Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not worth it.

Why?

DP: Because NO school is worth going into massive debt for. If you can afford all but $5K/year, then sure take $20K in loans for undergrad. But any more than that and it is not worth it. Best gift you can give your kids is debt free undergrad, or as close to debt free as possible.

Well first, the time to consider finances should have been before your kid applied to schools. They should have know "here's how much we can afford to pay for college total" So if you apply to schools that cost more and don't get merit (assuming FA is not something you will be getting), then you cannot attend. So lets find a list that is 90%+ schools we can afford for you to attend. Then throw in 1-2 financial reaches that might give enough merit, but know if you don't get it you cannot attend.

And no, it is not worth going into major debt. It isn't even for an Ivy. You mention "pre grad program" so you need to save the money so you can help pay for grad school, not have your kid be $200-300K in debt between undergrad and grad school.

Naming similar schools would help. I would take the lower school, as long as it is a recognizable non profit that isn't mostly commuters.

Anonymous wrote:Our 2 kids are at SLACs that are 82-84k/yr and we wouldn’t change a thing. Saved and sacrificed and funded 529s so they could have the same incredible education we had. IYKYK. If you don’t, you will surely think it’s not worth it.

I think if you have the funds to pay cash, that's a valid choice. If you have to borrow, it's a different calculation.

I would say you're really not in a position to say your "incredible" education is superior to what you would have received at a more affordable state school. I get you have some confirmation bias to rationalize your choice, and I'm happy for you that you had a good experience. But the insinuation that it was superior to someone else's is really ridiculous. As you point out, IYKYK - and you don't know what the more affordable experience was like. For all you know, it was equivalent or better, and you just overpaid for your "incredible" experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not for a pre-professional program. Save the money for MCAT/LSAT training and tell your kid to stand out on campus at the state U.

What if the state U is, say, one with an 80% admission rate. So ranked not highly at all? The in between option(s) was not one that DC liked (you know, like a 30-50% admit).

Why are you worried about the admission rate? You should be focused on the outcomes.

Who cares if a university has a high admission rate? What a peculiar thing to fuss about.

Anonymous wrote:Is it worth it vs. a no name school (like waaaaaaay down the USNWR tiers)? For a name brand school, not ivy (I'm leaving those out of this as people get irrational about ivies). Kid was admitted.

For a pre-grad school track (med or other health path) where you'll likely have $300K plus tuition on the line. 529 won't cover all of that, not even close. Does the school matter? Does the "Brand" help grad admissions? What is it I'm buying for that $50K delta in tuition?

I hate to have kid say no b/c of money but . . . posting in money b/c it's about the money. But the college name is relevant too, I guess.

We were of the strong opinion that "no" it isn't worth it. The exception might have been if there was some specific area of study only available in that institution, in which case we might have considered it.

My son was an average student who was admitted to an above average school with zero aid. I think he was admitted because they figured if we’d pay full tuition they could deal with someone who breaks their admittance curve. We’ve been full pay all four years. Trade off is he’s going to graduate with a degree from a better school and tuition was only around $18k or so a year (with room and board it’s been about $30k-$35k a year, large SEC school).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 2 kids are at SLACs that are 82-84k/yr and we wouldn’t change a thing. Saved and sacrificed and funded 529s so they could have the same incredible education we had. IYKYK. If you don’t, you will surely think it’s not worth it.

This is not relevant to OP’s post, though. OP is talking about an academically rigorous T20 national university as opposed to a snobby liberal arts college whose only existence is to provide a soft landing for wealthy and otherwise incapable and unintelligent high school students. It’s really apples and oranges.

Quite frankly, SLACs charge what they do, because they’re targeting students that are unable to get accepted into T20 research institutions yet come from families that are desperate to avoid the stigma of having a child that couldn’t get a bachelor’s degree. Financial privilege at its finest.

What an odd post. i expect there are some SLACs that meet this description but certainly not all

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it matters what your financial situation is. We are in our 50s with over $6M in invested assets in addition to the college fund for our oldest with $400k set aside. We want her to go somewhere she feels good about and cost isn't really the primary consideration. If cost is a consideration, then it's a conversation with your kid and partner as to how to make the decision. I don't think it's as easy as saying it's worth it or not based on the college ranking. Ultimately, we know from the studies that college is what you make of it. But if your kid is happy there, isn't that worth something?

I think this is correct. Schools charging 80k are for people who can easily pay and people who the school will massively subsidize. The people in between are not the school's target customer.

+1 and if you are in "in between group" than it's definitely NOT worth it.

Anonymous wrote:I think it matters what your financial situation is. We are in our 50s with over $6M in invested assets in addition to the college fund for our oldest with $400k set aside. We want her to go somewhere she feels good about and cost isn't really the primary consideration. If cost is a consideration, then it's a conversation with your kid and partner as to how to make the decision. I don't think it's as easy as saying it's worth it or not based on the college ranking. Ultimately, we know from the studies that college is what you make of it. But if your kid is happy there, isn't that worth something?

I think this is correct. Schools charging 80k are for people who can easily pay and people who the school will massively subsidize. The people in between are not the school's target customer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the school and the kid but yes, can definitely be worth it. DH and I met at MIT. For two regular middle class kids, the education, network and brand of the school profoundly changed our lives. I had full ride opportunities at other good schools so it was a huge sacrifice for my parents (who have never made more than 200K HHI in a very expensive California coastal region) to pay out of pocket for at the time. But now 15 years later, we all agree it was worth it.

Why wouldn’t you just take the full ride at another good school, pocket and invest the tuition savings, and then get a Ph.D., S.M., or other graduate degree from MIT? This is what most smart people do. If you’re good enough to get accepted as an undergraduate, you should be good enough to get a fully covered graduate degree as well. Then, you have a more useful and prestigious degree from MIT as well as hundreds of thousands in tuition savings.

Anyone smart enough to get into MIT would be smart enough to perform this very straightforward analysis.

Especially since PP lived in coastal California and could have easily gone to Berkeley for a fraction of the cost of MIT. And then still gone to MIT for free as a grad student. What a dummy.

I don't agree with this statement obviously the poster is sharing real life experience and where you go to college matters and give you opportunity that is not available in other colleges. Paying the difference tuition might be worth.

I teach at an $80k/year school. No one pays the sticker price. It is worth it in some respects, it's a small SLAC and some students get to collaborate closely with professors, attend conferences, and publish before they get their Bachelor's. The alumni network is excellent. Class size is smaller, which is a good fit for some, but not all students. Is the education worth that amount of money compared to other schools? Probably not. You're paying for some amenities and networks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the school and the kid but yes, can definitely be worth it. DH and I met at MIT. For two regular middle class kids, the education, network and brand of the school profoundly changed our lives. I had full ride opportunities at other good schools so it was a huge sacrifice for my parents (who have never made more than 200K HHI in a very expensive California coastal region) to pay out of pocket for at the time. But now 15 years later, we all agree it was worth it.

Why wouldn’t you just take the full ride at another good school, pocket and invest the tuition savings, and then get a Ph.D., S.M., or other graduate degree from MIT? This is what most smart people do. If you’re good enough to get accepted as an undergraduate, you should be good enough to get a fully covered graduate degree as well. Then, you have a more useful and prestigious degree from MIT as well as hundreds of thousands in tuition savings.

Anyone smart enough to get into MIT would be smart enough to perform this very straightforward analysis.

Especially since PP lived in coastal California and could have easily gone to Berkeley for a fraction of the cost of MIT. And then still gone to MIT for free as a grad student. What a dummy.

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the school and the kid but yes, can definitely be worth it. DH and I met at MIT. For two regular middle class kids, the education, network and brand of the school profoundly changed our lives. I had full ride opportunities at other good schools so it was a huge sacrifice for my parents (who have never made more than 200K HHI in a very expensive California coastal region) to pay out of pocket for at the time. But now 15 years later, we all agree it was worth it.

Why wouldn’t you just take the full ride at another good school, pocket and invest the tuition savings, and then get a Ph.D., S.M., or other graduate degree from MIT? This is what most smart people do. If you’re good enough to get accepted as an undergraduate, you should be good enough to get a fully covered graduate degree as well. Then, you have a more useful and prestigious degree from MIT as well as hundreds of thousands in tuition savings.

Anyone smart enough to get into MIT would be smart enough to perform this very straightforward analysis.

Anonymous wrote:Our 2 kids are at SLACs that are 82-84k/yr and we wouldn’t change a thing. Saved and sacrificed and funded 529s so they could have the same incredible education we had. IYKYK. If you don’t, you will surely think it’s not worth it.

This is not relevant to OP’s post, though. OP is talking about an academically rigorous T20 national university as opposed to a snobby liberal arts college whose only existence is to provide a soft landing for wealthy and otherwise incapable and unintelligent high school students. It’s really apples and oranges.

Quite frankly, SLACs charge what they do, because they’re targeting students that are unable to get accepted into T20 research institutions yet come from families that are desperate to avoid the stigma of having a child that couldn’t get a bachelor’s degree. Financial privilege at its finest.