Reply to Virginia Tech gets 1,000 more freshman than last year

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Harbinger of things to come?

Middle and upper middle class families finally turning their backs to expensive private colleges?

I bet most of the extra 1k freshmen are because they sat down with their parents and looked at the cost of going to a private college and this was the year that many extra people just couldn't justify it anymore. So the claim that had they known of over-enrollment they wouldn't have signed up probably doesn't cut the cake. [/quote]

DH went to public college but I went to private. DH thinks everyone should just go to their state college and I am coming around to it for other reasons. I really do think grad school is the new college, and we are not independently wealthy & do work for a living as will our kids - so I think they should do state college for undergrad and save the extra money for grad school now, as opposed to private college (unless they get into my Alma mater which is probably unlikely!). We will see how we all feel about this when they’re older - they’re still young.

Anyway - I did read in the articles linked here that this is the most diverse group of freshman in terms of race and first generation going to college. So to the extent VT wants any “help” here - it might be cool if orgs that promote college diversity and first generation college students help out with ideas. This might be cropping up at other colleges in the future as well and it might be a joint goal for everyone to help colleges handle these increased numbers nicely. 
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Not everyone has to pay full freight, even donut hole and rich people. My DD had 3 school offers that came in lower than her flagship UMCP, which comes to almost 30K with all the added fees.  You really have to pay attention to added costs per major, fees, and if your deposit even goes towards your tuition, etc... And Virginia has some of the most expensive in-state tuition. There are more OOS schools with merit packages that are much cheaper, even before looking at privates.  Sure, you can't get merit aid at ivy and tippy top schools, but there are some serious good privates , SLAC's and tech schools that offer stellar merit and/or financial aid packages to make it worth going.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with in-state schools, but don't just settle because you think it is the cheapest.  Look around and compare.  Also compare housing costs sophomore to senior year.  Some big state schools have very expensive off campus housing that charge by the person and are even pricier than campus housing. UMCP being one of them.  I mean who is paying $900 a month (for minimum 12 months) plus utilities to share tiny apartments in College Park?  Insane.

The other thing to look at is 4 year graduation rates.  Many state schools are so overcrowded (VT will be one of them) that kids get bumped out of required courses and it takes 4.5 to 5 years to graduate.  And then you are paying another year of all those extra fees and tuition.  One less year of earning wages at a FT job too.  My DD ended up in a school we are paying about $5K more than in state, but their freshman retention rates is over 95%,  4 graduation rates are over 85%, and many kids are graduating with a masters in 4-4.5 years.  She can use her merit scholarship to get her masters and she doesn't have to take the GRE or apply to grad schools.  All which cost money and take time.  So for us, the extra $5K for 4 years is worth the investment.

And no, not everyone goes to grad schools.  Sure, med and law students have to.  But if you are smart, you get a great package for a BA/BS and get your employer to pay for your graduate school.  My daughter might end up doing that as her major does have a lot of that.  And many jobs are just fine with just a BA/BS  [/quote]

A lot of what you say is valid, but let's also be pragmatic. How many kids will qualify for merit at out of state? Or at a more expensive private college? We can't always expect that. But it is absolutely wise to keep your mind open and explore all possibilities. Too many people don't do that.

As someone who went to an expensive elite private college virtually all my classmates went on to get advanced degrees. It is pretty unusual to find someone who went to a top private and who did not also go on to grad school. There are exceptions, of course. And not that many employers pay for graduate school and those who do are usually limited to a few thousand a year, not the full costs (some exceptions, of course). If you have a bright and highly capable kid it's more pragmatic to plan on the kid going to grad school someday than not. [/quote]

For kids that are getting into schools like UVA, VT, W&M, and UMCP - most of them would qualify for merit scholarships elsewhere. A lot of schools meet more need than state schools do.  [/quote]
I think the point that's often missing from these discussions is that if your child wants to go to a [i]similarly ranked[/i] school, merit aid to bring down the cost to equivalent to in-state is just rather unlikely. My kid is going to William and Mary. Yeah, she could've gone to a far less ranked private school with heavy merit aid, but not schools that would be considered academic peers to W&M. [/quote]

Well we are talking about VT and my child received enough merit and scholarships from Case, WPI, and RPI to make it the same or cheaper.  All three of them are ranked much higher than VT and for in-state Marylanders, all three ranked higher than UMCP.  [/quote]
OK, then your child is clearly well, well above the average incoming student in terms of stats for VT. For the [i]average[/i] student at VT, it does not apply. [/quote]

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