<p>The reason why public universities do not have the same kind of graduation rates as selective private institutions is because they admit many more students for whom college is a bigger social, academic, and financial challenge. If a peer-to-peer evaluation were to be done, I expect that the graduation rates for those students would be much closer to each other. In the studies of peers who chose public institutions and those who chose Ivy-type institutions the long-term results are essentially the same except for the students from the lowest social-economic category. Those are the ones for whom the higher-ranked institution benefits most - quite possibly because they don’t have the kind of money worries there that they would have had at a public U.</p>
<p>Since PSU has a signifcant # of students,posting where they went to grad school,or where some may have landed jobs is not truly comparative…to think one can get the same education at PSU and U penn is ludicrous…Is it worth the additonal 25k per year, to those that can afford it,absolutely…To those that can’t ,absolutely not…i say this often,but most who knock the pricey schools are those that can’t afford them…AND PLEASE READ THE WORD ‘MOST’ not all…i never see a thread or reply that some schools aren’t worthy of your money,though plenty knocking the pricey schools</p>
<p>According to some, my son can’t possibly succeed going to a state school so I’ll keep him home, since he will be such a failure! Please let’s get real! *Ivies only account for a small fraction of the universities out there, so please don’t tell me that an Ivy education is the only way to succeed in life. I’ve taught my son that if you are a good person and work hard, you will be rewarded. I’m very proud of my son, he chose not to go to UPenn, he does not want to graduate with huge loans and he does not want to put his family into debt. He is a bright, caring and mature and in my eyes he is successful.</p>
<p>Ok I started this post being sarcastic, so I will end the same way. Boohoo my son will earn less then an Ivy graduate, what will become of him, can he ever be happy?!</p>
<p>Thank you to all who support our decision and to the ones that disagree, I do understand your point of view but I think you are being too narrow minded!*</p>
<p>Didn’t read any post claiming ypur son can’t be successful,so stop the pity party…what HAS been said is the Ivies(i do ‘t have anyone in any IVY) provide an education hard to duplicate at a state level, and by ‘state’ i mean state publics,not a private school…as i have stated many times, attend the school you can best afford, but don’ t settle if you don’ t have to…</p>
<p>And no one ever said that an Ivy education wasn’t the best! But, with this economy, is it still worth the money even if you can afford it. What is really sad is how many of our brightest kids have their hearts broken and feel rejected by these top tier school. Every year I see kids work their butts off to get into what they perceive as a great school, (does not have to be an Ivy) only to be disappointed. The good news is that most of the kids that are rejected or can’t afford top tier schools are still successful and happy.</p>
<p>NYgella nonne of us here no who you are or your identity. I am an aspiring ivy league student in a middle class family. I was wondering if you could answer some personal questions as it would help a lot of us.
1- What is your total family income and how much in savings do you have? do you own a house.</p>
<p>2-You’re from Penn and how is you income compared to other citizens in your area. </p>
<p>3-Is your son white or a student of color?</p>
<p>Now I will tell you somethings about me. I am a latino student from Boston, my dad makes 41,000 a year and my mom makes 63,000 a year. So for most of the ivies we miss the two cutoffs. The first is if your family makes less then 60,000 a year, voila, your tuition is paid for in full, and the second is if your family makes less than 100,000 a year than they will pay most, an extremely significant amount, of your tuition. After 100,000 it is purely need aid. My family makes 104,000. Maybe someone ios going to have to take a paycut!
Good luck to your son!</p>
<p>Jonathanq17, I’ll help you as much as possible, but there is no way to really estimate what aid you will get from the Ivies, they have their own formula. Ivies do not give merit aid they only give need-aid, which does not take into account what race you are. I won’t give you specifics but they look at income, savings, home equity, number of family members, debt, and many other factors. The only way to receive aid is to be in debt and have no savings. </p>
<p>We are a white middle class family from NY with two kids in college. Our FAFSA EfC number with two kids in college is $33,000. For people who do not know what that means, $33,000 is what my family is estimated to be able to afford per child, the 33,000 is subtracted from the total cost of college like UPenn $57,000. So when I did the math, I assumed that we would receive at least 24,000 in need-aid, since UPenn makes claim that they give more aid then the Federal formula. What a surprise it was when we only were awarded $2,000! After having our need reevaluated, we received $14,000, but that is only for the first year, once my older son graduates college next year we will receive no aid. We don’t make much more then your family, we don’t have any debt and have some savings. When it comes to aid the only thing that matters is the money, not where you live or what race you are. Being a Latino might only help you get in, but you better be the top 2% of your graduating class, a resume with many extraordinary activities and incredible essay! Even with all that your odds are small! Most kids are destined for disappointment! </p>
<p>For us the college process is over and very happy at that. Good luck finding a school that fits you academically and financially.</p>
<p>jonathanq17 -</p>
<p>On April 18 after your parents have sent in their tax returns, sit them down and have them run the financial aid calcuators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and at [College</a> Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.com%5DCollege”>http://www.collegeboard.com) If their finances are a bit complicated, they might like to print out the FAFSA formula itself and work through it on paper: <a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf</a> It is likely that they will find the results to be very disturbing, so you should have a box of tissues handy, and you should be prepared to offer to fetch them the adult beverages of their choice. When the weeping stops, point them to the Financial Aid Forum. They will find lots of useful information there.</p>
<p>So true! The FAFSA formula calculates that my family can afford $66,000 a year for college! That is for two blue collar workers living in a area with a high cost of livings.</p>
<p>qdogpa…“Since PSU has a signifcant # of students posting where they went to grad school,or where some may have landed jobs is not truly comparative…to think one can get the same education at PSU and U penn is ludicrous…”</p>
<p>I give facts. Period. Students who attend Penn State can get jobs at great companies and can go to Ivy league school for grad school. Yes, PSU is large, and has a wide range of students. Those students smart and industrious enough to get accepted to Ivy’s but choose PSU or other great state colleges CAN and DO end up side by side with their Ivy league graduates four years later.</p>
<p>and yes, if money was NO object I would have gladly paid for an Ivy education. However $220,00 is too much money for this family.</p>
<p>I earned my bachelor’s degree at the University of Idaho, after transferring from community college.</p>
<p>I have a federal job and a fistful of graduate acceptances, including fully-funded programs at Mizzou, Indiana U. and UMaine.</p>
<p>Don’t let anyone tell you or your son that the “prestige” of the name on his diploma determines ANYTHING about his future. What matters to employers is not the name on your credential, but what you DO with that credential.</p>
<p>Is Idaho even in this country? ;)</p>
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<p>I call it financial purgatory. </p>
<p>My daughter followed the money to Pitt. And guess what? People here on the East Coast confuse it and Penn all the time. I can’t tell you how many people think my daughter is attending an Ivy League school. People know how smart she is and they just assume she went Ivy League. Very amusing to us.</p>
<p>I think highly of Pitt,have also lived in the NJ/PA area for entire life, and never once met anyone who confused Pitt with Penn,never…</p>
<p>Come on down to Maryland, qdogpa, I will introduce you to a few. I am not clever enough to make that story up.</p>
<p>NYgella - good luck and God bless!</p>
<p>I went to state school myself, then got Ivy MBA. That was my whole point. It worked out for me and it can work out for your son. </p>
<p>But it will be harder for him, just as it was harder for me. That was my only point. You’re a good man and your son is lucky to have such a supportive and feisty Dad.</p>
<p>How far down into Marlyland? I am very familiar with the Bethesda and surrounding communities,and would be very surprised if anyone in that area confused the 2 schools…If we are talking Western Maryland,near Cumberland, that would explain it ;)</p>
<p>Let it go, qdogpa. I didn’t make it up, but I would also add that I do not hang around with the namebrand crowd…</p>
<p>Consider it dropped,but you don’t need to know name brands to confuse a top university in the country with a very good ‘state’ school, just saying</p>
<p>*I have to disagree, before I started researching schools for my S, the only Ivies that I could name is Harvard, Yale and Princeton. I’m not the only one out there, most people cannot name all the Ivy League schools. I can believe that someone could confuse UPitt for an Ivy.</p>