are these colleges (look inside :P ) worth it ?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>upenn(wharton)
princeton
duke
dartmouth
cornell
nyu(stern)
uva(hopefully mclintre)
umich(hopefully ross)
pomona
colgate</p>

<p>now this question is a little cliche but is paying 200,000 $ for an education in any of the above schools worth it ? i mean i feel really bad coz its a huge chunk my parents will hav to part with... not tht its a major problem but it still makes me feel uneasy. is it worth it both in terms of monetary return on the 'investment' and also the experiance and networking opportnities ?</p>

<p>thanks guys.</p>

2

<p>I think it depends on two major things:</p>

<p>1) What are your other, CHEAPER, options?</p>

<p>2) Do you plan to continue on to a professional or graduate school?</p>

3

<p>Will you get any need-based aid?</p>

<p>If you’re able to pay for it, (or at least if FAFSA thinks so), then it’s probably not a wise idea to go to one of these schools, and you should instead go to a slightly less-selective uni or LAC with good merit aid (midwestern LAC’s, U South Carolina, U Alabama), or a low sticker price like SUNY-Binghamton or UM-Twin Cities.</p>

<p>Good Luck!!!</p>

4

<p>Percentage of students without significant financial aid*: </p>

<p>Pomona 47%
Dartmouth 49%
Princeton 50%
NYU 52%
Duke 57%
Cornell 62%
Penn 62%
Colgate 67%</p>

<p>*As measured by FA grants. Source: 08/09 CDS and IPEDS</p>

<p>At least half the students at those colleges think it’s worth paying the full COA.</p>

5

<p>This will rile a few…</p>

<p>The Mythical Ivy Impact
July 2nd, 2009
· by Scott Anderson · Filed Under: College Selection · Uncategorized</p>

<p>It’s the beginning of July. All the graduation parties are over, and the summer is in full swing. Now is a time when a lot of soon to be high school seniors and their parents begin thinking about what colleges to look at. In conversation… on the web forums… I hear over and over again:</p>

<pre><code>* “Is this school prestigious?”

  • “Does this school rank high?”
  • “What does the US News report say about this school?”
  • “How does this school compare to Harvard… Yale… Georgetown… etc?”
  • “What’s the toughest school I can get into?”
    </code></pre>

<p>The genesis of these questions is the perception that a degree from a select group of schools is somehow going to make your life easier. You’ll earn more money. You’ll know the right people. You’ll get a better job upon graduation. It’s as if there is an ivy fairy who is going to sprinkle gold dust on a graduating student and their whole life is going to change.</p>

<p>Come on… every one knows that if you make it into Harvard, you are far more likely to earn more money. Right?</p>

<p>I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Now be careful who you tell this to, because it could start a fight at numerous block parties and soccer games. It’s not true. Yep. It’s not true. It’s a lie. It’s that common sense that if far too common, but makes no sense.</p>

<p>The truth was documented several years ago in a study conducted by Alan Krueger, an economist at Princeton, and Stacy Berg Dale, a researcher at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. They published a study in 1999 that proved incredibly controversial, and has been generating heated debates ever since. So what did they find? They found out that where a student goes to school does not impact their future success in life.</p>

<p>They studied 1976 students from 34 colleges across the country. They did find that some students who went to an Ivy League school were more successful in life than those who didn’t. But the real shocker was they found that students who were accepted to Ivy League schools but chose to go to a less “prestigious” school did just as well if not better than their Ivy League counterparts. Their conclusion was that it is the student, not the school that dictates the opportunities for success.</p>

<p>This goes right to the heart of a very big problem. Many students are basing their self-worth on whether or not they get into the right school. After all the adjustments of adolescence, along comes the college search process. Grades evaluate them. Sports evaluates them. How they do in the talent contest evaluates them. The acceptance or decline of one particular college has become the referendum on the sum total of the first 18 years of their life. This is wrong.</p>

<p>We have to get away from this unholy authority that a single college’s decision has upon the value of a student’s life. Students must understand there is no such thing as the “best” college. There is only the best colleges for them. Colleges… plural. The college search and selection process needs to be fluid and encompassing. The student should not be expected to make a rifle shot in the bulls-eye at 600 yards. This is much more like trying to get the right shotgun pattern at 20 yards.</p>

<p>The student’s goal in the college search process is to find one safety school where they are getting in no matter what. They want four to six match schools where they have a good chance of coming into the school in the top 50% or top 25% of the incoming freshman class. Then they may want two to three stretch schools; these are the schools where they are not sure they could get in.</p>

<p>The students also need to be comfortable with the idea of going to any of the six to ten schools that they will be applying to. If they are able to take this kind of an approach to the college search process, then they will be under far less pressure and have much better opportunities for the monies than are available at the colleges to which they apply. This selection strategy is not just about finding the colleges that feel right, but it is also about positioning your student to minimize their college costs. Follow this strategy, and you will do far better than most.</p>

6

<p>Yes, quite right.</p>

<p>It’s the student, not the school, that determine’s one’s success. A student at a non-prestigous school can be just as successful - in law, medicine, bussiness, or Ph.D. admissions, or in attaining a job after graduation - as an Ivy Leaguer can be.</p>

7

<p>Amen .</p>

8

<p>guys ur not understanding. i dont want financial aid and i dont wanna look at cheaper options !! im just asking if im gonna get the money i sped back in 3-4 years and make good contacts in the above universities. </p>

<p>and to scotta: iv chosen these colleges after a LOT of research and im nt applying there coz they r “ivy” im applying coz they meet my academic and social needs perfectly and each has something really special and unique about itself</p>

9

<p>all your schools are exceptional, but it’s what you do at the school with yourself and your education that will determine whether it was a proper investment. and yeah, going here, you will encounter some of the most intelligent people you’ve ever met.</p>

<p>my personal opinion? go to duke :smiley: hhaha</p>

10

<p>cr_freak, simply said, NO SCHOOL will guarantee you a thing,. When you ask a question that not even a psychic can answer, ie “im just asking if im gonna get the money i sped back in 3-4 years and make good contacts in the above universities.” its a dead end question. A lot of your future depends on you, and what YOU DO. no one hands you a single thing in the world, regardless if you’re at harvard or oxford(afterall you still have to apply to get a job, you still have to interview for one, you still have to put effort). </p>

<p>Do the schools you list have more “elite” opportunities than most schools, yes, but YOU and only YOU make the worth.</p>

<p>and again
“i mean i feel really bad coz its a huge chunk my parents will hav to part with… not tht its a major problem”
if its not a major problem for your parents, then just drop it and apply to the schools, and attend whichever you like. if you honestly feel really bad, then consider other options and stop debating it. Your parents, if they are smart, and depended on that 200K+ your so concerned about, would tell you how much money they can contribute to your education. If they said everything, then stop worrying about it! Be grateful that your parents are willing to do that for you(if they really financially can).</p>