We earn $300k and if he could get in, we would do it. Not if we had more kids, though.

That said, he is a stem guy and there are some nonivy alternatives that are way better.

If my kid could get into Olin, I'd probably be willing to pay double. I'd send an engineering kid to Carnegie Melon, Harvey Mudd or a few others before most Ivy engineering schools.

^^^PP, not OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If my kid got into an Ivy I would make it happen even if we had to borrow $. It opens major doors. (I went to a good but not great university so I didn't experience this personally but I saw it from watching peers in the workplace.

This. I'd make whatever sacrificed were necessary to put my kid through an Ivy- any Ivy.

Same. My father was a college professor so I was forced to go to that university rather than the ivy of my dreams. I went ivy for grad school. The differences are startling.

This is a false dichotomy. There are almost 2,500 four-year colleges and universities in the country. There are differences among all of them - not just between your dad's university and an Ivy league one.

The poster probably went to father's university because of the significant tuition rebate. I know a couple of friends who were in the same boat because of the expense. Nor a false dichotomy at all.

It is absolutely a dichotomy for anyone but OP. OP's experience of the difference between her dad's school (whatever that was/is) and her Ivy grad school is OP-specific. For anyone else in the world, the dichotomy is false because those are not the only two choices available.

Anonymous wrote:The odds are that your child will not get into any of the Ivy+ schools. So it's not really a problem for 99%.

If your child is on track to go to an elite school and you're earning $250k+, its not that hard. Most folks earning UMC incomes have had a pretty good idea that their children would go to college since before they were born and have steadily put away some money over the past 18 years in preparation. Of all the financial hurdles you face in life, college is probably the most predictable.

At UMC income levels, the choice is yours, just like most financial decisions. How big a house? How nice a car? Not, can I afford a house or a car. Would you rather wait until you die to give your children money or would you rather see them reap the benefits while you're around? Is giving a down payment on your child's first house closer to your values than the best education you can afford?

This is true, but most people earning that HHI have not been earning it for 18 years. When our DC was born in 1997, our combined HHI was under $100K, and like most people, were looking at handling many years of childcare costs prior to our two kids starting college.

Other variables include age of parents; specific family circumstances wrt healthcare and other costs; children's special needs. The list goes on. Our current HHI of $220K has not been a constant for two decades, nor have our personal circumstances. We have saved what we have been able to save, full stop.

Like most families in our circumstances, we cannot pay full freight for two kids for two very expensive universities. We can, however, put them through colleges we are able to afford, debt-free. That fact alone makes them more fortunate than 90-plus % of high school students out there.

An Ivy League education may or may not be the "best education you can afford." That is your opinion - it is not a fact.

Anonymous wrote:There is no such thing as an Ivy equivalent

Duke, Stanford?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I really do not understand the obsession with Ivy League schools. You should be focused on what school is best for your child's area of interest, not some arbitrary athletic conference. My kid, for example, was interested in engineering. I am also an engineer and know what the different schools have to offer. With the exception of Cornell, it would have been mind bogglingly stupid to focus on Ivy League schools because engineering is not their strong suit. Outside of Caltech/MIT/Stanford, the most sought after engineers, at least at my company, come from places like Purdue and U of Illinois. Certainly not Harvard and Yale.

Princeton, Brown and Northwestern have legit engineering departments. You ever been to Purdue? Maybe your son can marry some hillbilly girl. And Illinois? Maybe he can marry a Chinese international girl who can't speak English.

So, if you don't go to an Ivy you are a hillbilly? Are you drunk?

Everyone knows that all 6.597 million Indiana residents and all 40,000 at Purdue are hillbillies. Do I really need to spell it out for you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I really do not understand the obsession with Ivy League schools. You should be focused on what school is best for your child's area of interest, not some arbitrary athletic conference. My kid, for example, was interested in engineering. I am also an engineer and know what the different schools have to offer. With the exception of Cornell, it would have been mind bogglingly stupid to focus on Ivy League schools because engineering is not their strong suit. Outside of Caltech/MIT/Stanford, the most sought after engineers, at least at my company, come from places like Purdue and U of Illinois. Certainly not Harvard and Yale.

Princeton, Brown and Northwestern have legit engineering departments. You ever been to Purdue? Maybe your son can marry some hillbilly girl. And Illinois? Maybe he can marry a Chinese international girl who can't speak English.

So, if you don't go to an Ivy you are a hillbilly? Are you drunk?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting discussion. I was accepted into two Ivy League schools plus MIT as an undergraduate focused on physics. Ended up going to Georgia Tech because I went to HS in Georgia and with the HOPE scholarship I paid virtually nothing (and would've been full pay at the other schools). Now I have Ivy Leaguers working for me.

Once again reaffirms that the Ivy League obsession is BS. It's less about the school you go to and more about working hard and taking advantages of opportunities to gain experience and exposure to the right people in your field.

Who'd you marry? Who do you associate with? It's not all about the money -- most folks in the middle class remain in the middle class.

And this is bad somehow? Not everyone aspires to be rich.

It's impossible to talk about elites on here because all the UVA and UMD mums sock puppet and claim they have an elite degree. So confident. Right.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting discussion. I was accepted into two Ivy League schools plus MIT as an undergraduate focused on physics. Ended up going to Georgia Tech because I went to HS in Georgia and with the HOPE scholarship I paid virtually nothing (and would've been full pay at the other schools). Now I have Ivy Leaguers working for me.

Once again reaffirms that the Ivy League obsession is BS. It's less about the school you go to and more about working hard and taking advantages of opportunities to gain experience and exposure to the right people in your field.

Who'd you marry? Who do you associate with? It's not all about the money -- most folks in the middle class remain in the middle class.

You always bring up marriage...but marrying someone from undergrad sounds pretty prole-ish, to be honest. Very few of my Ivy League undergrad classmates married each other..,

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I really do not understand the obsession with Ivy League schools. You should be focused on what school is best for your child's area of interest, not some arbitrary athletic conference. My kid, for example, was interested in engineering. I am also an engineer and know what the different schools have to offer. With the exception of Cornell, it would have been mind bogglingly stupid to focus on Ivy League schools because engineering is not their strong suit. Outside of Caltech/MIT/Stanford, the most sought after engineers, at least at my company, come from places like Purdue and U of Illinois. Certainly not Harvard and Yale.

Princeton, Brown and Northwestern have legit engineering departments. You ever been to Purdue? Maybe your son can marry some hillbilly girl. And Illinois? Maybe he can marry a Chinese international girl who can't speak English.

Wow. Just wow. People like you really exist?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I really do not understand the obsession with Ivy League schools. You should be focused on what school is best for your child's area of interest, not some arbitrary athletic conference. My kid, for example, was interested in engineering. I am also an engineer and know what the different schools have to offer. With the exception of Cornell, it would have been mind bogglingly stupid to focus on Ivy League schools because engineering is not their strong suit. Outside of Caltech/MIT/Stanford, the most sought after engineers, at least at my company, come from places like Purdue and U of Illinois. Certainly not Harvard and Yale.

Princeton, Brown and Northwestern have legit engineering departments. You ever been to Purdue? Maybe your son can marry some hillbilly girl. And Illinois? Maybe he can marry a Chinese international girl who can't speak English.

My son? Where did I say I had a son? My daughter

If this is the misogyny that comes out of Ivy League schools...no thanks.

Also, I don't know anyone who married someone from undergrad.

Hit enter too soon.

It was my daughter interested in engineering. Girls can be engineers too. Gasp!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I really do not understand the obsession with Ivy League schools. You should be focused on what school is best for your child's area of interest, not some arbitrary athletic conference. My kid, for example, was interested in engineering. I am also an engineer and know what the different schools have to offer. With the exception of Cornell, it would have been mind bogglingly stupid to focus on Ivy League schools because engineering is not their strong suit. Outside of Caltech/MIT/Stanford, the most sought after engineers, at least at my company, come from places like Purdue and U of Illinois. Certainly not Harvard and Yale.

Princeton, Brown and Northwestern have legit engineering departments. You ever been to Purdue? Maybe your son can marry some hillbilly girl. And Illinois? Maybe he can marry a Chinese international girl who can't speak English.

My son? Where did I say I had a son? My daughter

If this is the misogyny that comes out of Ivy League schools...no thanks.

Also, I don't know anyone who married someone from undergrad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting discussion. I was accepted into two Ivy League schools plus MIT as an undergraduate focused on physics. Ended up going to Georgia Tech because I went to HS in Georgia and with the HOPE scholarship I paid virtually nothing (and would've been full pay at the other schools). Now I have Ivy Leaguers working for me.

Once again reaffirms that the Ivy League obsession is BS. It's less about the school you go to and more about working hard and taking advantages of opportunities to gain experience and exposure to the right people in your field.

Who'd you marry? Who do you associate with? It's not all about the money -- most folks in the middle class remain in the middle class.

I married a woman from my sorority. She also worked at the CDC with me.
I worked for the CDC and now the NIH. Associate mostly with my coworkers, I guess. I'm not middle class.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I really do not understand the obsession with Ivy League schools. You should be focused on what school is best for your child's area of interest, not some arbitrary athletic conference. My kid, for example, was interested in engineering. I am also an engineer and know what the different schools have to offer. With the exception of Cornell, it would have been mind bogglingly stupid to focus on Ivy League schools because engineering is not their strong suit. Outside of Caltech/MIT/Stanford, the most sought after engineers, at least at my company, come from places like Purdue and U of Illinois. Certainly not Harvard and Yale.

Princeton, Brown and Northwestern have legit engineering departments. You ever been to Purdue? Maybe your son can marry some hillbilly girl. And Illinois? Maybe he can marry a Chinese international girl who can't speak English.