<p>mam1959: I agree with previous posters who have commented that a choice between no-name public and an Ivy is a lot easier than the choice is between one of the best public universitites in the US, like UVA, and an Ivy. I’m not sure you can go extremely wrong either way, so choosing must have been difficult.</p>
<p>Our choice for child #2 will be between completely free and sub-top 50 in the rankings, or Ivy and moderately costly (good FA but painful enough). It was easier to chose the Ivy route for our first, since we had decent college savings and he was a kid who clearly needed a top school. Those savings are now depleted, and D is a tougher nut to crack and understand. So do we make the same choice for her when it will hit us more in the wallet? I try not to judge other people’s decisions because we have struggled very much through this processs and so easily could have made a different choice. Can’t say others have been quiet about their opinions regarding our choice, though.</p>