My daughter has to chose a school and she prefers Reed which is across the country. I never thought she’s want a liberal arts place as she is majoring in physics and is very strong in math & science. She is an accomplished artist also with juried art shows and AP art.
We don’t receive financial aid but we get significant merit from schools that want her like Illinois Institute of Technology. This is my 4th child and I have been blessed with great merit aid; Notre Dame graduate with $40,000 a year. It’s a challenge for this high school senior to know what to do at all and a challenge for me as the Mom who pays.
Her reach is Brown and I would borrow from my retirement to pay it. I’m not so open to borrowing on the others Do people allow the student to decide always? I have stated with all my children that money plays an important part.
But I can’t see making someone attend where they don’t want to attend. Reality is reality. I am undecided as much as my student!
I am confused. Is Reed full pay? Or substantial merit? What are the schools you can afford.
Unless you have excess retirement funds or are a very young parent, borrowing from retirement fund or borrow at all to pay even for Brown typically is not a good idea. Many, many kids have to take finances into account when choosing a college. If you can’t afford a college without raiding your retirement savings, you can’t afford it.
I will say it depends on how much you are talking about - borrowing a total of say $20K may not be a big deal. But borrowing most of the cost, may put your retirement at risk. Other thing would be to have daughter pay it back, but you never know what path she will take and if she will be able to afford to pay you back. Also, with the economy these days, you never know what will happen for this job.
You are not making her go where she doesn’t want to go, you are making her choose among the affordable colleges.
Thanks- I’m confused too as I wish I could just pay any amount regardless! Reed is close to full pay most merit is with Drexel, Illinois… If we get a Rice or Brown acceptance then it’s all on the table again.
Reed not only has strong Physics/STEM departments, but is also one of the most academically rigorous colleges in the country despite its USNWR ranking.
Some would argue Reed right up there with Brown, Notre Dame, and Rice at the very least…and possibly exceed them in terms of quantity/rigor of workload.
Georgia Tech is the only college on your D’s list which matches or could even exceed Reed in terms of workload/academic rigor in engineering/STEM fields, but is much weaker in other areas.
I say this as someone who has known many HS classmates, friends, and colleagues who have graduated from all those colleges.
Reed is something of an outlier, but it has a top-shelf reputation among people who know and care about liberal arts colleges. It refuses to cooperate with USNWR’s ranking system, and it may be test-optional (I’m not sure), but USNWR continues to rank it anyway, far below where its academic reputation would put it. It has always had a strong physics program – look up its physics department. It is known for being very intellectually demanding, and having quirky, individualistic students – not unlike the University of Chicago.
Probably the two most famous Reed alumni – at least the ones I remember – are beat poet Gary Snyder and someone who never graduated, Steve Jobs. Jobs dropped out of Reed for financial reasons but hung around campus going to classes without being registered for a year, and was always very complementary about what he learned there. Reed is also always near the top of the list for percentage of alumni who receive PhDs, along with Swarthmore (which is similar but a little more mainstream).
I would have been happy to send my children there, except for the fact that air travel from where I live to Portland is expensive and really inconvenient. My older child was planning to apply, and I asked her not to for that reason (after she had already been accepted Early Action at a couple acceptable colleges). I know a bunch of alumni and parents of recent graduates, and all are very enthusiastic about the college.
Now, of course, that alone doesn’t make it better than any of the other colleges the OP mentioned. It’s a completely different style of education than any of them provide – something some kids really want, and others not so much.
Air travel is a factor for us in Boston too. I’m open but I’m open to my reality also. Thanks for any input it’s very helpful for me.
What is the net price for each school, and what is the amount you can comfortably pay without compromising retirement, younger kids’ college budgets, etc.? Was there a budget limit that you previously told her?
My very first plane ride was from Portland, OR to Los Angeles, as I flew home from Reed for the holiday break.
To the OP, here’s a link to some information on the Reed website indicating that Reed has among the highest percentages of its graduates who go on to earn PhD’s. https://www.reed.edu/ir/phd.html And this has been true for many decades: https://www.reed.edu/ir/phdrank.html
I agree with the similarity between UChicago and Reed with respect to the intellectual orientation of the two student bodies. But I think Reed’s is somewhat more intense. (My son attended UChicago.)
Reed is an oustanding school and well recognized. U of Chicago is an accurate comparison.
They do not offer merit aid, to anyone. They are incredibly generous with financial aid. If she hasn’t received any aid then they believe you can be full pay which will run you 68k ish.
The question is not just about Reed and whether it is worth it. If Reed thinks you are full pay, so will Ivies. What makes any school worth debt? And how much? Will your student take her own loans as she is able, to go to the school of her choice?
I agree, 20-30k over 4 years? Not a big deal if you have stable employment and income and aren’t planning to retire before it could be paid off.
Borrowing $250- 280k? Shortchanging your own retirement? Different story entirely. Bad idea, for anyone.
But Reed versus Brown at equal costs? I’d call them even personally.
I will rank them on a spreadsheet for her already did but waiting some financial packages. I always stated a limit but I seem to be a push over.We don’t have all the information yet- I look more well off with a second marriage so that kills the financial aid. She’s my 4th and last child and I did very well with merit on the previous 3 older siblings so maybe it’s my time to spend. I don’t know!!! I hope for a decent package!!! I will know by April 1, 2017 just like all these kids waiting!!
We received the package from Reed and it’s doable so we are going there. I’m happy for my daughter and relieved for me that she received a great package. Thank you all for your support. It’s such a life changing decision it seems to all involved.
Reed is amazing and a great fit from what you wrote, but of course only you can decide your financial comfort level and willingness to pay. If I were in your shoes, I’d also have a tough time deciding and I’d be busily doing calculations to determine how much that tuition will affect my quality of life, savings, and future plans. It’s a tough decision. If you can pay, though, without sacrificing beyond your comfort level, then I assure you a Reed education is as good as American undergrad education can get. It’s a remarkable school and its graduates are poised for whatever path they choose to take. (I’m an alum of another top LAC, fwiw, and a huge Reed admirer, as well as a former resident of Portland.)
(I dumbly wrote that comment before realizing you’d already posted your decision. Excellent decision–congrats to you and your daughter!)
Congrats on your decision. Reed is a fabulous school which, by the way, doesn’t participate in the USNews ratings. so has no USNews raining. Ga Tech, Rice and Chicago would have offered equally wonderful educational experiences, but gcongrats on such a great school!