This is not meant to be disrespectful in anyway, but is Kenyon worth paying the full price for? My D has been accepted. I actually think she would love the school, but I am reluctant to have her visit and love it, which I suspect she will. She has been offered a nice scholarship at a very respectable LAC whihc she likes, but doesn’t love. Kenyon has offered nothing, which I understand, as her stats are not exceptional there. We can afford the tution, but my husband and I do believe strongly in value for money. Honest opinions are appreciated please.
This is a hard question to answer. Academics and environment were top concerns for us. So much so that we encouraged our D to find “her place”. She was fortunate in that her place (Kenyon) thought she belonged. She did not get a scholarship, but we will foot the bill because it matters that much to us that she be in a place she will thrive. Obviously there are no guarantees, but we are taking this (very expensive) chance because it matters so much to her. Every child is different. My S (now a HS sophomore) will be much more flexible. He is a “go with the flow” type, and will be happy almost anywhere, as long as it is warm enough to play golf year round!
I believe your other choice (if I am correct) is another small LAC. If it is the one I think it is, it’s a wonderful school, and she will likely be happy there. Kenyon for us was a magical visit. We went in January. It was frigid. My daughter still felt it was all she thought it would be, and more. So for us, it is worth it. For others it might not be.
This is a very personal decision. If her heart is set on seeing it I recommend you take her. She might surprise you and not like it after all! I guess in the end for me it would depend on 1) how willing you are to pay, 2) how desperately she wants to see the school and 3) how willing you are to let her go if she does fall in love with it.
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Thank you @apple23. The first part of what you said really hits home. We do feel it is very important for her to be somewhere that we are sure she can be happy. If I am honest, I think she could ne happy at the other college. But the problem for her there is that she will be among the top students in terms of stats, and she doesn’t want to be in that position ideally. She wants to blend in and be in the middle. That is just her. (BTW, my S sounds like your S! Pretty sure we could drop him anywhere and he won’t mind.) This is tough. Part of me really thinks she should visit, the other part of me thinks, is the difference in cost ($60k or maybe more over four years) justified?
You should definitely visit Kenyon as finding ‘fit’ is an important element of this process. But try not to have your daughter focus on stats. In another thread you said your D didn’t want to go to school with the ‘dum dums’. For a hs student with good stats, of course there is ego involved, but remember there will be a range of intellects at both schools and the other school has plenty of very smart kids, some of them wooed by the merit aid. Once you get to college, no one cares about your hs gpa and SAT score. The kid who may have had a lower gpa due to a slow start in hs, may very well be the stand out in college. I get she wants to be among peers, and if her choices were Cal Tech and this other school she would have a point, but not so with these 2 schools.
@wisteria100 , thanks. I think you misunderstand what that comment meant. I wrote that post nearly two years ago, and have learned much along the way. Her desire to be with smart kids is not motivated at all by stats. It’s motivated by her wanting to not stand out. She wants to NOT be the smartest kid, because she doesn’t want to be noticed. She wants to be in the middle, and at Kenyon, her stats are decidedly not in the top. I know, it is weird for a kid not to want to stand out, but that is her.
She very much likes the other school, and I suspect she may well end up there. We want her to be happy at the college she calls home for four years. My concern here really is about value though. Many people have heard of Kenyon, not so much of the other. How important is name recognition in today’s world? Being the kind of kid she is, part of me thinks maybe she should go to a more well known college like Kenyon, as it might help open doors for her.
@Lindagaf Get what your D is saying, but it’s not like she will be wearing a shirt with her SAT score on it. There are lots if ways to stand out. Could be some lower scoring kids who stand out because they are great debaters or public speakers, others who may stand out for music or language. I am a proponent of paying (if affordable) for the school you feel is the best fit and that includes the prestige factor, but when making the decision not sure the SAT score difference between those 2 schools makes all that much difference. Now if she is interested in writing, (can’t recall her intended major) then by all means Kenyon is the better choice.
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Excellent answer from wisteria100. If I were in your position I would take her to see Kenyon, then let her decide.
My daughter was in almost the EXACT position as yours. We visited Kenyon after she was accepted and it was a done deal. After that visit she couldn’t see herself anywhere else. We paid the full tuition for four years. It was worth it for our daughter and our family.
If the other LAC is the one I think it is, I think the name recognition differential is minimal. Have you expressed your concern directly to your daughter? You let her apply… did you tell her then that merit money had to be a key factor in her decision?
You could let her visit, but offer a carrot. If she goes to the less expensive school you will give her some money for grad school, pay for a summer abroad, and/or foot the bill for an unpaid internship. Or have her take out the federal loans if she wants the more expensive school (more of a stick).
Rather than focus on “rank” and / or incoming test scores, why don’t you compare the outcomes of the two schools?
@intparent , merit money doesn’t have to be part of the deal. We never thought about it as a “real” thing until it was offered. It’s hard to say no to $60k or more though. I like the idea of the carrot, however. If you have read some of my other posts, you may know that hubby holds the purse strings. He has taken a lot of convincing that LACs are worth the money at all, as he is foreign and the LAC concept is very American. He has given her permission to visit Kenyon and she is going on her own. He says he wants her to decide. I think he wants her to decide if SHE thinks it’s worth the money.
@boiledegg, did your D go to grad school?
So if she thinks it is worth it, he will pay? This has the makings of a big dust up if she comes back and says it is worth it, and he decides not to pay without having even visited. If you plan to do the carrot (or stick) idea, you probably want to lay it out before she goes. (I happen to love Kenyon, D2 was accepted there and my grandfather attended back in the day). It isn’t for everyone, but I find it very, very charming – you are right that she may find it hard to resist.
@ClarinetDad16 , I have spent a LOT of time trying to research just that. What is the best way to do that? I have looked at payscale and various sites. Any tips appreciated.
@intparent , I guess he will. I have concerns that a 17 year old isn’t grasping the full impact of that kind of money. If I can support the idea that Kenyon is worth paying for, it makes it more doable.
Don’t forget that when you pay the full sticker price, you are also helping to pay the tuition of other students. Colleges take a certain percentage of the check you send and ‘repurpose’ it for institutional aid. It’s like taking money from your pocket and putting it right into the pockets of other students ‘with need’. Also known as ‘tuition set-asides’/ redistribution of income / forced charity.
Ack! Yes, that is probably true of many many colleges.
That is true of full pay students at EVERY college. Although some spend more than the tuition account per student and supplement everyone from their endowment. Some students are subsidized more heavily than others. I don’t think that matters in this discussion.
What @intparent said. I’m happy to live in a world where some effort is made to balance things out.
We are in the same boat (but with different LACs). Full pay at the 1-2 two she really wants to attend versus significant merit aid at other quality LACs. The top two meet full need and, to me, this does not diminish the attractiveness of these institutions. As a full pay student, we will be subsidizing other student’s tuition. However, I am more focused on the education my daughter will receive rather than what other people are paying. Is there any way to know if a college is worth it? Probably. Maybe. If the college dolls out little merit aid and meets full financial need, there are usually full pay students lining up to attend. Is that the market voting? You can use the common data set to find out the percentage of full pay students at Kenyon. That might tell you how other people are thinking about Kenyon’s value.
One of her LACs that is still on my daughter’s list is 30K less a year. I think it is a good value and a good school. However, I also think her top two choices are good values at full tuition as well. I don’t know if everyone would agree with me but since it is not their money…or their little snowflake…
No one can tell you if Kenyon is worth it. However, if you do the full pay option, you will not be alone. Many of us have bright children who get into top schools but are not just high enough stats-wise to get the merit aid at the very top schools. If you can afford it, you are part of the fortunate few who are be able to pay the price and offer something very few can obtain.
OP- My daughter has not gone to grad school yet. She has been out 2 years, and is working in a job she loves so is trying to decide whether she will or not in the next few years. Happy to answer any other questions you may have.
My daughter is in a somewhat similar dilemma. Daughter loves Kenyon and got a 15K merit scholarship. She wants to go on a premed track with a minor in English. So she has another big outlay to follow in 4 years for med school. She has full rides in a couple of colleges. We have offered to help her with either Kenyon or medical school. She is really torn between basically free undergrad and a dream school. We are going for the admitted students event this weekend and hopefully it will help her make up her mind. We are also concerned with how she is going to get opportunities for healthcare related research in Gambier.