<p>LA Times personal finance writer finds out that the easy answers she's been giving aren't so easy when it came time for her own daughter to start looking at colleges. Her plan assumed her daughter would attend a UC, but the daughter fell in love with Georgetown:</p>
<p>"Four years ago, I wrote a book on financing college. With the assurance that only someone with no personal experience on the topic could have, I waxed on about how you could decide how much to save. And if you started early enough, you could meet those goals without starving or giving up on the retirement plan. That much remains true.</p>
<p>The tough part was that our weeklong jaunt made me question my savings goals...."</p>
<p>good article. The author/mother is aware that there are excellent schools in CA. UCSD is smaller than UCLA. It will be interesting to see how she handles the choices once acceptances come in.</p>
<p>I thought it was interesting how the author didn't touch on the possibilities of merit aid. Most of my kids friends are upper middle class students, many at private colleges and I believe that most of them are getting some merit aid.</p>
<p>Why did she take her daughter to visit that group of colleges in the first place? She said in the article that she wouldn't qualify for financial aid, yet the colleges on her tour don't give merit aid. If she only planned to contribute $10,000 a year, where did she think the other 30-40K was going to come from? :confused:</p>
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<p>If she only planned to contribute $10,000 a year, where did she think the other 30-40K was going to come from?<<</p>
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<p>I think her original idea was that her daughter would examine the facts and make her own choices--student-finance $100K of a private education or graduate from a state/cheaper school almost debt free. Choices have consequences, she figured to teach her daughter. Mom now realizes that if her daughter chooses the former, she will be under a mound of crippling debt for a long time unless she chooses a high paying profession. </p>
<p>Before, Mom was of the idea that a college degree is fungible. A BA from a UC will get you plenty of places as a BA from a $50K a year college would. But Mom has been introduced to the idea that maybe the college EXPERIENCE isn't fungible. Her D would have a fabulous experience at Georgetown, she postulates--better than at a UC. And because it is education (and not a car, for example), she's wondering if it wouldn't be worth the extra $$ she'd have to pony up.</p>
<p>Like many a parent, I'm sure she's hoping with one part of her heart that her daughter doesn't get into Georgetown...</p>
<p>^ And, basically, isn't that the "choice" of every single kid and every single family looking at colleges...that it is all about finances? Exactly what is unique here?</p>
<p>"The author wants what is best for her child and that could include $120,000 of debt."</p>
<p>That is the point that jumped out at me. This author is an expert on personal finances?</p>
<p>What on earth was the east coast tour all about? She knew going in that the schools they were visiting were not in the budget she and the ex had already established.</p>
<p>(And if I could be just a little snobby for a moment here, my son has been buying The Economist since he was 15. Didn't like the Newsweek subscription we gave him.)</p>
<p>$$ (I agree with weenie) and level of high school preparation are two of the driving factors when it comes to being realistic about what college a kid will attend. The choices the author and her D will make will hinge on those items.</p>
<p>Mom's situation isn't unique, by any means. I think she was just VERY surprised at the emotional component involved when it comes to college for her kid. She had a perfectly rational plan in place re financing college, and against every logical thought in her head, she is thinking about somehow getting more money earmarked for her D's college, whether through taking on debt, cutting back her retirement financing, etc. All things that she'd tell the readers of her book to avoid...</p>
<p>What I find annoying is that she should have waited till AFTER she financed a college education to write a book. How many other self-help books are there out there that are written by people who haven't gone through the process?! Reminds me of the "Just say no" anti-drug campaign.</p>
<p>I understand the author's dilemma, as a California resident and Cal alum -- the price is right, the top UC's are great schools,but it is true that the classroom experience is different from a LAC or Georgetown, i.e., class size, access to professors. But I would be more sympathetic if her daughter wasn't the one who would have to pay the difference -- going to Georgetown would mean a potentially crippling debt for years for someone just starting out in life. Perhaps they should visit some schools as excellent as Georgetown that offer merit scholarships.</p>
<p>There's nothing revelatory in this article -- and nothing that we as parents of college-age kids haven't experienced: balancing the cost vs. 'worth' of fine universities. I just wish the author went beyond stereotypes about UCs (and many other large, good schools, publics or not.) </p>
<p>Yes, the UCs have many large classes. Some are led by TAs. The same applies to Georgetown. </p>
<p>Yes, many UC professors are more interested in publishing than teaching. Does she really think it's dramatically different at Georgetown? Or any RESEARCH university?</p>
<p>Isn't it a bit disingenuous to be bummed that perks offered by the
$20,000/year UCLA can't match those of a $50,000/year Georgetown? And why take a kid to be seduced by a $50,000/year school when all one has done is to budget for a $20,000/year? It's like budgeting for a Ford and then getting depressed that the Mercedes is really much more posh...</p>
<p>If she was only willing to put up $20,000 a year for child's college then she should explained and layed out the rules to the child. Why even bothered to tour the private schools?? I feel sorry for whoever bought her book.</p>
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<p>I think she was just VERY surprised at the emotional component involved when it comes to college for her kid.<<</p>
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<p>And not just the daughter's emotions but her own as well. Not only does the daughter want to go to Georgetown, but Mom wants it too. Says she was hooked after just 15 minutes of the spiel. They BOTH fell in love with it.</p>
<p>Also, one factual error in the article: Georgetown is not 300 years old. It is 218 years old.</p>
<p>That woman is a moron. I can't believe she would knowingly take her daughter to a school that doesn't offer merit aid, knowing FULL WELL she does not qualify for need based aid, and that their family contribution will only be $20K per year. </p>
<p>She's a freakin' journalist and she can't google the cost of attendance at a school that she travels across the continent to visit?</p>
<p>I can understand how some families out of naivete expose their kids to schools that turn out to be financially out of reach, maybe thinking there will be merit aid, or not being aware of what a big bite EFC takes from the family coffers, but she has no excuse.</p>