Does everyone on here with kids applying to top 50 schools really have the $80K per year to spend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
I get that $90K is a rounding error for some on here and two weeks' salaries for others.

But I bet that for most of us, $360K is not an insignificant amount.
And yet we're fighting each other for the privilege of paying it.

We are truly idiots for playing into this. Excuse my insult as I include myself in that group.

OP, you had many chances to get there with so little money. When Netflix raised their DVD monthly rental from $7 to $11, it was time to buy Netflix stock. When Apple came out with Iphone, you still had several years to buy the stock to get to $360k. When you were shopping on Amazon, you should have been buying the stock. All in all, ca $30k in any one of them, would have taken you there.
There are so many other companies that were clearly going to do well.
I started really late like in 2020 because of work and visa problems.Almost 20 years down the drain, and I still made it. My older one doesn't want me pay that much for college and wants to go to community college. Younger one is about to get $300k, but outside of 529 ofcourse. Younger DC has 10 years til college. We were never high earners. We had to make money work for us even if we knew nothing about it. Well, almost nothing. It's extremely good time to be in the market and/or enter the market now to forever. Not a financial advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm realizing that the top 50 or so schools are all about $80K+ and none of them offer merit aid, outside of maybe CWRU.
The rest have 20-50 full-ride scholarships for their most elite students but that's pretty much it for merit aid.
Then of course there is UVA and W&M which are instate. And UMD which is ranked just above 50.
We've in DC so none of these in-states are particularly relevant.


So all this constant chatter about this or that top50 school----are you all paying the $80K/+year sticker price(s)?

College is around the corner for us and I'm realizing that yes indeed, they're all about that much. Guess I knew that in theory but it's another thing
entirely to think "huh, they're asking $360K for undergrad. Are we really going to pay it?"
Sobering.
Are people really paying it?

Our kids declined their top choices from T10 colleges and attended T25 colleges where they got half tuition merit scholarships. We just couldn't swing four years of almost $100K for each child. However, we are aware that we got luck with merit money, otherwise could've sold our rental property or pulled money out of retirement or primary residence. We could've been luckier if our kids took full rides to state schools but we felt it would be unfair to push them as only reason they aren't getting need based aid is because of us. If we hadn't worked hard and spent money instead of being frugal, they would've been eligible for aid.

Though let's get real. It's not like turning down a "T10" for a "T25" (an artificial rating if ever there was one) means all that much in terms of most kids' future success. Any kid who can get into a "T10" school is likely going to succeed no matter where they go. Even to a state school that is not within the artificial list of T50 schools that a newspaper creates every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
I get that $90K is a rounding error for some on here and two weeks' salaries for others.

But I bet that for most of us, $360K is not an insignificant amount.
And yet we're fighting each other for the privilege of paying it.

We are truly idiots for playing into this. Excuse my insult as I include myself in that group.

PP here. Yes we are. And what, exactly, are we getting for these dollars I ask myself as we work through another move in?

A nice campus with dorms that are old and need renovations. Food that is mediocre at best according to DC. Staff, staff, staff and more administrators.

As a consumer then - What are the very best options where you get the most bang for your money?
Please someone provide a link to that list

This is the right question to ask.

Which schools are providing the most resources, the best extras, that make the time at the University worth it? However, you measure… Whether that’s in lifetime earnings potential , or in other ways like renovated dorms with amazing student centric or focused substantive resources/ platforms, and fantastic food.

I’m not interested in paying more for amenities like renovated dorms, student gyms and fancy food. I will pay more for a small number of schools with superior education (MIT, Caltech) or significant prestige (Harvard, Princeton, Yale). Other than those it is one of our fabulous in state VA colleges. Full pay to most colleges is just a waste.

Then take MIT off your list. Kendall Square in Cambridge will soon be MIT Square. They have been building massive buildings over the last few years including a Music building. Not a music theatre, a music building. They have a beautiful gym , new student center focusing on healthy eating and other activities. New dorms interconnected with each building. I can’t imagine what they are spending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm realizing that the top 50 or so schools are all about $80K+ and none of them offer merit aid, outside of maybe CWRU.
The rest have 20-50 full-ride scholarships for their most elite students but that's pretty much it for merit aid.
Then of course there is UVA and W&M which are instate. And UMD which is ranked just above 50.
We've in DC so none of these in-states are particularly relevant.


So all this constant chatter about this or that top50 school----are you all paying the $80K/+year sticker price(s)?

College is around the corner for us and I'm realizing that yes indeed, they're all about that much. Guess I knew that in theory but it's another thing
entirely to think "huh, they're asking $360K for undergrad. Are we really going to pay it?"
Sobering.
Are people really paying it?

Our kids declined their top choices from T10 colleges and attended T25 colleges where they got half tuition merit scholarships. We just couldn't swing four years of almost $100K for each child. However, we are aware that we got luck with merit money, otherwise could've sold our rental property or pulled money out of retirement or primary residence. We could've been luckier if our kids took full rides to state schools but we felt it would be unfair to push them as only reason they aren't getting need based aid is because of us. If we hadn't worked hard and spent money instead of being frugal, they would've been eligible for aid.

Though let's get real. It's not like turning down a "T10" for a "T25" (an artificial rating if ever there was one) means all that much in terms of most kids' future success. Any kid who can get into a "T10" school is likely going to succeed no matter where they go. Even to a state school that is not within the artificial list of T50 schools that a newspaper creates every year.

Thereby proving that it's the kid and what they do that matters. Where you go does NOT matter. So save your money and find the best fit for your kid within your affordable budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
I get that $90K is a rounding error for some on here and two weeks' salaries for others.

But I bet that for most of us, $360K is not an insignificant amount.
And yet we're fighting each other for the privilege of paying it.

We are truly idiots for playing into this. Excuse my insult as I include myself in that group.

OP, you had many chances to get there with so little money. When Netflix raised their DVD monthly rental from $7 to $11, it was time to buy Netflix stock. When Apple came out with Iphone, you still had several years to buy the stock to get to $360k. When you were shopping on Amazon, you should have been buying the stock. All in all, ca $30k in any one of them, would have taken you there.
There are so many other companies that were clearly going to do well.
I started really late like in 2020 because of work and visa problems.Almost 20 years down the drain, and I still made it. My older one doesn't want me pay that much for college and wants to go to community college. Younger one is about to get $300k, but outside of 529 ofcourse. Younger DC has 10 years til college. We were never high earners. We had to make money work for us even if we knew nothing about it. Well, almost nothing. It's extremely good time to be in the market and/or enter the market now to forever. Not a financial advice.

First of all, not everyone is a savvy investor. And I'll go further than not many people know much about investing at all. So good for you? But you're expected a tremendous amount of financial know-all for most people. I grew up pretty poor and I can tell you I didn't have any sort of "investing" until I was nearly 30. Partly due to my debt (school) to income ratio and partly due to just not knowing.

Second, you imply that people should give up any sort of luxury, however small, to fund college. And I fundamentally disagree with that. Colleges are overpriced. Loans are predatory. And yet, despite what we say about "you can do well at any college" there aer many that will only hire from ivies, top tiers, etc. I saw that first hand in my own line of work. So people have valid reasons to want those schools.

[Anonymous]

I know many prefer to send kids to state schools and give them nice cars and down payment or wedding money but I would rather spend on an elite education.

[Anonymous]

It may not be important for already well connected and well to do whites but an elite education is very important for kids of color or immigration with no family connections.

[Anonymous]

I was first ever to attend a medical school from my family where mother and grandmothers never went to school and grandfathers didn't go to college. I never even talked to a doctor other than going to PCP for 5 minute suck visit twice in my whole life, not even for annual physicals. I was only 17 and only had english as a subject before, not as language of learning.

As I didn't know better or had any mentorship, I felt imposter syndrome and blamed myself for not being as hardworking or confident as rich kids. I was just trying to fit in, unlike my earlier self who was a top student at my low performing school with no poor competition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
I get that $90K is a rounding error for some on here and two weeks' salaries for others.

But I bet that for most of us, $360K is not an insignificant amount.
And yet we're fighting each other for the privilege of paying it.

We are truly idiots for playing into this. Excuse my insult as I include myself in that group.

OP, you had many chances to get there with so little money. When Netflix raised their DVD monthly rental from $7 to $11, it was time to buy Netflix stock. When Apple came out with Iphone, you still had several years to buy the stock to get to $360k. When you were shopping on Amazon, you should have been buying the stock. All in all, ca $30k in any one of them, would have taken you there.
There are so many other companies that were clearly going to do well.
I started really late like in 2020 because of work and visa problems.Almost 20 years down the drain, and I still made it. My older one doesn't want me pay that much for college and wants to go to community college. Younger one is about to get $300k, but outside of 529 ofcourse. Younger DC has 10 years til college. We were never high earners. We had to make money work for us even if we knew nothing about it. Well, almost nothing. It's extremely good time to be in the market and/or enter the market now to forever. Not a financial advice.

So all you had to do was be the world's most proficient stock picker

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It may not be important for already well connected and well to do whites but an elite education is very important for kids of color or immigration with no family connections.

You could have said it isn't important for the 10% of connected white kids, but you had to be a racist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
I get that $90K is a rounding error for some on here and two weeks' salaries for others.

But I bet that for most of us, $360K is not an insignificant amount.
And yet we're fighting each other for the privilege of paying it.

We are truly idiots for playing into this. Excuse my insult as I include myself in that group.

OP, you had many chances to get there with so little money. When Netflix raised their DVD monthly rental from $7 to $11, it was time to buy Netflix stock. When Apple came out with Iphone, you still had several years to buy the stock to get to $360k. When you were shopping on Amazon, you should have been buying the stock. All in all, ca $30k in any one of them, would have taken you there.
There are so many other companies that were clearly going to do well.
I started really late like in 2020 because of work and visa problems.Almost 20 years down the drain, and I still made it. My older one doesn't want me pay that much for college and wants to go to community college. Younger one is about to get $300k, but outside of 529 ofcourse. Younger DC has 10 years til college. We were never high earners. We had to make money work for us even if we knew nothing about it. Well, almost nothing. It's extremely good time to be in the market and/or enter the market now to forever. Not a financial advice.

I have a few hundred k btw amazon, apple and Microsoft and yes, I dont want to drain it all for 4 years of college. this is what we're talking about. you have the money, you won't get FA, but you dont have 5mm and you dont know if spending 800k for two kids to go to college makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people who don't go to Europe for 20 years so their kids can go to Middlebury are the parents who care THE MOST about the bumper sticker. I don't find it inspirational.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm realizing that the top 50 or so schools are all about $80K+ and none of them offer merit aid, outside of maybe CWRU.
The rest have 20-50 full-ride scholarships for their most elite students but that's pretty much it for merit aid.
Then of course there is UVA and W&M which are instate. And UMD which is ranked just above 50.
We've in DC so none of these in-states are particularly relevant.


So all this constant chatter about this or that top50 school----are you all paying the $80K/+year sticker price(s)?

College is around the corner for us and I'm realizing that yes indeed, they're all about that much. Guess I knew that in theory but it's another thing
entirely to think "huh, they're asking $360K for undergrad. Are we really going to pay it?"
Sobering.
Are people really paying it?

Our kids declined their top choices from T10 colleges and attended T25 colleges where they got half tuition merit scholarships. We just couldn't swing four years of almost $100K for each child. However, we are aware that we got luck with merit money, otherwise could've sold our rental property or pulled money out of retirement or primary residence. We could've been luckier if our kids took full rides to state schools but we felt it would be unfair to push them as only reason they aren't getting need based aid is because of us. If we hadn't worked hard and spent money instead of being frugal, they would've been eligible for aid.

Same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny you should ask this OP.

When I hit “submit payment” and a link to deduct $42,650 from our bank account last Tuesday- for ONE SEMESTER- I had the same thought. Who in their right mind really does this?

1) those with over $20MM in the bank, 2) those with paying grandpas

Nope. HHI $230, have been saving since the children were little (started with $210/month for maxium tax benefit, as our income went up we did a little but more, plus bonus money, etc). DC 1 got merit aid, so very inexpensive, will have funds leftover for grad school. DC 2, attending am over $80k per year private, will be a stretch for us, between 529 and cash flow - there will be nothing left for grad school, they will need to pay on their own.

And, we don't go abroad for vacation, drive 10+ year old cars until they die, etc). We've made education a priority

So that your kids can take budget vacations and drive beater cars while making education a priority for their kids too?

This is harsh but really worth talking about. how is paying $80K a year for school worth it in this scenario? Are you hoping that maybe your kid will break into the next income level and not repeat this cycle? The reality is that there is no guarantee that attending a $80k school will lead to ANY better income or standard of living than a $40k school.

it's just insanity that people like have fallen victim to the $80k trap. it's honestly really depressing.

Okay OP - you change it, and get back to us. We'll wait here......

Not OP. There are many of us that feel this way.

living a bare bones life for 20 years so your kid can attend a $80k school which guarantees nothing is depressing. Period.

I'm not rich by any means. I have enough in the 529 to send my kids to $80k schools. I don't feel like my life has been drab and bare bones for the past 20 years. I live in a good neighborhood, kids went to public schools, I've had three cars since 1997. We have very satisfactory family vacations. Maybe my expectations are low, but there's nothing I really want that I don't have.

Each state has a different aggregate contribution limit for each 529 account that typically falls between $235,000 and $550,000. What is your state's cap? 4-years of tuition at one of my kid's schools is $348k and over the cap allowed in 529 for our state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny you should ask this OP.

When I hit “submit payment” and a link to deduct $42,650 from our bank account last Tuesday- for ONE SEMESTER- I had the same thought. Who in their right mind really does this?

1) those with over $20MM in the bank, 2) those with paying grandpas

Nope. HHI $230, have been saving since the children were little (started with $210/month for maxium tax benefit, as our income went up we did a little but more, plus bonus money, etc). DC 1 got merit aid, so very inexpensive, will have funds leftover for grad school. DC 2, attending am over $80k per year private, will be a stretch for us, between 529 and cash flow - there will be nothing left for grad school, they will need to pay on their own.

And, we don't go abroad for vacation, drive 10+ year old cars until they die, etc). We've made education a priority

So that your kids can take budget vacations and drive beater cars while making education a priority for their kids too?

This is harsh but really worth talking about. how is paying $80K a year for school worth it in this scenario? Are you hoping that maybe your kid will break into the next income level and not repeat this cycle? The reality is that there is no guarantee that attending a $80k school will lead to ANY better income or standard of living than a $40k school.

it's just insanity that people like have fallen victim to the $80k trap. it's honestly really depressing.

Is an 80k school better than a 40k school? Who knows. It is is true often but not all the time that the 80k school may provide more pathways. The 40k school will also provide pathways.

Harvard and Iowa State are not the same. Harvard will provide more options and pathways. But Iowa State will provide some of that as well.

Does it matter which? Sure. Can either work? Sure.

Does the kid plan to attend graduate or professional school? I'd save the big brand name for grad/professional school and go to state flagship or top 50 school and be one of the best and save that $$.