<p>Today is one of my happiest days of the year! I get to pay the Smith bill!</p>
<p>No, I am not being sarcastic. I always feel it is a privilege to do so. I am grateful I can afford it (so many people can't), and I feel like Smith has more - much more - than given us our money's worth.</p>
<p>Sigh. This is the next to last one. (But of course the next kid starts as soon as the first one graduates. Oh well, that's what the money is for.)</p>
<p>I wrote a big thank you note on the receipt.</p>
<p>That's about as high as high praise gets . . . great to hear stories about the students who have had great college experiences!</p>
<p>Mini, ditto. Though since we have only one child, I tell myself that paying for Smith is less than what we'd be paying if we had two. Somehow this rationalization helps the medicine go down.</p>
<p>^^ haha my first real laugh of the day. okay that was a lie, my second real laugh of the day. this morning my friend told me that if i follow her advice all my dreams would come true. Ah...now it doesn't seem that funny. In context it was though, trust me. </p>
<p>mini- that's great. I've never known anyone to be happy when they were paying a bill. It must really mean a lot to you.</p>
<p>It does.</p>
<p>More generally speaking, why shouldn't people feel happy when paying a bill? It represents an exchange of labor for other people's labor and goods and services. What else is money but stored labor exchange (or at least that's what it should be.)</p>
<p>People don't like paying bills when they don't feel they are getting value for their labor, or that they really can't afford to pay it. Neither is the case here. </p>
<p>I am so thankful to Smith for making it possible, and for the value proferred.</p>
<p>I look at D's education at Smith as a luxury item: I'd rather pay for it than a tricked out top of the line SUV or a slightly nicer townhouse or.... In fact, as a priority, it comes after only food, shelter, and medical care, absorbing some dent into retirement funds along the way.</p>
<p>I look at it the same way you do, TD. My parents gave me "life money" instead of a college savings account and I chose to spend most of it on a more expensive school while rolling a little over to a Roth IRA. I figure that since I'm not a high maintenance girl, I can get by with less after graduation.</p>
<p>mini,</p>
<p>That's a great way to frame your thought process as you write out the check. It will definitely help me when I write the check for both Smith and BMC this weekend.</p>
<p>
Interesting that you have Ds at TWO women's colleges. My D is an '06 Smith grad employed in a field that is traditionally heavily male. She recently maneuvered herself into her "dream job" (at same employer with which she started after graduation). She told me that the area where she will now be working (research in the field of her major) has 30 males and she will be one of only two females in the position. (They have had other women in the past but that's the current census.) Interestingly, the only other female is a grad of ...... Bryn Mawr!</p>
<p>Just thought this was an interesting data point on women's colleges.</p>
<p>We were full-pay at Smith but we really believe D's outcome from Smith was different than the outcome SHE would have had had she gone with her other choice, an honors program at a very good state U. For some kids, the outcome might have been just as good (or perhaps even better) with the alternative, but for our D, her specific environment really makes a difference, which is why we supported her choice, and paid those bills without regrets. </p>
<p>Best wishes to all for the coming school year!</p>
<p>jyber209,</p>
<p>Thanks for a peek into a possible future outcome for my 2 D's. We all went into this with similar expectations as yourself.</p>
<p>We're full pay at both so it certainly makes a big dent in savings and current cash flow. But it's only money for us, but our D's dreams and futures.</p>
<p>
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But it's only money for us, but our D's dreams and futures.
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</p>
<p>Nice way to look at it. I wish my parents felt the same. I'm going to incur $200,000 of debt after my four years of college. <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>Umm...Karen, you're borrowing virtually the whole cost? Your parents' EFC is such that you're "full pay" but they won't contribute anything?</p>
<p>As much as I love Smith, I can't justify anyone borrowing $200K for undergrad.
That's a crushing amount of debt for repayment.</p>
<p>okay so I was exaggerating a little bit. My parents were just discussing financial aid earlier in the week so i guess my spirits were kinda crushed. They did the whole financial aid calculator thing online after hearing the criteria for financial aid at columbia. And yes, we're "full pay". </p>
<p>But now i'm fine. I went to the bank today to deal with some stuff and realized college 'll be okay. no worries.</p>
<p>Mini, I'm definitely NOT happy when I pay the bill (full-pay here, with a little help from another university); however, we would have been full-pay at all her other acceptances, save one. Smith was the best choice for her, and the results of this past year bear this out. Even though I'm not happy about paying the bill, I'd gladly pay for Smith over other choices. Like some other posters, I value education above everything except for the basics. Hey, I'm driving a car with 176,000 miles on it so we could save what otherwise would have been car payments.</p>
<p>I'm glad to hear that you're exaggerating, Karen, as not even Smith is worth that kind of debt. The upper middle class does get pinched with college costs because we don't earn enough to pay for it without debt, but we earn too much for aid at the top LACs. Here's comfort for you: your family's earnings have probably afforded you many more opportunities and (relative) luxuries over the years than would have been possible in a lower-income family that gets help from Smith. In the long run, it has been much better for you and your family to be in the income bracket that precludes much FA.</p>
<p>Here's to Smith -- but not to the bills!</p>