I have a rising HS senior (4.0 GPA, 1400 SAT first try, no study) who is just starting to sort out college options. We live in the Vancouver WA area (Portland suburb) and are mostly looking at Pacific Northwest schools and maybe California. Our spring break college visit road trip to CA ran afoul of the Coronavirus. Her favorite school so far is my alma matter Reed College, across the river from us. The Net Price Calculators suggest we will get zero from Reed (they only offer need-based aid) and our EFC is probably in the $90k+ range so we’ll get zero need-based aid from anywhere.
Second choice is UW in Seattle. The price difference is about $50,000/year. I’m guessing she is a likely admit to UW, Reed might be a bit iffy. The other regional liberal arts schools like Lewis & Clark or University of Puget Sound are likely admits. We haven’t yet visited Whitman. We were going to visit some of the CA privates and still might this summer. Like Santa Clara, Claremonts, Loyola, USF, etc.
I’d love to see her go to Reed. But wow, $200,000 is a big price differential and we have a younger child 3 years behind her. She is likely going to be interested in some sort of bio/med research. She is especially interested in genetics. I expect she’ll probably wind up doing biomed research in academia or industry. Or wind up in some sort of biomed lab job. She also wants to stay in the Northwest for careers which almost certainly means Portland or Seattle metro.
I’m coming around to the notion that just attending the UW in Seattle might be her best option all around. I’m guessing that no employer anywhere in the Seattle or Portland area is ever going to question her credentials with a UW degree. And she is likely bound for grad school anyway. Probably UW also, but who knows.
Anyone here want to convince me that a small liberal arts experience is worth an extra $200,000 over a flagship state school for someone likely grad school bound in a biomed or STEM field who wants to stay in this region? Because I don’t see it.
You’re not actually asking if any LAC is worth the price, but whether Reed in particular is. And I am inclined to agree with you that it may not be, particularly if she is headed to grad school and has such a great flagship right next door.
Reed is an excellent school with a national reputation, but I can’t see paying that much more for it.
You will be preaching to the choir here. For a grad school bound kid, save the money. Especially when you have a solid option in your state flagships.
If a small LAC is truly important, she can try to chase merit if she can get her SAT score up, and is willing to look outside your region. There are plenty of Midwest LACs that give merit.
Asking if LACs are worth it over state flagships…is likely to open up a big can of worms LOL.
IMO it’s “worth it” IF you can spend the extra $200,000 without any hardship at all, IF this expenditure will not negatively impact younger children who will eventually be heading to college, and IF the HS senior really, really prefers an LAC.
Most families are not in that position. In your case UW Seattle is an outstanding choice and I agree with you. Nobody will question her credentials…at all. There is no shortage of opportunities at UW Seattle.
My D attended a flagship and we could not be happier if we tried.
if she likes a smaller community, look to privates that offer merit money. UPS should offer her a merit scholly, for example. I believe that the Claremont’s are need-based aid, however.
If you have the money and plenty besides, it MAY be “worth it.”
If that $200,000 would be borrowed, or represent a large percentage of your retirement or savings, it is NOT “worth it.”
A top of the line Mercedes is nice to drive. But a Hyundai will get you there too. And in the case of UW, it’s not even a Hyundai. It’s a nice Toyota or Honda.
As someone upstream mentioned, “worth” is relative. Two different scenarios:
Is Reed worth an extra 200k? That's a value question and the answer depends on your values - literally how you value things. What you think things are worth. How you feel about them. I may value our property being on conservation with lots of privacy more than others. The comps don't show it's worth more, but it's worth more to me and that's what matters if I'm paying for it. Unfortunately many on CC misinterpret the word "value" and align it with a moral code, ethics, belief system, etc.
Your financial situation. If the resources are there to pay for it in a way where your'e comfortable is quite different than going through hardship to make that happen. Then it becomes more about the value of what you would have done with the funds, not necessarily so much about the school. As in, "I can afford it. We'll be fine either way. This likely would have been part of an inheritance later anyway..."
Some will take the approach of “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should”, while others will say, “I can so I will”.
No one can answer these questions for you. It’s about how you value things.
I also agree with everyone else. IMHO it is not worth it.
The University of Washington is a great university. The fact that it is a bargain for you at in-state prices does not take away from the fact that it is a great university. I would not shell out an extra $200,000 for Reed unless you happen to have several million dollars sitting around and are trying to figure out what to do with it.
We had a similar choice a few years ago. One daughter had great grades and wanted a small school. Some local small schools (Bowdoin, Williams, Colby, …) showed her as full pay. The best small universities in Canada (the closest thing that Canada has to a LAC) were a fraction of the cost. We noticed that we could pay for four years in Canada, and buy her a car, and buy her a house for the price of four years at Bowdoin. She is getting a great education with great research opportunities at a reasonable price. We did not buy her the house.
“I don’t see it.”
Ditto. I think that the cost of education in the US is getting ridiculous.
As long as there are enough very wealthy parents who can pay high list prices easily, colleges will want to collect as much revenue from them as they can.
@twotoschool I will comment on your thread so as not to hijack this one, but suffice it to say, if you can, you have choices. If you can’t you don’t. Assuming you have choices, up to you to decide what matters. Will be quite different for everyone.
For this particular student, keep in mind that the University of Washington is one of the world’s leading centers for biomedical research, especially in genetics. It also has a robust undergraduate research program.
She should also consider applying to the Honors Program:
“The UW Honors Program invites students to deepen their undergraduate education within an enriching academic community. We welcome a diverse population of students to explore diverse perspectives through a rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum that promotes innovative thinking, critical reflection, and conscious global citizenship. Students become expansive critical thinkers by drawing from the sciences, arts, and humanities to develop their own identity as leaders who bridge disciplines. Bringing selected faculty into close contact with dedicated students in small general education classes allows the Honors Program to combine the intimacy of an interdisciplinary liberal arts college with the strengths of a top public research university.”
I just want to add one sort of tangential comment.
If you’re talking a PhD program, you usually get funding and don’t pay for these. In fact, unless things change a lot in the next few years, I would tell anyone who was admitted to a PhD program without funding not to enroll, because the U has already signalled you that they view you as at the bottom of those admitted. .
So, if makes NO sense to save money on undergrad to fund grad school. Now, law, business, and med school are a different matter–though joint MD/PhD programs usually ARE funded. If med school is a possibility, then that’s something very different.
I also think there’s a third thing that matters–your kid’s personality. There are lots of kids who DO “bloom where planted.” However, there are other kids who will really benefit from being at a smaller school. I would go so far as to say there are people who would make it through a LAC and get a degree who won’t make it through a large, more impersonal university. Please understand I am NOT saying ALL kids are like this, only that there are some who are. IME, it’s easier for a kid to get lost at a large U and wake up and discover they are on academic probation at the end of their first semester. Some kids NEED to have their “hands held.”
It’s not just about LACs and “hand holding”. I’m sure some benefit from that. It’s more about where will you thrive. Sometimes at smaller schools, it’s easier to find your voice and make a difference vs. the herd mentality. You still have to engage, seek things out, etc but the environment might give you more confidence to excel.
UW is a great school for bio research and Seattle has a ton of opportunities for genetics research and internshipS. Personally I’d choose it over Reed at the same cost based on the academic experience. You might also check out some of the WUE schools as backups, and take a look at UBC, which is becoming more popular with PNW families.
I don’t either, and since you went to Reed and you also don’t see it, it’s a pretty good indication that UW is the better choice, until at least you see Claremont, Pomona et al. that hopefully you’ll be able to down the road.