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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]Big difference between private HS (35k on the high end for the DMV area) & Ivy (60k a year).[/quote]

Well yeah, but you would imagine that there would be at least some savings to tap into.  And is [i]some[/i] student loan debt the end of the world?  I understand that going 200K into debt is really horrible for a young person to be saddled with, but I'm not sure that ~20K or less at a low interest rate is so untenable for a young person (obviously 25K x 4 is 100K, but presuming there might be savings in the picture).[/quote]

And that's why I want to scream every time someone posts on the Private school forum about how private school is so important that they're living beyond their means, sacrificing college and retirement savings, for it. Of course, if your kid has special needs, or the family really wants a religious education, then yes, I can see sacrificing these other things. If the family bought their house in 1995 or 2006, then they're doubly in trouble with huge mortgages.

Lots of well-meaning middle class families can't afford Ivies, because of decisions that seemed to make sense when DC was 4. You shouldn't just assume it's a character flaw, a problem of fancy vacations and fancy cars.[/quote]

It's a catch 22 ... If the kid goes to a school that is a good fit he might like school work hard and have great grades but the family does not make enough to pay for Ivy but was too responsible to qualify for FA. But if they save all their money and go to a school the kid hates he is not engaged and does not get the grades.

This is not just an Ivy question. It's the reason really great people just don't want their sons to go into teaching, get stuck in the middle class and can afford anything but make too much to qualify for FA.[/quote]

I agree with the catch 22 part completely - if you save for college, then you won't qualify for FA. If you earn more than $100k you aren't going to qualify for even partial FA unless you have extenuating circumstances.

I do disagree with the assumption here, that your kid is going to hate school unless you put him in private school. There are certainly some public schools that are bad, but there are also plenty of great public schools with smart, motivated kids. Conversely, we've had some bad teachers in private school, in fact DC was ready to put needles in his eyes in 4th grade at a well-respected DC-area private school. Parental sacrifice doesn't have to mean foregoing the college and retirement savings ... parental sacrifice can also mean giving up that fun urban house and moving to the burbs for a good public school plus the ability to save for college.[/quote]

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