Carnegie Mellon and Georgetown - why so low endowments?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have yet to meet one person who graduated from GU that I have an ounce of respect for.

I have found the same. I had an automatic in theGU in the 90s and there’s no way I would’ve gone there. Went to a different Jesuit university and everyone there wanted to go to either GU or BC, but couldn’t get in. They thought I was insane.

[Anonymous]

I think the only old dorm left at CMU is Donner, and it is coming down this year. The dorms are not posh like other schools though.
My DH and I have degrees from six schools between us, we get far less alum materials and fundraising attempts from CMU than other places, and CMU was one of our undergrads.

[Anonymous]

The recently built dorms at UVA are pretty nice, aside from the charming campus, just saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD turned down CMU because the buildings were in such a state of disrepair. She thought the buildings were beautiful but falling down. Of course, it didn't help that the students seemed depressed and overworked. Her classmate enrolled and, while she likes the school, she is stressed. I know everyone rants about how the luxuries are a waste of money but when you turn off students because of a lack of upkeep, you are going to far in the other direction.

Cmu dorms are disgusting and filthy. I don't expect wake forest or Princeton level accommodations but come on.

Princeton doesn't have nice dorms. People don't go to Princeton for the dorms.

Same at Brown. I was in a dorm built in 1910 and it was pretty much original when I was there. In the winter, the cast iron radiators would get the room around 80 degrees and dry as the Death Valley. There was no AC and the humidity was so high that I had a hard time putting a bra on. The bed itself and the bathrooms looked like they were taken from an insane asylum.

Well Brown doesn't have the capital to update their dorms. My kid's school (won't name it here) has updated most of the older dorms built in the early 20th century and while they still have the charming architecture outside, the inside is modern and beautiful. Also has built many new dorms that are more like fancy hotels. This is a top 20 school.

What?! They don't even have to spend a dime. Someone donated 7 million for the swimming pool and the new med building was 32 million. For old money WASPs, luxury modern dorms are gauche. They are building new, 130K SF ones but I bet they will be pretty Spartan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CMU grad and donor here. Only in the last few years did they up their game on courting donors. They realized their endowment wasnt' great compared to similar schools.

Also, it's a pressure-cooker school so I think a lot of people spend so much time studying that they don't develop a big sense of community = less likely to donate later.

I met some amazingly intelligent people there and keep in touch with them 20 years later. Glad I went there.

+1

I feel this way about GU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have observed that giving is not part of the fabric of everyday life at GU. Charitable acts are done on broad scale and very attention seeking. It's very much the "what's in it for me" mentality. Georgetown gives out awards for everything and anything, followed by a press conference. I have 2 kids in college, one in a Catholic private and the other in a public university. Both kids live in a culture where giving is organic. Both schools are well endowed.
It's interesting.
I don't know anyone who goes to or has gone to Carnegie Mellon.

Fascinating perspective. That was not my impression at all. I also know that Georgetown has done a lot of charity on its own initiative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The recently built dorms at UVA are pretty nice, aside from the charming campus, just saying.

They are architecturally very bland, but obviously nicer inside than the ones they replaced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it has a lot to with community. Besides basketball, GTown doesn't really have much that bonds students together. Everyone I know that went there wanted to be president or a big shot on WS, so maybe there's an emphasis on individual goals?

Georgetown now has a very high alumni giving rate. It takes a while for that to translate into endowment build up, but it is very, very difficult to achieve a high alumni giving rate if there isn't a bond to the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have observed that giving is not part of the fabric of everyday life at GU. Charitable acts are done on broad scale and very attention seeking. It's very much the "what's in it for me" mentality. Georgetown gives out awards for everything and anything, followed by a press conference. I have 2 kids in college, one in a Catholic private and the other in a public university. Both kids live in a culture where giving is organic. Both schools are well endowed.
It's interesting.
I don't know anyone who goes to or has gone to Carnegie Mellon.

Fascinating perspective. That was not my impression at all. I also know that Georgetown has done a lot of charity on its own initiative.

I went to Georgetown in the late 90s. There was a lot of opportunities to volunteer--there were tutoring programs that bussed students to parts of DC that needed tutors, they had organized days of service a couple of times a year, spring break building houses for habitat for humanities, a service based fraternity (with no standard Greek system). And this was back before social media, so a lot of us did these things without bragging about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have observed that giving is not part of the fabric of everyday life at GU. Charitable acts are done on broad scale and very attention seeking. It's very much the "what's in it for me" mentality. Georgetown gives out awards for everything and anything, followed by a press conference. I have 2 kids in college, one in a Catholic private and the other in a public university. Both kids live in a culture where giving is organic. Both schools are well endowed.
It's interesting.
I don't know anyone who goes to or has gone to Carnegie Mellon.

Fascinating perspective. That was not my impression at all. I also know that Georgetown has done a lot of charity on its own initiative.

I went to Georgetown in the late 90s. There was a lot of opportunities to volunteer--there were tutoring programs that bussed students to parts of DC that needed tutors, they had organized days of service a couple of times a year, spring break building houses for habitat for humanities, a service based fraternity (with no standard Greek system). And this was back before social media, so a lot of us did these things without bragging about it.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this a joke? They both have over a billion dollar endowments. That's well above average for schools outside of HYPSM/Ivy.

Small LAC Berea College in Kentucky has over a billion dollars in endowments.

Berea, unlike all these other profligate-but-still-tax-exempt schools, uses its endowment to support charge NO tuition.

[Anonymous]

I graduated GU in the early 90s. I give to my kids school, camps, and community. College just seems a lifetime ago. I don’t keep in touch with anyone from school and I don’t go to any alumni events.

[Anonymous]

Yale's new colleges have a cost of about $650,000 PER BED. At some level, this is insane.

[Anonymous]

Georgetown is now ranked 18 in alumni giving rate among USNWR National Universities. That will serve them well over time.

Carnegie Mellon, on the other hand, is ranked 53 in alumni giving rate.