<p>I know this has been discussed in several different ways, but I don't think it hurts to ask, because I know lots of parents/students are struggling with this.</p>
<p>Would you rather have your kid go to their dream school -- a very expensive and prestigious college for undergrad (while racking up quite a bit of debt), and then to an average state of the mill college for graduate school...</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>Would you rather have them go to their state university (the type where students don't want to be there) free of charge for their undergrad (but somewhat of a disappointment), and then going to a prestigious graduate school...</p>
<p>I'll bite. I'm not much into prestige but I am into finding a good fit. If my child was convinced that a particular school was a good fit, I'd choose that option over forcing them to go to a school they didn't see as a good fit if there was any way at all to swing it financially. While someone might think they want to go to graduate school when they're still in high school, things do change in life. And, some graduate degrees can be paid for with teaching assistant positions or even by future employers. But there is one caveat: if the undergrad debt would be far exceeded any hope of payback after graduation, I'd think twice and recommend some other schools as an option. There's always ANOTHER option.</p>
<p>Those are pretty boxed in choices. You just don't get that type of packaged deal in life. I can tell you that my girls traded selective name schools for unknown colleges with a med school deal attached. That probably fits more in the unknown state colleg followed by prestigious grad school category.</p>
<p>I prefer a smaller, or midsize school for undergrad and then when my child is older/wiser/ and more independent a larger school would be fine. They would not blend into the woodwork at that point in their life.</p>