Alabama for free or a more elite school that is less than free-ride?

[Anonymous]

You don't think it is worth an extra 12k a year to send your kid to Harvard over Tulane? In this economy?? Do you not realize how many more job opportunities your child will have for the rest of his life with Harvard on his resume?

[Anonymous]

Visit.

Then think about what this money means for your particular family.

The poster who says "money is no issue at… IVYs" isn't telling the whole story. We have a big income -- too big for much aid, but FAR from big enough that it is easy to pay for college and help with grad school if he's interested.

I can't say that I would take the offer from Alabama, but the money is a big deal. Congratulations to your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't think it is worth an extra 12k a year to send your kid to Harvard over Tulane? In this economy?? Do you not realize how many more job opportunities your child will have for the rest of his life with Harvard on his resume?

It would take the kid years to save $50,000 difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, pp. why are yours summing second tier will give more money? The schools that have more money are Princeton, Harvard etc.

Yes, but maybe not more money for this kid. Getting a free ride from Alabama isn't the same as getting a free ride to Princeton.

Good luck, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, pp. why are yours summing second tier will give more money? The schools that have more money are Princeton, Harvard etc.

Yes, but maybe not more money for this kid. Getting a free ride from Alabama isn't the same as getting a free ride to Princeton.

Good luck, OP.

There will be no free ride for this kid at Princeton because his parents are deemed too rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't think it is worth an extra 12k a year to send your kid to Harvard over Tulane? In this economy?? Do you not realize how many more job opportunities your child will have for the rest of his life with Harvard on his resume?

It would take the kid years to save $50,000 difference.

He has a much better chance of getting a job that pays well coming out of Harvard. Wall Street recruits all sorts of majors from Harvard. Not so case Western or Tulane.

He also has a better chance of getting into a good graduate professional school coming from Harvard. Take law school as an example. He'll need a 4.0 from the second-tier school in order to get into the same law school that hed get into with a 3.3 from Harvard. He has a far better chance of getting a higher paying job coming from a better law school than a lower tier law school. He could make up that 50,000 in no time with an associate position that pays 170 versus a small regional firm that pays 60.

I wonder what kind of cars and what sort of cable packages and vacations the people who are saying they would not pay the extra 12,000 a year go on and have.

[Anonymous]

OP, you are making what I strongly suspect are multiple socio-demographic assumptions that are informing your choice. And you are making a severe mistake that will do a generation's worth of damage. An undergraduate degree from UA is of effectively no value, and earning it will impart no breadth, compared to a degree from a top-20. If you complete the forms and make a convincing case, you can easily receive a nearly-free ride if your son is admitted to Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia or Penn. Your comment to the effect that you just don't believe it reveals what seem to be other priorities and assumptions on your part. Please don't damage your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't think it is worth an extra 12k a year to send your kid to Harvard over Tulane? In this economy?? Do you not realize how many more job opportunities your child will have for the rest of his life with Harvard on his resume?

It would take the kid years to save $50,000 difference.

He has a much better chance of getting a job that pays well coming out of Harvard. Wall Street recruits all sorts of majors from Harvard. Not so case Western or Tulane.

He also has a better chance of getting into a good graduate professional school coming from Harvard. Take law school as an example. He'll need a 4.0 from the second-tier school in order to get into the same law school that hed get into with a 3.3 from Harvard. He has a far better chance of getting a higher paying job coming from a better law school than a lower tier law school. He could make up that 50,000 in no time with an associate position that pays 170 versus a small regional firm that pays 60.

I wonder what kind of cars and what sort of cable packages and vacations the people who are saying they would not pay the extra 12,000 a year go on and have.

Average salary of Harvard grad. Is $60,000. Very very few people from any school are going to make $500k+ a year. For most, $50,000 will remain a lot of money throughout their lives. I acknowledge your point that some very lucrative career paths could be closed by not going to HYP but the reality is those careers will not be a real option for most people at both places.

I went to top 25 undergrad and was accepted to Harvard and Stanford for grad. school (chose Harvard), plus other offers from schools ranked higher than mine. I was a 4.0 student. A student who was accepted at Harvard might find it as easy to have 4.0 at his school as 3.5 at Harvard. Being at the very top of any reasonably ranked school gives one extra points, too.

The point about cable package is totally ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Why is the point about the cable package ridiculous? Cable can a cost thousand dollars a year, easily, or more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't think it is worth an extra 12k a year to send your kid to Harvard over Tulane? In this economy?? Do you not realize how many more job opportunities your child will have for the rest of his life with Harvard on his resume?

This is debatable. Anyone who has been in the workforce for many years will tell you that it is your performance that counts most, not the school name on your resume. Maybe the initial opportunities straight out of undergrad are different at Harvard vs. Tulane, but again, that is making a lot of assumptions. Too many variables are at play, and sometimes it's even easier to stand out as a big fish in a small pond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is the point about the cable package ridiculous? Cable can a cost thousand dollars a year, easily, or more.

um, yes, a thousand, not 12 thousand. also, it increases quality of life, as do vacations, and for all members of the family. apparently, none of that is supposed to compare to a opening a minor possibility of landing a (as of this moment) one of the very few lavishly compensated jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are making what I strongly suspect are multiple socio-demographic assumptions that are informing your choice. And you are making a severe mistake that will do a generation's worth of damage. An undergraduate degree from UA is of effectively no value, and earning it will impart no breadth, compared to a degree from a top-20. If you complete the forms and make a convincing case, you can easily receive a nearly-free ride if your son is admitted to Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia or Penn. Your comment to the effect that you just don't believe it reveals what seem to be other priorities and assumptions on your part. Please don't damage your child.

Oh come on. I can't believe this board sometimes. This is so overly dramatic. In addition, PPs have pointed out that it is in fact not easy to get a "nearly-free" ride to an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

OP, why don't you wait until you see what other schools your child is accepted to, and the offers they make. Only then can you make this decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are making what I strongly suspect are multiple socio-demographic assumptions that are informing your choice. And you are making a severe mistake that will do a generation's worth of damage. An undergraduate degree from UA is of effectively no value, and earning it will impart no breadth, compared to a degree from a top-20. If you complete the forms and make a convincing case, you can easily receive a nearly-free ride if your son is admitted to Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia or Penn. Your comment to the effect that you just don't believe it reveals what seem to be other priorities and assumptions on your part. Please don't damage your child.

You clearh care about OP's child future more than she does. And it was already explained, multiple times, that financial aid at "need based" only schools is essentially nill for middle class families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are making what I strongly suspect are multiple socio-demographic assumptions that are informing your choice. And you are making a severe mistake that will do a generation's worth of damage. An undergraduate degree from UA is of effectively no value, and earning it will impart no breadth, compared to a degree from a top-20. If you complete the forms and make a convincing case, you can easily receive a nearly-free ride if your son is admitted to Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia or Penn. Your comment to the effect that you just don't believe it reveals what seem to be other priorities and assumptions on your part. Please don't damage your child.

Oh come on. I can't believe this board sometimes. This is so overly dramatic. In addition, PPs have pointed out that it is in fact not easy to get a "nearly-free" ride to an Ivy.

+1