<p>Lets see, Anyone can get a degree online from University of Phoenix…hmmm…No thanks…</p>
<p>U of Phoenix was not used by anyone in this household…but it does fulfill a need for some folks. I’m not going to knock it here or anywhere else.</p>
<p>I am not really sure what type of job a person can train for on line- maybe being an accountant or something similar. I am 100% sure that NO ONE in a helping profession should be doing training on line. I have worked with psychologists and counselors who have gotten their degrees from on line or nearly on line programs who think they know everything. They have had virtually no meaningful clinical supervision and are, quite frankly, dangerous.</p>
<p>We researched the on-line universities for profit parent organizations for our investment group and walked away. Just sayin’</p>
<p>I think we are off track here: the question is how the prestige private slimeballs convince us to compete mightily for the opportunity to fork over $200k plus, even when it is proven that the opportunities (as an investment) they offer after four years are no better than those than can obtained by the same student (same family, etc.) who goes elsewhere, and where an extra $120k spent on education plus a state honors college would provide both a far better education, and likely better future opportunities?</p>
<p>LOL, mini-- you are the one who brought up the # of applications to U of Phoenix!</p>
<p>As for the OP, if someone has the expendable cash and wants to spend 200K for their kids education, thats their perogative. Some people throw that away on a car or a boat. The top LACs are great schools, and IMO, using “name recognition” as an important criteria is simply silly. That said, I think Williams and Midd and Amherst are well known and certainly well respected schools. The lack of recognition IMO speaks the the person not familiar with them, not to the school.</p>
<p>It is a choice. No one is holding a gun to your back and making you do it. You do it because you can and because you want to. I am sorry, but my son would not have had the same education or the same college experience or the same life today if he had gone to a state honors college. He wanted tiny, rural, personal and quirky. It wasn’t a matter of our being fooled by slimeballs, it was us having the ability to choose. Not everything was perfect, but it would have been a lot further from perfect if we had forced him into an alternative that didn’t suit him. Excuse me, Mini, but didn’t you have a daughter attend a prestige private slimeball college as well?</p>
<p>"I think we are off track here: the question is how the prestige private slimeballs convince us to compete mightily for the opportunity to fork over $200k plus, even when it is proven that the opportunities (as an investment) they offer after four years are no better than those than can obtained by the same student (same family, etc.) who goes elsewhere, and where an extra $120k spent on education plus a state honors college would provide both a far better education, and likely better future opportunities?"mini#125</p>
<p>PRESTIGE PRIVATE SLIMEBALLS?</p>
<p>Aren’t you being a little hypocritical Mini (and more) with that statement? You’ve acknowledged your daughter (hundreds of times you’ve gloated about her good fortune online, ad nauseum - this is what your think of those who awarded her?) and her awards and fellowships.</p>
<p>Why shouldn’t others have the same opportunities? Because your financial situation is different, is no reason.</p>
<p>“I think we are off track here: the question is how the prestige private slimeballs convince us to compete mightily for the opportunity to fork over $200k plus”</p>
<p>Off track? That is not in the OP’s question!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>He might have had a better education and have a better life. You can’t ever say with any certainty where a road-not-traveled would have led to.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Arguable. Although I would not have used the term “slimeball” myself.</p>
<p>annasdad… i would agree with you… my son was sure that one of the schools he was accepted to was THE school, THE ONLY school that would make him happy. The program he was accepted to was THE only good one etc…well it didnt happen due to finances and he went to another (mentally kicking and screaming). This summer the professor that interviewed him for THE school, offered him a job…he loved the job, again loved THE school and professor… but he realized the one he is going to is just as good, he loves his professors at his school, has actually had more opportunities at the one he attends now… and there really wasnt anything that made THE school worth 80K more afterall…</p>
<p>Nope, it would not have been better. He has never been a big crowd person and because we could afford it, he didn’t have to be miserable… His first cousin, very very similar in style, lasted 8 weeks at the big school incredibly excellent honors program. Some people are just not suited to big universities. I am all for encouraging my kids to ‘just say yes’ to reasonable chances. We looked at the options, and he knew what was right for him.</p>
<p>“I think we are off track here: the question is how the prestige private slimeballs convince us to compete mightily for the opportunity to fork over $200k plus,”</p>
<p>You know, all of the scholarships and financial aid at fancy-schmancy prestige private schools wouldn’t be possible without the presence of the full-pays and the generosity of those who donate and endow scholarships. Sorry, it’s more than a little hypocritical to get all snotty about full-pays and then take the money that their full-payitude enables you to have. There’s no moral superiority in being affluent enough to afford an elite school, but there’s no moral inferiority either.</p>
<p>“I think we are off track here: the question is how the prestige private slimeballs convince us to compete mightily for the opportunity to fork over $200k plus”</p>
<p>So why did your daughter go to Smith? I’m sure you had a state flagship or community college nearby. I guess it’s “smart” to go to Smith if you can convince someone else to pick up the tab, but deluded to go to Smith if you can afford the tab yourself?</p>
<p>OK…BACK to the OP question…at some point in this thread, the OP was wondering if one of these LAC type schools might pique her daughter’s interest MORE than the SCEA college she was going to apply to.</p>
<p>My suggestion…if the OP wants her kiddo to have some choices to make BETWEEN different kinds of colleges…why not just apply RD to a variety of schools instead of scrambling around NOW to make visits to schools. The kiddo could still apply to the SCEA school…even if accepted, she could still apply to other colleges.</p>
<p>Well, I find “how the prestige private slimeballs convince us” distinct from “whether it’s really worth it.” ;)</p>
<p>I assume mini means those with the money to spend, since the privates are often cheaper for those without the money.</p>
<p>Thank you, Thumper. That is the plan as far as DD and her GC are concerned (high reach SCEA and a range of RDs). I’m just getting nervous about a rejection or deferral SCEA and those months of angst that would follow. The last year has been tumultuous for us (to say the least) and I’m wanting our world to be smooth for awhile. </p>
<p>Our income is fine for paying that $200K at the moment, significant sum still left in the 529 even after older one’s undergrad costs. The issue isn’t the current financial picture, it’s the uncertainty ahead. So many layoffs, so much volatility in the market, and then the likelihood that “slime balls” like us (thanks, Mini!) will not be qualifying for entitlements like Medicare or SS. Not trying to provoke one of those discussions by mentioning this – it’s just the fiscal reality and also there is the whole aging/health issue – how long can we sustain our professional stamina, keep earning at this level? </p>
<p>Lots of variables, just like for most families. I think the question basically comes down to how we will approach the future – with optimism or with caution?</p>
<p>This thread has helped me ponder all of this. I appreciate the insights. Was a little worried it was going some place mean last night.</p>
<p>“I’m just getting nervous about a rejection or deferral SCEA and those months of angst that would follow.”</p>
<p>Maybe a lack of early acceptance has a positive side, compared to not applying early: a chance to develop a new favorite long before the May 1 decision deadline.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Perhaps, but as thread creep goes, that’s really quite modest.</p>