<p>Depends on the school and the child. In some cases it is worth the sacrifice. In some cases students are very happy with their state honors programs which usually are free for the good in state students they want to keep. My S is thriving in his personalized LAC and it is worth every penny. He would not have done as well or grown personally as much in a huge state school. It is such a personal decision and a hard one. If folks were here last year they probably can remember how we agonized about this issue until mid April. If I had 10 children(thank God I don't!) it would be a different answer and decision for each one. This will probably be a long thread especially as acceptances flood in!</p>
<p>{q}We as a society can not only support the "average" people we have to share the monies. Sorry, I felt that I had to address this issue. I'll get of my soapbox now!{/q} </p>
<p>No need to say "sorry." I haven't yet rationalized the logic, ethics, or the philosophy.</p>
<p>Shouldn't the public spend its resources on the most number of people for the greater good? If not, how much are we to devote to "No child left behind," Honor programs, special tax breaks and incentives? </p>
<p>To direct this more to the main topic...So what is the purpose of an Honors Program at a public supported institution of higher learning? In our state, Oregon, the stated purpose is to, 1) Keep the resident students in state; 2) to encourage specialized professions that current local industries want; 3) Prove to industries that the state has competitive and high quality higher education and therefore it is desirable for your company to locate here. </p>
<p>But doesn't all states do the same as my state? And doesn't this concentrate the money in a select number of people? While at the other end of spectrum we have the highest rate of unemployment in the nation and near the top for the largest percentage of people using the foodbank. </p>
<p>A lot of questions and no satisfactory answers. And I do use the system to my advantage from tax incentives to specialized education programs. </p>
<p>This is all political and again I am just musing-looking for good solutions.</p>
<p>Haven't got the hang of the similies. </p>
<p>So, Arizonamom, your post came in while I was composing-composting-ruminatiing. Give me a hint where to look in the old CC and I'll do my thinking there. </p>
<p>dadoftrojan: ? Is there much difference between the top echelon engineering graduate schools? Our S is junior in ME and wants to get masters, probably 2 year program rather than extra year. We will {b}not{/b} have much say in the matter, he's always been independent. </p>
<p>{b this is a test /b}</p>
<p>for italics it is <i> not <b>
also it is this bracket [ not {
:)</b></i></p><i><b>
</b></i>
<p>I think it depends on what you mean by "worth it". And I think the definition will be different for every person. In the end the answer is individualized. You can never say whether it is worth it in the some objective sense. It is "worth it" if it is worth it to YOU.</p>
<p>Marite, very good point about selectivity does not have a thing to do with expense. My D was outraged and I had to explain some economic facts of life (why am I always doing this?) to her when she found that her Safety cost as much as Wellesley/Smith.</p>
<p>
[quote]
No, they quite simply aren't.
[/quote]
I don't think you can make a definitive statement like that not even having graduated high school yet. <em>shrug</em></p>
<p>itstoomuch ,</p>
<p>While there are a number of excellent graduate schools in engineering (e.g. Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, Michigan, etc.), there is a difference between the schools. In graduate school, more than undergraduate school, I would look more for a college that has a strength in a particular area or a faculty member with a particular expertise. Furthermore, most of the top students in engineering receive funding (research assistanships, or whatever), so your son should contact individual faculty members who have expertise and do research in an area he is interested in. Finally, at some schools you can obtain a master's degree with taking only courses, while at other schools a thesis is required, which will affect both how long it takes to obtain the degree and what he gets out of it.</p>
<p>I don't think there's a blanket answer to the original question. To take a line from the credit card commercials, I believe the right college for a particular individual can be priceless, helping a teenager find his or her place in the world and grow into a confident, productive adult. Such a college may or may not be an elite or expensive school, and I certainly don't feel that Ivies and top LAC's are worth it for the name alone.</p>
<p>My husband and I both went to an Ivy, and our daughter is a freshman at that school now. It changed my life, though I don't think it meant nearly as much to my husband. For our daughter, it's still early days, but so far she seems far more engaged, both inside and outside the classroom, than she ever was in our well-regarded but uninspiring public school system. (In a way, this experience is even more valuable because she doesnt have a set career path and is still discovering her interests.) </p>
<p>Is this the only school that could have been wonderful for her? Of course not, and while I suspect our state university system would not have been a good match, theres often good merit money available at other excellent schools. Evil Robot, of course, whose success story about turning down Yale for a full ride at Vanderbilt is discussed at <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=37237%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=37237</a>, is a shining example of this. Our family was lucky in that our daughter was admitted to her dream school and we were (barely) able to manage the cost. While that cost is pretty brutal, we do feel its worth it. Still, had this not been her dream school--which seemed a great fit for her for many reasons--but merely a college with a fancy reputation, we might have decided quite differently.</p>
<p>It's often been pointed out that the important degree is the last one. I'm sure dadoftrojan is known as an engineer from MIT, rather than a Gator. Despite that fact, if my daughter wants to go to a top school for undergrad and gets in, I'm not going to deny her the opportunity. We're doing the New England college tour spring break, so we'll see what she thinks.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm not going to deny her the opportunity
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Sounds like you have made up your mind! Though you might have "moments", I doubt you will regret it. </p>
<p>May the Money Buddha visit your house and your business! :)</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>Thanks for the good thoughts. We'll have to see what she decides. There is also the climate issue (we live in FL). My D is brilliant, but indecisive.</p>
<p>The prestige of a better rep school might open up some doors at the start, but if your child performs well at a middle of the road state school, then it won't really matter in the end.</p>
<p>The rep of the graduate school is more important than ugrad, should she choose that route. Keep in mind that doctoral programs give funding ( full tuition + stipend) for sciences/engineering.</p>
<p>It also depends on how much you value prestige versus how much you are able to shell out for your kid.</p>
<p>Audiophile, our family was in a similar situation last year. Our son would have been competative at most top colleges but would have not been eligible for any need based aid. He had a college fund of about $76,000 and we agreed that he would be responsible for tuition, academic fees, books and spending money.</p>
<p>He decided from the beginning that he wanted to have a "nest egg" left after graduating and therefore researched colleges offering merit aid. He applied and was accepted to Case, Rensselaer, Oberlin, Wooster, Allegheny and our state flagship university, garnering a total of $360,000+ in merit scholarships.</p>
<p>While he could have attended our state university tuition free, he ultimately chose to attend Rensselaer. With scholarships he will be paying about $5000 in tuition and fees to attend. He chose Rensselaer for a variety of reasons: cost, distance from home(about 3 hours), program(a unique AI dual major), and geography(near skiing).</p>
<p>I would recommend that you look at a broader range of options. In addition to LAC's and state universities, look at mid-sized private colleges, specialty colleges where appropriate(engineering, art, etc), state LAC's like Saint Mary's Maryland, or LAC's which offer good merit aid(Wooster, Allegheny, Denison, Ohio Wesleyan to name a few he looked at.</p>
<p>Having attended both Ohio State and Cornell I can attest that while there were differences, a fine education was attainable at both and I was prepared wonderfully for Cornell grad school. The years I spent at OSU were among the best years of my life and I continue to enthusiastically support the university more than 30 years later.</p>
<p>About being defined by the college you last attended, whenever any one asks me where I attended the reply is always Ohio State. However I would agree that on the resume, I suppose Cornell would be the one carrying the most weight.</p>
<p>originaloog,</p>
<p>I can relate. I went to Rutgers undergrad and Penn for professional school. The four years at Rutgers were absolutely the best of my life. I want that experience for my D. As others have said, it's all about the "fit".</p>