Yale vs Penn State - Your Honest Opinion Please

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just read an article about how Yale just hosted an author who is brazenly antisemitic and against all white people.
She apparently said she was happy about 9/11. She said the Jews deserved the holocaust.

So, Yale doesn’t seem like such a great place to me.

So you believe in censorship? Do you only like the first amendment when someone agrees with you? It is easy to defend free speech when the speech is aligned with you. It is not so easy to defend people with other opinions that truth be told odious. Don't let them spread hate and fear in hiding. Let them speak so we can fight against it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your premise is flawed--the educations are not remotely the same. And the cohort certainly isn't either. If you can swing it, Yale is well worth the extra money.

+1
Very confusing post. OP do you mean UPenn???

i don't think this is what they meant - UPenn is private and presumably the cost difference between Yale/Penn would be negligible. But difference between Yale/Penn State likely significant. She says Yale would be 37K more yearly for them.

I agree with this, but she also says her kid is so lucky to have the opportunity to go to Yale and Penn State. That's like not a normal sentence.

[Anonymous]

If you have the financial means (without going into debt), Yale 100%.

The amount of opportunities while on campus are amazing. And, while I can't speak to how it measures up to Penn State's alumni network, I can say that I was able to use the Yale alumni network to find a job (through informational interviews with alumni from a Yale graduate school that I never met before, just by reaching out) in a field that was a change from my previous career.

I would say most schools aren't worth the difference if both options are a good fit for your DC, but Yale would be an exception.

Attending Yale doesn't guarantee career success, but it definitely helps to open doors.

- Yale (undergrad) Graduate

[Anonymous]

My first reaction:

Yale is a lock.

But, to a large extent it depends upon the student's intended major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale could open such large career doors that 35k/yr could be a blip in 5yrs. What if ds made $120k coming out of Yale?

This should not be a part of the equation. Dale and Kruger's research has shown over and over (3 decades of data) that the same student will have the same outcomes financially whether they go to an elite college or their safety school. The situation OP is in is literally what D+K's study focuses on.

Ok. Ds will have access to every name brand banking, consulting, tech, and private equity firms (that hire from ug) through on campus recruiting if he goes to yale. That will not be the same case if he goes to Penn state. Sure, he could make it in those fields… I did from a no name school, but much less likely and much more difficult than if I would have attended yale

And would that ease be worth $150k?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If you have the financial means (without going into debt), Yale 100%.

The amount of opportunities while on campus are amazing. And, while I can't speak to how it measures up to Penn State's alumni network, I can say that I was able to use the Yale alumni network to find a job (through informational interviews with alumni from a Yale graduate school that I never met before, just by reaching out) in a field that was a change from my previous career.

I would say most schools aren't worth the difference if both options are a good fit for your DC, but Yale would be an exception.

Attending Yale doesn't guarantee career success, but it definitely helps to open doors.

- Yale (undergrad) Graduate

This is such an important point and one that is not discussed enough when it comes to whether or not an elite college is worth it. We all have our plans when we are 18, but the vast majority of professionals would love the opportunity to change course in some way, if they feel a change is necessary, for various reasons. And I don't just mean- "I'm done with the grind of finance- I want to write a novel!" Things happen in life. You have to become a part-time caretaker for your parent; your pre-teen is going through a rough time; you were a brilliant surgeon and now you get headaches; you want to move with your spouse to a place where your industry isn't... the list goes on. A very powerful alumni network really makes a big difference in this regard.

[Anonymous]

I think if your husband tells your son not to go to Yale and your son listens, he may resent his father for the rest of his life. Yale is worth paying for!

[Anonymous]

How is this a question? Yale!

[Anonymous]

Not sure if still true, but at one time Penn State had the largest alumni network in the country--many of whom are powerful or own their own companies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First of all, I just want to acknowledge how lucky my DS is to have these two choices, but, as a family we are very much torn between the two.

We are in a very fortunate position to be able to afford both schools BUT Yale would be an additional ~35k/year. Now, my husband is in favor of Penn State purely from a financial perspective - his thinking is that, if the education is exactly the same, why pay 35k more? His thinking is that if he goes to Penn State, that 35k could be then put towards either graduate school (if DS decides to go or for a house down payment). DS loves Yale, and wants to go there.

I am in the middle, I can see the financial argument but I am concerned that my son might miss out on a unique opportunity....so we are stuck.

I am posting here because I'd very much appreciate your perspective - if the education he will receive is pretty much the same at Yale and Penn State, then what other non-academic factors should we be weighing and thinking about?

The education and the connections are not the same - Yale is a different level. That said, I definitely know graduates of Yale that are not the cheerleaders for their own school that Penn State grads are. The Penn State grads I know - to a person - are HUGE fans of their school. Which I think says something. They both have good alumni connections - just, I think, Yale may have better or higher connections. At Yale might be harder to stand out academically. And if your kid comes from less than top 1% means - that difference will be more noticeable, at least at first, at Yale. That may be exciting, or it may be daunting, or it may be neither, depending on the kid.

[Anonymous]

Cmon if you have the money for full pay you have the money to help with down payment or grad school down the line, This is not the time to cheap out. It is Yale for god sake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yale could open such large career doors that 35k/yr could be a blip in 5yrs. What if ds made $120k coming out of Yale?

Well, he's not going to share it with the parents who paid, so I fail to see how this is relevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If you have the financial means (without going into debt), Yale 100%.

The amount of opportunities while on campus are amazing. And, while I can't speak to how it measures up to Penn State's alumni network, I can say that I was able to use the Yale alumni network to find a job (through informational interviews with alumni from a Yale graduate school that I never met before, just by reaching out) in a field that was a change from my previous career.

I would say most schools aren't worth the difference if both options are a good fit for your DC, but Yale would be an exception.

Attending Yale doesn't guarantee career success, but it definitely helps to open doors.

- Yale (undergrad) Graduate

This is such an important point and one that is not discussed enough when it comes to whether or not an elite college is worth it. We all have our plans when we are 18, but the vast majority of professionals would love the opportunity to change course in some way, if they feel a change is necessary, for various reasons. And I don't just mean- "I'm done with the grind of finance- I want to write a novel!" Things happen in life. You have to become a part-time caretaker for your parent; your pre-teen is going through a rough time; you were a brilliant surgeon and now you get headaches; you want to move with your spouse to a place where your industry isn't... the list goes on. A very powerful alumni network really makes a big difference in this regard.

Nothing says “freedom” like $150,000 in debt at age 22.

[Anonymous]

You all live in a world I don't understand. As an engineering major, of course I'd choose Penn State over Yale.

[Anonymous]

Yale. If your husband thinks the education is apples to apples between these two schools -- both fine schools, no shade on Penn State -- he's delusional. Your son earned this and you have the means to pay.