<p>S2 is thrilled to have gotten accepted to Pitzer. It's everything he was looking for in a college. However, I was shocked when I updated my COA spreadhseet and discovered that Pitzer's COA has increased to over $53K. Is it worth it?</p>
<p>We do not qualify for need-based aid, so we had to think long before he applied. This year's COA is slightly over $50k, and I thought that was expensive, but doable. But $53 seems SO MUCH more, and it concerns me that we might face this kind of increase every year.</p>
<p>S2 has lots of other options where he has received merit money, so this is not a trivial question.</p>
<p>Honestly, for me it has been worth the money. My family and I think of college as an investment; it’s expensive yes, but you are paying not simply for the classes alone, but for the experience. However, if money is going to be a major issue to the point that it is simply not doable, go with what makes you comfortable. College tuition goes up every year; it is going to, but who knows what the increase will be from year to year. </p>
<p>The best way to resolve this, in my mind, would be to have a frank and honest discussion with your son about the costs and the fit, and see how it goes from there. </p>
<p>Quantifying the value of a college experience is a difficult thing to do; you get out of it what you put into it. For me, Pitzer (along with the resources of the other Claremont Colleges) has been worth the cost. If you are concerned about cost, give the College a call and ask these questions in regards to the typical rate of increase for the tuition etc. Pitzer is unique in that it is a tuition based school, so the benefit is that even when the endowment goes down, academic programming/student programming is not cut.</p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to reply.
I really do agree with what you said about the value being a function of what you put into it.
My son, his dad, and I are crunching the numbers, but more importantly, we are trying to find a place where he will thrive, have multiple opportunities to expand his horizons, and be happy. Pitzer does seem to be that kind of place.</p>
<p>Any more thoughts from other students or parents?</p>
<p>One of my children is a junior at Pitzer. the other is at a large state campus. We also didn’t qualify for any need based aid, so it’s been a stretch financially. I’m finding that, while the difference in price is undoubtedly very large, the child at the public university spends more money on extras that aren’t included - fees for tests, printing, lab materials, activities etc. We hadn’t run into that issue at Pitzer. The other dynamic is that many of my friend’s children will have to pay for an extra year of college to complete their degrees because of bottlenecks to get in to required classes at state schools. I’m not sure if that’s relevant to your situation or nto. Having said that, both my children are happy with their very different choices, and for me that’s the most important thing - we probably won’t remember the cost 10 years from now but they will remember the experiences.</p>
<p>“to have a frank and honest discussion with your son about the costs and the fit,”</p>
<p>What is the expectation from this, with regard to the perspective of the average 18 year old boy. This is likely different from the perspective of the average Pitzer admit.</p>
<p>Interestingly, my son asked why we are even VISITING schools that cost that much. His older sister (whose short list included Scripps) did NOT see it that way at his age, but is MUCH less interested in material things than he is.</p>
<p>Well, as the 18 year old boy who had this conversation himself as a Pitzer Admit at one point, the expectation would be to make clear what the sacrifices would be to attend an expensive college and if it was feasible financially both for the present and long term. </p>
<p>I guess I don’t understand what you are asking clear as an expectation as I think it is pretty clear: an honest discourse leads to a practice college choice for both student and family.</p>
<p>Well, I guess IRL I don’t know many 18 year old boys (or girls) who I think can grasp the significance of that financial investment and sacrifice,or what ever you want to call it, and I’m not sure what a fair expectation would be of them as a result, but then IRL,I don’t know any kids like the one’s I meet on CC. I am always impressed.</p>
<p>We made the decision to pay this amount for my daughters schooling, and the sacrifices continue to evolve. Not undoable, but I don’t like how I feel about it some times, about the “what you put into it” part, and I don’t think that’s fair to her. She was 18 when we made the decision, I was almost 50. Probably not making any sense, but oh well.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap - because we are facing a similar decision (in our case, it’s Pitzer vs. other “lower ranked” LAC’s where he received merit money) I’d like to explore your thoughts, so I can know what to expect with my son.</p>
<p>I have outlined to him what the sacrifices would be to his parents and to him (biggest example - no money left for grad school). Are you saying that sometimes you think it is unfair to force an 18 year old to make this kind of choice? If this is too personal, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>On a related Pitzer topic, we’ve noticed from their web-site that non-work study jobs are hard to come by. Having him work on campus would be one of his “sacrifices” but now I’m worried that might not be possible. Are there any non-work study jobs available? (By the way, I covered my own personal expenses for two years in college by running the dish machine in the cafeteria - so no job is “too menial” in my opinion…)</p>
<p>It is true that there are very few non work-study jobs on campus, but they do exist. The trick is to be very proactive about getting these jobs as soon as you hear about them, which could be as early as orientation. </p>
<p>Some of the non-work-study jobs at Pitzer include working in the Office of Admission, the Pit-Stop Cafe as a Barista, working at the Office of College Advancement, and working the Phone-a-thon. Also, through the Consortium I’ve been told that there are jobs available at the Honnold/Mudd Library as a Librarian’s assistant and as a worker in the cafe there. </p>
<p>Again, they are difficult to get, but coming from someone who was able to attain a non work-study job, it is definitely doable as long as you stay focused on finding and taking advantage of the opportunities. I also know of a few students that were able to get jobs in the Claremont village at various restaurants, cafes, and shops, but that can be equally if not more difficult.</p>
<p>“Are you saying that sometimes you think it is unfair to force an 18 year old to make this kind of choice?”</p>
<p>More like it’s unrealistic to hold them accountable for it. For some reason I am thinking of holding an eight year old accountable for promises when you buy a pet. It’s great if they are, and you can certainly bring up that they “promised”, but in the end, “quantifying the value of a college experience is a difficult thing to do”, and YOU are stuck with the responsibility.</p>
<p>i dont think its worth it. college IS really wut u make it. u mentioned that u want “a place where he will thrive, have multiple opportunities to expand his horizons.” that is any college in reality, even a city. its whether or not the personal student takes advantage of them. simply having them is useless, if your son really wants these opportunities, no matter which school he attends, he’ll go out and find them!</p>