What's the Cutoff For Schools That Are Worth the Money?

[Anonymous]

I don't know OP - I have 2 kids and I have a lot of 529 money saved, but in general, I think you are thinking about it the wrong way. I'm likely to spend more money for my DS class of 2023 than for my DS class of 2020. DS 2020, at a highly ranked school, is a strong motivated student. He did well in admissions but definitely had some rejections, picked a good school that gave him merit money so his overall cost is below the sticker price by a lot. But he is a motivated person - he will be fine at this school or at MIT or at a third tier state school - he will make the most of his opportunities. I'm glad he picked the school that gave him money because for a kid that will succeed no matter what, why over spend?

DS 23 is not as strong of a student - he needs a smaller environment and will likely attend a smaller private school, which may cost more. He is unlikely to get the same type of merit money (most decisions are in already but none of his admissions have come with the same offer as my older one). But it's worth it because he will need the help.

I can't imagine telling him he can't attend a good private school because he didn't try hard enough or it's not worth it since he can't get into MIT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To be safe, since your kid seems to be somewhat competitive, if they can snag one of the following it’s almost never a bad investment: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Caltech, Duke, Yale, UPenn, Columbia. Those are top schools recognized throughout the nation with good undergrad resources and extremely low levels of financial insolvency for students after graduating. If your kid is looking for a smaller environment with more individual attention, you can make the case for Dartmouth, Rice, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore. After that each school gets increasingly more difficult to justify. In most cases schools like Brown, Vanderbilt, WashU, etc. are mostly worth it but the previous grouping is safer.

+1 for prestige and the academics/opportunities at a low downside, safest bets are probably Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Caltech, Duke, Yale, UPenn, and Columbia. Not sure how the numbers scandal will affect Columbia in the near future. But all of those schools have a 5% or lower acceptance rate with the strongest applicant pools, since everyone with academically talented kids are thinking the same thing. And then if you prefer intimate environments thankfully there are a whole range of good schools with more personalized educations, but you get some downside on name recognition. To me this is why Princeton is the best in the country - they give the strong undergrad focus without sacrificing on prestige.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To be safe, since your kid seems to be somewhat competitive, if they can snag one of the following it’s almost never a bad investment: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Caltech, Duke, Yale, UPenn, Columbia. Those are top schools recognized throughout the nation with good undergrad resources and extremely low levels of financial insolvency for students after graduating. If your kid is looking for a smaller environment with more individual attention, you can make the case for Dartmouth, Rice, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore. After that each school gets increasingly more difficult to justify. In most cases schools like Brown, Vanderbilt, WashU, etc. are mostly worth it but the previous grouping is safer.

My partner is a prof and UMD's tuition would be free, so this is an interesting thread. I know the children of an Emory prof whose parents had a very tight list of schools they'd pay for, which didn't even include the full Ivy League. Both kids got into an HYP and a top 3 LAC, so the parents did end up paying. The kids ultimately went to Yale and Swarthmore.

[Anonymous]

OP: look at the National Universities with the largest endowments:

1) Harvard
2) Yale
3) Stanford
4) Princeton
5) MIT

6) U Penn
7) U Michigan
8) Notre Dame
9) Northwestern
10) Columbia

11) WashUStL
12) Duke
13) Vanderbilt
14) Emory
15) Virginia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: look at the National Universities with the largest endowments:

1) Harvard
2) Yale
3) Stanford
4) Princeton
5) MIT

6) U Penn
7) U Michigan
8) Notre Dame
9) Northwestern
10) Columbia

11) WashUStL
12) Duke
13) Vanderbilt
14) Emory
15) Virginia

Adding:

These LACs should be given consideration IF your student fits in with the campus culture:

Williams College, Amherst College, Swarthmore College, Wellesley College, Carleton College, Grinnell College if student wants a career in academia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: look at the National Universities with the largest endowments:

1) Harvard
2) Yale
3) Stanford
4) Princeton
5) MIT

6) U Penn
7) U Michigan
8) Notre Dame
9) Northwestern
10) Columbia

11) WashUStL
12) Duke
13) Vanderbilt
14) Emory
15) Virginia

Why does a large endowment make a school worth the money?
It often allows them to provide better aid, which is most often need based at schools of this quality but the connection to being "worth the money" isn't clear at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: look at the National Universities with the largest endowments:

1) Harvard
2) Yale
3) Stanford
4) Princeton
5) MIT

6) U Penn
7) U Michigan
8) Notre Dame
9) Northwestern
10) Columbia

11) WashUStL
12) Duke
13) Vanderbilt
14) Emory
15) Virginia

Why does a large endowment make a school worth the money?
It often allows them to provide better aid, which is most often need based at schools of this quality but the connection to being "worth the money" isn't clear at all.

Maybe because these schools with money are more likely to survive and do well long term?

[Anonymous]

Much depends upon the student's interests and career goals.

One not interested in academia might be miserable at Swarthmore, Grinnell, & Carleton.

I should have included the University of Chicago in my lists above.

If interested in Investment Banking / finance, then U Penn-Wharton and NYU-Stern are worth full pay.

Northwestern's reported income results for students are supressed by the School of Communication/Journalism School. Even though the theater dept. & the Journalism School are the best in the nation, salaries are low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: look at the National Universities with the largest endowments:

1) Harvard
2) Yale
3) Stanford
4) Princeton
5) MIT

6) U Penn
7) U Michigan
8) Notre Dame
9) Northwestern
10) Columbia

11) WashUStL
12) Duke
13) Vanderbilt
14) Emory
15) Virginia

Why does a large endowment make a school worth the money?
It often allows them to provide better aid, which is most often need based at schools of this quality but the connection to being "worth the money" isn't clear at all.

Pretty sure Princeton gives every student living expense stipends for internships or commuting, and that there and at similar schools, on campus-job pay is quite high. The on-campus jobs at such schools also tend to be easy; the hard jobs like food service are unionized at Swarthmore (for example), to my knowledge. For high-endowment urban schools, kids get Lyft passes. And so on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: look at the National Universities with the largest endowments:

1) Harvard
2) Yale
3) Stanford
4) Princeton
5) MIT

6) U Penn
7) U Michigan
8) Notre Dame
9) Northwestern
10) Columbia

11) WashUStL
12) Duke
13) Vanderbilt
14) Emory
15) Virginia

Why does a large endowment make a school worth the money?
It often allows them to provide better aid, which is most often need based at schools of this quality but the connection to being "worth the money" isn't clear at all.

Pretty sure Princeton gives every student living expense stipends for internships or commuting, and that there and at similar schools, on campus-job pay is quite high. The on-campus jobs at such schools also tend to be easy; the hard jobs like food service are unionized at Swarthmore (for example), to my knowledge. For high-endowment urban schools, kids get Lyft passes. And so on.

Your connection to endowment size is tenuous at best...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: look at the National Universities with the largest endowments:

1) Harvard
2) Yale
3) Stanford
4) Princeton
5) MIT

6) U Penn
7) U Michigan
8) Notre Dame
9) Northwestern
10) Columbia

11) WashUStL
12) Duke
13) Vanderbilt
14) Emory
15) Virginia

Why does a large endowment make a school worth the money?
It often allows them to provide better aid, which is most often need based at schools of this quality but the connection to being "worth the money" isn't clear at all.

Pretty sure Princeton gives every student living expense stipends for internships or commuting, and that there and at similar schools, on campus-job pay is quite high. The on-campus jobs at such schools also tend to be easy; the hard jobs like food service are unionized at Swarthmore (for example), to my knowledge. For high-endowment urban schools, kids get Lyft passes. And so on.

Your connection to endowment size is tenuous at best...

Which schools with lower endowments do do all of that? Do any publics?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: look at the National Universities with the largest endowments:

1) Harvard
2) Yale
3) Stanford
4) Princeton
5) MIT

6) U Penn
7) U Michigan
8) Notre Dame
9) Northwestern
10) Columbia

11) WashUStL
12) Duke
13) Vanderbilt
14) Emory
15) Virginia

Why does a large endowment make a school worth the money?
It often allows them to provide better aid, which is most often need based at schools of this quality but the connection to being "worth the money" isn't clear at all.

Pretty sure Princeton gives every student living expense stipends for internships or commuting, and that there and at similar schools, on campus-job pay is quite high. The on-campus jobs at such schools also tend to be easy; the hard jobs like food service are unionized at Swarthmore (for example), to my knowledge. For high-endowment urban schools, kids get Lyft passes. And so on.

Lyft passes and ease of campus job are not two main considerations when deciding about whether a school is worth the money

[Anonymous]

At LACs you’re paying for 4 years of guaranteed on-campus housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child was admitted to a school that costs 80k a year.
10k merit aid

We are actually UMC and make 300k HHI

Major is Psychology.

Other college choice is 40k a year with 20k merit aid. It's not a T50 and not a well known name.

It's hard to turn down bragging rights, but being saddled with a mortgage level amount of debt at 22 (or if we take it on, 62) seems like a terrible decision for a name on your resume.

It is a terrible decision. Really for any major, but especially for a major in psychology, where pay is often low and graduate school is really essential to actually using your degree in that major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: look at the National Universities with the largest endowments:

1) Harvard
2) Yale
3) Stanford
4) Princeton
5) MIT

6) U Penn
7) U Michigan
8) Notre Dame
9) Northwestern
10) Columbia

11) WashUStL
12) Duke
13) Vanderbilt
14) Emory
15) Virginia

Why does a large endowment make a school worth the money?
It often allows them to provide better aid, which is most often need based at schools of this quality but the connection to being "worth the money" isn't clear at all.

Pretty sure Princeton gives every student living expense stipends for internships or commuting, and that there and at similar schools, on campus-job pay is quite high. The on-campus jobs at such schools also tend to be easy; the hard jobs like food service are unionized at Swarthmore (for example), to my knowledge. For high-endowment urban schools, kids get Lyft passes. And so on.

Lyft passes and ease of campus job are not two main considerations when deciding about whether a school is worth the money

Endowment allows certain things that poorer schools do not. Lots of first-years making over $15/hour in paid research opportunities at high-endowment schools.