Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 01:31     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
Anonymous wrote:OP here - we will be full pay at ivy. We are looking at the question will ivy brand and connections be worth more over a lifetime than the nearly $200k that will be saved over 4 years at lesser school. DC is pretty laid back, so probably equally happy at either. Econ major at ivy vs business major at other school, which really does place well with their grads. So trying to boil it down to is the ivy name and experience worth the full price tag


You are rich if you can full pay and clearly name means everything to you so full pay.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 01:18     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
Since you updated HYP - yes, choose the ivy
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 01:14     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
go with the ivy. you can afford it.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 01:06     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
I had a friend from college who attended on an athletic scholarship, but it became clear around Junior year she couldn't keep up both the high level athletics (she was playing for a D1 team) and her class load, so she had to have a conversation with her parents about them paying full tuition when she quit the team. She was really, really stressed about it.

My intern a couple years back lost his scholarship when the school cut the whole team (Men's gymnastics). That was rough too. Our workplace was able to get him some connections (his parents couldn't afford fill the gap) so he could keep going to school.

So it's just something to consider as well. Sometimes the student needs to quit the sport or the program gets cut.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 00:55     Subject: Re:struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
Anonymous wrote:We’re in a similar boat. DC decided to ED to his (very expensive) top academic choice (D1) school and just try out for the club team. As soon as he submits his ED application he gets contacted by a coach from a D3 SLAC inviting him to an official visit with a very generous merit scholarship, based on his academic stats, that would essentially bring the cost down to in-state tuition range. Now we’re trying to decide if it’s worth the visit before ED decisions come out and change to RD or wait and see if he gets in ED and let that decide for him, at the risk of the offer from the D3 school getting pulled.

We’re also going through the “broken leg” scenarios, as a PP mentioned. I don’t think there is a wrong answer. And there’s always the transfer portal.


If the SLAC really wants your DC, offer to apply RD and request for a Likely Letter. Had similar experience last cycle. DC didn't want to apply ED and applied EA somewhere else. Applied RD and received LL in mid-Feb from a top academic large D3 institution (there are only 2 in that category).
Anonymous
Post 11/05/2025 21:31     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
Anonymous wrote:If the 25-50 has a strong alumni network, I might pick that.


bingo! we have a winner!
Anonymous
Post 11/05/2025 21:02     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
Anonymous wrote:How does OP expect to get sound advice if unwilling to share the name of the school ranked among the Top 25 to Top 50 ? Absolutely ridiculous request.


Does it matter? What 25-50 would you take over HYP even with the scholarship? Would anyone take in-state UVA over HYP?
Anonymous
Post 11/05/2025 20:52     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
If the 25-50 has a strong alumni network, I might pick that. Like Dartmouth v. BC or Darmouth v. Emory and you wanted to be in Boston/NYC after college, I would save 175k and pick BC but maybe not pick Emory.
Anonymous
Post 11/05/2025 20:48     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:how do most people evaluate the “value” comparison in situations like this? We can afford the full pay, but we aren’t rich. full pay is an ivy, 50% scholarship at a school in T25-50 range


Back in the day, I had a choice between full pay at a T5 law school and a full ride at my state flagship law school. I chose the T5 school, even though the cost wasn't going to be easy. While one never knows for sure how life will turn out, I am quite certain I would never have had the same career opportunities or career earnings that I've enjoyed if I had chosen the state school. So if this were my kid, I'd say go with the Ivy.


OP again, this is how we are thinking about it


If you don't go with the Ivy, you risk always wondering "What if?"
Anonymous
Post 11/05/2025 20:32     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:how do most people evaluate the “value” comparison in situations like this? We can afford the full pay, but we aren’t rich. full pay is an ivy, 50% scholarship at a school in T25-50 range


Back in the day, I had a choice between full pay at a T5 law school and a full ride at my state flagship law school. I chose the T5 school, even though the cost wasn't going to be easy. While one never knows for sure how life will turn out, I am quite certain I would never have had the same career opportunities or career earnings that I've enjoyed if I had chosen the state school. So if this were my kid, I'd say go with the Ivy.


That's different. 100% go to the T5 law school because you can get a high paying job to pay back the loans quickly.

OP's kid is looking at an econ major. That's more of a gray area in terms of getting a higher paying job than you could with an econ degree from a top 25-50.


A closer reading of OP's posts in this thread show that OP's child would major in econ at an Ivy, but major in business at the mystery school ranked among the Top 25 to Top 50.
Anonymous
Post 11/05/2025 19:09     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
Anonymous wrote:Odd post for this time of the year. Troll for sure.


Likely someone with a junior, not a senior.
Anonymous
Post 11/05/2025 18:59     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
Odd post for this time of the year. Troll for sure.
Anonymous
Post 11/05/2025 18:58     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
Take the hyp.
Anonymous
Post 11/05/2025 18:57     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:how do most people evaluate the “value” comparison in situations like this? We can afford the full pay, but we aren’t rich. full pay is an ivy, 50% scholarship at a school in T25-50 range


Back in the day, I had a choice between full pay at a T5 law school and a full ride at my state flagship law school. I chose the T5 school, even though the cost wasn't going to be easy. While one never knows for sure how life will turn out, I am quite certain I would never have had the same career opportunities or career earnings that I've enjoyed if I had chosen the state school. So if this were my kid, I'd say go with the Ivy.


That's different. 100% go to the T5 law school because you can get a high paying job to pay back the loans quickly.

OP's kid is looking at an econ major. That's more of a gray area in terms of getting a higher paying job than you could with an econ degree from a top 25-50.
Anonymous
Post 11/05/2025 18:49     Subject: struggling with 50% athletic scholarship vs full pay better school..
How does OP expect to get sound advice if unwilling to share the name of the school ranked among the Top 25 to Top 50 ? Absolutely ridiculous request.

OP: This is a very important step in your child's life so any advice considered should be based on full disclosure--not on guesses.