For Which Elite Colleges and Universities Would You Pay Full Price ?

[Anonymous]

We're in state VA. Would be willing to full pay:
Private: Ivy, Stanford, MIT
Public: Cal, UCLA, Michigan, UNC, Ga Tech

That's about it.

[Anonymous]

Amherst, Barnard, Bowdoin, Brown, Bryn Mawr, Cal, Cal Tech, Carleton, Carnegie Mellon (for CS, Engineering or Theatre), Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown (SFS or Languages), Grinnell, Harvard, Harvey Mudd, Haverford, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Michigan, Middlebury,
Mount Holyoke, Northwestern, Oberlin, Penn, Pomona, Princeton, Reed, Rice, Saint John's College (MD/NM), Smith, Stanford, Swarthmore, UCLA, UVA, Vassar, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Williams, Yale

[Anonymous]

Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford
MIT
UPenn
Brown
CalTech

Williams
Amherst
Swathmore
Pomona

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amherst, Barnard, Bowdoin, Brown, Bryn Mawr, Cal, Cal Tech, Carleton, Carnegie Mellon (for CS, Engineering or Theatre), Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown (SFS or Languages), Grinnell, Harvard, Harvey Mudd, Haverford, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Michigan, Middlebury,
Mount Holyoke, Northwestern, Oberlin, Penn, Pomona, Princeton, Reed, Rice, Saint John's College (MD/NM), Smith, Stanford, Swarthmore, UCLA, UVA, Vassar, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Williams, Yale

Eliminate Saint Johns and UVA and I would agree with this list.

[Anonymous]

Probably most ivies, not sure if Cornell is worth it though. Then the non ivies that are better than many ivies like Stanford, MIT, Duke, Caltech, maybe a few others. Outside of that, hard to justify over UVA in-state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably most ivies, not sure if Cornell is worth it though. Then the non ivies that are better than many ivies like Stanford, MIT, Duke, Caltech, maybe a few others. Outside of that, hard to justify over UVA in-state.

Is it just one insane UVA booster or are there more of you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming that paying full price included taking out a total of $30,000 in loans over 4 years (average of $7,500 per year), for which elite colleges and universities would you pay full price ? (I specify the loan amounts to depict one who must sacrifice to attend an elite school at full sticker price.)

Assume that the student is undecided regarding major and career.

Ok OP. Report back in the spring with the acceptances

+1 Lol, yes

[Anonymous]

If you are UMC and you have a high stats kid, most of them still won’t get into these very top schools because there are just not enough spaces. There also isn’t endless room at UVA, assuming your child even wants to be at a big school.

This means that your kids are more likely to either get into lower ranked schools that are still very good schools. But you all know that ED generally increases those odds. (Yes. I’m aware of athletes and legacies but at many colleges ED still makes a really big difference.) ED sucks, but it’s the game you play if you want to be sure of many schools. And when you hear about how so many qualified applicants get turned down RD at target schools, if you’ve got the money, ED becomes more and more appealing.

Realistically, I don’t WANT to pay full price at any school that’s costs 80k a year, although I’d feel a lot better about paying that at an Ivy League. But I know my kid isn’t getting into an Ivy League school—or rather that the chance is too low when compared to doing ED at a lower ranked school that still has a good reputation. I don’t want to “waste” that chance.

Earlier in the process, I was committed to not doing ED because I was chasing merit. But now I just want to make sure my kid gets in somewhere they really like. So, we’re probably doing ED at a solid SLAC with a 30% RD rate that bumps up to over 60% ED knowing that we might be giving up merit. Or not. I know some people who did ED and still got merit. But we won’t know. Or we’re doing ED at a high ranked LAC (top 15…or was before rankings just changed) knowing there will be no merit.

It’s super messed up, and I know we don’t have to play the game. But lots of parents are and that’s why it exists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Easy. Any Ivy, MIT, Stanford, Cal Tech, Northwestern, Chicago, Duke, Hopkins. Preference for any Ivy. Out of State, probably Berkley, maybe Michigan. We are in state Virginia so that would not be full price.

Easiest question ever on DCUM.

Why would anyone in their right mind pay full-price for those schools when they could go to UVA? That's just crazy.

[Anonymous]

And to just add on…you can see for which schools ED really makes a difference. At some schools it makes a large difference, at others not much.

Frankly, I think the whole system is messed up. When you go to tours all they talk about is first gen students and students who need a lot of financial aid and then you look around at the other parents who actually traveled to this place for a tour—meaning they often spent the money (and time) on flying and renting a car and hotels—and it’s like….hello! These are not those families! It’s great that colleges want diversity, but it sort of feels like you are actually dinged for not being that. But if you do have money, they’re happy to take it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For my junior, who's classically well-rounded, probably will major in the humanities or social sciences but may then pursue med school, and would benefit from both personal attention academically and a lively environment socially: Dartmouth, Williams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Davidson, Rice, Pomona, maybe Princeton.

LOL at a 16 year old being "classically well-rounded." You people. LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Easy. Any Ivy, MIT, Stanford, Cal Tech, Northwestern, Chicago, Duke, Hopkins. Preference for any Ivy. Out of State, probably Berkley, maybe Michigan. We are in state Virginia so that would not be full price.

Easiest question ever on DCUM.

Why would anyone in their right mind pay full-price for those schools when they could go to UVA? That's just crazy.

Why do people buy a Porsche when they can have a RAV4? Some people are gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're in state VA. Would be willing to full pay:
Private: Ivy, Stanford, MIT
Public: Cal, UCLA, Michigan, UNC, Ga Tech

That's about it.

Why in the world would you full pay out of state tuition for any of those schools over in-state UVA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're in state VA. Would be willing to full pay:
Private: Ivy, Stanford, MIT
Public: Cal, UCLA, Michigan, UNC, Ga Tech

That's about it.

Why in the world would you full pay out of state tuition for any of those schools over in-state UVA?

I would too and I am a VA resident.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Easy. Any Ivy, MIT, Stanford, Cal Tech, Northwestern, Chicago, Duke, Hopkins. Preference for any Ivy. Out of State, probably Berkley, maybe Michigan. We are in state Virginia so that would not be full price.

Easiest question ever on DCUM.

Why would anyone in their right mind pay full-price for those schools when they could go to UVA? That's just crazy.

Why not? For a lot of people the extra bump from going to a school like Princeton or Duke is worth it. No one really knows how much that boost is worth though, which is why the question is being asked. Even the greater attention to undergrads and resources per student could be more than worth the extra cost.