<p>BU is ranked 60th in the nation. 60th. In the nation. </p>
<p>One of the schools my kid is considering is ranked 102. Both are Tier One. Both send undergrads onto the most prestigious grad schools.</p>
<p>I can see wanting a kid to get the best possible education, the best possible experience but I would only get involved if I thought my child was hurting themself and limiting their future choices. I just don’t see how that’s the case with BU. Or school #102.</p>
<p>I let my (not val, but top 10) D choose. She did not pick the highest ranked school (which offered no merit aid) but instead chose the one she thought better for her, based on her intended major, location, type of campus, and her feel of the students. She did get a merit scholarship there, and I’m sure growing up with a frugal mother, that played into her thinking, but we told her the money was there in her 529, and if she had leftover she could use it for grad school.</p>
<p>Given such a large investment at stake, I think it would be wise for both parents and student(s) to discuss the pros and cons of all the colleges that are of final interest. Then come up with a consensus decision. In our situation we chose not to accept a good scholarship package offered by a college ranked below 50 and rather chose a top ten college where there was little financial aid. Even though this decision will cost us substantially more money, we feel it is worth it in the long run because of the school’s stellar reputation and quality undergrad program.</p>
<p>My children have never even seen the US News College Rankings. I was not up on rankings either until I discovered CC back when my oldest was starting her junior year of HS in 2002. I did not realize how significant these rankings apparently are to so many people until I read CC. It might be a product of where we live, not sure. We live in a rural area and I just have never discussed college rankings with anyone around here and I don’t pay them much heed and could not have told you the ranking of the colleges on my kids’ lists. </p>
<p>My kids have high goals and their goal has always been to get “into a good college” and “good college” is just broadly defined and not in sequential order. Well regarded colleges were part of the aim but finding the best fit that matched their college selection criteria was where it was at for them within the “good colleges” broad category. They did not rank their schools by any official ranking (did not know the rankings) but rather had “groupings” of schools on their list that were “most favorite”, “really like a lot” and “like enough to attend but not a favorite on the list”. They also had reaches, matches and safeties and so were aware of selectivity. But rankings? No.</p>
<p>Tiger, my kids turned down scholarships and one even turned down a free ride to go to a school that was a better fit that they liked better, but it was not related to rankings.</p>
<p>The whole rankings game is strong on the East Coast. Although I can’t speak for the West Coast, I moved to New York from Iowa 100 years ago and I remember thinking then that people viewed any private school as better than any public because they paid more for it. I worked for a SUNY college at the time and it was an eye opener.</p>
<p>My daughter chose an OOS public over two more highly ranked private schools, but I think if money had not been an issue, she would have gone to the private top-10. The funny thing is that this week, someone asked where she would be attending and I said. They oohed and aahed and gushed and after a couple of minutes, I realized that they thought the school she would be attending was Ivy League. She’s going to Pitt; they confused it with Penn. This is not the first time this year this has happened. We’re not too influenced by rankings.</p>
<p>If you don’t qualify for need-based aid, then the college should be affordable for you. My family’s EFC was over 20000, and my college expects us to pay less than 10,000 with work study included. I still don’t see how it couldn’t be affordable. It might be more expensive than you are willing to pay, especially with a large merit scholarship at another school, but it certainly is not unaffordable. I think there is a big difference between those two judgments.</p>
<p>D (not val, but in the top 10) fell in love with a school before she had any idea of rankings. It turned out to be a great school for her major and really a good fit for her personality and interests. She applied ED as she preferred it so much over all of the others on her list, including 2 with higher rankings. In answer to the OP, no I would not insist that my child attend the higher ranked school.</p>
<p>Absolutely not true. 120,000 income around NYC area is not the same as other parts of the world. You may be able to buy a nice house for 250,000 in some parts of the country, but it may cost you close to 1 mil for a similar house around NYC. Financial aid does not take cost of living into consideration.</p>
<p>From what I’ve read, it doesn’t have to be a parent. Thankfully, I have supportive members of my family. It’s a good thing my parents aren’t that controlling; I’d have left home by now!</p>
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<p>This is something I don’t “get”, I guess. There are millions of people living in NYC who make less than $120,000. I’d be willing to bet there are plenty of people living in safe apartments who make less than $50,000 per year. It’s about life style choices. If you want to live a $120,000 lifestyle in NYC, good - actually, I envy you. If you want to live below your means for more disposable income, you’d find a way.</p>
<p>I completely agree with this statement:
</p>
<p>It’s not that middle class families can’t afford it, it’s that the sacrifices they’d have to make look unappealing. Some say everyone should pay, say, 10%. Well, 10% for a family of four with an income of $25,000 puts them right on the poverty line (as of 2008, the poverty line for a family of four is $21,834), figuratively speaking. If a family of four with an income of $120,000 coughs up 10%, they are still - surprise - flat out middle class.</p>
<p>applicannot - you are so out to lunch. Try telling some parents on CC that they have not made enough sacrifice to try to send their kids to school.</p>
<p>applicannot - where do you think you could live safely with an income of 50,000 in NYC for a family of 4, without government subsidy? Go on any online listing now, and find a 2 bedroom apartment in NYC for .3X 50,000=15,000, which is around 1200/month. You couldn’t even find a one bedroom apartment.</p>
<p>My sister was a valedictorian, and she chose to go to Alabama. I let her know that I disagreed with her decision, and even if she made a 4.0 there, there were no guarantees that a 4.0 from the very best school she could get into wouldn’t open more doors for her.</p>
<p>Try reasoning with SOME parents on CC. It’s pretty tough. Paying for college takes a lot of time, pre-planning, sacrifice on both parts (parents and students, but mutually agreeable), and yes, loans (which are basically a dirty word on CC - I wonder how many people paid for their cars in cash?). Did the student apply to schools s/he loved but could get merit aid at? Did the parents put any money in savings? Is the student willing to take out loans? Did the student fill out any applications for small scholarships? Did the student work throughout high school to save money? Will the student work through the academic year? And those are the biggies. My motto is to stick to a couple of luxuries and let the rest slide. It might not be fun or easy and you may not think it’s reasonable, but it is definitely possible.</p>
<p>I did. I’ve never made a car payment in my life. I paid cash for every car I’ve ever owned. If I didn’t have the cash for the car I wanted I either saved up or bought a cheaper car.</p>
<p>My first 2 cars were paid for in cash (as in dollar bills). My last 2 cars were ‘financed’ on loans because they were cheaper that way. Got the loan, took possession of the car, and then paid off the loan in a few weeks.</p>
<p>^^^
We always pay cash for cars; although, we have done it vicariousparent’s way the past couple of times. The only way we could get the better deal was to hold the loan for 4 weeks or so and then pay it off in full. They don’t like that … but, oh well. We continually are “paying ourselves” into an account like we would be if we had a loan so that when we need a car in several years, money’s there. If we don’t have the cash, we don’t buy the car … or at the very least the car we would have liked to buy. And that is the way we approach everything in life, except our home mortgage. Okay … so I’m not a zealot. <g></g></p>
<p>applicannot - I am assuming you are a high school student, probably not around NYC area. Both locations Patchoque and Wallington are outside of NYC (Patchoque is in LI), which means you would need a car ($300-500/mon) or be close to a public transportation($200-300/month). Other listing are studios and one bedrooms. Legal landlords wouldn’t permit family of 4 to live in a studio or a one bedroom.</p>
<p>One thing I have done with my kids since they were in 9th grade was to go over our family’s finance with them - what it takes for us to live the way we do, and what it would take for them to support themselves someday. I think because they are very well aware of our family situation, they appreciate very much of everything they have in life. They understand how hard we’ve had to work to make sure they could go to any school they want without debt upon graduation.</p>
<p>A few threads I have read on CC from some HS students, what I come away from is how unaware they are in what it takes to pay for everything. There was a thread where a student said he didn’t understand why his parents couldn’t save 20,000/yr from their annual income of 60,000(I think that was the amt) for him to go to school. I suspect many students apply to schools without knowing what their parent could afford, and then become very resentful when their parents tell them it’s not feasible.</p>
<p>Yes, it does. The Princeton financial aid calculator gave me a different award when I said we were living in California compared to living in Oregon, as well as other states. They recognize that real income is dependent on the area one lives in, as well as the salary and dividends one receives.</p>
<p>Mom of valedictorian here.
Son choose his safety school with full ride over Berkeley, his top choice in the end. His decision. He/we would have no loans either way. </p>
<p>If a child works that hard and pushes himself to take a heavy courseload over and over again, then he should be smart enough to make a good decision. Fit is important. </p>
<p>I have always stressed to my kids, you can go anywhere and be anything. I stand by that. </p>
<p>By the way, son #2, not Val, choose his safety too. Got into every school he applied to with merit offers all over the place. Safety turns out to be a good fit and has a ranked program in his major.</p>
<p>My older son knows many of his friends from HS that are attending all sorts of well known schools and have huge loans. He doesn’t understand that and is glad that is not an issue for him. He will likely attend law school and graduate debt free. Not a bad deal.</p>
The only way we could get the better deal was to hold the loan for 4 weeks or so and then pay it off in full. They don’t like that … but, oh well. We continually are “paying ourselves” into an account like we would be if we had a loan so that when we need a car in several years, money’s there. If we don’t have the cash, we don’t buy the car … or at the very least the car we would have liked to buy. And that is the way we approach everything in life, except our home mortgage. Okay … so I’m not a zealot. <g></g></p>