Sorry for the poor edit. '…One might wonder though what the more elite college degree might have mattered regarding first job offer, subsequent career, grad school, business connections, etc. I am proud my daughter is a NCSU. But I’m not pretending it’s MIT. Or that Vermont and Miami of Ohio are Brown and Yale.
Mom2aphysicsgeek says that $$ limits choices, which is absolutely true.
OP says ‘the problem is that my parents feel that I should be attending an elite, private university for my college experience to be worth it and the majority of the colleges I’ll be applying to do not grant merit-based aid.’ And ‘unlike most people posting here, they are willing to pay for me but in order to do so it will difficult.’
Sounds to me like parents are willing to pay for the most ‘elite’ school he can get in. Parents know more about their financial situation than a 17 year-old. (OP is a wonderful and considerate child, that’s for sure). What’s the conversation in the house going to be when OP turns down a slot to Ivy or near-Ivy and goes instead to an OOS public for nearly free? Yes, yes, it’s the OP’s choice. And OP can save parents tens of thousands of dollars. But is that gift to parents what they really want? Isn’t OP’s reason for choosing a cheaper school for their benefit?