes does your so called "T15" have over UMD. Then you make the decision whether it's worth the additional cost and why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure that MIT is worth 90K per year.

as an engineer, I agree. 90% of engineering jobs top out at a salary that has no foundation in where you went to college. it's like nursing in this way

if you're going into finance or startups etc, it's different.

If you find your co-founders like the Cursor guys or the Scale AI guys (or the countless other MIT founders)…then it’s worth it. Heck, if you dropout after two years, then it’s not even $360k.

Sure…you can claim you can find this at UMD…but there is a reason schools like MIT, Stanford, Harvard et al create nominally more companies than UMD (and of course, per capita it’s widely more). They attract a ton of like minded kids trying to find their people to do this.

Not doubting you, but can you provide us evidence here? Let's see the numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ omg. UVA or any public is not worth $90k. The top 15 or so schools, yes.

No school, whether private or public, is worth $90k. That's just delusional.

I think that, for really bright, hardworking students who would be more comfortable at a small or midsize school, and who don’t have Virginia state schools as an option, schools like HYPSM, Cal Tech, Harvey Mudd, Emory, Vanderbilt and Wash. U. are worth the money for a family that could afford to send their kids there without eating into retirement savings or reducing their quality of life.

If you have a kid with the stats and activities to get into Tufts without help from a consultant, you can afford Tufts, and your kid would strongly prefer to go to Tufts rather than UMd., why would you nickel and dime your wonderful kid over college ROI calculations? Why not just send a check to Tufts and give thanks to God that you ended up with a kid who can get into Tufts and cares about getting a good education?

But, if you can’t afford Tufts, you can’t afford it. That’s life. You and your kid might need to accept that your kid will have to go to UMd., not Tufts, and try to learn to love UMd.

Tufts is well worth the money for a kid who gets enough aid or has plenty of cash, but, for a donut hole family who gets too little aid, it’s not worth selling a kidney or holding up a bank.

i and most people would choose umd along with a slew of other state schools over emory

You would have to get into Emory first which the avg umd students isnt doing that. Some people appreciate selectivity, thats why we would choose Emory over a slew of state schools.

Average median salaries after 10 years is higher for Maryland grads. Just sayin. (these are Dept of Education stats). But, continue.

https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/search/?page=0&search=Emory+University
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/search/?page=0&search=University+of+Maryland-College+Park

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure that MIT is worth 90K per year.

as an engineer, I agree. 90% of engineering jobs top out at a salary that has no foundation in where you went to college. it's like nursing in this way

if you're going into finance or startups etc, it's different.

If you find your co-founders like the Cursor guys or the Scale AI guys (or the countless other MIT founders)…then it’s worth it. Heck, if you dropout after two years, then it’s not even $360k.

Sure…you can claim you can find this at UMD…but there is a reason schools like MIT, Stanford, Harvard et al create nominally more companies than UMD (and of course, per capita it’s widely more). They attract a ton of like minded kids trying to find their people to do this.

Not doubting you, but can you provide us evidence here? Let's see the numbers.

DP. Here’s one example:
https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/pitchbook-university-rankings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We told our child we will pay 90K for T15. After that, we need to discuss whether the cost difference makes sense compared to UMD ( assuming he is admitted).

that was what DC decided themself.

They only wanted one of two T10, and if they didn't get it, then they would go to UMD (which is T20 for CS, their major). I was super stressed thinking if they did get in, we'd be on the hook for $80/90K per year, and then there's DC#2. If we pay that much for DC#1, we cannot say no to DC#2.

They didn't win the lottery (super high stats) so they went to UMD with merit. Worked out really well for them in the end. Obviously, it was a disappointment, but after 2.5 years, they are happy where they are at, and we are happy that our retirement wasn't impacted.

[Anonymous]

Ivy plus schools and Hopkins/CMU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From your personal experience or colleges you toured, which are standouts that really impress you to be worth the full tuition? Less interested in HYPMS, rather ones that are not as prestigious but you think are comparable or even better.

For DC, it's schools that have premed programs having medical acceptance rate > 80%, preferrably > 90%. The brand doesn't matter but schools fit that standard all have a decent brand.

Which schools are those? Asking for a friend.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I have decided that state flagship is the only way to go after spending years working in higher ed (public and top 15 private).

If can get admitted into a top major at a Top 10 Public is the best deal. IMHO

Only in state. I don't buy in OOS Public.

Depends on the OOS public and the major my friend.

And merit. OOS public’s will give merit money to OOS students.