<p>^^^ ? But FD specifically said “Obviously, it’s more than possible to do well in other schools too.” Which you then went on to agree with by citing your D’s experience at Tufts. So you were agreeing then?</p>
<p>No where does FD say what you suggested: "if you attend an Ivy League school you get FURTHER than a student (a regular student? what’s that?) at a different school. "</p>
<p>I am commenting because this thread seems to have a lot of strawmen arguments. Really odd. </p>
<p>Someone else said something like: “you can get a lot of great internships via networking at an Ivy” and the response was that the person was amused that people think the ONLY place to get an interesting internship at an Ivy.</p>
<p>fluffy, it’s unclear what FD is arguing. As I wrote earlier, her/his post is contradictory about if superlativeness exists only within the Ivy League. FD specifically says that “the Ivies do offer a lot”, that you’re paying for a superlative education, etc etc etc. </p>
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<p>FD wrote “If the student works hard, they can definitely get further than the regular student at another school” and it is clear that he/she is referring to the Ivy League. </p>
<p>^^^ I thought that statement from FD was straight forward. It was setting up the difference between a hard working student in an environment in which there are bounty-less opportunities and a “regular student” (e.g. works the same as the average student") in an environment which has less than bountyless opportunities. It was an obvious point.</p>
<p>Now, of course this also means that a hard working student at a less bountyless school will go further than a regular student at an Ivy and all the other permutations.</p>
<p>BTW, since these threads seem to get derailed by the term “Ivy” (when there are lots of other great colleges, etc), it would be great to come up with a new term.</p>
<p>How about:
SSS (super selective school) (I know college is a better term, but Triple S sounds cool).</p>
<p>And if need be, we can even add</p>
<p>RSSS (Ridiculously super selective school)</p>
<p>To prevent artificially inflating numbers (free application fee to pump the number of applicants to increase selectivity), there can be some baseline measure for a qualified applicant…okay, don’t flame me, this is all in jest).</p>
<p>I wonder why students or parents affiliated with public schools and other non-Ivy privates come into a thread about “…paying for an Ivy.” Or to be more specific, go out of their way to prod the [lack of] value in an Ivy education. Please examine your motives.</p>
<p>The world over knows the value the degree, the ethos and the Ivy networks provide. Your school does not possess equivalent value; if it did, the marketplace would have figured it out and a correction would occur. This isn’t a debate.</p>
<p>Apparently it hasn’t occurred to you that parents/students “affiliated with public school and other non-Ivy privates” may have had the opportunity to attend or send a student to an Ivy and have done a cost/benefit analysis that has examined in great detail the question of “to go Ivy” or not. Believe it or not, there are (as has been mentioned upthread) students who though accepted to an Ivy, have chosen to go elsewhere and thrived. There have been others who were accepted and attended an Ivy school who found the experience lacking and left for greener pastures. Finally, there are families and students who would be candidates for Ivy league schools who have determined that applying there would not be worthwhile, given their individual situations. These people are not stupid, mis-informed, or just wrong; they just see that those schools while excellent, are not magical.</p>
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<p>The world and the marketplace know the value of a status symbol. Rolex watches are excellent watches, but they don’t accomplish more than a Citizen when it comes to telling time. A middle class person may crave and save up for a Rolex and really enjoy owning one, but it’s unlikely to make a big difference in their life experience.</p>
<p>I’d be irritated with your persistence Edison, but given your age and limited experience I can’t help but be amused. It’s just so gosh-darn cute. ;)</p>
<p>Goodness gracious…it’s hard to post on here without getting your every word analyzed by someone. I was pretty clear with my general point that the Ivies live up to their hype and shouldn’t be criticized so much in threads like this. I also purposely said that it’s more than possible to do well in other schools as to not appear adamant about Ivy Leagues being the ONLY road to success. You just can’t deny that the Ivies are among the schools with the biggest names, most recognition, and most diversity. It’s a great opportunity to go to one.</p>
<p>edison96-
Has it occurred to you that some of us may have attended Ivy League schools and thus have a long-term perspective on them?
(Just realized I cross-posted with Joblue on this point so I’ll add…)</p>
<p>I won’t deny that the Ivy League is a collection of top-notch schools, but they’re not a golden ticket to a successful or fulfilling life. “Equivalent value” can be earned at many places. Among my closest friends are graduates of Harvard, Stanford, UMass, St. Mary’s, Bates, Oberlin, Oklahoma State, Williams, Western New England College, MIT, Hobart, Framingham State, Amherst, Smith and UC Riverside. I’d challenge you to sort us out. None of us are defined by the school we attended and the level of our personal and professional success is not dependent on the school(s) we attended. </p>
<p>Everybody “has a story” about how they could have gone to a much higher ranked school but didn’t because of cost/fit/state/dysentery/dead grandmother’s last wish/alien abduction or whatever. You know who generally doesn’t “have a story” about why they went to college where they did? Stanford, Duke, Chicago, MIT, CIT and Ivy grads.</p>
<p>Who’s denying that they have the biggest names, most recognition (not so sure about the diversity), and that going to one can be a great opportunity? The topic concerns paying for one if your family is middle class. If the school isn’t a good match, which includes the financial aspect, then none of that really matters. It’s not worth going into ruinous debt or emptying the parents’ retirement accounts to pay for it.</p>
<p>They are excellent schools but not magical enough to justify financial ruin. Every middle class family has to decide for themselves whether or not it’s worth it. Why is that so hard to grasp?</p>
<p>“It is odd that people keep having to go to extremes, that no one says, in order to try and make a point.” With all due respect, it’s kind of sad. Who do they think they’re convincing? Even at school there are kids I knew were gunning for Ivies not even three months ago who’ve already started pitching their “stories” in an attempt to justify not going to an Ivy. Not sure why those not at or going to an Ivy have to go out of their way to discredit the opportunities an Ivy education provides. Worth every penny, even if you have to go into debt.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that the Ivy schools provide top notch education. Ok, let me correct that and say that I strongly believe that they do. No society would struggle so much to provide their children the best opportunity to gain enrollment to these schools. No thread would bring a diversity of parents to devote attention and time to argue over this topic as much as WE do if we didn’t hold a strong respect for the reputation of these schools. Where would CC be without all of the parents and students who are eager for an Ivy education. I am certain that a statistical analysis of CC would place Ivy related topics as the top discussion. </p>
<p>But would I be better off giving my daughter $260,000 locked away in an interest bearing account while she completes her education at an honors college for free? That is where my thoughts are. Through the help of many CC contributors, I am convinced that the answer is a resounding YES! </p>
<p>But let me answer the original question from the OP as it relates to me. I would pay for the Ivy education with the money already saved in a 529. For my additional kids, I would take yearly loans that I would pay off by the end of the year. But they would be on their own for graduate school and it would definitely delay my retirement by a good 10 years (if nothing changes in the world of medicine). </p>
<p>I wonder about how parents rationalize paying for private school (pre-college). I get paying a lot for 9-12 (maybe), but I don’t understand how they pay so much for K-8, especially K-6.</p>
<p>It seems that that money would be better spent on college, grad school, or the interest bearing account that you mentioned.</p>
<p>Fluffy, that’s really not that confusing for parents that have made that choice.</p>
<p>Simply put, either the public schools in the area are awful or the parents have otherwise determined that a pricey private school education gives their child the best start in life. Some probably figure it’ll be too late by college.</p>
<p>I chose to live in an area with excellent public schools. Not all folks get that choice.</p>
<p>@frugaldoctor great post. You sound like a great mom or dad.</p>
<p>that said, this thread is about the middle class, and middle class aren’t charged $260k for an Ivy education. nor is $260k in student loan funding avail to go play the market with. Even if it were, I’d say an Ivy education is a vasty superior investment.</p>
<p>We paid for K-12 private education for our kids. Both of our kids believed their pre-college education were more meaningful. If I were to make a choice of leaving money to my kids vs paying for top notch education for them, I would opt for the education.</p>