Anyone’s kid still undecided??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is still deciding. They are upset because their top two schools did not give any merit, so we said they need to decide between the other schools. They have other options that we feel are good but a little less selective. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? We have two younger children and just can’t justify an extra $100k for these schools. We feel like we would have to spend the same amount on their siblings.

Yes - we are turning down Ivy for an out of state public school. Not as prestigious as Ivy, but public has smaller class size and better career placement opportunities. Also public less $$$. Total of $145K for public vs $332K for Ivy. It was a no brainer

Public with smaller class size than an Ivy and better placement? And 35k a year oos? Are you for real?

Ivies are not great at every subject, you know. There are many schools ranked above them for many specific areas. Sometimes a kid knows exactly what he wants to do and can tell when a school won't help him get there.

Might be Barrett Honors college or similar. Those often have separate classes, housing, and myriad opportunities for their students in a smaller setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD got accepted to a "second-tier" IVY, ie. not HYP, and she's turning it down for a much, much cheaper in-state option. Sorry, but we can't justify the expense.

What’s with “IVY” in all caps that keeps appearing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is still deciding. They are upset because their top two schools did not give any merit, so we said they need to decide between the other schools. They have other options that we feel are good but a little less selective. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? We have two younger children and just can’t justify an extra $100k for these schools. We feel like we would have to spend the same amount on their siblings.

Yes - we are turning down Ivy for an out of state public school. Not as prestigious as Ivy, but public has smaller class size and better career placement opportunities. Also public less $$$. Total of $145K for public vs $332K for Ivy. It was a no brainer

Wow! which public is this (or at least which part of the country)? Does the $145K total include some merit?

It is a public school in a state where it is easy to go in-state after the first year.

Yeah, right, where it is easy to game the system state. No wonder you don’t want to name the school

And… if you were never going to send your DC to IVY, which it’s obvious that you were not, why apply in the first place? For bragging rights? You took someone’s seat !!!

Wow! Lots of anger. The Ivy was actually DCs first choice going into the college application process - applied ED and got deferred. So actually we would have sent him there had they accepted him ED. We did not apply to the Ivy to simply take someone else’s spot and have bragging rights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s so hard because while we followed the advice of not letting our DD “fall for”/apply to a school we couldn’t afford, it is so hard to predict merit d as if amounts do this crappy situation can happen anyway.

It’s hard to balance encouraging them to “go for it” and reach for their dreams vs. telling them to actually only apply to fairly easy to get into schools so the price is acceptable.

Yes, very hard to balance - we focused our DC on "go for it" schools that were known to give merit, even though they weren't necessarily his dream schools. His dream schools were the likes of Vandy and Cornell (rejected by both), followed by lesser ranked schools that he was accepted to but no merit. Ultimately, I think a lot of this is his ego b/c he wants to tell friends he's going to X school. I've told him what he does at school is much more important than where he goes.

Yes!!!Graduating without as many loans as well is something he will appreciate more in 4+ years as well. The ego need to say he attends "school Y" will dwindle. Attending a school your DC(and you) can afford is really important. I don't think most 18 yo fully understand what X in loans amounts to monthly for 10+ years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD got accepted to a "second-tier" IVY, ie. not HYP, and she's turning it down for a much, much cheaper in-state option. Sorry, but we can't justify the expense.

If your DD got accepted to an Ivy (don't really believe in rankings/2nd tier stuff), she will do well wherever she lands. She will be able to do much better in life by not having $100K+ in student loans when she graduates.

[Anonymous]

Mine! Will not talk to us about it. Have no idea where DC is leaning either.

[Anonymous]

Mine is also still undecided. Didn’t get in to any of his top choices despite 4.7 gpa 1580 sat, 14 APs etc . A little down. So much hard work, hard to see him bummed. Hanging hope on one school that waitlisted him. Think he’s been influenced by his peers to put too much emphasis on prestige.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine is also still undecided. Didn’t get in to any of his top choices despite 4.7 gpa 1580 sat, 14 APs etc . A little down. So much hard work, hard to see him bummed. Hanging hope on one school that waitlisted him. Think he’s been influenced by his peers to put too much emphasis on prestige.

I'm so sorry. It's hard when you see all the work they put in. Prestige feels great, but the substance of a great education and fit means so much more. Hoping your son has that in his choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is also still undecided. Didn’t get in to any of his top choices despite 4.7 gpa 1580 sat, 14 APs etc . A little down. So much hard work, hard to see him bummed. Hanging hope on one school that waitlisted him. Think he’s been influenced by his peers to put too much emphasis on prestige.

I'm so sorry. It's hard when you see all the work they put in. Prestige feels great, but the substance of a great education and fit means so much more. Hoping your son has that in his choices.

DP. Agree -- you can get a great education anywhere. I have taught this to my kids. Unfortunately not every kid gets into a "great fit" school, so some kids will end up at schools they can get a great education at even if the school isn't the best fit for their personality and interests. That's just the way it goes for some and it's a harder lesson to accept when there is so much pressure to find the "perfect" school (which doesn't really exist). But it's a good lesson to learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine! I think we're down to 2. #1 has better classes for intended major but less flexibility (she had several potential major interests). It is higher rank on USN but probably less prestigious name wise #2 is an Ivy w/ lots of flexibility and support which is great, since she has a variety of interests, but it offers less for the area she is most interested (though she could design something or lobby for something or do summer programs to fill gaps). We visit #1 tomorrow, and then she needs to figure it out! It may come down to cost. Right now #2 is $10k less than #1.

WashU and Cornell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine! I think we're down to 2. #1 has better classes for intended major but less flexibility (she had several potential major interests). It is higher rank on USN but probably less prestigious name wise #2 is an Ivy w/ lots of flexibility and support which is great, since she has a variety of interests, but it offers less for the area she is most interested (though she could design something or lobby for something or do summer programs to fill gaps). We visit #1 tomorrow, and then she needs to figure it out! It may come down to cost. Right now #2 is $10k less than #1.

WashU and Cornell?

All that flexibility sounds more like Brown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine! I think we're down to 2. #1 has better classes for intended major but less flexibility (she had several potential major interests). It is higher rank on USN but probably less prestigious name wise #2 is an Ivy w/ lots of flexibility and support which is great, since she has a variety of interests, but it offers less for the area she is most interested (though she could design something or lobby for something or do summer programs to fill gaps). We visit #1 tomorrow, and then she needs to figure it out! It may come down to cost. Right now #2 is $10k less than #1.

WashU and Cornell?

All that flexibility sounds more like Brown.

Ding ding ding ding!

[Anonymous]

Mine is still so undecided. It is coming down to two schools which couldn't be any more different (Large state school vs. small Liberal Arts).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is still deciding. They are upset because their top two schools did not give any merit, so we said they need to decide between the other schools. They have other options that we feel are good but a little less selective. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? We have two younger children and just can’t justify an extra $100k for these schools. We feel like we would have to spend the same amount on their siblings.

Yes - we are turning down Ivy for an out of state public school. Not as prestigious as Ivy, but public has smaller class size and better career placement opportunities. Also public less $$$. Total of $145K for public vs $332K for Ivy. It was a no brainer

Public with smaller class size than an Ivy and better placement? And 35k a year oos? Are you for real?

Ivies are not great at every subject, you know. There are many schools ranked above them for many specific areas. Sometimes a kid knows exactly what he wants to do and can tell when a school won't help him get there.

Public universities are not known for small classes you know or better placement

You are wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD got accepted to a "second-tier" IVY, ie. not HYP, and she's turning it down for a much, much cheaper in-state option. Sorry, but we can't justify the expense.

What’s with “IVY” in all caps that keeps appearing?

Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Valencia College
Youngstown State

????