<p>OK, we are coming down to the wire now (decision deadline just a couple of day away). My D is strongly leaning towards Princeton. </p>
<p>As a family that makes too much to qualify for any need-based aid, we have to fork over $200k+ to Princeton, over 4 years of course. That is about $150k more than what the top in-state public university would cost us. </p>
<p>Question: is a Princeton UG degree (or a degree from an Ivy League school for that matter) really worth the extra $150k?</p>
<p>I take the following as “givens”:</p>
<li>The quality of the professors will be FAR superior at Princeton.</li>
<li>The students will almost all be really smart and brimming with intellectual curiosity, compared to perhaps just 20% of the students at the in-state school.</li>
<li>Class sizes will be much, much smaller at Princeton relative to the mega in-state school (45,000 students).</li>
<li>The “extras” that Princeton offers would be far superior to the in-state experience (study abroad offerings, internship possibilities, arts on campus, guest lecturers, etc. to name a few).</li>
<li>The networking opportunities at Princeton – with faculty and other students – represents a significant intangible that is difficult to quantify.</li>
</ol>
<p>The question still stands though – is it worth the extra $150k??</p>
<p>I’d be interested to hear from both students and parents.</p>
<p>You are in a luxury market. What other luxuries would you spend the money on instead? A second home? Travel? A boat?
That’s how I would look at it if I were someone with your resources.</p>
<p>I did not mean to imply that I’m flush with cash. We are most definitely not in the market for a second home or a boat, but we do travel a fair amount. Truth is, it will be fairly painful to pay for D’s four years at Princeton. However, we have been saving for our kids’ college soon after they were born. </p>
<p>The alternative, which I should have mentioned, would be to save the funds for graduate (professional) school, which is also not cheap.</p>
<p>A question I would ask myself (and have in a recent decision) is whether it was harder for your daughter to get into Princeton or for you to pay for it?
A meaningful question to me, though I may be idiosyncratic on this one.</p>
<p>danas, an excellent point. Especially this year with the extraordinary volume of applications it is no doubt a very significant accomplishment to get accepted into <em>any</em> of the top schools (HYPS, MIT). There was definitely quite a celebration at home the evening of March 31.</p>
<p>So, I’m in agreement that her getting into Princeton was harder than us paying for it.</p>
<p>I don’t (yet) see any arguments against the notion that Princeton (or HYS, MIT) is worth the extra $150k. But then again this is the Princeton forum. </p>
<p>I would not be one bit surprised to see jomjom chime in here at any point… :-(</p>
<p>The friends, the experiences, the connections, are worth more than money can buy. VERY few children have such an opportunity and as a parent if you have the ability and do not follow through you will be on this forum for 20 years wondering if you did the right thing. Although state schools are fine (I have a child in one as well as one in Princeton), the “top 20 percent” at state schools are not usually students that were accepted to HYPS. You know what you should do, I think your just trying to get talked out of it!</p>
<p>Thanks spikes. Actually, the intent of my post was not to get talked out of it but to see if there would be many (or any) counterpoints to my thinking. There haven’t been any posted yet, which is a good sign. </p>
<p>We had promised D that we would pay if she got into a top school. She did. We will.</p>
<p>I think its a really hard question and really dependent on the family situation. My experience at princeton was amazing and gave me opportunities that I wouldnt have had elsewhere. But I could still have gotten to where I am now from a lesser or state school- my path just would have been different. I was lucky enough that it wasn’t too financially hard for my parents to pay for princeton, but depending on what they/ or we as a family would have had to sacrifice it may not have been worth it. Some of it depends on the future career goals, and academic interests. I think it’s hard to put a price tag on the value of a princeton education, because depending on what the goals are a princeton degree may not lead to more earning potential, and all of the other positives of the princeton experience may not have direct monetary value.</p>
<p>I agree with your givens. I cannot offer any counterarguments.</p>
<p>We are in a similar position. DS has full tuition scholarship to flagship State U Honors College or full pay at Princeton. I am so proud of what he has achieved and will happily pay the $200k for Princeton.</p>
<p>Thanks sherpa. Congratulations and all the best to you and your S too.</p>
<p>I think it is every parent’s dream for their kids to do better than they did themselves. My D has done something I’m almost positive I could not, i.e., get in to Princeton. So she’s finally proven “beyond reasonable doubt” that she’s smarter than me. :-)</p>
<p>My message to her, and indeed all others in the class of 2013, is to get a great education at Princeton and eventually do something that makes the world a better place for us, them, and their kids.</p>
<p>fldad, it is so nice to come across another parent who looks beyond the strict financial analysis of earning potential vs. future value of present tuition dollars. Your daughter is a lucky girl and you are lucky parent.</p>
<p>fldadof2 - Your post encompasses exactly how I feel, as well! I was the first person in my family to attend a university and it was a good state school, but walking around Princeton with my son brought me to tears. This was not even on my radar as a high school senior! His father and I are so happy to be able to provide him (along with some financial aid) the opportunity to study under some of the best physics minds in the world.</p>
<p>Sparrow - I got in Princeton 30 years ago but could not attend for financial reasons. I went to a nearly as highly ranked school on an athletic scholarship (the Ivies do not give athletic scholarship), and frankly I am lucky. But I was as good of student as I was an athlete then and Princeton really held a special place in my heart, especially since I was the product of a poor single mother home (without really any parental guidance), and it seemed such an opportunity for me. </p>
<p>My daughter is attending Princeton in the fall and of course I am supporting her. </p>
<p>I am known as a rather tough guy but I too have tears in my eyes over her attending Princeton. Its not about the prestige. Material things can be taken away, but human capital in terms of learning and challenge cannot. The best thing I can give my kids is human capital, so if I can possibly do it, I will. </p>
<p>Her accomplishments are her own - not mine - and I cannot live vicariously through them - but you can be darn sure I will try and look out for her interests in a way that all young people should be lucky to experience - and break the cycle to which I was subject as a young person.</p>
<p>Congratulations TheSparrow and mam1959, to you and your child!</p>
<p>To borrow a line from Lou Gehrig I feel like the luckiest man alive for (a) having a smart daughter who worked hard enough in high school to get into Princeton and (b) being able to afford to send her there.</p>
<p>It sure felt great to walk around the Princeton campus during preview days and imagine what a fantastic learning experience my D is going to have for four years. Frankly, I’m looking forward to the vicarious pleasure of that experience through D’s reports to us (which I hope will be frequent and detailed!).</p>
<p>BTW, things have changed since your time – the Ivies do give quite a number of athletic scholarships. Someone from my D’s school is going to Harvard on a football scholarship (full ride I believe).</p>
<p>mam1959 - I thought I recognized that username. You were very helpful when I posted about my best friend’s daughter the track star. Guess what? She was recruited to Harvard for track and is running there this year:). And your kid will be at Princeton. As is my son. Congrats!</p>
<p>BTW, fldadof2, the kid going to Harvard may be getting full ride but by Ivy League rules that must be need-based, not athletic-prowess based. Of course, it can always be true that somehow a football star is very very needy.</p>
<p>fldad - the Ivies do not give athletic scholarships, and I have long respected them for it. I am glad their practice continues. </p>
<p>Athletic scholarships are not ideal for a serious student. They work for people who want to make coaching, training, etc, their profession, because their athletic pursuits are simpatico with their career aspirations. </p>
<p>No scholarships are the right way to go. Athletes ought to be participating in intercollegiate athletics because it meets their needs for expression and competition, and is something they want to do. Having them on athletic scholarships corrupts them, and makes the coach (who hold the one year renewable scholarships over their head) their primary master, even with the best of intentioned coaches. Athletes on scholarship become semi, and in some cases full, professional athletes. It is incompatible with the academic mission. Good luck getting Div. I and Div. II presidents to support this change - they are too bound up within the system and too many citizens like the professional sports entertainment provided to object. </p>
<p>Princeton (as well as other Ivies) do have national class athletes, although not with the depth that the big athletic factory schools have. Note that Princeton does currently have a four minute miler - and the press on him clearly reflects he is indeed a serious student. This is the ideal.</p>
<p>To answer the original question, I would say it depends somewhat on what the student’s goals are. If starting salary/financial gain is your top 1 or 2 goals, then Princeton should be the answer without question. Careerwise, this might mean attending a top law or business school after undergraduate school, and of course attending Princeton makes the follow-up much easier.</p>
<p>If the goal is to become a small business-owner or a school teacher (to name a few examples), I’m not sure Princeton is the clear-cut winner. This is not a knock on Princeton or teachers, but just some common-sense principles that need to be considered before plunking down nearly a quarter of a million dollars on college.</p>