<p>OK, so it's May 1st. Lots of chatter about "should we pay $$$ for a top school or accept a large scholarship to a good-but-not-top school?" </p>
<p>Is there anyone out there who turned down a scholarship last year (or earlier) and is currently paying big bucks, and regrets it? Perhaps your financial situation is rather dicey? Parents struggling to make ends meet just so you can go to your dream school? If so, do you still think you made the right decision? Will the benefits outweigh the pain?</p>
<p>Some real life stories may help those families who've been tossing and turning at night trying to decide which road to take.</p>
<p>We didn’t turn down big bucks but paid it for my first one because we wanted him to get to choose the college he wanted most without having cost enter the picture. He would have been fine going to a state U but picked a top cost, top 25. Hated the school, bad match and really hurt us financially. Didn’t do well there, and the school rep did nothing in helping him get a job. Not one thing. Perhaps % wise the kids at his school are better employed, making more money than grads from the state U he had considered, but it would be danged close except for those in specialty programs for which the school is well known. Otherwise, it’s been a tough go for kids there as well as anywhere. </p>
<p>The economy crashed after he went to school, and we never have recovered. The difference in outlay those years really hit us hard. We were stupid enough that we would have done the same for my second, who really saved us by going to state U. We would be in much worse shape and have even more stress if it weren’t for that. We are still paying on PLUS loans from the first and will be even though he was out 5 years ago. 14 years of loans when you go that route. Plus we spent savings we have not been able to replace.</p>
<p>We have never regretted that our sons did take the big scholarships. Older son got accepted to a top 20 school for his PhD (with full merit money), so it hasn’t hurt him a bit going to a mid-tier flagship. He got accepted to every PhD program that he applied to…and all with similar offers.</p>
<p>We’re confident that younger son who also took a large scholarship will get accepted to med school, so we’ll eventually be paying out some big bucks. lol</p>
<p>I know that we’d be truly regretting going thru savings and/or taking out loans for undergrad.</p>
<p>In all fairness, there are many parents who are more than happy to pay for their kids going to top level schools when it takes a lot of financial and family sacrifice. For some it is the shining achievement of their lives for their kids to go to HPY or other top school and worth every penny and work that went into earning even if it meant pounding salt and tough times for the whole family.</p>
<p>Both kids turned down big bucks (full rides) for big state schools, and we didn’t regret it. We had some needbased financial aid/merit aid at the school they chose, so it wasn’t full pay for us - but we did pay a significant amount of money. Don’t regret it one bit. :)</p>
<p>I’ll let you know in four years how it turns out for our family. D just selected Stanford yesterday. As a NMF, she had been offered “close to full ride” money at several schools; a couple which she would have happily attended. However then the Stanford offer came in and she had a great visit to campus last week! So while it is painful to turn down those large scholarships, Stanford does have a pretty nice needs-based aid program which is helping a bunch this first year. Will it be worth the extra money? I’m not totally convinced that it will. However we’ll be able to swing it financially so decided to give it a try. I don’t believe that I’d recommend it however if it would leave the student with substantial debt; especially if medical school was in their future plans also.</p>
<p>We are completely the opposite. Our kids worked hard in order to get scholarships. DD got free tuition and DS got virtually a free ride due to NMF. We see no point in financial sacrifice just for prestige. Last (child) son and rising hs senior is now positioned for a merit scholarship too. Can’t say we would have been happy to pay just for the sake of paying.</p>
<p>Some parents believe that schools are not all alike. For some, it’s not about prestige, but about education, and they’ll pay what they can afford to get what they believe is the best education for their kids.</p>
<p>^^^That was our feeling for S1, who is attending a top LAC. He felt that he fit in with the college, campus, and future classmates. We have turned down a hefty merit scholarship (NM Scholar) to another top 50 U, and are paying full cost for his LAC. For his intended major, and not being 100% sure about that, we felt he would have more flexibility at the school, along with a tremendous education.</p>
<p>D was offered $12K in grants and scholarships, but at a school where COA is $59K! So the net cost isn’t so far from a place where she might get less “free” money. Plus I feel like the choice she made has real value – good alumni network, broad range of classes/majors available, good fit for her. I think she’ll be able to get internships and jobs, whereas at the other school, I wasn’t confident that would happen.</p>