I went to a Top School and I think state schools are the way to go

[Anonymous]

I'm really surprised that I don't see more private school alums speaking up for their alma maters. I was offered a full ride to Rutgers (Douglass College) and a seat in their honors program. I turned it down because I got a near equivalent offer from Lehigh University and I felt that the private school experience would offer much richer networking and career placement opportunities thanks to the deeply loyal alumni base. That proved to be true. I got my MBA at Georgetown and see the same strong alumni network in action there.

On the other hand, my husband received his undergraduate, masters and PhDs from state universities, and I see no evidence of any strong alumni ties. Could be just his personality, but I really think the strong ties to school and the tradition of helping other alumni are one of the strongest reasons for paying the differential for a private university.

I never regretted my choice, and I paid back my student loans early and then contributed funds to Lehigh to cover all the scholarship monies they invested in me.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I went to highly ranked (but not top 5) SLACs. Ideally we would like to save enough money so that our kids can choose a private college if that is what they want.

[Anonymous]

My top school cost around $4000 in the 70s and my parents had the money to pay for it all. Even with inflation I know that my school is now hugely more expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH and I went to state for undergrad. I went to state also for law school and he went to a so-so priivate MBA School. We've both done fairly well. Our kid went to top Ivy and never had to prove to anyone how smart she was. Even Goldman Sachs CEOs know that they can't even buy their kids way into Havrard, Princeton, or Yale w/o a big donation. So, they know those kids are top brains. It is possible to go to University of Nowhere and end up at great places...but it's more likely to be a "diamond in the rough" star vs. a whole bunch of fellow workers from a class of Princeton or Harvard. And, then, the diamond in the rough may feel excluded and not part of the team.

So, yes, everything is possible...it's just harder to prove oneself coming from Nowheresville U

ITA with this except it is easier to buy or connect your way in to these places than you seem to realize. People with connections to high donors, powerful alum, legacies, etc - trust me, mediocre students with these connections get in all the time (I know many of them and have seen this happen within my own family). You should never see Harvard on a resume and assume the kid is smart and accomplished. I do agree though that the top notch degrees open so many doors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm really surprised that I don't see more private school alums speaking up for their alma maters. I was offered a full ride to Rutgers (Douglass College) and a seat in their honors program. I turned it down because I got a near equivalent offer from Lehigh University and I felt that the private school experience would offer much richer networking and career placement opportunities thanks to the deeply loyal alumni base. That proved to be true. I got my MBA at Georgetown and see the same strong alumni network in action there.

On the other hand, my husband received his undergraduate, masters and PhDs from state universities, and I see no evidence of any strong alumni ties. Could be just his personality, but I really think the strong ties to school and the tradition of helping other alumni are one of the strongest reasons for paying the differential for a private university.

I never regretted my choice, and I paid back my student loans early and then contributed funds to Lehigh to cover all the scholarship monies they invested in me.

I'm glad it worked out for you, pp. Sounds like it was a good way to go. But if my kid were choosing between an honors program at Rutgers and Lehigh, I would encourage her to go to Rutgers. I've taught at both a second-tier state university and a less well regarded liberal arts college. True, there were probably alumni networks at the college that were useful but, while I was very fond of my college students, on the whole I had students at the state university who were sharper and more independent. Of course there were a lot of very poorly prepared students at the state university but the smartest students were smarter than most of my nice but not exceedingly bright college students. But of course you're talking about networking which is a different thing entirely so maybe it makes sense to go to a private school. Still I can't see spending that much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people know the price of everything, but the value of nothing. You did read Oscar Wilde at your "top school", right, OP?

To be able to come up with a response like that, I'd send my kids to the expensive schools.

[Anonymous]

Went to a top 15 school for undergrad, then two master's, one at UMD and one at Georgetown.

The difference between G'town and UMD was exactly like a cushy, pricey private high school versus a good, large public high school.

Very different vibe and sense of institution, but I learned more at UMD. Made good friends both places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH and I went to state for undergrad. I went to state also for law school and he went to a so-so priivate MBA School. We've both done fairly well. Our kid went to top Ivy and never had to prove to anyone how smart she was. Even Goldman Sachs CEOs know that they can't even buy their kids way into Havrard, Princeton, or Yale w/o a big donation. So, they know those kids are top brains. It is possible to go to University of Nowhere and end up at great places...but it's more likely to be a "diamond in the rough" star vs. a whole bunch of fellow workers from a class of Princeton or Harvard. And, then, the diamond in the rough may feel excluded and not part of the team.

So, yes, everything is possible...it's just harder to prove oneself coming from Nowheresville U

I find this interesting. I work with people from Ivy Leagues, and people from "Nowheresville U." I cannot say, from years of experience working with people from different universities, that the Ivy League grads clearly demonstrate "top brains." In fact, some of the sharpest and most well-rounded people are not from those schools. So when I meet someone with an Ivy degree, I do not make the assumption that they are smarter, and neither do most people around me. Anyway, workplace success is usually about much more than just 'top brains,' it's ability to communicate, inter-personal skills, ambition, sensitivity, wisdom.

My impression is that getting into an Ivy League isn't so much about being smart, as having some stand-out aspect of your background, the right background, coming from a legacy, and other factors that change with time. It's very arbitrary.

[Anonymous]

Private colleges use to be an option that was more expensive than a state university. It may have been worth it to reach for with some extra loans and being frugal. But now they are so overpriced for most families and the loans would be so huge to cover the cost. Private colleges are very nice. I loved mine. They are now an insane financial burden for many families if they don't give merit aid. What have they gone up in price over the past 30 years, something like 1200%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cost of college is out of control. There are only two types of students that can afford the top private schools that don't give merit aid- super rich and students that will receive lots of financial aid(free money- not loans)

Or students who have parents that are affluent and willing to save for their college. If one is willing and able to save for a $60k a year school and starts doing it when kids are young, you don't have to be super rich. Though I guess you might define super rich differently than I do.

You'd have to save $1000 per month per kid since birth to fully fund a 60K per year school. Sorry, but if you can do that, plus mortgage, insurances, car payments, child care, extracirruculars, and living expenses (even if you are modest in your spending habits), then you are pretty darn rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I went to a state school (Big Ten). It will mostly likely prevent a student from getting the very top business jobs (Carlyle, Goldman, etc), but not most jobs that most people want/will have.

The President of Goldman Sachs went to AU undergrad and has no graduate degree. If you are really good at what you do, finance industry companies are not as concerned about where you went to school. If you are not a star you better go to Harvard!

But he is the exception, not the rule. Bll Gates quit college. But most people are not Bill Gates. The good thing about a top school is that it speaks for you. You don't need to prove yourself to get a foot in the door. State school grads don't have that. Once they're in, of course they will do well if smart/hard working. But it is a whole heck of a lot easier to get in with a top degree.

I have a relative that graduated from UMBC and works for Goldman.

Yes, and Brad Pitt is a famous movie star who makes gazillions of dollars who didn't even graduate from his crappy college in Missouri. So that must mean that my kids will also be able to . . . oh wait, no.

Not if your kid is anything like you but you act like it is a one in a gazillion shot. But it's not. So for him the state school was the way to go and he was on full scholarship so no loans to pay back. Seems like the way to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was look at Carleton, Williams, etc. for my DD, but there's no way we could afford it without going into debt. State it is for us, can't justify it.

'

Know a graduating senior whose offer at a selective liberal arts college was such that it would be much cheaper than the state schools she applied for. It's often the kids who would get the best financial aid packages at private institutions who don't even bother to apply, which is sad. (Not sure if this applies to you, though.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was look at Carleton, Williams, etc. for my DD, but there's no way we could afford it without going into debt. State it is for us, can't justify it.

'

Know a graduating senior whose offer at a selective liberal arts college was such that it would be much cheaper than the state schools she applied for. It's often the kids who would get the best financial aid packages at private institutions who don't even bother to apply, which is sad. (Not sure if this applies to you, though.)

I agree. For a lot of kids, private schools often turn out to be cheaper than state schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was look at Carleton, Williams, etc. for my DD, but there's no way we could afford it without going into debt. State it is for us, can't justify it.

'

Know a graduating senior whose offer at a selective liberal arts college was such that it would be much cheaper than the state schools she applied for. It's often the kids who would get the best financial aid packages at private institutions who don't even bother to apply, which is sad. (Not sure if this applies to you, though.)

I agree. For a lot of kids, private schools often turn out to be cheaper than state schools.

Details please? For us UMCP - in state - would be much cheaper than say Pomona, Kenyon, etc.

[Anonymous]

Once you are in the real world it does not matter where you went to college. It is all about how you present yourself, speak, write, how hard you work, how creative you are, how dependable you are, how much useful information you actually learned at college. It does not matter if you went to Big State U or Private Preppy College, it just matters how you present yourself to the world when you have graduated.