<p>To answer your comment, Viennaman, I would not mind if I shook hands with Paul Krugman or a great academic intellectual. However, I would not value being one of his 300 or so students at tens of thousands of dollars. </p>
<p>In addition, I plan to do an economics/finance or business undergrad or I plan to do an science related undergraduate. For these fields, does earning a seat at a top-tier private college notably matter for the job I may be potentially applying for after my undergraduate in terms of monetary value?</p>
<p>You have an opportunity to do some real-life cost-benefit analysis here. The costs are fairly easy to gauge, or will be when your acceptances are known, but the benefits are quite hard to determine. The benefits have a tendency to be non-calculable. In addition you are trying to predict what the job market will be like far into the future. Imagine someone in your situation 5 years ago, who had no idea that a deep recession and tight job market would greet them upon graduation last year.</p>
<p>Don’t forget the cost of borrowing money, especially if there is a likelihood of pursuing a post-graduate degree. Also consider what will happen if things don’t go as planned. For example, you end up majoring in forestry, or it takes 5 years to graduate, or you don’t graduate at all. Big debt will have a big impact upon life decisions in your future.</p>
<p>Krugman is overrated. He has been predicting a recession since 2001, he finally got it right in 2008. Get a NYT newspaper for a year and you can read his opinion for less than $50K/year.</p>
<p>For all my years spent on this site, the only reason I can see top colleges are worth the cost is for investment banking. Top BB firms recruit from these colleges.</p>
<p>First of all, there are a lot more colleges now. I’ll use high schools as an analogy. There’s always this kid in almost every high school who’s exceptionally phenomenal. But good high schools tend to have more of those kids. So the more high schools there are, the less percentage those exceptional kids will come from those elite high schools. But those elite high schools are not any less elite than before; it can only be more elite now (now that they’re more selective). </p>
<p>Second of all, the acceptance rates back then were a lot lower and it was a lot less selective back then. So I’d imagine the Ivy environment and the prestige would be higher now. </p>
<p>Third of all, it really depends on the person. We always ask the question: Where would this person be if he/she attended a better/worse school? The thing is, we can’t exactly answer that question. It really depends on whether the person thrives in a competitive environment or not, whether the person works well under pressure, whether the person takes advantage of opportunities, whether the person gives up easily, and etc.</p>
<p>Thanks, Columbia Student, I have a couple of questions. Is it worth majoring in Finance and Banking etc. and being burdened with at least a $100K-140K debt and a lower college class rank and GPA? Will I see large and significant benefits in terms of monetary value when I approach a top banking firm after I completed my undergraduate? Just so you know, “LOLhere”, as an Individual, I care nothing about intellectual status, intellectual pride and contact with intellectual pioneers. Additionally, I can compete in any type of setting but I feel as if a “Intellectual elite” setting would be slightly more comfortable. However, this increase in comfort will cause only very minor changes in my stress level and my class performance, enough to be considered negligible.</p>
<p>Sure, I don’t care about what you care about. </p>
<p>If all you care about is to make money after college without getting into debt, then don’t go to the Ivies. It’s that simple. </p>
<p>But not all individuals are like that. Some people actually want to pay for a good education and a good intellectual environment. If you think about it, why do so many people pay for private high schools when you could go to one for free?</p>
<p>I appreciate all of your comments and I outlined a plan for myself for my undergraduate and roughly outlined one for my graduate education. Instead of potentially attending Harvard, Yale, Princeton or Stanford for an undergraduate degree, I would instead attend UW-Madison. By attending UW Madison, I would be spectacular financial shape after my undergraduate degree. I would achieve such a state by staying in my parents house so I would not have dorm costs. Next, I will be attempting to earn many scholarships that are primarily merit based. Finally and foremost, I will be making around $40,000 through semi-intensive jobs during my four years. After my undergraduate degree, my parents would not have paid a cent and my college costs for an undergraduate degree would be paid off. In fact, I will have around $5,000-10,000 to start my career and my professional life. My parents also currently have a large amount of cash through an education investment. The education investment will gradually increase to substantial amounts by the end of my undergraduate degree. After working for a couple of years, receiving grants and scholarships, accumulating significant cash through an education investment and potentially receiving funds from my company, I would have a huge amount of cash for my graduate degree and be able to significantly alleviate the expenses of my younger brother. </p>
<p>Going to school at Madison and living at home to save money towards grad school is perfectly reasonable. But there are some things I worry about with your plan. </p>
<p>First, I’m wondering why you feel such a strong obligation to help fund your younger brother’s college education. I can think of many circumstances where there may be no other choice, but given your parents’ income, I’d think that they would have time to save up to help pay for your brother’s college costs. Your proposed actions are admirable, but if your parents’ investments work out as planned, why shouldn’t they pay for your brother? </p>
<p>Without knowing about what type of work you intend to do to earn money in college, your estimate of earning $10k a year throughout college is very optimistic. If you already have a company with this kind of earning potential, more power to you…but if you don’t, it’s a big leap to assume you’ll be able to pull in this amount of money. </p>
<p>There are other choices besides paying $50k+ a year for a tippy-top school or living at home and going to your (excellent) state flagship. If your stats make you competitive for uber-competitive admissions schools, then you might be able to find a full-ride merit award at other schools. Since you’re only a sophomore, you have plenty of time to explore other options besides your current plan. One of the big mottos of College Confidential is “Love Your Safety”, and you’re already doing just that. You can now feel free to look for other possibilities.</p>
<p>Thanks SlitheyTove, I applaud and thank you for your advice. I will definitely consider your advice when I am making financial decisions for the years to come.</p>