My daughter was accepted at Cal Poly SLO for computer science. She will likely be accepted at USC for CS as well. She loves SC and dozens of aunts, uncles, and cousins are graduates and they are unanimous in their praise of the school. The problem is how can I justify the expense? We will receive no financial aid. USC will cost $180,000 more over 4 years compared to SLO. If I invest that tuition difference in an index fund in my daughters name on the day she starts SLO she will have $5.3 million to retire on which she turns 68 (assuming 50 years at 7% return). Is USC really worth that amount of money?
According to payscale Cal Poly SLO CS graduates earn higher starting and mid career salaries compared to SC grads. So from a pure financial standpoint USC seems incredibly overpriced for a family that has to pay full freight.
And, yes, I realize choosing a college should be based much more than financial considerations. But, the kids at both schools seem pretty happy and the graduates of SLO are at least as enthusiastic about their experience there as the USC alums I know. So I guess I need some convincing that shelling out the $$ for USC is worth it.
I have the same concerns having just gotten into the Business school at Cal Poly and (hopefully!!) getting into the USC business program. I will also likely receive no finical aid from USC so I’m not sure if it’s worth the $180,000 price tag. I’ve heard USC has “endless connections” in the business world but will I really see a return on that investment? Sorry for not helping you with your choice lol but I’m totally with you on being unsure if USC is worth the extra money.
WILL you put that money into that investment the day she starts school? Also, did you tell her before she applied that you would not pay for USC if she got into a cheaper school? How much is your relationship with your D worth if you can afford it, and decide that you aren’t going to pay after you went ahead and let her apply – since she may not forgive you any time soon or ever? If you didn’t have the discussion about cost and what you would and wouldn’t pay for before applications went in, and you have the money but just don’t want to spend it that way, she is going to be pretty unhappy with you.
There is no right answer to this question because it is a personal one, and they are both great schools. There are many people that get into both schools and make this decision every year. Many pay full freight for USC with no regrets. Others go to CP with no regrets. Personally, the pay scale and rankings out there are meh to me, every kid is their own in terms of potential and where they will grow and develop best. And for every study there is one that has different results. Very successful people can come out of any college, regardless of ranking. I had three get into CP and toured it at least 5 times, even put down a housing deposit for one. In the end, our students felt a huge difference in the "ambiance"of the two schools and felt they would outgrow CP quickly. Not trying to disparage CP, that is how they felt, but they had done a lot of independent things before college so wanted a bit more excitement for their four years. Our experience with internships, jobs and connections out of USC have been phenomenal. For us, bottom line is, we like private colleges and think the difference in price is worth it. Certainly, not everyone agrees with that.
You probably know the arguments or things to look at, other than price, between the two schools.
Private vs Public and all that comes with those differences - changing majors anytime, getting in classes, graduating in 4 years, adding a minor/double major, etc.
Huge big team spirit school vs. Not big team school with some spirit
Urban LA v. Rural/Smaller town SLO
Social climate - maturity/intellectual level of students, who will be your student’s friends/connections
Demographics
Pride in where you go
Alumni networks (gotta admit USC’s is huge and powerful)
Potential life experiences at each school
We love USC and are amazed at the opportunities it has given, and all it has done personally for our students. (I have a CS student btw.) But I will say, I have never met an unhappy kid from CP, and if your student loves it, then you are probably set!
Are you going to give her the difference in money if she goes to Cal Poly? (Just curious.) Good luck with your decision!
Thanks for those well reasoned responses. As far as the money goes- I am not sure what I would do with the savings if she attended Cal Poly. I was using the investment scenario more to illustrate that the opportunity cost in attending USC is pretty significant. Admittedly projecting out 50 year future value of that money is a bit extreme.
I fully understand the significance of the USC network and it has served many in my family well. And the atmosphere on the USC campus is hard to beat. I am not sure there is another US undergraduate institution with that amount of energy and pride.
If my daughter absolutely feels USC is the place for her that is where she will go. If that were not the case I would never have suggested she apply there. Thanks again for your thoughts.
Even though my DS went to USC, I’d say there is NO WAY a CS degree there is worth $180,000 more than one from CalPoly.
Tell your DD by going to CP the $$ saved can be used for a car or down payment on a condo in SV once she gets her degree.
I am a huge fan of USC and my DD also got into both USC and CPSLO for CS, but I don’t think I would pay full sticker price on USC if I had other options. There is very limited number of schools I am ready to pay a full price for. But the question is what did you tell your DD when she applied? Will you be crashing her dream? Will you deposit $180k into her account?
You may want to consider speaking with your daughter about her choosing SLO with the following options:
A. Money available to her for Grad school (USC etc.)
B. Money available to her to buy a house.
C. Money available to her to study abroad.
D. Money available to her to start her own business.
Or any other combination of benefits that make sense to the both of you. As long as you make these funds available to her to advance her education, career or support her dreams (starting a business etc.) I think she will both respect you and benefit tremendously in the long run.
We have similar decision to come for my child. USC w/ Trustee VS. Univ Miami w/ Stamps (full cost of attendance). We told our. Hildreth that any of the money they don’t spend on undergraduate, will be available for their graduate school. . Premed in this case + engineering. As a parent I realize there is no bad choice in this decision. I am so appreciate the opportunity and generosity these two schools have provided; so many talented students applying for these honors and honestly don’t know how they decide. I have a sense of guilt that one of them will need to be turned down. My child really loves both of these schools and programs; there are many similarities, as well as some differences. From what I have learned, GPA for med school admission is much more important than what school you attended. GMAT prep is the same anywhere (imdividuak). And both schools provide wonderful research oops. It almost boils down to a set of subjective observations and feelings which are neck and neck. Might as well flip a coin like the admission officers (just kidding). . Any helpful thoughts?
are you nuts?? with all due respect, but as the parent of a USC Trustee scholar graduate who chose USC over Chicago, Brown, Dartmouth,Ponoma, Carleton, Wash U. etc… and is now studying for his PhD at Caltech… I would NEVER have allowed my kid to pick a LOWER ranking U like Miami over USC with a offer of a Trustee scholarship for the difference of a few thousands of dollars in R + B /year… never! :-q
A USC UG degree, especially with a Trustee scholarship, is in a totally different league , from a U of Miami UG degree.
“what I have learned, GPA for med school admission is much more important than what school you attended”
Up to a point. USC has tremendous research opportunites and Trustee scholars are treated like Gold. :)>-
But many kids change their minds about what they actually want to do with the rest of their lives once in college, and degree from USC is going to open many more “doors” than a U of M degree. especially if she/he decides PreMed is not the path.
The USC alumni network is huge. And will take her much farther than a U of Miami degree
One other point to consider- U of Miami has less than $1Billion in endowment $$ , while USC is well on the way to $5 billion.
What does that tell you about the support or gratefulness of U of M grads?
@menloparkmom
Not quite sure what you are implying by USC Trustee degree vs USC degree relative to prestige?
Certainly your logic could have been argued by others saying they don’t understand your decision vs Dartmouth, or University of Chiago (6th rank) for the savings of a lower ranked scbool? OR, I would debate by your logic that my child should attend Univ Michigan (out ranks USC undergrad and med school, network by 2x, and endow, Entertaining by 4x), Univ Illinois Engineering, or George Tech with their top 5 programs with negligible cost difference than USC Trustee. As exclusive the Trustee scholarship is at USC( ~100 awarded), are you familiar with the Stamps Foundation / Scholarship? 5 were awarded it at Univ. Of Miami with very tightly networked resources. Similarly, the high esteem held for these scholars provide top research throughout UM. In the end, it is about creating a successful undergrad comprehensive experience, Colman acting with a successful entree into their next phase of life after graduation. In. my child’s specific I don’t think your reasoning holds water for the an u Der grad decision as a stepping stone leading to med school or other graduate school.
What I will agree with IS hat the ~$80K difference in out of pocket cost for us, should Not weigh heavily into my child’sr decision. If not used, it will simply reduce grad school debt for my child by the extra amount saved.
@SoProudofMyChildren Congrats on amazing offers - and more than one, what a great situation you are in, although I get it is probably still a bit stressful - big decision. You have more data than anyone else, getting opinions from others comparing the two schools may just complicate things in your head. Since I only know one school, I can’t really compare it to another, although the Stamps scholarship is certainly a special club to be part of, and of course I think USC is fab and with a Trustees, wowzah. Would love to have you as part of the Trojan family, but what does your student think? Are they really even, or in their gut, does he/she lean even a bit one way? I would think there may be some differences in the perks at that level between the schools? At either school with the resources they will have, they will be able to do amazing things so I would pick the school that offers the most but feels the best to them. Maybe too simple, but I am sorta a rankings/shmankings person. There are some very tippy tippy toppy schools (maybe 5 in my book) and then there are many other great schools of which I would include USC and UMiami and a lot more. A good student is capable of getting great things out of any of them. So I would go where the student feels the best about being. Maybe a little simple, but that’s the only way I would know how to play it, fwiw. Good luck!
@CADREAMIN
Literally, every point in your post exactly echos and resonates for both me and my child. My child is tuned into that ‘feeling.’ What is making it just so difficult is that both schools had much overlapping of that same ‘special’ feeling compared to the other schools., with very very slight difference yet still a feeling of equivalence. This leaves my child to spend time researching and searching to create new differentiation to aid in deciding.
Thanks for taking the time, as well as echoing these thoughts in your post.
@mtnbiker Good Question. I have two students at Cal Poly one graduating in Business in June (he considered USC) and one in Software Engineering. They both have received an outstanding educational experience with abundant opportunities in their chosen areas. I can see no way to justify USC based on pure financial analysis. Justification would need to come on other dimensions some of the above have mentioned. Cal Poly in CS maintains small class sizes and a learn by doing focus – very different from many other schools. If you would like any additional information on our experience at Poly message me.
:-q