At what HHI are you willing to pay for an ivy league school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I really do not understand the obsession with Ivy League schools. You should be focused on what school is best for your child's area of interest, not some arbitrary athletic conference. My kid, for example, was interested in engineering. I am also an engineer and know what the different schools have to offer. With the exception of Cornell, it would have been mind bogglingly stupid to focus on Ivy League schools because engineering is not their strong suit. Outside of Caltech/MIT/Stanford, the most sought after engineers, at least at my company, come from places like Purdue and U of Illinois. Certainly not Harvard and Yale.

Princeton, Brown and Northwestern have legit engineering departments. You ever been to Purdue? Maybe your son can marry some hillbilly girl. And Illinois? Maybe he can marry a Chinese international girl who can't speak English.

Heh. I would love to see your reaction when I tell you that my daughter, Stanford '12, just got engaged to a public school graduate from suburban Fort Wayne. My daughter was an elite private HS grad, comes from a very wealthy family, etc. and her finance is the child of a cop and a receptionist. She attended Stanford for less than $10,000/year.

Crazy, I know.

My son, on the other hand, went to University of Wisconsin-Madison and is dating a girl from a wealthy/prominent East Coast family. Lots of those at schools like UW-Madison. So...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The odds are that your child will not get into any of the Ivy+ schools. So it's not really a problem for 99%.

If your child is on track to go to an elite school and you're earning $250k+, its not that hard. Most folks earning UMC incomes have had a pretty good idea that their children would go to college since before they were born and have steadily put away some money over the past 18 years in preparation. Of all the financial hurdles you face in life, college is probably the most predictable.

At UMC income levels, the choice is yours, just like most financial decisions. How big a house? How nice a car? Not, can I afford a house or a car. Would you rather wait until you die to give your children money or would you rather see them reap the benefits while you're around? Is giving a down payment on your child's first house closer to your values than the best education you can afford?

We are upper middle class and will be funding neither a down payment on kids' first house nor an Ivy-league education. ~shrug~

[Anonymous]

you sound selfish pp. Why did you even have kids

[Anonymous]

Why do broke parents and state schools alums have to muddy up every thread about elites? Reeks of carryover from the college confidential parent board. Do you even live in the Beltway? Probably not. We get it, you're average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do broke parents and state schools alums have to muddy up every thread about elites? Reeks of carryover from the college confidential parent board. Do you even live in the Beltway? Probably not. We get it, you're average.

Annnnddd....you. are. insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The odds are that your child will not get into any of the Ivy+ schools. So it's not really a problem for 99%.

If your child is on track to go to an elite school and you're earning $250k+, its not that hard. Most folks earning UMC incomes have had a pretty good idea that their children would go to college since before they were born and have steadily put away some money over the past 18 years in preparation. Of all the financial hurdles you face in life, college is probably the most predictable.

At UMC income levels, the choice is yours, just like most financial decisions. How big a house? How nice a car? Not, can I afford a house or a car. Would you rather wait until you die to give your children money or would you rather see them reap the benefits while you're around? Is giving a down payment on your child's first house closer to your values than the best education you can afford?

We are upper middle class and will be funding neither a down payment on kids' first house nor an Ivy-league education. ~shrug~

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you sound selfish pp. Why did you even have kids

You are right, I should not have had children, since I am unwilling to fund elite schools or their house purchases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you sound selfish pp. Why did you even have kids

You are right, I should not have had children, since I am unwilling to fund elite schools or their house purchases.

LOL. The human race would die out verrrry quickly if only people willing to fund $68K/year schools and purchase homes for their children had kids...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make $200K and have $250K saved so far for our 15 year old. Have been saving for 15 years. If she gets in, we will pay for it. Education is so important IMO.

Your "education is so important IMO" comment implies that you think the only way to get one is to spend $250K for an undergraduate degree. That's just plain silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do broke parents and state schools alums have to muddy up every thread about elites? Reeks of carryover from the college confidential parent board. Do you even live in the Beltway? Probably not. We get it, you're average.

So your either broke and average or rich and elite. Sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I really do not understand the obsession with Ivy League schools. You should be focused on what school is best for your child's area of interest, not some arbitrary athletic conference. My kid, for example, was interested in engineering. I am also an engineer and know what the different schools have to offer. With the exception of Cornell, it would have been mind bogglingly stupid to focus on Ivy League schools because engineering is not their strong suit. Outside of Caltech/MIT/Stanford, the most sought after engineers, at least at my company, come from places like Purdue and U of Illinois. Certainly not Harvard and Yale.

Princeton, Brown and Northwestern have legit engineering departments. You ever been to Purdue? Maybe your son can marry some hillbilly girl. And Illinois? Maybe he can marry a Chinese international girl who can't speak English.

Heh. I would love to see your reaction when I tell you that my daughter, Stanford '12, just got engaged to a public school graduate from suburban Fort Wayne. My daughter was an elite private HS grad, comes from a very wealthy family, etc. and her finance is the child of a cop and a receptionist. She attended Stanford for less than $10,000/year.

Crazy, I know.

My son, on the other hand, went to University of Wisconsin-Madison and is dating a girl from a wealthy/prominent East Coast family. Lots of those at schools like UW-Madison. So...

Sounds like both your kids are doing well out there in the real world! Smart and interesting people all over this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The odds are that your child will not get into any of the Ivy+ schools. So it's not really a problem for 99%.

If your child is on track to go to an elite school and you're earning $250k+, its not that hard. Most folks earning UMC incomes have had a pretty good idea that their children would go to college since before they were born and have steadily put away some money over the past 18 years in preparation. Of all the financial hurdles you face in life, college is probably the most predictable.

At UMC income levels, the choice is yours, just like most financial decisions. How big a house? How nice a car? Not, can I afford a house or a car. Would you rather wait until you die to give your children money or would you rather see them reap the benefits while you're around? Is giving a down payment on your child's first house closer to your values than the best education you can afford?

We are upper middle class and will be funding neither a down payment on kids' first house nor an Ivy-league education. ~shrug~

+1

Pap (not the middle class one but the other one): you are naive if you think that everyone's life, even those with incomes like you describe, has been in a position to save massive sums all along. Some of us care for relatives, some of us have expensive but invisible health issues. Some of us give bast sums to important causes. Many of us have not always had incomes,like we do now. Some of us finished school relatively recently and owe money back. If you are lucky enough that everything has gone your way all along, I am happy for,you. Know you are not typical.

That money I didn't save that you think I spent on a big house? Well, I spent it on chemo. My son's ok with that choice.

[Anonymous]

We hover around $200k gross. We planned and saved so that both of our children could go to any school they wanted that was a good fit and that includes the Ivys. First child elected to go to an out of state public school. Second child has applied to several schools that cost as much as an Ivy (one is an Ivy) and he will attend whichever one he finally chooses. The top three all cost about the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The odds are that your child will not get into any of the Ivy+ schools. So it's not really a problem for 99%.

If your child is on track to go to an elite school and you're earning $250k+, its not that hard. Most folks earning UMC incomes have had a pretty good idea that their children would go to college since before they were born and have steadily put away some money over the past 18 years in preparation. Of all the financial hurdles you face in life, college is probably the most predictable.

At UMC income levels, the choice is yours, just like most financial decisions. How big a house? How nice a car? Not, can I afford a house or a car. Would you rather wait until you die to give your children money or would you rather see them reap the benefits while you're around? Is giving a down payment on your child's first house closer to your values than the best education you can afford?

We are upper middle class and will be funding neither a down payment on kids' first house nor an Ivy-league education. ~shrug~

+1

Pap (not the middle class one but the other one): you are naive if you think that everyone's life, even those with incomes like you describe, has been in a position to save massive sums all along. Some of us care for relatives, some of us have expensive but invisible health issues. Some of us give bast sums to important causes. Many of us have not always had incomes,like we do now. Some of us finished school relatively recently and owe money back. If you are lucky enough that everything has gone your way all along, I am happy for,you. Know you are not typical.

That money I didn't save that you think I spent on a big house? Well, I spent it on chemo. My son's ok with that choice.

This is true. We are UMC but I started life below the poverty level and my dh lmc. We both paid ten years of college loans and started out in low paying government, non profit sector. Never had any help from any family. After switching to private sector and earning more income we were hit with cancer and health bills also. Everyone has their own numbers to crunch. The bottom line is that college is too expensive for most people, even those that are expected to pay the full price tag.

[Anonymous]

I kinda liked my parents' approach. Is it $X much better than your best in-state alternative? But I'll admit we didn't apply it (live in DC, 1 kid, high HHI, fully-funded 529).