<p>What factors did you consider and do you regret the decision now? This is assuming that your kid got into a great (location,academics,social life,sports the whole SHABAAM) but expensive school alongside an average but cheaper school. Had the difference in price been significant what would you have done? </p>
<p>It would depend on if the expensive school would put me and/or my child into crippling debt. </p>
<p>I’m not a parent, but I can at least talk about some of the stuff my family thought through. We ended up going with the reach school just to clarify.
- How much are you willing to pay?
You don’t set an absolute limit, but you should have some idea as to how much you can realistically afford. - Are you willing to take out loans? How much? Who will have to pay them back?
Personally, my parents didn’t want to take out any loans, but that’s a personal decision. - How much does prestige mean to you?
Pretty simple and can be important for some families; especially if your child wants to go into finanace/hedgefund type fields. - Opportunities offered at the reach vs safety school.
Some reach schools have really nice labs, research facilities, opportunities for internships, etc which can really help with graduate school admissions or work experience. Additionally the intellectual environment at some reach schools is usually better than your average safety school. You’ll find smart kids at any school. But you’ll typically find a higher concentration of smart kids at top 20 schools than you would at your typical state school. - Financial aid or scholarships
Some reach schools are well known for giving financial aid (sometimes merit based scholarships) which, while not matching the price of your safety, does help cut down that $60k per year price tag. However you need to reapply for financial aid every year and your awards can change every year depending on your financial situation. </p>
<p>My D2 picked the school that is at the top of the Payscale ROI annual study. Made it a little easier to decide. And I have zero regrets, she has never been so happy in her life and seems to be finding a career direction that suits her well.</p>
<p>It really depends on what the two schools are (how big a gap there is), and what your family can reasonably afford .</p>
<p>No regrets. The UG had lots of research opportunities, allowed son to pursue ECs he would not have done in a large U, many career fairs and internship opportunities, a post graduation job, a host of acceptances to grad schools, etc. I cannot even imagine where he would have been if he had gone to state flagship.</p>
<p>Oh Yes, having a Dean return my call same day when son was ill, and already working on how son could make up his classes. Going to graduation, and the President telling me he knew my son from working on a committee together. </p>
<p>Maybe the road not taken would have been good too. One will just not know. But I have no regrets (well, retirement put off and no vacations in years).</p>
<p>I could leave money to my kids as inheritance or I could use it to pay for the best education for them possible, which they could benefit for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>You compare attributes of each as it relates to your kid, try to assign a monetary value to those attributes, and then determine whether the more expensive school is giving added value that equates with the difference in financial cost.</p>
<p>It’s like buying anything else. </p>
<p>Well said @oldfort. I agree</p>
<p>“Best education possible” is different for different students, and for many that is something they will find at a college that lacks prestige but is better suited to their learning style or individual goals. A kid who is barely manage to scrape by with C’s at a prestige college – or who is forced to change to a less challenging major because they can’t make the grade in their chosen discipline has not gotten the “best education possible”. For some kids, the “best education possible” might begin at the local community college -for a variety of reasons. </p>
<p>Sometimes a safety school can offer benefits to an individual student that the reach would not – particularly if the student it the beneficiary of strong merit aid and is invited to participate in special programs. </p>
<p>So the amount of money spent on college does not always equate to the quality of the education – and the quality of the education is not determined solely on the basis of what the college offers – the student’s motivation, maturity, and overall attitude and goals play an important part a well.</p>
<p>And in many cases, “best” for undergraduate can end up being a barrier to graduate school, either because the student struggles with a weak GPA, or simply because there’s no money left for grad school. </p>
<p>calmom - this thread is not about a kid who is struggling with C at a prestigious school vs getting A at a community college. OP is asking “How did you justify paying for a reach over a financial safety?” I think we should stick with the topic.</p>
<p>I will reiterate my belief again, the only reason a school is willing to give your kid merit aid is to buy your student’s academic prowess. The question is do you sell it while your kid is in college or do you cash it in after graduation.</p>
<p>Sure for some people the better education might end up being at the less selective institution, but it’s pretty hard to predict in advance. Especially in this case where we are talking about someone who is apparently a good enough student that they are being bribed with merit aid at another institution. We told our kids we would pay for an education at the four year institution of their choice. We were lucky to be able to make that offer. Both kids left merit money on the table. We didn’t look back.</p>
<p>Again, OP is not asking if the less selective institution maybe a better fit for the student academically, OP is asking if one could justify to pay for anything but the cheapest.</p>
<p>I do think it depends on the kid. One of my kid rises to the level of those around her, no matter what that is. For her I thought it was important for her to go to a more challenging school – she would coast in an easier environment. And more challenging environment is usually more expensive… Other kid is a hard worker and would shine in any environment. She picked her merit school choice and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and into a great job. Both choices were right for those particular kids. </p>
<p>Factors that I considered: My spouse and I both went to small, private schools, and thought that we benefited. So, I began to save in 529 plans. My oldest went to a small, private school, paid for by 529 savings, some merit and need-based scholarships, a PLUS loan, other savings and current income. He is currently working in a job that he enjoys, and still socializes a lot with classmates. The middle child went to an OOS land grant college, did well there and is now in grad school. His stafford loans are in deferment, and he is paying some on the unsubsidized loans to keep the interest from building up. Rest of the cost was paid from 529 and other savings and current income. Youngest is in a private school, and ready to graduate. He too will be going to grad school, so his stafford loans should also go into deferment. He had some merit and need-based scholarships, and rest was paid from the 529 and other savings and current income. We do not regret the decision to opt for the reaches.</p>
<p>For many students the financial safety is a state university. And some states have very strong “flagship” universities–or even several strong universities. But there are 50 states in this union and we cannot honestly say that all of them have equally strong educational opportunities.</p>
<p>The other issue is that some students may not thrive in a university with 20,000, or 30,000 or 50,000. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Oh. I misunderstood. I thought that the question, “What factors did you consider?” meant “What factors did you consider?”</p>
<p>The question can only have an answer of “it depends”. One can create examples that go either way:</p>
<p>For a prospective computer science major, is MIT worth $15,000 more than Marymount?</p>
<p>For a prospective philosophy major, is Penn State (out-of-state) worth $15,000 more than Rutgers (in-state)?</p>
<p>We did not want to “sell out” our child. Also, we were not particularly good at finding the money. We might as well send to the “best” (in his/our subjective opinion) college he could manage to get in.</p>
<p>No regret here, especially when, by luck, we received some quite generous need-based scholarship in the junior and senior years.</p>
<p>Also, in our particular case (which might not apply to other student’s case), we feel that his choice of UG school helps him get into a “good” grad school. (“Good” here means that he is lucky to receive some need-based scholarship again after UG - even though it is not as generous as the UG one.)</p>
<p>Our daughter chose an expensive reach school over some less expensive (and less ‘prestigious’) options. We justified the decision by telling ourselves that the expensive reach school would provide her with a better education, better opportunities, and a better overall college experience. </p>
<p>Do we regret it? In some respects, yes. Academically, it’s very challenging. She works her butt off but still struggles. She’s not failing, but she’s definitely not the 4.0 student she was in high school - and that will make getting into medical school a lot tougher. Meanwhile, she has friends who were (to be blunt) lousy students in high school who are coasting through college with great grades at less competitive safety schools. </p>
<p>Financially, it’s a struggle for us, too. We knew we would have to make sacrifices to afford this school, and went into it willingly because we believed those sacrifices would be worth it. And perhaps they are. But actually living on such a tight budget is tougher than we thought. Things come up that we hadn’t anticipated, and we’ve had to make some not-so-fun choices: eg; replace the air conditioner, or pay the tuition and hope for a cool summer? </p>
<p>On the other hand, she IS very happy there. It’s a fantastic school and a great fit for her. She’s met some amazing people, had some fabulous opportunities, and she’s definitely getting a great education and a great college experience. Could she have had the same great experience at another, less expensive school? Maybe not as good… but I’m certain she could’ve had nearly as good an experience someplace else, for a lot less money and stress. If we could do it over knowing what we know now, we would probably pick a less expensive school. But we can’t do it over, so my only option is to keep telling myself that this was the best choice, that we’re giving our daughter a wonderful opportunity, and that it’s well worth the sacrifices. That will make it easier to sleep this summer without central air. </p>