1. I beg to differ. 2. A GMU degree means even less after any years of experience. |
I'm staunchly middle class as well and still benefited from the coffers. Most people I knew at the ivies left debt free. And of course, there were many, many families who did not any type of financial assistance at all. I do know of a pretty well-known local figure many years ago who talked about how he left college (Brown) with a loan the size of a mortgage!
Yeah, in those situations, it's definitely best to go someplace cheaper. But assuming that everyone with an ivy degree is in debt just to make oneself feel better about the less than impressive GMU degree is ridiculous. Ivies graduate thousands of students each year. I still believe most of them leave debt free. PS: Just $5,000 from Brown would've made me send DC to another school if I didn't have the balance at the ready. |
No one said it's cheap. However, my experience has been that the ivies are generous with their financial aid. Cost of parent visit, stuff, etc...who cares? That's the cost of doing business. And a liberal arts degree is not useless. Your cousin's simply a goof ball. |
| You think spending $60-$65K a year for a SLAC is reasonable? |
Very persuasive. Maybe you could add a third reason. #3. Because I said so. |
Honestly, most people silently (politely) feel sorry for people when they say they went to Mason or ODU or something similar. |
Wow. So glad I don't know you.
|
I know that's how it seems now, little whippersnapper, but when you grow up it just won't be so hard. |
Who are most people? The crowd who run silent auctions at St. Albans? I'm a double Ivy, and it was fine for me, but GMU graduates are typically hard-working and smart, and exposure to Harvard final clubs, the Whiffenpoofs, or Princeton eating clubs as an undergraduate isn't necessarily one bit more enriching than being around students from dozens of different countries, as you'd now find at GMU. I'm not saying it's more or less selective in terms of admissions than any other particular school, although I don't think it really matters that much in the long run. |
I think it is funny that you think the international crowd at third tier state schools is equivalent to those at others. |
You seem to have some reading comprehension issues. |
+1 Not to mention a HUGE chip on his or her shoulder. |
You obviously have no idea what is going on between Mason and the Dulles High Tech. Corridor. Read re: the NOVA Technology Council. http://www.nvtc.org/index.php. The GMU grads work hard and get jobs. |
Wow, I can't wait to see you post this statistic. This just reeks of factual evidence, doesn't it? |
Actually, I agree with this. There was a study that was done a few years back that compared the earnings of Ivy graduates with State U. graduates working in the same fields that found very little, if any difference, in the impact of where you went to school on the overall trajectory of your career and your earning over your lifetime. It did make a difference for students who were black or Hispanic or who were first generation college graduates. What matters is what you do in the workforce once you are out there. What matters is can you perform and not what degree do you have. A link to a NYT article on the study, which also contains a link to the study itself, is here: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/revisiting-the-value-of-elite-colleges/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 |