<p>Thanks for all your responses. I’ve been a little under the weather lately and haven’t been on line for a while. I’m not surprised by the amount of responses or the debate that seems to have erupted. I think all parents do grapple with this question at one time or another. Not just is Georgetown worth $250K, but any college. How do you put a monetary value on something intrinsic like a great education. I suppose the answer to that question is as variable as the people who answer it. To clear up a few assumptions, this is our third and last child to head off to college. The older two have graduated and one is about to graduate from grad school this year and the other is gainfully employed. We have been extremely blessed to have college funds set up for each of our children with the understanding that whatever was left over at graduation was/is their’s to use to set up their life. So, our S has the money to go to Georgetown and graduate without debt. However, there won’t be much/if any left over afterwards. So if ultimately decides that’s how he wants to spend his money, we’re fine with it. When I was younger and my first two went off, I don’t remember thinking about this too much. Now, especially with the economy, I wonder if it’s really worth it to invest that much money in an education. Now I know that no one has the answer to that, though there are plenty of opinions:) Starting this debate and wading through all of your responses, has actually helped me focus on what is the right thing for our family. Like his two sisters, he will decide which is the best fit for him and hopefully he will choose wisely. Look forward to hearing from you, Mansfield</p>
<p>Having the money in an account that wil cover the whole bill will give your son a true choice. He may well surprise you and decide that he would like to have some money left over after four years. Whatever he decides will be the right choice, I am sure.</p>
<p>No, Georgetown is not worth the expense.</p>
<p>Got to love CC. OP’s question really hits close to home with so many of us, consequently so many responses.</p>
<p>This is good b/c there are so many points of view. The OP can take everyone’s thoughts &/ or first hand experiences & make a well informed decision as it applies to take their family & child.</p>
<p>I think 6 to 10 years ago when all privates were running about $35- $40K people just bit the bullet. But things went crazy- tuition went up up at 8% every year and while people lost jobs & homes went into foreclosure. </p>
<p>Is the expensive college experience like the Emperor New Clothes? :/</p>
<p>Good to see the OP back! I was wondering about the background story. It seems much simpler than many people’s choices: The money is the student’s no matter what. Paying does not mean debt. It does not mean the parents have to worry about their retirement, or paying for subsequent children. Nice!</p>
<p>Would it be so simple for many of us! </p>
<p>On another subject, littleacorns wrote: “I think it is cruel to refer to G-town students as elitist.” </p>
<p>This is interesting. Gtown is what is known as an “elite” school. People apply there because they feel a need to be considered “elite.” Now that doesn’t mean they are necessarily snobby and turn their nose up at others, and some kids there could be very down to earth, but there must be, by definition, elitism there. I don’t think you can have it both ways.</p>
<p>I would find it hard to spend that kind of money but then again I am questioning the whole learning experience itself. These so called elite schools have a habit of putting profs in front of our kids who can barely speak the english language, let alone teach.
My daughter had me checking out her new profs for the semester on the rate my prof site and it is quite the eye opener.<br>
Are these schools really as good as we have been told they are? $250,000 is a ton of money…after their first job does anyone really care where they earned their degree?</p>
<p>I suspect a lot of us are struggling with the same question, OP. My S is leaning toward a particular school and it has an excellent reputation. But it will take big loans to pay that tab. Meanwhile, it will cost him peanuts to go to a couple of the others that have accepted him, thanks to generous merit packages. This is a really tough decision. 17 year olds say they don’t mind loans, but they can’t possibly understand what it would be like to graduate with a bachelor’s degree and $100,000 in debt.</p>
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<p>“one of a kind” is a general term thrown out a lot. Is Harvard one of a kind? Princeton? Yale? Cal Tech? MIT? Brown? Cornell? Penn? Michigan? Ohio State? Berkeley? Penn State? Columbia? Amherst? Swarthmore? </p>
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<p>Do Georgetown students pass the foreign service exam at a higher rate than students from peer institutions? If they don’t, then you can’t logically say that they will have more connections on the other side, if the Georgetown graduates in the foreign service are not disproportionate in number. I admit I don’t know a lot about what goes on after the exam since I am not interested in this career track. That said, the career track is related to mine and I have spoken to multiple foreign service officers (even passed on an internship that one offered to me at State).</p>
<p>Georgetown is a GREAT school. I do want to be clear on that. But do I think it’s justified when you have excellent in state options? Personally, I do not. But obviously that depends on each family’s individual financial situation. And for full disclosure, I have friends in grad school in this field at Tufts, American, George Washington, Georgetown, Hopkins (and obviously others).</p>
<p>OP - Good luck on your decision process. If the extra cost of Gtown would cause family hardship, I’d vote No. In your case, I can see why you are considering it. It’s good that you have up 4+ months to ponder the pros/cons. That will make you feel more confident in your decision, whichever path you choose.</p>
<p>My feeling is that if the money is there and the child is aware of the trade-offs, the cost is worth it, provided the child really wants and expects to take advantage of the opportunities at the more expensive school. The OP certainly must know what a great school UT is and what a terrific town Austin is. As college towns go, they don’t get much better (biased; lived there for 10 years). That said, UT has four times the number of UGs as Georgetown (nearly five times the number, actually). For some kids, regardless of the quality of the educational experience (and it’s top-notch at UT), that difference would be a big deal. Sure, one learn to deal, even if one’s inclination is to be overwhelmed by the swarms of students (and they do swarm at times, it’s really something). But why try if one has an opportunity to take advantage of a distinctive, possibly one-of-a-kind program?</p>
<p>I heard, daughters, implied no education debt.</p>
<p>Have DS, 26, working, E debt by design and could be netted out.</p>
<p>The “opportunity cost” of spending $250K in cash on four years of undergraduate work is a difficult concept for an 18-year-old to fully grasp. There is a lot that can be done with $250K over the next 50 years. I am not sure I would leave that decision totally up to a teenager. But Georgetown is wonderful and it is YOUR money. Best of luck to OP’s son.</p>
<p>You all mentioned that G’town is stingy with merit aid. THis is true ONLY for the undergrad programs. Once upon a time, I was offered a full ride to do an MA there, and later significant money to do a PhD there as well. It might be worth holding off on the full-pay BA there, doing really well somewhere else and joining the folks at g’town a few years down the road on THEIR DIME (which is what we’re encouraging our son to think about doing.)</p>
<p>laserp - trying to send you a PM. Your mail box won’t accept it. Send me a PM</p>
<p>Sorry to start splitting hairs here, but elite and elitist are not synonyms.</p>
<p>While it is true to say that Georgetown students are academically elite, it is not true to say that Georgetown students (as a group) are elitist. </p>
<p>My reference to redpoint’s post was made because of the statement: “I am repelled by the idea of elitism.” I took this statement to imply that Georgetown students (and their parents) are elitist…an implication that I do not think is fair. There are elitist people at all colleges, including Georgetown.</p>
<p>FWIW you see cars with decals from just about any college at the parking lot of the Foreign Service Institute. So yep there will be Georgetown stickers, but plenty of BIG10, PAC12, ACC, etc. as well. It’s not like the lot is filled with G-town SFS stickers…</p>
<p>soccerguy asked a good question:</p>
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<p>Do we know for sure that the OP’s son is interested in the Foreign Service? Or is he just interested in international relations generally, and perhaps thinking of a career in international business or investment banking? (Quite a few kids in our community have attended SFS and they’ve all ended up in the private sector.)</p>
<p>My older son is in the Foreign Service, tho he’s a Cornell grad. More important, though, he served in the Peace Corps for three years and picked up a couple of foreign languages there, including one CNL (Critical Needs Language). Fluency in foreign languages–and the ability to learn new ones quickly–is far more important to being hired as a Foreign Service generalist than most people realize. Which probably explains why two of the most common backgrounds for new FSO’s are the Peace Corps and work as Mormon missionaries. In addition, quite a few new FSO’s are former military officers. </p>
<p>I doubt you’re going to find Georgetown grads disproportionately represented among RPCVs, Mormon missionaries, or military officers. </p>
<p>Now it’s true that not all incoming FS generalists have previous work experience. Some do come directly from college or graduate school. The Pickering Fellowship program was set up for this purpose. Scanning the on-line bios of current fellows gives you this list of ug schools: GW, Penn/Wharton, American, Clark Atlanta, Columbia, NYU, UT Austin, and Morehouse. </p>
<p>So there’s one datapoint that UT Austin can be a feeder school for the Foreign Service.</p>
<p>"“one of a kind” is a general term thrown out a lot. Is Harvard one of a kind?"</p>
<p>I’m not responsible for other people’s misuse of a term. This isn’t a blanket claim about the university in general. This is a single instance where one specific aspect of the university has a reputation/network that is without peer. Others are good, but Georgetown SFS occupies its own tier. Some aspects of Harvard that are one-of-a-kind might be Math 55, or Let’s Go Publications.</p>
<p>“Do Georgetown students pass the foreign service exam at a higher rate than students from peer institutions?”</p>
<p>That’s beside the point. Passing the foreign service exam – which may not be the OP’s child’s aim anyway – has very little to do with undergraduate education. No top school in the field trumpets its pass rate or includes educating graduates to pass is part of its mission. Anyway, you don’t have to take the foreign service exam to work in the State Department or any number of other elite jobs in international affairs that SFS grads covet. This situation might be compared to top law schools and the bar exam. Yale Law and Cornell Law have similar NY bar passage rates, but that tells you nothing about the relative value of those degrees. The Yale degree will open a lot more doors, and some YLS grads don’t even need to take the bar to get the jobs they want in government and academia.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Georgetown, but there are some selective universities that charge less tuition for grad school than undergrad (except for business, medicine and law). </p>
<p>As noted above, there also are more opportunities to receive funding during grad school, such as being a TA or research assistant. Years ago, I knew many history majors who were on full rides at an expensive grad school. </p>
<p>Even if the price is the same per year, 2 years of grad school X $55K a year vs. 4 years of undergrad at $55 a year is a big difference. The grad degree may open up many more doors than the undergrad degree. </p>
<p>In grad school, the quality of the tenured profs would be more important because you would be spending more time with them.</p>
<p>Therefore, a person who is full pay may be best served saving their money (or their debt capacity) to go to an elite expensive grad school.</p>
<p>Also remember that in 6 months, the Federal government will no longer offer subsidies for new loans for graduate and professional schools, so it will be even more important to save money for grad school.</p>
<p>I know someone who went to GWU and passed the exam. I also know someone who went to GT SFS who has his doctorate and is doing quite well. kudos to him its hard to get in there.</p>