With the amount Ivies typically give in financial aid, if you get in, you CAN afford to attend.

Anonymous wrote:My DS got accepted to one of the Ivies—think Princeton, Yale, or Harvard—but we would have had to pay the full cost, around $100K per year. He also got accepted to University of Florida with a full ride (tuition plus room and board).

We told him that he could attend UF and have $400K+ (depending on investment growth) waiting for him at graduation, or he could attend the Ivy. Seven years earlier, one of his older brothers had been in the exact same situation and chose to attend an Ivy League school, which he later regretted. His $300K could have grown into several million dollars. We’re not wealthy, so while money isn’t everything, it’s important to be able to live a stress-free life.

My older DS advised his younger brother to take the $400K and attend UF, and he did. He’ll be a freshman at UF in a few months.

YMMV.

And your kid couldn’t have decided this before applying to the ivy? Just weird…

Anonymous wrote:I would as long as the program at the Ivy is materially better than the program at the other school.

Ex: I wouldn’t pay for Ivy CS over CMU/GT/Berkeley CS. But I would pay for Ivy CS over, say, UVA CS.

CMU and Berkeley CS OOS cost as much as the Ivy CS (and maybe more as they wont offer the merit aid). But your point is correct - the answer to whether it is worth it or not is fully dependent on the program you are talking about at said school

Anonymous wrote:My DS got accepted to one of the Ivies—think Princeton, Yale, or Harvard—but we would have had to pay the full cost, around $100K per year. He also got accepted to University of Florida with a full ride (tuition plus room and board).

We told him that he could attend UF and have $400K+ (depending on investment growth) waiting for him at graduation, or he could attend the Ivy. Seven years earlier, one of his older brothers had been in the exact same situation and chose to attend an Ivy League school, which he later regretted. His $300K could have grown into several million dollars. We’re not wealthy, so while money isn’t everything, it’s important to be able to live a stress-free life.

My older DS advised his younger brother to take the $400K and attend UF, and he did. He’ll be a freshman at UF in a few months.

YMMV.

Hope he doesn't mind the online classes. Could have gone to a lot of other colleges and gotten a much better education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Princeton yes. Brown no. Maybes in the middle.

Full-pay at Brown, no regrets.

Same. It’s been fantastic for my kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on which Ivy and which major. Not saying either and asking if it's worth it doesn't make much sense.

+1. It also depends on your personal financial situation, child’s ambitions, etc. A kid who wants to be a Supreme Court justice someday and they just got into Yale? Sure, stretch for it. A kid who seems like a natural-born engineer who wants to work for NASA someday and they just got into Cornell? Sure. A kid who isn’t sure what they want and is planning to major in English and they got into Dartmouth? Well, I probably wouldn’t.

I would do it for the Dartmouth kid if they were unhooked. That means they worked hard to get the grades and test scores that got them into Dartmouth, so we're not talking about an unmotivated kid who doesn't really care about school and has no ambition. If they were unsure what they wanted and thinking of majoring in English, I would think the environment of an Ivy would be particularly beneficial for a smart, motivated kid still figuring it out. They will be around other smart, motivated kids, and whatever they decided to do, the Dartmouth degree would give them a leg up. And what's the alternative for that kid? Send them to a large state university that might have great programs but will be harder to navigate, have less specific and personalized advising, a weaker alumni community, and less overall cache on the job market? Or a non-Ivy SLAC where they major in English and their peer group includes a lot of aimless rich kids?

I get not wanting to spend big money on a college education for an aimless kid, but aimless kids don't get into Ivies (ignoring exceptions like donor or celeb kids).

TBH the only situations where my kid got into an Ivy but I decided not to pay for it would be (1) we just absolutely could not afford it, or (2) my kid didn't actually want to go.

Did you think it was worth it when your kid first applied and thereafter when kid elected to be on the waitlist?

What was your plan then?

Anonymous wrote:I am a parent of a current Ivy undergrad and so far it has been worth it. He is inspired by his surroundings, fellow students and faculty, not saying that wouldn't be the case at other schools but there definitely is some sort of "it" factor.

Same here. Cornell, which is often derided here. My DC is thriving, with internships lined up. It was the right decision for us.

Anonymous wrote:My DS got accepted to one of the Ivies—think Princeton, Yale, or Harvard—but we would have had to pay the full cost, around $100K per year. He also got accepted to University of Florida with a full ride (tuition plus room and board).

We told him that he could attend UF and have $400K+ (depending on investment growth) waiting for him at graduation, or he could attend the Ivy. Seven years earlier, one of his older brothers had been in the exact same situation and chose to attend an Ivy League school, which he later regretted. His $300K could have grown into several million dollars. We’re not wealthy, so while money isn’t everything, it’s important to be able to live a stress-free life.

My older DS advised his younger brother to take the $400K and attend UF, and he did. He’ll be a freshman at UF in a few months.

YMMV.

let's see what he thinks of his decision later.

i was full pay at HYP. no regrets!

I am a parent of a current Ivy undergrad and so far it has been worth it. He is inspired by his surroundings, fellow students and faculty, not saying that wouldn't be the case at other schools but there definitely is some sort of "it" factor.

Lots of schools are worth full pay, including your option in the 30s.

My DS got accepted to one of the Ivies—think Princeton, Yale, or Harvard—but we would have had to pay the full cost, around $100K per year. He also got accepted to University of Florida with a full ride (tuition plus room and board).

We told him that he could attend UF and have $400K+ (depending on investment growth) waiting for him at graduation, or he could attend the Ivy. Seven years earlier, one of his older brothers had been in the exact same situation and chose to attend an Ivy League school, which he later regretted. His $300K could have grown into several million dollars. We’re not wealthy, so while money isn’t everything, it’s important to be able to live a stress-free life.

My older DS advised his younger brother to take the $400K and attend UF, and he did. He’ll be a freshman at UF in a few months.

YMMV.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You won’t get a good answer by vagueposting.

NP: This is not vague, it's quite specific. You can weigh in with what Ivies you would pay all but $10k for if you have an opinion.

No, it's all vague. What is the other school---what are we comparing to? And what can the OP actually afford without major stretching/debt?

Because nope there is not a huge drop-off at 30. Your kid is smart and will do well anywhere, it's their attitude and what they put into it that determines what they get out.

Anonymous wrote:My child got off an Ivy waitlist. I hope this post doesn't get derailed on that point. My question is---->is a close to full pay Ivy worth it? We were offered $10k in aid. Total cost will be roughly $80-85K.

I'm not going to say which school it is.
In general, would you stretch to pay it?
We're currently set to pay half the money for a school ranked around #30.

It depends. What does "stretch" mean?

Do you have $60K/year available to easily pay? What is that number?

But in reality, unless you can easily pay it, go to the other school for 50% less and get an amazing education and NO debt, save the extra for your kid's graduate school (if needed) or getting started in life.

Nope, it's not worth it

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You won’t get a good answer by vagueposting.

NP: This is not vague, it's quite specific. You can weigh in with what Ivies you would pay all but $10k for if you have an opinion.

It’s eight different colleges x a huge number of majors, compared against a non-specific school. The possibilities are infinite.