Anonymous wrote:Depends on my financial situation. Not if I could afford a T 10.

+1

100% depends upon your financial situation.

If you have the $400K plus enough for graduate school/professional school (if that's the path your kid might want) saved/readily available, then no I wouldn't make my kid turn down a T10. They would get to pick their top school for them/best fit without concern for finances.

If I can only comfortably afford $40K/year, then yes my kid would likely take the full ride and start their life debt free.

I went to a top ten scho (but had financial aid) and I'm going to go "eh, it depends". My own professional networking is much more dependent on my law school but my spouse does use some professional connections from our school despite holding a grad degree. However, he also has helped out kids from other schools in the area, even NoVa community college. So a lot of job prospects can be about internships and connections you make outside of school. That top ten education doesn't guarantee the connections and they're also possible to make at other schools. It's all about getting out there.

The fact that it's been 15 years and costs have doubled definitely makes me flinch. Student loan debt can also be a bit of an albatross around your neck.

So I'd look at individual programs and professors and really weigh that financial situation.

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Anonymous wrote:If I can afford any of the schools in the T10, my kid would be going to the T10 if they feel they will be happy there.

Really, 400k for 4 years of happiness? Or Only for finance, pre law, pre med and cs? Is that where the happy kids are?

It is also your social and professional network for the rest of your life. My spouse and I went to top tier schools. Many of our friends are friends from college or people we met through those friends. Half of our bridal party was college friends.

That being said, it depends on your financial circumstances, your goals, your family situation, and so much more. But the binary here is pretty extreme. If it was top 10 vs. top 50 it would be a different discussion.

This is purely anecdotal

It is the truth for virtually everyone I know. And it is not just for top tier schools. My friends who went to mid-range flagship state schools had similar experiences. Sorry it didn't work out for you.

I went to HYP and the same.
But here is something more important: I wasn't a social climber. My friends were not people who were looking to be rich, even though I had plenty of peers whose goals were that. My best friends from college I am still in contact with are very succesful, but not in positions to get me jobs necessarily.
So if your kid gravitates toward people who are gunners, then they will have friends who are gunners.

This is sort of the key thing about choosing a college for its “network.” You meet tons of interesting and eventually successful people in college but they aren’t necessarily people who can help you career wise (obviously you should have and sustain friendships for other reasons, but speaking from a purely professional perspective). Sure, alumni may help, but more likely not especially once you are well removed from school.

Anonymous wrote:Would you turn down a T10 school to go to a school ranked outside the T100 on a full ride?

No !

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Anonymous wrote:If I can afford any of the schools in the T10, my kid would be going to the T10 if they feel they will be happy there.

Really, 400k for 4 years of happiness? Or Only for finance, pre law, pre med and cs? Is that where the happy kids are?

It is also your social and professional network for the rest of your life. My spouse and I went to top tier schools. Many of our friends are friends from college or people we met through those friends. Half of our bridal party was college friends.

That being said, it depends on your financial circumstances, your goals, your family situation, and so much more. But the binary here is pretty extreme. If it was top 10 vs. top 50 it would be a different discussion.

This is purely anecdotal

It is the truth for virtually everyone I know. And it is not just for top tier schools. My friends who went to mid-range flagship state schools had similar experiences. Sorry it didn't work out for you.

Oh look, more anecdotes.

Anonymous wrote:I know two families that had their kids attend the less expensive public options over T-10’s. The decision was driven by finances. Both families solidly middle class with both parents working full time, living in suburbs with good Public schools. The elite privates need to do better when it comes to being accessible to top students from middle class families. My kid is at a private T-30 and most of the kids there are either very well-to-do or on generous financial aid.

This doesn’t make sense. The median US HHI is $80k. That’s solidly MC. Any kid from that demographic would go for free to an elite private. $0 COA.

Heck, now you get free tuition if your HHI is $200k…which is way above MC.

My guess is you have your own definition of MC which isn’t reality.

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Anonymous wrote:Hypothetically Northwestern for full pay vs full ride at University of Missouri. So many variables but the financial factor can be significant depending on the family’s situation.

As a HH making less than $200k without enough saved to pay $400k for NU, *I* would encourage the full ride and pursue grad school

If it’s a state flagship in the T100 range, I think it’s ok. People understand that college is expensive. But Not a random small school. Why aren’t there any T30-T70 colleges in the mix? If this kid hass gotten into T10, those would give scholarships too.

I have been trying to tell my senior that UVa is in some ways better than WASP for this reason

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Anonymous wrote:If I can afford any of the schools in the T10, my kid would be going to the T10 if they feel they will be happy there.

Really, 400k for 4 years of happiness? Or Only for finance, pre law, pre med and cs? Is that where the happy kids are?

It is also your social and professional network for the rest of your life. My spouse and I went to top tier schools. Many of our friends are friends from college or people we met through those friends. Half of our bridal party was college friends.

That being said, it depends on your financial circumstances, your goals, your family situation, and so much more. But the binary here is pretty extreme. If it was top 10 vs. top 50 it would be a different discussion.

This is purely anecdotal

It is the truth for virtually everyone I know. And it is not just for top tier schools. My friends who went to mid-range flagship state schools had similar experiences. Sorry it didn't work out for you.

I went to HYP and the same.
But here is something more important: I wasn't a social climber. My friends were not people who were looking to be rich, even though I had plenty of peers whose goals were that. My best friends from college I am still in contact with are very succesful, but not in positions to get me jobs necessarily.
So if your kid gravitates toward people who are gunners, then they will have friends who are gunners.

Yes, without question

Anonymous wrote:Hypothetically Northwestern for full pay vs full ride at University of Missouri. So many variables but the financial factor can be significant depending on the family’s situation.

As a HH making less than $200k without enough saved to pay $400k for NU, *I* would encourage the full ride and pursue grad school

If it’s a state flagship in the T100 range, I think it’s ok. People understand that college is expensive. But Not a random small school. Why aren’t there any T30-T70 colleges in the mix? If this kid hass gotten into T10, those would give scholarships too.

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Anonymous wrote:If I can afford any of the schools in the T10, my kid would be going to the T10 if they feel they will be happy there.

Really, 400k for 4 years of happiness? Or Only for finance, pre law, pre med and cs? Is that where the happy kids are?

It is also your social and professional network for the rest of your life. My spouse and I went to top tier schools. Many of our friends are friends from college or people we met through those friends. Half of our bridal party was college friends.

That being said, it depends on your financial circumstances, your goals, your family situation, and so much more. But the binary here is pretty extreme. If it was top 10 vs. top 50 it would be a different discussion.

This is purely anecdotal

It is the truth for virtually everyone I know. And it is not just for top tier schools. My friends who went to mid-range flagship state schools had similar experiences. Sorry it didn't work out for you.

Hypothetically Northwestern for full pay vs full ride at University of Missouri. So many variables but the financial factor can be significant depending on the family’s situation.

As a HH making less than $200k without enough saved to pay $400k for NU, *I* would encourage the full ride and pursue grad school

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Anonymous wrote:If I can afford any of the schools in the T10, my kid would be going to the T10 if they feel they will be happy there.

Really, 400k for 4 years of happiness? Or Only for finance, pre law, pre med and cs? Is that where the happy kids are?

It is also your social and professional network for the rest of your life. My spouse and I went to top tier schools. Many of our friends are friends from college or people we met through those friends. Half of our bridal party was college friends.

That being said, it depends on your financial circumstances, your goals, your family situation, and so much more. But the binary here is pretty extreme. If it was top 10 vs. top 50 it would be a different discussion.

This is purely anecdotal

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Anonymous wrote:This hypothetical question doesn't exist in real world. If you can get in T10, many (so many) SLACs will give you a full ride. Williams being the most generous, but Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona, ..., all give out generous aids like there is no tomorrow.

Ah, nah. My kid got zero aid from Pomona, or Hopkins, or Ivy, etc.

+1 to similar schools with that income

T10 all the way.