Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:really only tip top like HYPSM. or those who give a ton of aid to families like mine (good income, real assets)

This. The bottom tier Ivies aren't worth it.

To you with your financials and value system. Doesn’t matter school, there’s no one size fits all.

Anonymous wrote:really only tip top like HYPSM. or those who give a ton of aid to families like mine (good income, real assets)

This. The bottom tier Ivies aren't worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I drew the line at BC when we toured.

Tufts is that same level.

This was us exactly. We would not pay $90K for BC, BU, Tufts, etc.

Other families will. It's obviously a very personal decision.

BC actually had every single thing my child wanted in a college. It is near a city but not in a city (10 minutes). Beautiful campus. Nice community lots of sports spirit and school spirit. Safe campus. Perfect size 9500. Taboot surprise bonus is has a pipeline to Wall Street. Literally every single thing they wanted so def is worth it to us.

This was DS’s “one and done” school. Thrilled it’s working out as hoped.

Anonymous wrote:We are fortunate to be in a place where we can afford $90k/year for our kids’ college so the following would not be true if we (or they) had to take out loans.

I’m a big believer that the best way to spend your money is not on “stuff” but on experiences. I’d rather pay $90k/year for my kid to go to the school with the best “fit”- where they are most likely to enjoy and amazing 4-year experience than to pay the same amount based on an ROÍ estimate of how much the marginal cost will lead to marginal income increases down the road.

Using the experience lens, for some kids, Tufts is 100 percent worth it; for another kid, the fit of the school might not make it worthwhile.

This.

I happily paid $90k/year for two of my kids to go to Haverford and Brown. They each had an amazing college experiences that made them grow academically, intellectually, and socially.

Is it possible- even likely- that they could have achieved their (excellent) career outcomes had they gone to a less expensive schools? Absolutely. But I am also convinced that they are the people they are today—inquisitive, empathetic, and committed to the social good— in large part because of the experiences at these two schools. I will also note that my third child had a horrible experience two years at a top 10 school with a similar price tag and transferred out…fit matters.

As the PP said, we have the luxury of being full pay and would likely feel differently if the choice included taking out a mountain of debt…

+1
There are many great schools and if a full pay private doesn’t make sense for your child they will have many wonderful options. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t families for whom it isn’t a good choice.

We are fortunate to be in a place where we can afford $90k/year for our kids’ college so the following would not be true if we (or they) had to take out loans.

I’m a big believer that the best way to spend your money is not on “stuff” but on experiences. I’d rather pay $90k/year for my kid to go to the school with the best “fit”- where they are most likely to enjoy and amazing 4-year experience than to pay the same amount based on an ROÍ estimate of how much the marginal cost will lead to marginal income increases down the road.

Using the experience lens, for some kids, Tufts is 100 percent worth it; for another kid, the fit of the school might not make it worthwhile.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We paid 300K+ for my DS to graduate from Princeton in May 2024, and he is still looking for a job. YMMV.

Job market is awful right now. I feel for any recent grad.

My junior is already planning to also apply for a 5th year Masters at current school (no GRE required). Just in case the job market doesn't pan out. Now they are fortunate that we are willing/able to pay for that extra year. But you definately have to make plans in this economy. It's a lot like 1991-1994 times again, where the jobs just are not there, even if you did 2 summer internships with the same company--they want to hire you but need a hiring to unfreeze in order to do so

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I drew the line at BC when we toured.

Tufts is that same level.

This was us exactly. We would not pay $90K for BC, BU, Tufts, etc.

Other families will. It's obviously a very personal decision.

BC actually had every single thing my child wanted in a college. It is near a city but not in a city (10 minutes). Beautiful campus. Nice community lots of sports spirit and school spirit. Safe campus. Perfect size 9500. Taboot surprise bonus is has a pipeline to Wall Street. Literally every single thing they wanted so def is worth it to us.

I’m a college professor as well and our child is full pay at a school on that list. Not everyone can afford it but some can. Full cost is around 90k but tuition is 60k - private high school in my city is over 40k. We paid that too.

Anonymous wrote:We were shocked to find out, during our tufts tour, that the institution has surpassed $91,000. Tufts is a good school ,a great school even, but $91k is way overselling what it actually provides and its mediocre alumni network and few career resources. I understand that the purpose of a college isn't job training, but, at some point, when you're charging such obscene prices, you have to guarantee a return on the investment beyond being a "whole, educated person." For you, what institutions are worth $90k+, if any?

None of them at the undergrad level.

- College prof

Anonymous wrote:The most recent time Forbes offered an article on this topic, "10 Expensive Colleges Worth Every Penny," they included Amherst, Dartmouth, Williams, UChicago, Tufts, Colgate, Penn, Columbia, Hamilton and Vassar.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliesportelli/2017/04/26/10-expensive-colleges-worth-every-penny-2017/

We would be willing to full pay for schools of this caliber, but I can understand why some families are T10 or bust.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We paid 300K+ for my DS to graduate from Princeton in May 2024, and he is still looking for a job. YMMV.

Job market is awful right now. I feel for any recent grad.

Same for my Yale 2024 grad

Just because you graduated from Yale or Princeton, it does not mean you will get a decent job: https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/India/stressed-and-depressed-yale-alum-documents-struggle-to-find-a-job-after-500-rejections/ar-AA1BkSZD

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually am not sure how people handle these costs without hurting their finances. We have a good hhi, too good for aid, but not ultra high. Just housing and a meal plan and books will be close to 20k. So add 50k in tuition on top and it becomes insanity if you have more than one child.

Over our kids’ lifetimes, the stock market has been very kind to 529’s - so the money is already set aside. It’s going to education for our kids or our kids’ kids. Zero impact on our lives otherwise.

We could say the same financially, but it’s still a value proposition. I just don’t think the price tag is worth. We didn’t get where we are financially by being foolish with money, which is what I feel Tufts is. Foolish.

So you made financial mistakes by overfunding your kids' 529s. Maybe your grandchildren will be happy.

Enjoy Tufts!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We paid 300K+ for my DS to graduate from Princeton in May 2024, and he is still looking for a job. YMMV.

That is difficult. On the other hand, you might have had a lot of "what-ifs" if you hadn't sent him there. I know I would.

I wish your DS luck and hope he is able to find something good.

NP. They might actually be more likely to be employed already because they wouldn’t be saying to themselves “we just paid $300k for Princeton—I can’t take that job!”

Only $300k? It will cost us $400k at my kid’s Ivy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We paid 300K+ for my DS to graduate from Princeton in May 2024, and he is still looking for a job. YMMV.

That is difficult. On the other hand, you might have had a lot of "what-ifs" if you hadn't sent him there. I know I would.

I wish your DS luck and hope he is able to find something good.

NP. They might actually be more likely to be employed already because they wouldn’t be saying to themselves “we just paid $300k for Princeton—I can’t take that job!”

Not sure about that. I know unemployed state school grads, too.

It would be really hard for me to say no to Princeton if my kid got in and I could manage it financially.