<p>I guess it’s worth mentioning that my parents were ready to pay if I was accepted to MIT or Caltech, to schools that I guess they deemed “worth paying for”. Would you guys consider Cornell in the same “worth paying for” league? I plan on engineering in ECE.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Ok…that’s new info…</p>
<p>Yes, if your parents were willing to pay for MIT or Cal Tech, then they should pay for Cornell. I just hope they weren’t making such a claim based on the hope you wouldn’t get accepted to such a school or that they knew you hadn’t applied to either school…</p>
<p>Did you apply to MIT or Cal Tech?</p>
<p>Yes, I didn’t get into either</p>
<p>Well, then, come to the discussion table with the hard evidence that demonstrates Cornell’s strengths compared to MIT and Cal Tech.</p>
<p>You may need to contact Cornell to get some facts/stats.</p>
<p>“High EFC, parents don’t want to pay …$200,000.00 plus…”</p>
<p>FWIW, is it really so wrong for the parents to own a yacht? I’m imagining they were told “work hard, and it will pay off” when they where teens. I’m guessing that didn’t mean an 00S private. How mahy of us parents did that? </p>
<p>“My parents had it easy with my first two brothers, they both went to in-state schools (FAU and UF)” </p>
<p>Easy? Maybe, but I’d like to see the math.</p>
<p>So now they are maybe fifty something, and they own a yacht. I have NO idea what that means in Florida, but like most of us, I’m guessing they have NO idea if and when they can afford to retire. It’s not like they have been irresponsible about their children’s education. When do they get THEIR “turn”?</p>
<p>Agree with mom2collegekids. The fact that they thought they could afford MIT or Cal Tech (~same cost as Cornell) says their finances are not as bad as one might think from the early information provided.</p>
<p>Definitely put together research on your specific specialty’s ranking. Cornell does quite well in certain engineering specialties - even when compared to the MIT and Cal Tech’s of the world.</p>
<p>BTW, welcome to world of being a trophy child. Although some will say that they may be ignorant of the relative strengths of various engineering schools, the fact that they haven’t done the research themselves and are focused on the name brand schools says in part they are looking for a way to justify their spending with their peers.</p>
<p>wow, goaliedad, that was a great response. </p>
<p>it really changed my view of college, it truly did. i was in the same situation as the OP. i was also accepted to the University of Florida (i live in south florida) and felt that I “deserved” to go OOS but didn’t apply because of the cost (my parents cannot afford it). for that reason, i haven’t been completely happy with my decision to go to UF.</p>
<p>the arguments you stated are so true and changed my opinion about my decision though. i always said that any city is better than miami but the only city i’ve been to that is out of florida is chicago so I really don’t know if other places are better. </p>
<p>“Going to a place where you are “average” will more than likely result in your graduating “average” in your class and receiving the “average” wage. Going to a school (using UF here) where you are significantly above average will get the OP more opportunities to excel” –> i am definitely going to take this advice to the fullest because you are so right. its not the name or how “prestigious” the school is but what you make of your experience there.</p>
<p>^^^
That is ridiculous…So if you go to Schleppy U, and graduate 1st in your calss, you’re better off then “average” Joe at U Penn or the like…give me a break…</p>
<p>I’d hardly qualify UF as Schleppy U. </p>
<p>An opportunity is what you can make of it, but not everyone at a school gets the same opportunity. While there may be some “better” opportunities at a top university, if that “better” opportunity is not available to you because of the competition, you are no better off for it being offered at the top university.</p>
<p>What I’m saying here is that the expected value of a school is a multiple of the quality of the opportunity available multiplied by the likelyhood of that opportunity being available to the student.</p>
<p>For any student, there is a level of school where the likelyhood of getting a prized research opportunity or whatnot severly starts dropping off. I am not a big fan of reach schools for families who can’t really afford it. There is rolling the dice when the money isn’t important, and then there is digging a big debt hole for a longshot.</p>
<p>The secret in making a good school choice is where the value to the family for the quality of opportunity available is appropriate for their ability to afford the risks. This is measured in the marginal cost (relative to the family income) of improvement of opportunity.</p>
<p>The biggest obstacle most people face in making such a decision is not so much understanding the finances - those figures are calculable - but understanding the differences in opportunities available both in quality and in likelyhood. This is not something that is published, but is more discerned by meeting with professors, students in the program, and meeting with recent graduates - very difficult to do for people far away from an institution.</p>
<p>In the end, for most families, it comes down to a gut instinct - is the student going to be able to compete and win those opportunities and take it somewhere and can we afford to take that risk?</p>
<p>there are advantages to being the one of the “top dogs” at a college. You’re one of the kids that profs offer the best opportunities…you’re the one who gets the great recs for internships.</p>
<p>Did NOT say UF was Schleppy U, just making a point being the “top dog” at a medicore school can not be compared to being an average student at an Ivy or the like…</p>
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<p>If they were willing to pay for MIT or Caltech, then I would say for ECE, that Cornell, Carnegie-Mellon and Georgia Tech are all definitely worth paying for. They are all worth more than a stinking yacht. </p>
<p>On in MIT’s EECS Undergraduate Primer,
[MIT</a> EECS - UG Primer for Potential Students](<a href=“http://www.eecs.mit.edu/ug/primer.html#adm]MIT”>http://www.eecs.mit.edu/ug/primer.html#adm)</p>
<p>they even recommend Stanford, Berkeley, Carnegie-Mellon and University of Illinois as alternatives. Being an MIT BS, MS and PhD grad in EECS I think that I have the credibility to add Cornell and Georgia Tech to the mix. Georgia Tech is less expensive and isn’t as hard to get into so there will be a lot of attrition because it is MIT hard. For some that creates an unpleasant dynamic. I would think twice about paying OOS tuition for Berkeley because of California’s financial difficulties. Others who know more about the situation on the ground may disagree.</p>
<p>*If they were willing to pay for MIT or Caltech, then I would say for ECE, that Cornell, Carnegie-Mellon and Georgia Tech are all definitely worth paying for. They are all worth more than a stinking yacht. *</p>
<p>I know that the fact of simply owning a yacht, but refusing to pay for a pricey school, sounds like misplaced priorities, but we have no idea of the details. The yacht may have a business aspect to it, it may be used to entertain clients, the family may have had it for many years, and/or it may be have costs similar to owning a vacation home…which many families own. </p>
<p>And, as Shrinkrap says, when does a successful person get to enjoy some of the fruits of a good income? And, it’s not like the parents haven’t taken steps to ensure that their 3 kids got a good education.</p>
<p>A yacht in this economy IS NOT a true asset. It cannot be sold (my parents have had a boat on the market for 2-3 years) and it must be maintained, especially in salt water. Yearly minimal maintenance is thousands of dollars. When it was bought, I suspect it was not such a poor investment. </p>
<p>It sounds like that during the college search, the OP’s parents stated what they would pay for. It is the student’s responsibility to stay within that budget.</p>
<p>Well I kind of put it wrong. In general, you are right about that, qdogpa. However I was really referring to the schools that I want to go to; it was more of a personal thing. </p>
<p>I am majoring in accounting at UF but really wanted to go to NYU or UMichigan (Ives never really interested me, except Dartmouth). Though those schools are ranked higher than UF, I’m sure I could do just as well at UF than I would at those other schools, especially since UF is higly ranked in its accounting program. The money I save by going to UF could be used for grad school and I hear UF is great in job placement into thr Big 4, of course, if I make the most of my time there.</p>
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<p>It sounds like they said that they’d pay for MIT or CalTech. The other schools ARE within that budget. </p>
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<p>As for the crack about the yacht and when a successful person gets to enjoy the fruits of their labor, I WILL be enjoying the fruits of my labor watching my kids go to private colleges with the best opportunities that they can get. Maybe later I’ll get a yacht. I guess I just have different values than some.</p>
<p>Thank you ClassicRockerDad… I realize that I’m viewing my predicament from a different age, but I always expected my parents to see it the way you are.</p>
<p>My dad told me that I can plan trips to Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and CMU. His attitude today seemed like he might pay for it, although I want to wait until after we see the schools to make any final decision. I’m hoping he’ll be influenced by the trips.</p>
<p>Great post ClassicRockerDad!!! We share the same opinions and thoughts about our children and their education…If it means we will eat ramen noodles instead of NY strip steaks for a few years, so be it…Best of luck!!!</p>
<p>^ Amen to that…I’m actually hoping that the ramen noodles will contribute to good health and longevity (I buy the ones with the little shriveled up veggies, you see) as I definitely won’t able to retire any time soon after helping two through college!</p>
<p>Ok, here is the update after a pretty lengthy discussion with my parents. Perhaps I should create a new thread since the situation is a bit different from my original post?</p>
<p>Scenario 1: I go to UF, I do whatever I want, I’m under no obligation to them. After I graduate with my bachelors from there, if I wish to get a graduate degree, they will pay for it.</p>
<p>Scenario 2: I go to Cornell/CMU/JHU and they pay for my undergraduate under two conditions. Condition one, my grades will not be not mediocre (I still have to work out exactly what this will mean. Perhaps advice here; I don’t know what kind of grades to expect at these highly ranked schools). If my grades are not up to standards, they will cut me loose and it is free for me to decide whether to pay for the college myself, or I can transfer to UF and complete my bachelors with PrePaid. Condition two, they won’t help me pay for graduate school.</p>
<p>As I consider this decision I have before me, I have some questions about graduate school. First, how much will an engineering degree from Cornell/CMU/JHU help me in getting a job/graduate program acceptance over UF? Secondly, how do people pay for graduate school? I realize cash-money and loans are obvious answers, but are there good opportunities to cover the costs of graduate education with internships/fellowships/etc?</p>
<p>I somewhat accept (but not completely) that I can get into an equally prestigious grad school with a degree from any of my 4 choices (UF included). However, I don’t want to go to UF because the college is not appealing to me - it is not the city life I want to live in, it is not the area of the country where I will want to get a job in, nor does it feel personalized. </p>
<p>Any advice? I understand I will have to make this decision by my self, but advice or answers to my questions would help.</p>