<p>I agree with most of what the other posters are saying, especially hmom5. There were just one or two things I wanted to point out:</p>
<p><quote>As a corollary to 1)., if you get accepted to two colleges, one more elite and the other less elite, only go to the less elite one if you have a real, strong reason to (eg., the less elite one is giving you a free ride).</quote></p>
<p>Would “I’d be much happier there” be a “strong” enough reason? I will be the first to admit that some of the contacts you make at top-tier schools can help you, but it’s not like you’re going to end up living in a ditch if you go to a school you love over, say, Yale. My personal feeling is that you’ll do best in a school that you like the most. Excelling in a slightly lower school is still going to give you success as long as you work hard for it.</p>
<p>Also - you also said that a top-tier college is cheaper - I know you quoted Harvard, but I’d just like to point out that your example was HARVARD. They have a $50 billion endowment. With the exception of Princeton and Yale, financial aid policies like theirs are highly unusual, even for other top colleges (like the Ivies). Generally, a good student is going to get more money at a lower-tier school because they are applicable for merit money as well as aid.</p>
<p>I think the OP implied that you can find a HAPPY college to go to at an ELITE school, meaning people who “suck” and says “Oh I can’t afford it!” are just making pathetic excuses. Seriously, can you really say that all the colleges in top 50 won’t make you happy at all? Not even one of them that you would choose over a second-third tier? Let’s face it: they say they can’t afford it or some other BS reason because they CAN’T GET IN.</p>
<p>I think the OP is right on target with every statement!</p>
<p>Many parents and *mom’s on this board overvalue the net impact
of college loans and undervalue the long term impact of the best undergraduate degree that you can muster.</p>
<p>For example, my dad tells me I’ll likely be looking for jobs at least 10 times in my life time. Every time I look for a job, that undergraduate degree comes into play. Not just for the first job.</p>
<p>I don’t know all the details of college loans, but I’ve heard of cases like this …</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Columbia law grad was forgiven student loans for working couple of years in non-profit. Medical graduates pull the same trick serving in underserved places like Africa.</p></li>
<li><p>If your Dad takes out huge Plus loans and he dies, his personal loans are written off.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I know there is something called the time value of money.
But if you borrow $100K more money at 8% interest and
start making $500K bonuses 5 or 10 years out, I’m sure
the math works out favorably. </p>
<p>That’s the same reason a lot of people take out huge loans for med school, dental school, law school, top biz school etc.</p>
<p>If you do something stupid like take out 100k worth of student loans, it’s possible you’ll get lucky and pay them back easy. It’s much more likely that you’ll be slowly paying them off until you’re 30 (and that’s if you DON’T go to grad school). And you run a small but important risk of simply never being able to pay them off.</p>
<p>Yeah, they’ll look to see that you have a degree, but which school it came from matters less and less for each job after the first one. I’ve been hiring people at my company for 30 years, and we care far more about someone’s work experience and job skills than where they got their degree.</p>
<p>Go for the prestige if you can afford it. It will be a small boost. But don’t kid yourself that five years out of college you will beat out another job candidate, who has better work experience than you, with your fancy degree,</p>
<p>I agree. I guess I’m just saying that saying “I can’t afford an elite college” AFTER you’ve been accepted is the reality for some people, especially people with siblings much younger than them.</p>
<p>Taking out 100k in loans can be smart. Or it can screw you, like it did to my cousin, who lost his first job after the economy crashed and now has no way to pay them off (his siblings are still in college). Either way, I honestly thnk that you can get a great education at a place where you’re happy.</p>
<p>Really? This is not true of any other type of loan. Upon death the estate must payoff debt if there are assets. Is there something about Plus loans I don’t know.</p>
<p>^
What are the advantages of a PLUS loan?
PLUS loans have a fixed interest rate, so the size of your payment won’t rise if interest rates rise. They also offer free insurance, so the debt will be canceled if the parent or the student dies or becomes disabled. PLUS borrowers can also get their payments deferred if they get into financial trouble.</p>
<p>What are the downsides of PLUS loans?
Unlike credit card debt and mortgages, which can be canceled if you file for bankruptcy, education loans of all types must be paid. Most bankruptcy courts will not cancel them unless your situation is extremely dire.</p>
<p>Isn’t there some correlation between coming from a super wealthy, well-connected family and graduating from a top college and more money? Do you make more money because of connections or because of where you got your degree? It would be wonderful to see a study of this. My guess is that well-connected people start out with higher paying jobs.</p>
<p>Just gonna say, you’d be hard pressed to say Lacrosse isn’t the most popular sport at our school and I am going to guess that applies to the east coast prep school set as well. However, I will disagree slightly in that a sport isn’t the same as any regular EC because it’s a huge daily commitment if you’re on Varsity. You’re practicing every day for 2.5+ hours after school, plus game nights and saturdays. So I am not saying you do this if you hate it, of course, and certainly, you should do what you love, but if you play three sports and still get top grades, that’s “worth” more than just any 3 EC’s. That’s pretty much ALL your available time throughout the school year. And if you’re any good, you’re playing at least one of them all summer as well.</p>
<p>Second: I suggest everyone take the ACT unless you’re well into the upper 700’s on your SAT. Most schools (and yes, the tippy elites) will accept the ACT in lieu of the SAT and if they absolutely require SAT II’s, those are more subject specific regardless. Son did much better on ACT and there were quite a few schools where he didn’t even have to submit his SAT I or II’s at all BECAUSE he submitted the ACT, which covered both.</p>