making $250-$400K in NW DC and paying for college out of Wilson High school or similar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with everything you said with one exception. #1 isn't sacrificing anything. They are not making a choice to give something up. Only #2 is expected to do that.

#1 is already living in "Manassas" (or equivalent), drives a junker, and has no $$ for tennis lessons.

And #1 has provided a stable environment for their child so they are capable of pursuing a top-level education. As has #2. Neither #1 or #2 may have any $$$ left at the end of each month. But only #2 is forced to make a sacrifice.

You know, you are welcome to take a lower paying job or move to a different city if you feel so wronged. Also, you could move to PG County or SE DC and still be in close commuting range for a much smaller mortgage.

You've made my point. Only #2 is being asked to make a sacrifice.

[Anonymous]

This is ridiculous, with $250k-$400 k income and children in early ES, you should be able to save more than enough. We have older children (one in college and one in HS) and when they were your children's age our HHI was just over $100k. It is now near $200k. We have been able to save enough for them to go to the college's of their choice.

[Anonymous]

More interesting than lecturing OP on what he or she should do with income is considering the point that while many Wilson kids can get into top tier colleges that do not provide merit aid, many cannot afford to attend but rather choose state or "second-tier" schools. It is important to consider this when using the colleges attended by Wilson grads versus privates as a proxy for the education provided by each.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More interesting than lecturing OP on what he or she should do with income is considering the point that while many Wilson kids can get into top tier colleges that do not provide merit aid, many cannot afford to attend but rather choose state or "second-tier" schools. It is important to consider this when using the colleges attended by Wilson grads versus privates as a proxy for the education provided by each.

This is not unique to Wilson, it is the same in the well regarded HS in Montgomery, Arlington and Fairfax Counties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More interesting than lecturing OP on what he or she should do with income is considering the point that while many Wilson kids can get into top tier colleges that do not provide merit aid, many cannot afford to attend but rather choose state or "second-tier" schools. It is important to consider this when using the colleges attended by Wilson grads versus privates as a proxy for the education provided by each.

This is not unique to Wilson, it is the same in the well regarded HS in Montgomery, Arlington and Fairfax Counties.

+1.

I went to an award ceremony at Yorktown HS in Arlington last June. They announced the many merit scholarships received by graduating seniors...many, many students in high HHI areas taking this path...even over UVA/W&M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More interesting than lecturing OP on what he or she should do with income is considering the point that while many Wilson kids can get into top tier colleges that do not provide merit aid, many cannot afford to attend but rather choose state or "second-tier" schools. It is important to consider this when using the colleges attended by Wilson grads versus privates as a proxy for the education provided by each.

OP here and this is a very, very good point.
I have three kids on my block who recently graduated from Wilson and all 3 are at good state schools. Turns out that 2 of the 3 were also admitted to top 20 schools (of the Duke, Amherst level) but neither attended. It just wasn't worth it to them to pay $70k/year for those schools vs. $25k/year for places like Madison or USC (after DC Tag money kicks in which is $10K a year).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with everything you said with one exception. #1 isn't sacrificing anything. They are not making a choice to give something up. Only #2 is expected to do that.

#1 is already living in "Manassas" (or equivalent), drives a junker, and has no $$ for tennis lessons.

And #1 has provided a stable environment for their child so they are capable of pursuing a top-level education. As has #2. Neither #1 or #2 may have any $$$ left at the end of each month. But only #2 is forced to make a sacrifice.

You know, you are welcome to take a lower paying job or move to a different city if you feel so wronged. Also, you could move to PG County or SE DC and still be in close commuting range for a much smaller mortgage.

You've made my point. Only #2 is being asked to make a sacrifice.

So should #1 move to a cardboard box?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More interesting than lecturing OP on what he or she should do with income is considering the point that while many Wilson kids can get into top tier colleges that do not provide merit aid, many cannot afford to attend but rather choose state or "second-tier" schools. It is important to consider this when using the colleges attended by Wilson grads versus privates as a proxy for the education provided by each.

+1

Half the graduating class at the Montgomery Blair Math/Science Magnet enrolls at UMD-CP - not because they can't get into highly-ranked schools, but because of the expense of paying full price for those schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is ridiculous, with $250k-$400 k income and children in early ES, you should be able to save more than enough. We have older children (one in college and one in HS) and when they were your children's age our HHI was just over $100k. It is now near $200k. We have been able to save enough for them to go to the college's of their choice.

Kudos to you.

Not everyone is in the same situation, or has the same capabilities. We earn at the lower end of that HHI range and have managed to save $300K towards college for 2 kids. We can therefore pay roughly $40K max/year/kid for college.

I don't feel guilty or otherwise bad about this. It is what it is, and my kids are very privileged to have choices and the privilege of graduating debt-free from college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with everything you said with one exception. #1 isn't sacrificing anything. They are not making a choice to give something up. Only #2 is expected to do that.

#1 is already living in "Manassas" (or equivalent), drives a junker, and has no $$ for tennis lessons.

And #1 has provided a stable environment for their child so they are capable of pursuing a top-level education. As has #2. Neither #1 or #2 may have any $$$ left at the end of each month. But only #2 is forced to make a sacrifice.

You know, you are welcome to take a lower paying job or move to a different city if you feel so wronged. Also, you could move to PG County or SE DC and still be in close commuting range for a much smaller mortgage.

You've made my point. Only #2 is being asked to make a sacrifice.

So should #1 move to a cardboard box?

Are you suggesting that #1 has no discretionary income, particularly if they live in a place where the cost of living is low? In this example, I'm not suggesting that #1 is at poverty level.

[Anonymous]

Well I call bullshit on all the complaining about living in a HCOL area. We also live in the DC area and are able to save 3k a month (for 3 kids) on a HHI of just over $400k. It can be done. You just have to prioritize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with everything you said with one exception. #1 isn't sacrificing anything. They are not making a choice to give something up. Only #2 is expected to do that.

#1 is already living in "Manassas" (or equivalent), drives a junker, and has no $$ for tennis lessons.

And #1 has provided a stable environment for their child so they are capable of pursuing a top-level education. As has #2. Neither #1 or #2 may have any $$$ left at the end of each month. But only #2 is forced to make a sacrifice.

You know, you are welcome to take a lower paying job or move to a different city if you feel so wronged. Also, you could move to PG County or SE DC and still be in close commuting range for a much smaller mortgage.

You've made my point. Only #2 is being asked to make a sacrifice.

So should #1 move to a cardboard box?

Are you suggesting that #1 has no discretionary income, particularly if they live in a place where the cost of living is low? In this example, I'm not suggesting that #1 is at poverty level.

We know a family living in the Midwest. The husband had a job in IT with pay alot lower than around here, and wife decided to "stay at home for the kids". The older kid got a scholarship to a good local private HS, did very well, got admitted into a Top-50 school, also private, and received financial aid. The younger kid went to the state flagship. I don't know if there is fin aid involved.
My kids, from a 2 income family, went to FCPS and the older one did not even consider private colleges. This was partly because we could not justify paying for private given the quality of VA schools (this kid was not Ivy material). Still, it rankled that I had to bust my a$$ at work while this woman sat on hers all those years, and the outcomes are similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in NW DC and make $250K-400K as do all of our friends and neighbors. We're all 2 income families in well-paying but not elite-paying DC area jobs (no law partners or senior lobbyists--we're mostly two fed households). We own expensive, old, small houses and pay way too much for childcare, etc. Otherwise we live pretty simple day-to-day lives: public school, Old Navy, etc You know the story. Some of our neighborhood friends' kids are starting to graduate from Wilson and I'm noticing a trend. They get into very good colleges (top 50) but these schools are full freight. Most end up going to second or third tier schools (public or private) that offer aid.

Is this pretty much how it goes for people like us? (i.e. high income earners regardless of our daily housing/etc expenses). I can think of about a dozen NW DC kids who got into schools like Smith or Swarthmore or Cornell and half ended up attending (full pay) and half ended up going elsewhere (public or private) because the second or third school offered significant money.
Do the "top" schools offer merit aid to students like ours? Or is our only way to get a kid to Smith to be able to pay $65K/year?

(disclaimer--i have no idea how my elementary aged kids will fair in the admissions game or if top-50 schools will even be on their radar).

How hard is it to get a parent loan to cover all tuition for a family in OP's financial bracket?

[Anonymous]

Shouldn't this be the student's decision? S/he could take on student loans to attend a private school or attend a state school fully paid by parents.

I'm a child of poor Asian immigrants. I had a mix of grants, merit aid and loans. I had about 100k in loans when I started my first job.

We now have a seven figure HHI and will be able to afford to pay for our kids' colleges. If we weren't able to pay. I would let our children pick the school of their choice.

[Anonymous]

We fell more or less into this demographic as well. DD1 opted for a full-tuition scholarship at a school a step down from her stats (for example offer at UVA but wanted something urban), but in a desired location. That meant we had some leftovers for grad school, which she is doing at a top school with a middling scholarship, COL help from us, and loans. We are paying full freight at an OOS state flagship for DD2. She likes the environment, but is seriously considering a transfer closer to home because she doesn't find it worth it. I would welcome that, if she so chooses because she will likely want some kind of grad or professional school.
I feel like at our income level, it is all on a sliding scale. You take in the school, your other options, whether grad school/what kind of grad schol is on the table, preference, and make the best decision you can. The only objectively wrong answer, in my opinion, is paying way too much for something that doesn't get you somewhere better than much less expensive options.