Anonymous wrote:The top Ivies give full rides and no loans to kids whose parents make $100k a year or less. I'm not sure this kid did his homework. Maybe he was afraid he couldn't cut it.

Wrong.

Anonymous wrote:I did this 15 years ago. Got no financial aid from the ivy's I got into, so I went to a state school instead. Graduated debt free.

You mean Ivys, so which school with a bad English program did you attend?

Good info on this from the other thread:

There are several reasons why this kid is making a pretty smart decision.

1. He got into the Fellows program at Alabama, which is kind of an honors program within an honors program, and quite well-regarded. He will have research opportunities and working relationships with professors that most students are large universities (Ivy League included) don't have. Alabama has been making a push for several years now to entice smart students from out of state to the university with very, very generous merit aid, so his fellow honors students will be as smart and hard-working as he is.

2. Given what his parents do for a living, one can guess that this family will qualify for little if any financial aid at Ivy League schools (which give ONLY need-based aid, not merit aid) once his sibling graduates. But that doesn't mean they have a spare $60k+ to spend every year. This family is looking at paying a few thousand dollars vs. ~$200k to send this kid to college. That is a hell of a difference in price. Especially since...

3. This boy is interested in going to med school, which costs a fortune. Money that they save on undergrad now is money he won't have to borrow for med school.

4. Med schools care only about GPA and MCAT scores, so going to an Ivy League school yields little advantage in med school admission.

He'll have a great experience at Alabama and then end up at Harvard Medical School.

My husband got into Duke and Penn but had to turn them down for a full ride at a tiny barely top 50 northeastern LAC. His parents blew all the college money on his older sister.

2260 out of 2400 on his SAT

The top Ivies give full rides and no loans to kids whose parents make $100k a year or less. I'm not sure this kid did his homework. Maybe he was afraid he couldn't cut it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This happens every year. I had a friend from HS in 1982, that went to Washington University on a full ride instead of going to Harvard. He was the only one from our class that went to WU, whereas 23 went to Harvard- so I would say he was more unique in that respect.

23 kids from your class went to Harvard? I would hate to have that much of my high school at the same place.

Milton, I assume. Hopkins is like that for Yale.

Anonymous wrote:Me thinks someone has too much time on their hands.

Who know why he picked it. Good for him for picking it though!

LOL!

Me thinks someone has too much time on their hands.

Who know why he picked it. Good for him for picking it though!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing I don't get about this story is why his only choices were Ivies + Stanford or Alabama. There are schools in between that would probably throw him money to come (seeing as he has the credentials to get into all these selective schools). Why didn't he apply to schools like Tulane or USC that would probably give him a full ride and are quite a step up from Alabama?

He did in between including Vanderbilt and Wash U. If you read they gave full ride and selective honors. I bet the others gave generously but something about that selective honors was what he wanted.

Vanderbilt and Wash U are practically Ivies when it comes to selectivity, that's barely in-between.

I mean seriously. You are a loon. Check the acceptance rates.

Who's a loon?

Ivies:
US News ranking range from 16 (Brown) to 1 (Princeton)
Acceptance rates range from 14% (Cornell) to 5% (Harvard)
25th - 75th Percentile SATs range from 1350-1500 (Cornell) to 1410-1600 (Princeton)

Vanderbilt:
US News ranking is 16 (in Ivy Range)
Acceptance rate is 13% (in Ivy Range)
25th - 75th Percentile SATs are 1430-1580 (in Ivy Range)

Wash U:
US News ranking is 14 (in Ivy Range)
Acceptance rate is 15% (1 percentage point below Ivies)
25th - 75th Percentile SATs are 1420-1560 (in Ivy Range)

-VERY VERY BIG GAP WITH MANY WONDERFUL SCHOOLS THAT WOULD BEND OVER BACKWARDS TO GET THIS KID-

Alabama:
US News ranking is 88 (72 spots below Ivies)
Acceptance rate is 57% (43 percentage points below Ivies)
25th - 75th Percentile SATs are 990-1250 (About 300 points, or over 1 standard deviation, below Ivies)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing I don't get about this story is why his only choices were Ivies + Stanford or Alabama. There are schools in between that would probably throw him money to come (seeing as he has the credentials to get into all these selective schools). Why didn't he apply to schools like Tulane or USC that would probably give him a full ride and are quite a step up from Alabama?

He did in between including Vanderbilt and Wash U. If you read they gave full ride and selective honors. I bet the others gave generously but something about that selective honors was what he wanted.

Vanderbilt and Wash U are practically Ivies when it comes to selectivity, that's barely in-between.

I mean seriously. You are a loon. Check the acceptance rates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing I don't get about this story is why his only choices were Ivies + Stanford or Alabama. There are schools in between that would probably throw him money to come (seeing as he has the credentials to get into all these selective schools). Why didn't he apply to schools like Tulane or USC that would probably give him a full ride and are quite a step up from Alabama?

He did in between including Vanderbilt and Wash U. If you read they gave full ride and selective honors. I bet the others gave generously but something about that selective honors was what he wanted.

Vanderbilt and Wash U are practically Ivies when it comes to selectivity, that's barely in-between.

Anonymous wrote:One thing I don't get about this story is why his only choices were Ivies + Stanford or Alabama. There are schools in between that would probably throw him money to come (seeing as he has the credentials to get into all these selective schools). Why didn't he apply to schools like Tulane or USC that would probably give him a full ride and are quite a step up from Alabama?

He did in between including Vanderbilt and Wash U. If you read they gave full ride and selective honors. I bet the others gave generously but something about that selective honors was what he wanted.

Anonymous wrote:I know 5-6 kids from DC's grade at a MCPS public who turned down Ivies for partial or full rides elsewhere. That's just among DC's group of acquaintances and magnet classmates.

Very common in magnet schools in MCPS. The kids are brilliant and can get admission (as well as do well in) the top colleges. But for most of them, getting an undergrad degree is just the beginning of their college education. They will go on to grad schools and med and law schools and know that these years of higher education will cost them an arm and a leg.

Most will also not qualify for need based scholarships, and they are not super rich that cost pr student debt is not a concern for them.

So, they are going to state schools and other "not brand name" schools for full ride for their undergrad education. I think it is very smart. And I also think that they are bringing enormous value to these colleges.

One thing I don't get about this story is why his only choices were Ivies + Stanford or Alabama. There are schools in between that would probably throw him money to come (seeing as he has the credentials to get into all these selective schools). Why didn't he apply to schools like Tulane or USC that would probably give him a full ride and are quite a step up from Alabama?