<p>DuckPondParent, it really depends on many factors and how important those factors are to the family and the student. For many families I know, if a kid gets into HPY, even if the finances are shaky, the family will do anything it can, to support the kid there. Any full rides anywhere are immediately ditched. This is reflected in the high yield these colleges have. As you go down the name recognition list, other factors start coming into play. The money factor starts becoming an issue when you have a school, that is not in the top 15 (or name your number as this is an individual threshhold that I just picked out of the air), but in , say, the top 50 of colleges. Is it worth it to pay $200K for BU when you get a full ride to Pitt? Yeah, you get Boston, but you can pay for an awful lot of Boston with that kind of money. UMichigan is a fine school, but is it worth the differential in cost if your kid gets a full at Umaryland or Penn State or UIllUrbana/Ch? It's a bit easier to justify the cost when it is a choice between a full ride between University of Southeast State which is primarily a commuter/suitcase U with a large population of part time and non traditional students with lots of adjunct profs, few dorms and weak liberal arts programs when your kids is interested in going the liberal arts route, and, say, schools like Syracuse, Fordham, Miami, etc. When you throw your state u into the mix with a cost somewhere between the free ride and the private cost, the decision starts getting difficult. Is the cost of Syracuse worth it vs the in state cost of say SUNY Buffalo? Now if the kid is really interested in a special program that the private school is well known for, that may tip the balance, but if both programs are pretty close in quality, and the student has no strong preference, that is when the price becomes important. Sometimes it is pretty clear that a kid does not belong in a particular school even if the major has a great rep there, and cost makes it a bargain. For example, some kids you just know will do better in a small school with a strong residential program without the TAs and large lecture halls and bureaucratic issues. A friend of ours who has always been a strong proponent of state schools, knew that her youngest was just not State U material because of some of the immaturity and weaknesses he had when he was 18. It just made for a less stressful experience for all when he went to a smaller college. Other times it is not clear, and many kids will do fine in either environment. </p>
<p>Though there are those who can be happy anywhere, there are kids that would have a better chance at success at certain types of schools. For those who are strong students and emotionally/mentally stable, there is a good chance of blooming whereever planted. But some kids just have special needs. They may not diagnosed or categorized into a special need category, but they just do not thrive in certain environments. It is a painful situation when you stick one of them into a college that just does not fit them. Certainly not worth the monetary savings.</p>
<p>But then true need has to take precedence. To sabotage the entire family's finances for the dream school of a kid, may not be a wise move. Everyone should be one on this decision if the repercussions of paying heavy tuition and taking big loans is going to be painful. But again, all terms are relative, in how they pertain to an individual family.</p>
<p>I doubt my son will get any free rides, but he will likely get something from one of our state schools where the tuition is already reasonably low. We are likely to have to weigh this situation against expensive private schools that seem to be better fits for him. We will have to make the determination as to whether the financial repercussions are going to be worth the advantages. There is no guarantee that sending him to an expensive LAC is going to result in success. There is some risk here. And every family who has finances in the picture has to weigh the situations.</p>