Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People on this forum don't understand that some people can pay for any college that would make their child happy. They don't need to save money and force their kid to go to a college that they don't want to go to.

My son has a friend that has applied to GW. This won't crush their family to pay for it. They probably won't even notice the tuition payment.

“Can pay” =/= should pay or it’s a good idea to pay. Why don’t you understand this?

DP but I said this earlier. The difference really is not meaningful to some people.

Someone mentioned earlier a difference of $40k a year. Well, when your take home pay is north of $50k a month, you aren’t going to give much of a second thought to an extra $3,333 a month for school. And it would probably be even less noticeable, because when you’re making that much college is already funded. It’s just a question of how quickly the college fund draws down, but it may not impact your personal finances at all.

J F C idiot, pick an amount of money that is not "meaningful" to you. Maybe $50 or $100, whatever it is. Do you still not care if you waste $100 on something that isn't worth it? Possibly, because you are an idiot. Sensible people won't do that. And some of the most frugal people I know are so rich they don't have to work.

If you're bringing home $600k a year, you're not even "don't have to work" rich, but you can certainly aspire to a much better class of full-pay school than lame-o third-tier GW.

A totally reasonable and measured response.

I said take home $600k, which is pushing $1 million in actual pay.

My sister’s bonus checks have been over $2 million a year for many years now. She could pay for my nephew to go to the most expensive undergrad, law school, and med school from one year’s bonus check and still have money left over. Her husband was involved in a start up that got sold last year; his share netted him $5 million.

Let alone the college savings, which are probably enough to cover full pay undergrad anywhere at this point.

Sorry you’re a poor and you don’t understand what it’s like to have money. But some people wouldn’t bat an eye at spending $40k a year more for four years for their kid to go to the better IR school, if that’s what the kid wanted to do.

Anonymous wrote:A few comments.

1. If I have to read one more post from “Oxbridge mom” bragging about her fabulous daughter I’m gonna throw myself over a bridge.

2. Of course we can “judge” a poster’s decision to send a kid to GWU over William & Mary or anywhere else. That’s EXACTLY what the OP and threads like this are asking us to do?

3. You can apply the “why not, we can afford it” argument to many, many things in life - not just the cost of college. It’s when folks apply this principle only to when paying for college, the most expensive thing outside of a home purchase that a family is going to do, that puzzles me. It does not make any logical sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS DD applied to GWU, UMD (IS) and W&M (OOS). She’s hoping for merit aid that might bring GWU closer to the price of public. If she gets it, will be a hard decision. She wants to work in the federal government and the proximity to internships and jobs at GWU can’t be beat. We can’t afford to pay full freight though and won’t get financial aid.

GW will not give enough merit to make it comparable to UMD instate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People on this forum don't understand that some people can pay for any college that would make their child happy. They don't need to save money and force their kid to go to a college that they don't want to go to.

My son has a friend that has applied to GW. This won't crush their family to pay for it. They probably won't even notice the tuition payment.

“Can pay” =/= should pay or it’s a good idea to pay. Why don’t you understand this?

DP but I said this earlier. The difference really is not meaningful to some people.

Someone mentioned earlier a difference of $40k a year. Well, when your take home pay is north of $50k a month, you aren’t going to give much of a second thought to an extra $3,333 a month for school. And it would probably be even less noticeable, because when you’re making that much college is already funded. It’s just a question of how quickly the college fund draws down, but it may not impact your personal finances at all.

J F C idiot, pick an amount of money that is not "meaningful" to you. Maybe $50 or $100, whatever it is. Do you still not care if you waste $100 on something that isn't worth it? Possibly, because you are an idiot. Sensible people won't do that. And some of the most frugal people I know are so rich they don't have to work.

If you're bringing home $600k a year, you're not even "don't have to work" rich, but you can certainly aspire to a much better class of full-pay school than lame-o third-tier GW.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People on this forum don't understand that some people can pay for any college that would make their child happy. They don't need to save money and force their kid to go to a college that they don't want to go to.

My son has a friend that has applied to GW. This won't crush their family to pay for it. They probably won't even notice the tuition payment.

“Can pay” =/= should pay or it’s a good idea to pay. Why don’t you understand this?

DP but I said this earlier. The difference really is not meaningful to some people.

Someone mentioned earlier a difference of $40k a year. Well, when your take home pay is north of $50k a month, you aren’t going to give much of a second thought to an extra $3,333 a month for school. And it would probably be even less noticeable, because when you’re making that much college is already funded. It’s just a question of how quickly the college fund draws down, but it may not impact your personal finances at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People on this forum don't understand that some people can pay for any college that would make their child happy. They don't need to save money and force their kid to go to a college that they don't want to go to.

My son has a friend that has applied to GW. This won't crush their family to pay for it. They probably won't even notice the tuition payment.

“Can pay” =/= should pay or it’s a good idea to pay. Why don’t you understand this?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People on this forum don't understand that some people can pay for any college that would make their child happy. They don't need to save money and force their kid to go to a college that they don't want to go to.

My son has a friend that has applied to GW. This won't crush their family to pay for it. They probably won't even notice the tuition payment.

“Can pay” =/= should pay or it’s a good idea to pay. Why don’t you understand this?

Because your thinking is too black and white. There are other considerations than the purely financial. Please note that published rankings are more for general use and are less accurate for specialty education - for those, you have to rely on professionals in that field for reputational advice on universities and colleges.

GW's specialty is its Elliott School of International Affairs. It's top notch and much better than similar majors at UVA, W&M or other state institutions.

GW also has a great Disability Office, and in general, well-funded private unis offer better services and accommodations to disabled students than state unis. There are other services that state universities cannot offer easily, such as better counseling, better career coaching, more targeted internships, better connections and networking.

A motivated student at a state flagship can always overcome these differences and be extremely successful! I'm not saying paying more than double the price is worth it even if you can afford it. But to certain students in certain specialties or with disabilities or other requirements... it is absolutely worth the price differential.

My kid is at GW, on merit aid, in the Elliott School, receiving a top notch education. He also benefits from accommodations managed by their Disability Office. He would never have had the same supports at a State U. I know, because I administered certain accommodations at our state flagship. For all of these reasons, GW is worth it for us. We could afford the sticker price too, but it's always nice to get a discount.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People on this forum don't understand that some people can pay for any college that would make their child happy. They don't need to save money and force their kid to go to a college that they don't want to go to.

My son has a friend that has applied to GW. This won't crush their family to pay for it. They probably won't even notice the tuition payment.

“Can pay” =/= should pay or it’s a good idea to pay. Why don’t you understand this?

Because your thinking is too black and white. There are other considerations than the purely financial. Please note that published rankings are more for general use and are less accurate for specialty education - for those, you have to rely on professionals in that field for reputational advice on universities and colleges.

GW's specialty is its Elliott School of International Affairs. It's top notch and much better than similar majors at UVA, W&M or other state institutions.

GW also has a great Disability Office, and in general, well-funded private unis offer better services and accommodations to disabled students than state unis. There are other services that state universities cannot offer easily, such as better counseling, better career coaching, more targeted internships, better connections and networking.

A motivated student at a state flagship can always overcome these differences and be extremely successful! I'm not saying paying more than double the price is worth it even if you can afford it. But to certain students in certain specialties or with disabilities or other requirements... it is absolutely worth the price differential.

My kid is at GW, on merit aid, in the Elliott School, receiving a top notch education. He also benefits from accommodations managed by their Disability Office. He would never have had the same supports at a State U. I know, because I administered certain accommodations at our state flagship. For all of these reasons, GW is worth it for us. We could afford the sticker price too, but it's always nice to get a discount.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People on this forum don't understand that some people can pay for any college that would make their child happy. They don't need to save money and force their kid to go to a college that they don't want to go to.

My son has a friend that has applied to GW. This won't crush their family to pay for it. They probably won't even notice the tuition payment.

“Can pay” =/= should pay or it’s a good idea to pay. Why don’t you understand this?

Anonymous wrote:People on this forum don't understand that some people can pay for any college that would make their child happy. They don't need to save money and force their kid to go to a college that they don't want to go to.

My son has a friend that has applied to GW. This won't crush their family to pay for it. They probably won't even notice the tuition payment.

Anonymous wrote:MCPS DD applied to GWU, UMD (IS) and W&M (OOS). She’s hoping for merit aid that might bring GWU closer to the price of public. If she gets it, will be a hard decision. She wants to work in the federal government and the proximity to internships and jobs at GWU can’t be beat. We can’t afford to pay full freight though and won’t get financial aid.