I'm looking at colleges for my DD in her desired major (a science) and noticing the faculty in her field have bachelors degrees from a wide variety of schools, from SLACs to R1 research institutions. When it comes to PhDs, most are from R1 schools. So when thinking about a bachelors, go for the fit and the price and where you feel comfortable. If you're talented enough, grad schools will notice.

Nobody calls their baby ugly... everyone is going to spin their scholarship experience, because who wants to be the negative nelly that talks shit about college? And what exactly do they compare it to? OF COURSE college is fun and you get a job, everyone has fun during college. But it's impossible to compare college a to college b unless you actually attended both. I mean why did Obama transfer from Occidental to Columbia?

Anonymous wrote:As long as the college is accredited, go for the no-name one.

+1

If the kid is headed for grad school/law school/medical school anyway, take the scholarship and buckle down to get into the best grad program possible.

Colleges are not doing need blind admissions anymore.

We need specifics to be able to help you. Names of schools and the money involved. Use close substitutes if you are worried about outing yourself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Southern California

Hmmm. My husband was accepted to USC and passed because of the expense and didn't want to take out loans. He ended up at University of California, Riverside and then went on to med school and is now a successful doctor.

Both USC and UCR have changed since then. And it seems unlikely that OP's kid is in-state for the UCs -- not just because this is DCUM, but also because the alternatives wouldn't seem so stark if her kid had access to an exceptionally large and high-quality public system.

I went to Berkeley, didn't even think of applying to USC -- it was a mediocre rich kids school. Fast forward 30+ years, USC looks much more appealing. Also Berkeley's tuition is no longer the $1500 a year it was then, so the cost differential has changed -- as has admissions. That's before we get to budget cuts and impacted majors. Given a choice between free ride at USC and OOS tuition with no FA at a UC, USC could easily be the best choice, depending on major and the student.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is a good student but will not even be applying to schools that cost $65,000 and do not give merit aid. That is just reality. Plenty of high stat students in the same boat as your kid.

Lots of those $65k schools give a lot of aid. Don't assume you'd have to pay full freight.

If your HHI is > $120k, you are unlikely to qualify for need based aid and yes, would have to pay full freight. Maybe with loans, but full freight.

This isn't correct. If your HHI is >$200k, you are unlikely to qualify for need-based aid. Families making $120k usually do at top colleges that are generous with need-based aid.

Harvard's net price calculator can give an idea of your family's best case scenario. Harvard is most well-endowed of any college in the country, is probably the most generous with financial aid, and doesn't include loans in its financial aid packages.

https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator

A family of 4, with one in college and a HHI of $120k, with cash and investments of $50k (retirement savings and equity in the primary home don't count) would get an estimated scholarship of $54,250 at Harvard. Cost to family would be $13,000.

Note how little the parents' cash and investments matter at this income level. The estimated scholarship stays the same ($13k) until parents' cash and investments rise to more than $200k.

A family of 4, with one in college and a HHI of $200k, with cash and investments of $50k (again, retirement and home equity don't count) would get an estimated scholarship of $23,650 at Harvard. Cost to family would be $43,600. But at this income level, more of cash and investments are counted (although still just a small fraction of it). If this family has $200k in cash and investments, the cost to the family would be $51,100.

All else equal, as you increase HHI from $120k to $150k, for every $10k increase in HHI, the cost to the family for a year at Harvard goes up $2k. From $150k to $200k, for every $10k increase in HHI, the cost to the family goes up $5k.

Again, this is best case scenario. Less generous colleges may determine the cost to the family is the same as at Harvard, but will give smaller scholarships (or even none at all) and expect the family to make up the difference with loans. Sometimes lots and lots of loans.

This is pretty much the case for all the Ivies now. A student from a family earning $200k may likely be eligible for nearly $100k over four years in scholarship/financial aid at Harvard. Few if any of the schools that offer merit aid offer as much. Almost no one sensibly chooses Bama or Ole Miss or GWU over an Ivy because of financial reasons unless they come from a family earning over $200k that never prepared.

Using Harvard or the Ivies and their financial aid as a point of reference for making this decision is almost useless. As a PP pointed out, the vast majority of applicants to those schools are rejected despite the fact that they have top grades, top score, excellent ECs, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people not realize merit scholarships are bribes to get you to put up with 1) the morons that'll be your classmates 2) a subpar experience, overall 3) a degree that has little if any brand value?

That hasn't been my son's experience at the college where he receives a merit scholarship. I heard plenty of complaints about the lack of intellectual curiosity in his high school AP classmates; no complaints about his college classmates. So far, his experience at his second tier SLAC has been much better than mine was at a top ranked university.

Same exact experience for us.

Anonymous wrote:Southern California

Hmmm. My husband was accepted to USC and passed because of the expense and didn't want to take out loans. He ended up at University of California, Riverside and then went on to med school and is now a successful doctor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is a good student but will not even be applying to schools that cost $65,000 and do not give merit aid. That is just reality. Plenty of high stat students in the same boat as your kid.

Lots of those $65k schools give a lot of aid. Don't assume you'd have to pay full freight.

If your HHI is > $120k, you are unlikely to qualify for need based aid and yes, would have to pay full freight. Maybe with loans, but full freight.

This isn't correct. If your HHI is >$200k, you are unlikely to qualify for need-based aid. Families making $120k usually do at top colleges that are generous with need-based aid.

Harvard's net price calculator can give an idea of your family's best case scenario. Harvard is most well-endowed of any college in the country, is probably the most generous with financial aid, and doesn't include loans in its financial aid packages.

https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator

A family of 4, with one in college and a HHI of $120k, with cash and investments of $50k (retirement savings and equity in the primary home don't count) would get an estimated scholarship of $54,250 at Harvard. Cost to family would be $13,000.

Note how little the parents' cash and investments matter at this income level. The estimated scholarship stays the same ($13k) until parents' cash and investments rise to more than $200k.

A family of 4, with one in college and a HHI of $200k, with cash and investments of $50k (again, retirement and home equity don't count) would get an estimated scholarship of $23,650 at Harvard. Cost to family would be $43,600. But at this income level, more of cash and investments are counted (although still just a small fraction of it). If this family has $200k in cash and investments, the cost to the family would be $51,100.

All else equal, as you increase HHI from $120k to $150k, for every $10k increase in HHI, the cost to the family for a year at Harvard goes up $2k. From $150k to $200k, for every $10k increase in HHI, the cost to the family goes up $5k.

Again, this is best case scenario. Less generous colleges may determine the cost to the family is the same as at Harvard, but will give smaller scholarships (or even none at all) and expect the family to make up the difference with loans. Sometimes lots and lots of loans.

This is pretty much the case for all the Ivies now. A student from a family earning $200k may likely be eligible for nearly $100k over four years in scholarship/financial aid at Harvard. Few if any of the schools that offer merit aid offer as much. Almost no one sensibly chooses Bama or Ole Miss or GWU over an Ivy because of financial reasons unless they come from a family earning over $200k that never prepared.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is a good student but will not even be applying to schools that cost $65,000 and do not give merit aid. That is just reality. Plenty of high stat students in the same boat as your kid.

Lots of those $65k schools give a lot of aid. Don't assume you'd have to pay full freight.

If your HHI is > $120k, you are unlikely to qualify for need based aid and yes, would have to pay full freight. Maybe with loans, but full freight.

This isn't correct. If your HHI is >$200k, you are unlikely to qualify for need-based aid. Families making $120k usually do at top colleges that are generous with need-based aid.

Harvard's net price calculator can give an idea of your family's best case scenario. Harvard is most well-endowed of any college in the country, is probably the most generous with financial aid, and doesn't include loans in its financial aid packages.

https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator

A family of 4, with one in college and a HHI of $120k, with cash and investments of $50k (retirement savings and equity in the primary home don't count) would get an estimated scholarship of $54,250 at Harvard. Cost to family would be $13,000.

Note how little the parents' cash and investments matter at this income level. The estimated scholarship stays the same ($13k) until parents' cash and investments rise to more than $200k.

A family of 4, with one in college and a HHI of $200k, with cash and investments of $50k (again, retirement and home equity don't count) would get an estimated scholarship of $23,650 at Harvard. Cost to family would be $43,600. But at this income level, more of cash and investments are counted (although still just a small fraction of it). If this family has $200k in cash and investments, the cost to the family would be $51,100.

All else equal, as you increase HHI from $120k to $150k, for every $10k increase in HHI, the cost to the family for a year at Harvard goes up $2k. From $150k to $200k, for every $10k increase in HHI, the cost to the family goes up $5k.

Again, this is best case scenario. Less generous colleges may determine the cost to the family is the same as at Harvard, but will give smaller scholarships (or even none at all) and expect the family to make up the difference with loans. Sometimes lots and lots of loans.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is a good student but will not even be applying to schools that cost $65,000 and do not give merit aid. That is just reality. Plenty of high stat students in the same boat as your kid.

Lots of those $65k schools give a lot of aid. Don't assume you'd have to pay full freight.

If your HHI is > $120k, you are unlikely to qualify for need based aid and yes, would have to pay full freight. Maybe with loans, but full freight.

This isn't correct. If your HHI is >$200k, you are unlikely to qualify for need-based aid. Families making $120k usually do at top colleges that are generous with need-based aid.

Anonymous wrote:Do people not realize merit scholarships are bribes to get you to put up with 1) the morons that'll be your classmates 2) a subpar experience, overall 3) a degree that has little if any brand value?

That hasn't been my son's experience at the college where he receives a merit scholarship. I heard plenty of complaints about the lack of intellectual curiosity in his high school AP classmates; no complaints about his college classmates. So far, his experience at his second tier SLAC has been much better than mine was at a top ranked university.

Anonymous wrote:Do people not realize merit scholarships are bribes to get you to put up with 1) the morons that'll be your classmates 2) a subpar experience, overall 3) a degree that has little if any brand value?

The bribes work because it becomes more affordable to families that don't qualify for financial aid. The colleges are not filled with morons. That is ridiculous. Most smart students don't get into Ivy League schools and many can't pay $65,000 a year for a school like Bowdoin, Georgetown, etc. State schools or merit aid schools become the most reasonable option for many families.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is a good student but will not even be applying to schools that cost $65,000 and do not give merit aid. That is just reality. Plenty of high stat students in the same boat as your kid.

Lots of those $65k schools give a lot of aid. Don't assume you'd have to pay full freight.

If your HHI is > $120k, you are unlikely to qualify for need based aid and yes, would have to pay full freight. Maybe with loans, but full freight.