Five years ago, my S was a senior in high school. Like many of you now, he was in the throes of college applications. He applied to 13 schools. He applied to all the academic scholarships he could and after that we prayed that he would get in somewhere. Yes, he was a good student but , in truth, there were kids who were definitely better than him. He was smart but not some crazy genius. He was extremely active and hardworking, but he wasn’t going off to college with a coding degree under his belt already, nor had he IPO’d a company or nor had he performed some off the wall research that could put an end to world hunger or cancer. He was a normal, bright, hard working kid.
Interestingly, in high school he was always the kid who flew under the radar. He was quiet, not shy, but unassuming. He was well liked, but he wasn’t a big personality. So no matter what he did, he just never seemed to get the credit he worked for nor was he awarded for his efforts. But then senior year came around and he was accepted to all 13 schools that he applied to (Colgate, Dartmouth, Lehigh, Geneseo, Richmond, Duke, Vandy, Notre Dame, Tulane, Rice, Wash U, Wake Forest and Stanford)
Stanford was the last to accept him. The schools that he EA’d, of course we knew early on were possibilities for him. The rest, with the exception of Stanford actually sent him “likely” letters. So by February of his Senior year we knew he had 12 schools to pick from. Honestly, never in a million years did we think he would get into Stanford. So we revisited some of the schools from his list of 12 and started to truly whittle down the list. It came down to one school. He had received a scholarship that would cover full tuition for four years. We aren’t rich but we don’t qualify for finaid either. So to think that College was only going to cost us a room/board or $13k/yr was miraculous! And just as important our S was very excited with this college option too! So it was a win-win.
Then April 1st came around and Stanford sent us the email accepting our son…I cried. The expense of this school was far beyond my comprehension. We didn’t have $60K a year to spend and he wasn’t our only child. He had a sibling who needed to be educated too. So we flew out to CA and checked out the school. Needless to say, he fell in love with it. He actually came back from admit weekend stating that this was the place for him. He felt like he belonged! Well my husband and i had some serious thinking to do. How could we afford this? Even with loans, could we do it? Then there came the typical banter that everyone always hears…
-Undergrad isn’t important. Save the money for grad school.
-School is school. Math is math. Its the same where ever you go, why pay so much more for the same education.
-You’re paying for the name. (Whats in a name?)
We were told by so many family members that we were CRAZY to pay for Stanford, when he can go to another top private university for $13k/yr. After all, we were talking paying $52 v. $240K!
It was insane to think that anything could be worth that much money. To make a long story short, and obviously since I’m on the Stanford thread, we decided to let him go to Stanford. It was the scariest financial decision of our lives!
But here are the results.
Stanford has opportunities far beyond your wildest imagination. The opportunities are both on and off the campus. S graduated having worked not one or two internships but 11. He started his own consulting company going into his junior year and graduated last year with two 6 figure base offers. He and a friend started their own company upon graduation and are doing tremendously well. My husband and I never wonder for one second if we made the right choice. Stanford was absolutely worth every penny. As for the nay-sayers, they were wrong. Undergrad school does matter, especially if you don’t go on to grad school. Math isn’t just math. Math, Computer Science, Economics etc is anything but the status quo at Stanford, and companies realize that and value it. And lastly, I agree that the name -Stanford- does come with a hefty price tag, but the Stanford name also bring about respect and appreciation by companies out in the real world. But here’s the last bit of proof in the pudding…S decided to treat himself to a very expensive limited edition car. He’s worked insanely hard. Hasn’t taken a vacation or a day off since he started school (Keep in mind that the majority of his internships took place while he was at school. So he would take 18-21 credits a quarter, plus work one to two internships at a time. Came summers he worked 80hrs/wk so he could have money to support himself with the internships because some were unpaid). So he calls us one day and said I’m buying myself my dream car. As parents we were concerned. But he was doing well, so what could we say. So he goes off to the dealership in SF, negotiates the car. They settle on a price and when the paperwork is being processed, S asked them, “Do you need a co-signer, since I’m only 22?” They said, “Did you graduate?” S said, “Yes a year ago from Stanford.” They said, “Just show us your diploma and we are set. We know you kids are golden!”
And off he drove with is new car.
(So yes schools of this caliber are ridiculously expensive, but in the long run, completely worth it. No one will ever convince me otherwise. There is a difference!)