Spin off Donut family post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why it is hard for families making around $300k who live in the district. There is no in-state option and schools like UVa out of state are as much as private colleges. The TAG discount only puts a dent in the cost.

The most desirable state flagships have gotten even harder to get into and harder to afford.

Preach. The two-fed family with kids in DCPS = peak donut hole. And with no in-state fall back option.

[Anonymous]

More reason to not live in the district past DCPS elementary if you can afford close-in MD or VA. But I assume many parents are not aware until it's too late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why it is hard for families making around $300k who live in the district. There is no in-state option and schools like UVa out of state are as much as private colleges. The TAG discount only puts a dent in the cost.

The most desirable state flagships have gotten even harder to get into and harder to afford.

Preach. The two-fed family with kids in DCPS = peak donut hole. And with no in-state fall back option.

The number of people this applies to could probably fill a medium sized room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why it is hard for families making around $300k who live in the district. There is no in-state option and schools like UVa out of state are as much as private colleges. The TAG discount only puts a dent in the cost.

The most desirable state flagships have gotten even harder to get into and harder to afford.

Preach. The two-fed family with kids in DCPS = peak donut hole. And with no in-state fall back option.

The number of people this applies to could probably fill a medium sized room.

Several hundred families entry year at least

[Anonymous]

^every year

[Anonymous]

Well, this forum is called DC Urban Moms (and Dads). This is kinda their room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why it is hard for families making around $300k who live in the district. There is no in-state option and schools like UVa out of state are as much as private colleges. The TAG discount only puts a dent in the cost.

The most desirable state flagships have gotten even harder to get into and harder to afford.

Preach. The two-fed family with kids in DCPS = peak donut hole. And with no in-state fall back option.

You act like this is something that happened to you instead of something you chose. You could leave DC and go to MD or VA and have good (some would say great) in-state options. many of us made this choice (and enjoy better public schools too).

[Anonymous]

College's name and quality is actually more important for students without a clear vision. They aren't like Pre-meds who can go anywhere and get into any medical school (ok may be not top ones)with prerequisite courses, a decent GPA (or improve it with a post bacc year) MCAT and related experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why it is hard for families making around $300k who live in the district.

Cry me an effing river. What stopped you from moving a few miles to Arlington or MoCo? Your commute would be less convenient? Waaaah. 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You aren't a donut hole, you are wealthy and can afford to pay.

No, they aren't. Or are you not familiar with housing costs, insurance, property and other taxes, medical costs, etc. The bulk of a 300K salary is eaten up pretty quickly even w/o any luxuries.

And it's gross that people seem to view college as a way to level the economic playing field. Why should 1 person pay $60K/year while another pays $15K? It's disgusting. Esp with how much these colleges have and can subsidize for ALL students.

You are making excuses. Many of us live on 1/2 that salary and manage to save just fine. $300K a year is wealthy. If you choose to buy a million dollar house, take lots of vacations and other things, then stop screaming poverty and send your kids to community college.

dp.. our gross income is $300k, but our AGI is more like $160K. I agree that if your AGI is $300K, you're in good financial shape to pay $80K/year, but I think you also have to think about the age of the person (we are in our late 50s), and how long the person has been making $300K.

All I have to think about is the median income in the DMV being much less than $300k, and that $300k income is somewhere in the 90th percentile, and when someone starts whining that $300k isn’t wealthy I tune out that clueless entitled idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in this situation, though with less in 529. My junior DS wants to do engineering. He won’t get into MIT, Harvey Mudd, etc. Maybe Purdue but no guarantee that he’ll get type of engineering he wants. On the advice of DCUM, we visited a safety first - Pitt. Turns out he loves it. Is there any point in looking at higher ranked schools- say Rochester? Esp when in state is Md? I just don’t see it. We’ll visit case bc it gives good aid but otherwise I’m struggling to understand why I’d spend $90k when DS job prospects will not be measurably different at a school top 10-15 vs top 20 vs top 40.

Huge believer in starting visits with likelies!!!!

Rochester is an amazing school. However, no school is worth 80k+ if you don’t have it saved/easily cash flowed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's say you are full pay, have a HHI in the 300s, have 250K in your child's 529, and your child does not have specific pre-professional goals- what do you weigh, and what guidance do you give, in determining whether your kid should choose a top school vs in state / lower ranked school with merit? I grew up in that boat - we were full pay but not made of money- and I ended up at UVA oos - mostly because it was not as $$ as Wake Forest (my other top pick), but otherwise similar enough. I'm still getting a feel for the changed landscape, since my oldest child is only in 9th grade.

For example, adjusted for inflation, my 14,800 UVA tuition would be 26,000 today. Even Wake's tuition would only be 38,000. However, oos tuition at UVA is now 55,900. I feel like that changes the calculus a lot from when I was in high school (not to mention the more-competitive and less numbes-based seeming admissions landscape).

The reputation of the very schools: HYPSM is probably worth paying for. Outside that, all else equal, it is not. The peer group matters a lot. Top privates are likely to be a bit stronger, on average, than large state schools on that. However, there are obviously excellent kids everywhere. If DC is motivated and likely to do well in your state school and surrounds themselves with a good peer group, there is zero point in paying for an expensive private. Getting excellent grades at a lower-ranked school is far better than average grades at a higher-ranked school (unless the school is so highly ranked that its name itself carries you).

[Anonymous]

Looking at his from out of state perspective, if your kid gets into UVA, I feel like that is basically as good as any school in the country regardless of cost. I would pay for an Ivy or something but would easily understand the decision to attend UVA over almost any school other than say top 10, again regardless of cost. It’s not just that it is cheaper for VA residents to attend UVA but it is easier to get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My junior DS wants to do engineering. (…) Esp when in state is Md? I just don’t see it. We’ll visit case bc it gives good aid but otherwise I’m struggling to understand why I’d spend $90k when DS job prospects will not be measurably different at a school top 10-15 vs top 20 vs top 40.

UMBC Engineering is really very respectable, particularly in ECE, CS, and CyberSecurity. If a MD resident, it would be foolish not to look into that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why it is hard for families making around $300k who live in the district. There is no in-state option and schools like UVa out of state are as much as private colleges. The TAG discount only puts a dent in the cost.

The most desirable state flagships have gotten even harder to get into and harder to afford.

Preach. The two-fed family with kids in DCPS = peak donut hole. And with no in-state fall back option.

The number of people this applies to could probably fill a medium sized room.

Several hundred families entry year at least

200-300 people in a city of 750,000.

There are 50 flagship state universities to choose from.

SUNY Stony Brook or Buffalo OOS tuition is $28,480.

UWyoming OOS is $21,700.

UNM OOS is $26,421.

UOklahoma OOS is $25,880.