<p>@dustypig This is all speculation, but my sister got a similar scholarship (it would have added up to around 200K for four years) at Santa Clara University when applying, so I’m hoping to get the same (she ended up going to UCSD, but yeah). Again, I’m just naming a university. But with my current stats, there are several universities (although most are out-of-state) where I can get a free ride because of my standardized test scores. </p>
<p>My parents will pay everything that I cannot. I will not end up having any loan debt in the end, but I’m wondering if lessening the burden on them is worth it. I’m expecting around 20K in need-based financial aid from a top university (family annual income is ~100K, but it’s all from my mom; and we plan on selling our house and moving to a different area (still close-by) during my senior year, so we’ll earn ~400K from that, which is why I’m not sure about financial aid).</p>
<p>Honestly, I really don’t care about impressing my friends. But I do care about getting a really good education and being surrounded by good peers.</p>
<p>@topaz1116 So for your hypothetical example Santa Clara would be about $12,000/year after the 200K merit aid while elite schools Princeton and Caltech (and Rice) would be $32,000/year (57,000 total cost at Caltech - $25K/year need aid). So asking if $80,000 total cost difference is worth it for Santa Clara vs. elite college?</p>
<p>Gut reaction, assuming no debt needed, based on my experience in hitech industry is that it (elite college) is still worth it given your example numbers (even more so if you consider Caltech, Princeton, Stanford etc. have fantastic internships and undergraduate research money to help defray costs further) for those interested in science research or engineering for your particular example, but close. If not interested in science research or engineering or CS - much more subjective, although a tie breaker could be to compare the 4 year graduation rate in the desired major at the two schools. </p>
<p>I’m definitely going into science research/engineering/CS.
Thanks for that; this is mainly for future reference. To be honest, my parents probably wouldn’t pay full price for an okay private–better that I go to a UC instead–but if I get into Caltech or Stanford, they’d probably pay full price even without financial aid.</p>
<p>Okay, so if your parents can afford full freight, then it’s just about the pure academic question of whether paying full freight is ever “worth it” when a student can secure a full ride at a less competitive school. (Assuming that your parents really don’t mind paying full tuition and won’t have to stretch or forego other important expenses.) In that case I say, get ready for it: it depends. In terms of your job prospects after school, so much depends on you and your own skills and accomplishments. Graduating from a highly selective school does not mean that job offers will rain down upon you — you are still competing with everyone else from your school/major when it comes to finding jobs, and at a selective school it becomes more likely that you will be outshone by other classmates. </p>
<p>Would going to a less competitive school mean that you would be more likely to get important internships, academic honors, etc? That also depends on whether the less competitive school is still sufficiently highly regarded in your field that companies look there for internship candidates – you should find that out if that question is important to you. If you are driven to succeed no matter what your environment, then you may really stand out at a less competitive school. Somebody on CC once posted a TED talk by Malcolm Gladwell in which he argued that you’re more likely to be successful if you are the top student at a mediocre school than if you are in the lower ranks at a very select school. On the other hand, if you are the sort of student who only rises to the top if you are being challenged by your fellow students, then going to a school where the academic level is lower is just a recipe for slackerdom on your part. You need to know yourself and what environment you tend to succeed in.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there’s more to a college education than the job you get afterwards. Maybe it’s really important to you to have a really premier academic experience – you’d be bored stiff at a college where you couldn’t talk about Heidegger and Kant late into the night, or you are interested in an unusual major that just isn’t offered at most schools. This is the sort of wish list for which, if you had to take out massive loans, most people would tell you to just suck it up and deal with not being able to get what you want. But if the money is there, you can afford to indulge these more esoteric preferences.</p>
<p>My parents aren’t incredibly rich, so a lot of the money will be coming out of their retirement–my sister’s also in med school in India at the moment, so they’ve been paying for her education for the past 5 years.</p>
<p>I actually do like talking about stuff like that, which is part of the reason that I want to go to a selective school. And I need a stimulating environment–I tend to do the same (A-) in hard classes and easy classes at my school because I slack off if the course isn’t interesting enough. </p>
<p>A professional degree in science research requires a graduate degree. The majority of students continue on to a DIFFERENT school going from undergrad to grad school. Therefore, provided the undergrad school is solid (i.e. reputable state U is fine), then it really doesn’t matter what undergrad school you go to. You just need good undergrad GPA, GRE scores, and good recs. </p>
<p>It’s your LAST school that counts. Once you get your graduate degree, no one cares about your undergrad degree. Then once you’ve been working a few years, no one cares where you got your graduate degree.</p>
<p>It is not a good idea for your parents to put their retirement at risk. Not for them, and not for you if you may end up having to support them in their retirement.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not a good idea if your parents need the money to be paid back for their retirement, because there is the risk of being unable to earn the money to pay them back (including disability or death). If you do this (or take out a loan co-signed by your parents), you need to have disability and life insurance policies on yourself to pay off the loan if you become disabled or die.</p>
<p>The answer is it depends. On the family’s ability to pay, the loans needed, the financial aid given, and the schools. At certain levels, the dream school is definitely worth it. At other levels(0 vs. 60K?) it is definitely not worth it.</p>
<p>For getting a job in Silicon Valley, CS from SCU will be virtually as good as CS from Stanford. Spending beaucoup extra for Stanford would not make sense, IMO. Especially if that means raiding retirement funds.</p>
<p>For a network to help be in the initial team of a startup, Stanford will set you up with better connections.</p>
<p>However, if you’re good, you could always get a Masters from Stanford later and make connections then…</p>
<p>$120,000 is not chump change, so it would not be wise to disregard how much it can affect your parents’ retirement. The less they have, the more support you will need to give them, and the more constrained your financial choices will be (including raising your own children and affording to pay for their college costs).</p>
<p>Note also that some other sciences, particularly biology and chemistry, do not have very well paid job prospects.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus Yes, I know. At the moment, the fields I’m considering are chemical engineering, computer science, bioengineering, and environmental engineering. </p>
<p>If you’re going in to science research, make sure that the school you go to gives you the opportunity to do research, but Stanford wouldn’t actually give you an advantage over a strong public research university (assuming that you’re dedicated) or good LAC that’s strong in the sciences.</p>
<p>The name schools actually offer the most advantage in getting you in to various business fields like management consulting or high finance (and if you’re interested in that, you definitely want to find out what the target schools for those industries are) as well as some of the soft/creative fields like publishing/media/marketing/writing (the difference in opportunities for English majors from Stanford and Purdue is far far greater than the difference in opportunities for engineering majors from those two schools). </p>
<p>So outside of those fields, I find it hard to justify raiding the retirement kitty.</p>
In terms of your job prospects after school, so much depends on you and your own skills and accomplishments. Graduating from a highly selective school does not mean that job offers will rain down upon you — you are still competing with everyone else from your school/major when it comes to finding jobs, and at a selective school it becomes more likely that you will be outshone by other classmates. </p>