<p>I used to work with two people graduated from Georgetown SFS when I was up in DC. One trains the trainers (forgot his title) and the other is IT project manager. Mind you, not all SFS becomes diplomats or policy analysts… And the kid may change his mind about major. So, if money is no problem, go for it. If you have to sweat out or even have a little palpitation when signing that $23,934.90 check each semester, I’d look at some other options.</p>
<p>I’d say it even goes beyond the semester check. How much will you or your son want that money ten years from now?</p>
<p>laserp seems to already have some palpitations or probably wouldn’t be posting. Have you asked your son what choice he would make if he had to pay for this himself or contribute something for the Georgetown choice?</p>
<p>I like the ‘say it out loud test’…go to a room, preferably with no one at home and yell out loud…</p>
<p>"Georgetown is $55,000 per year. "
“Texas is $20,000 per year.”
“Georgetown is prestigious”.
“Having Georgetown on his diploma will get him a job.”
“Georgetown is much better academically than UT”.
"Georgetown is $55,000 per year. "
“Texas is $20,000 per year.”</p>
<p>Let your reaction be your guide.</p>
<p>That is a great idea,Haystack. But the horse may be already be out of the barn with the teenage son if he was not given financial parameters before he applied to private schools. He may be saying out loud-I worked hard and am entitled to go to any school I want to,etc. His issues probably don’t have alot to do with cost because he’s not paying.</p>
<p>"But the horse may be already be out of the barn with the teenage son if he was not given financial parameters before he applied to private schools. " - It’s good if parents know enough about the college game ahead of time to set proper parameters. But when that’s not the case, it’s fine for parents to admit later that the expenses are beyond their means (or comfort level) if that is the case. </p>
<p>Back to the car analogy - Sometime car shopping includes luxury cars, even though final analysis shows that a cheaper/adequate car is a better decision.</p>
<p>With child number one, we did not consider cost at the application stage. DD was applying for some pretty high level scholarships that would have made a big dent in any school’s tuition.</p>
<p>For child number two, we looked carefully at costs because we did not think that he would have the scholarship opportunities that his sister had.</p>
<p>So I do not see a problem with letting some students cast a wide net at the application stage. I do wish the OP the best on this decision. It does work out.</p>
<p>I agree, colorado_mom, I used the car analogy with my son. Schools are getting better with these net price calculators so hopefully parents and kids will have a better idea of what they’re getting into before/when they apply. I always would hope that a parent would preface anything about finances/promises with a wait and see approach if there is any concern at all about covering full price at an expensive private( if merit, scholarships were needed but didn’t come through.) Casting a wide net is not a problem as long as parents and student are on the same page about financial realities.</p>
<p>Laserp, have you considered offering your son the option of help with graduate school if he chooses the lower priced option? For example, tell him you will pay up to XX amount for school - spend it how you see fit. Either all at Georgetown or split between undergraduate and graduate at lower priced schools. He may rethink his decision a bit differently.</p>
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<p>tons of people work for the department of defense and various “wink wink” agencies (as government employees or contractors) in the DC area… I assure you only a minuscule percentage of them went to Georgetown. “Department of Defense” and “wink wink” are not mutually exclusive either. DOD does tons of intelligence work, both from cubicles in DC and in the field. Various parts of DOD also recruit languages heavily and give significant bonuses if you have working proficiency in the right ones.</p>
<p>I’m just saying you don’t need Georgetown to end up in defense or intelligence.</p>
<p>The comparison of paying for college and car shopping is like comparing apples to oranges. A car depreciates, that’s a fact. An education is an investment in your child.</p>
<p>As a student, I suggest talking to your child about the financial realities of this decision (especially if he wants to go to grad school) and encourage him to apply to other schools where you may get aid/ merit aid. If you are really worried, consider setting up a meeting with your son’s GC in order to talk about the options he has as well as how you can best go about affording his education (including outside scholarships if needed).</p>
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<p>I’d like to offer a student’s perspective on this. A friend of mine goes to a DC school similar to Georgetown (in some people’s minds, anyway, but the general idea is the same). He too touted that after ‘working hard’, he was ‘entitled’ to go to ‘any school [he] wanted’; he eschewed the local state school where he could have gone without paying a cent (very generous merit scholarships). Long story short, he applied to his school ED (“it’s my dream school; I worked hard; etc”). He knew it was binding; he knew the school didn’t need to ‘woo’ him with money. Fast-forward a year – this is the kid that is essentially wearing an ‘I HATE XYZ U AND EVERYTHING ABOUT DC’ t-shirt. He’s not shy about announcing that he wants to transfer out to anyone within a three foot radius. What schools is he considering to go to? The in-state schools.</p>
<p>The worst part of this story is the financial aspect. This kid went into massive debt – over 60k per year (and this is without interest). His family is already in financial trouble without him adding to it. He’ll be paying these loans off for the rest of his life for something that’s worthless – as far as employers are concerned, it’s as if he never went to XYZ U to begin with (no diploma from there, etc).</p>
<p>This economy really got me thinking. I’ve talked to a few other kids at my friend’s school – some were from Texas. Some turned down big scholarships (in their words) from UT-Austin. I remember staring at them, bewildered – in this market, taking a large chunk from ~20k, tuition et al, can make a bachelor’s degree cost less than a year at the private (especially given UT’s generosity with AP credit).</p>
<p>Even at DC privates, not everyone takes advantage of the opportunities. UT has a Washington Semester; so do many other schools (which, to be honest, makes interning easier than if you were in DC full-time, as you take a reduced course load). Besides, dreams change. My friend from the last few paragraphs came into DC bleeding IR. Now? He can’t stand the thought of any of the classes.</p>
<p>From the student’s view, I’d take the in-state school. The price tag alone lets me sleep better at night.</p>
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<p>It’s what your child makes of it in the end. Some are perfectly content with hanging out with friends for 60k/year while other suck out of a 10k education everything they can.</p>
<p>I think that Georgetown for SFS is different than the usual state-flagship-vs-pricier-private equation. For a student who is really focused in that area, Georgetown does have unusual opportunities. Of course, the student has to be the type of person who will take advantage of those opportunities, and the financial pain needs to be within reasonable limits.</p>
<p>All of these stories about U VA are not particularly relevant, IMHO. U VA is essentially a private school to anyone who is OOS, in quality, in cost, and in difficulty of admission. People who are instate are very, very lucky.</p>
<p>“The comparison of paying for college and car shopping is like comparing apples to oranges. A car depreciates, that’s a fact. An education is an investment in your child.” - That’s a good clarification. (Of course, if the student drops out… I suppose there would be depreciation). But the investment still needs to jive with the available family finances. </p>
<p>When the cost difference for a college is significant, it may or may not be justifiable. It’s not just a factor of the student and college attributes. The resulting family hardship (if applicable) is a factor too.</p>
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This is the key.</p>
<p>And many more suck little out of the 10k education and drop out and work as assistant to the manager of Chuckie Cheese, and those that go to the 60k school become extremely successful…it works both ways, and more times then not, it is the reverse of what GGdad said…</p>
<p>How many students that choose the state school route, after being accepted to the likes of G’town, end up dropping out and working at Chuckie Cheese? Next to none.</p>
<p>Consolation, University of Texas at Austin,like UVa , is also a well regarded national public university (ranked #45 by US News and World Report if you take any stock in that). I would imagine it also provides a great college experience and education for most of its’ students and is in a pretty cool city. It’s not exactly chopped liver. Hook 'em Horns!</p>
<p>Haystack, how many students have been accepted by Georgetown attend a 10k year school, i am not talking what the students pay, i am talking sticker price…there is a huge differnce between the education of Georgetown and a 10k per year type school…</p>
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