<p>OK mini–it is one of the coolest schools anywhere, but it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.</p>
<p>It’s just all those dang weed-smokin’ hippies majorin’ in the hard sciences. ;)</p>
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<p>Out of the college fund money for him, or is this college fund supposed to also help younger siblings? If the latter, you have a very sticky situation here in that if you spent it all on the older one, the younger ones are going to resent not having their choices much more restricted than the older one (unless they fortuitously have a top choice that gives them a full ride or something like that).</p>
<p>I think OP was clear that there would be saved college money for both kids for UG, but with merit $$ there would be funds left for grad school.</p>
<p>mini–like Grinnell, Oberlin has really serious unconventional students. I’m sure the social fit isn’t right for everyone though.</p>
<p>OP…thanks for clarifying that when you said that you’d be out of money after paying full freight for college, that you didn’t mean YOU…just the college fund. That is an important clarification.</p>
<p>In that case, it’s a family decision.</p>
<p>*“There are a gazillion kids who end up at 2nd, 3rd, and even last choice schools that end up being delighted.”</p>
<p>I have yet to meet them. I have seen who made do at their last choice school, but none who were “delighted.” *</p>
<p>Well since I said “2nd, 3rd, or even their last choice school,” those who fall in that last group may be more rare. Certainly, there are many, many kids who end up being very happy at their 2nd choice or 3rd choice school. The decision may have been financial or maybe the 1st choice never accepted them. </p>
<p>That said, I do know kids who attend a school on a near full ride, which wasn’t a top choice for them, but they really do love their school. Why is that such a surprise? Unless a student ends up at some dreary school (and there are some), ends up at a CC because of some kind of bad advice, or is almost determined to be miserable because he couldn’t go to one of his top choices, I think many students are able to set those feelings aside and make lemonade out of lemons at many good schools. </p>
<p>And, it’s not always simply about “going where the money is,” - as if all these people can easily pay, but they just would rather not. It’s often about going where the student or family won’t have to rack up strangling debt or jeopardize retirements or financial security. </p>
<p>And, with so many kids expressing an interest in becoming doctors, lawyers, getting a MBA or some other unfunded grad/professional degree, paying less for undergrad can often help avoid the massive loans others accumulate pursuing those degrees.</p>
<p>*Academic grad schools are covered - but things like architecture, law school, med school and business school aren’t. I think it’s reasonable to at least factor that thought into the equation. Obviously for many it will be irrelevant (like most scientists).
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<p>This may be true for many/most PhDs, but I can tell you that when my son was applying to grad school last year (STEM), many schools would not fund masters degrees (or give little). The funding was largely directed to PhD students.</p>
<p>Both my kids picked out 7 or 8 schools out of the hundreds and hundreds that are out there that they’d be perfectly happy to attend. My youngest in particular, refused to have a favorite until he found out where he got in - which made the month of April rather stressful!</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids, yes you are right that masters degrees aren’t generally paid for either. I don’t think I’ve actually ever met anyone who only was going for a masters in science, except the handful who the schools eased out and handed a masters as a consolation prize.</p>
<p>We know a couple of engineering students who got assistantships in engineering for their masters degrees that included full tuition, a stipend, and health insurance…both as OOS students at UMASS Amherst.</p>
<p>Just a short note: Why do people keep worrying about paying for grad school? Unless he is getting an MBA, JD, or Medical school, which is not the case for an English major. The huge majority of PhDs are fully funded (mostly through TAships or Research Assistanships). You should never go to a PhD program that you have to pay for.</p>
<p>In short, don’t worry about saving for graduate school unless such child is getting a professional degree.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, it’s hyperbole to say Oberlin and Reed “tolerate most drugs” (post #78), but mini’s dead on when he observes there might be some weed-smokin’ on those campuses! ;)</p>
<p>Best wishes, OP. Thankfully, it sounds like there is no bad result here. I wish your family well as you talk about these financial issues and your son’s college decision generally. No matter what, I’m sure he will be proud and grateful you are able to furnish him such a good education.</p>
<p>And if you want a paid masters, apply for the PhD and leave after your comprehensive examinations 
As a professor, I’d never recommend a terminal masters, unless it’s a professional degree, the quality tends not to be that good.</p>
<p>PhD programs are getting more competitive because funding is drying up. Of course, this is better in the sciences where research brings in grant money, but we will be seeing more masters as a prelude to the PhD.</p>
<p>In the humanities, schools that used to fund ten fellows are now averaging 3. </p>
<p>Neither of my kids made the cut into a PhD program because neither quite had the academic major they were pursuing (nor the tippy top grades, to be honest) and both are starting with a masters that will probably become a PhD in the same programs once the schools have soaked some money out of them.</p>
<p>Fortunately, we live within 5 miles of Stony Brook which has very reasonable tuition so this will be manageable, if not ideal.</p>
<p>However, my point is that as funding sources keep shrinking we will see more paid masters as preludes for PhD’s.</p>
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<p>Ugh…just another thing to drive student loans up.</p>
<p>At some Us, you can get your bachelor’s & master’s degrees in five years; quite a few kids we spoke with in engineering who couldn’t find a job went on to get their master’s and were sad that they were just further in debt still without a job. That further motivated S that he was making a good choice to get out with his bachelor’s before deciding on whether to go on for more schooling.</p>
<p>S said if he enrolled in the PhD program, he probably could have gotten his master’s funded, but he REALLY wanted to have some real-world experience. So far, he has no regrets–has held his job for nearly a year now. I think he wishes it had more engineering involved, but he’s pretty quiet about it.</p>
<p>Yes, some kids get their graduate degrees paid for, but just as often they don’t. This idea that one doesn’t have to worry about grad school expenses must be dispelled.</p>
<p>This is a no-brainer, as there is no way that Kenyon > (Oberlin +80K). Both are great, but so is 80 grand. </p>
<p>The kid needs to learn the value of money sooner or later.</p>
<p>mathmom–our S took the same approach as yours, staying in love with his whole list until he got his acceptances. April was a scramble because he was accepted to all 10, but he did get the decision made and has been happy with his choice. He did choose a school that cost $80,000 less than most of the others but he picked it for fit.</p>
<p>So let’s say my boyfriend invites me out to dinner, his treat. We’re going to Les Nomades, one of Chicago’s finest restaurants (so I hear; no one has taken me there yet ;)). His treat, remember? So I assume I can have anything I want from the menu. We get there and, lo and behold, there’s a special on the roasted duck breast! It’s $25 less than the roasted venison! But I don’t like duck, I really don’t. If he makes me order it anyway to teach me the “value of money,” I will take a few bites to be polite and open-minded. But it’s not going to be to my taste. I don’t care which five-star cuisinier prepared it. In other words, this would not be a good use of my BF’s hard-earned entertainment dollar, even if it would be a great deal for an unquestionably great product. </p>
<p>Oberlin does not equal Kenyon. They are not the same product. Some people could like both equally, just as some people enjoy duck as much as they do venison. But some people could have a pronounced preference for one over the other.</p>
<p>just curious, which is the duck?</p>
<p>Ha ha! I hadn’t gotten that far. I was hoping Les Nomades had some kind of Amish chicken dish so I could compare two types of fowl. But I picked actual options from their current prix-fixe menu. Yum. Lots of tasty choices.</p>
<p>The analogy has issues. Eating the duck at a fancy restaurant is a one-time thing. Going to college is a larger, ongoing opportunity/ commitment, and things about it that may not be as appealing for m a visit or two may become more apparent in the future. So even though one school looks better from a preliminary view, once one is actually there living on campus, making friends, taking classes, meeting faculty, things can certainly change.</p>