These Stamps vs Stanford decisions are fascinating. I wish you all the best on a difficult decision to make, albeit a good one to have. It seems like the support of the Stamps could seriously elevate the opportunity at a school to make it much more in line with something like Stanford. A couple of years ago we thought we were going to have to make a $20K/year choice between 2 similar schools and I thought that was hard. I hope you and your child all find comfort in whatever decision you make.
Many IR majors continue on to get a law degree or MPA. Those degrees are expensive, if that is a consideration
I want/expect her to go to graduate school. I would prefer an MBA or med school over a law degree bc I am a lawyer. The real consideration is that we have told my daughter that if she goes to Ole Miss, she will have a significant amount of $ for graduate school. My sister who is a 46 year old urologist who is still paying off her med school loans is all in for Ole Miss. The informal poll of my friends is quite interesting. The people who have had to pay back significant student loans ā¦ favor Ole Miss around 8-1. The non-student loan people are Stanford by the same margin.
These are great choices to have the luxury to make, but painful nonetheless. I have nothing to add in terms of considerations to make, as this is purely a family decision. Good luck!
Wow. Big high five to you and your D. Amazing results! Just to be clear, I think everyone understands the allure and low odds of a name like Stanford saying yes to us. Itās very flattering. Especially in the hyper competitive collegiate arms race. Itās a big point of pride for you. And itās an amazing school.
But just to be sure. I want to break out what I think you told us.
-Free ride for at ole miss, ACC conference and state flagship
-Including room and board. 200k for all.
-Books. 12k
-Computers. 3k
-A Travel budget, 28k
-You have special honors on campus and on degree 80k (Private school delta)
- National scholar conferences 20k
- A monthly fun money stipend. 5k
And forever a Stamps Scholar at Ole Miss. pretty darn nice and fun school too
The only close thing to this is see is the benefits offered to a recruit of a service academy. And it is still not this generous. And there you have to commit to years of military service. And go through plebe year. Lol. Thankfully some some kids choose this route.
Versus full pay at Stanford. Which is the best to have on your resume. And all the pristige, connections and great classmates.
So letās look at it with a different sort of lens for a moment.
Ok so letās say Amazon and Google are the best companies for tech. Or Bain or Mckinsey for consulting. Or GS or Merrill Lynch for IB as examples. The best names long term for your resume and bragging rights. And the connections and people you would be around are the brightest minds out there.
Would you accept an offer to work there for the next four years but the catch is you have to pay them for that privilege. And not a little. They are asking for $300,000 and you have to pay for everything else including travel , your own computer and the employee manuals are 3000 a year too.
And your next job aka law school is another 300k. And no pay.
Or you can work at an excellent alternative. The same exact job title and job experience. Say Oracle for tech, Kaiser for consulting, Raymond James or Silicon Valley Bank for IB. None of these nearly as elite. But pretty darn good. And theyāll call you a Stamps fellow forever too
Oh and they will pay you 360k roughly for the four years. And your next job aka law school is essentially free too since the money is already there by then.
So would you pay to work at Google vs Oracle. Bain vs Kaiser. For the more elite resume name and connections.
Thatās a personal decision. But I donāt get it.
Hereās a sample of the leading names today current shaping public policy and IR.
-Hillary Clinton Wellesley College (when acceptance rate was over 50 percent).
-Ambassador/Gov. Nicky Haley - Clemson
-Sen. Kamela Harris - Howard
- Rep. Nancy Pelosi - Trinity Washington U
-AOC - Boston University
Itās a tough choice for you. I wish you the best. And wanted to give you a viewpoint that might be helpful if you choose Ole Miss.
If you choose Stanford. It would of course work out great too.
I just donāt know about automatically better the way some like to portray.
Well, that makes sense, Houston Ken. If the costs were equal, that might lead to one decision. A 500k difference might lead to another. As one commentator noted when considering a somewhat similar situation on Wall St. Oasis, if you canāt figure out the value of 500k, maybe you donāt belong on Wall St.
Heck, Iād go to Ole Miss for thatā¦
ā¦but, I asked my S and said he would notā¦go figure
@Rivet2000 lol.
teenagers have no concept how much effort it takes and the privilege one needs to have employment leading to making a million dollars - about what it takes to have 500k for college and grad school after taxes and fica ssi and Health insurance etc.
And this is before youāve clothed fed or housed a person. And maybe a few cars. Vacations. Travel teams.
You need twice this amount. And god forbid you save anything.
Thatās 100k a year for a 20 years of blood sweat and tears. And not one penny left over when itās all said and done.
I love my daughter but her feelings on costs and monetary issues have no bearing in our house. Lol. They think a money fairy shows up and leaves checks for college. And while they are sleeping in on a summer mornings Iām grinding it out on the highway to work.
I would ask Nebraska grad Warren buffet what he would do. Honestly. I donāt know but I can guess.
Ya, I feel ya. My only point is that where you stand depends on where you sit. Our S had different circumstances so his decision making process was different than the posters. His opinion re Ole Miss, however, is based on his academic experiences and opportunities. Confirmation bias on his part Iām sure, but everyone is entitled to an opinion.
OPās dilemma concerns a choice between Stanford & Wake Forest University. While researching another school, I came across several articles written within the past few years dealing with stress at ācollegesā (all were & are universities). Somewhat surprised to see both Stanford & Wake Forest (Work Forest) listed among the top 5 most stressed out colleges. (Stanford was #2 & WFU at #5.)
You donāt need to worry about that. If Stanfordās admissions practices are remotely similar to the data coming out of the Harvard lawsuit, sheāll have classes with athletes and development admits, both of which will be significantly dumber than the standard students. We should probably add that to the list of really great reasons these elite colleges give such strong preferences to athletes - it ensures the rest of the students donāt ever have to feel like the dumbest kid there.
@Rivet2000 Of course. But with medicial issues I stick with the opinions of drs. Law the lawyers. Bridge strength to engineers. Money. For college. The person paying lol. Yes everyone is entitled to an opinion. Some are just more informed.
And for individual decisions you go with the individual. If money is not an issue for a given family, then others should not insist that it should be. Different colleges come with different opportunities. Yes, I am one those CCāre who claim that not all colleges deliver the same opportunities. I am, however, also in camp that says if you canāt afford it - donāt do it.
OP: āI am very worried that my daughter will feel like she is the dumbest kid at Stanford.ā
it reminds me of that old jokeā¦What do you call the person who graduated in last place at Harvard Medical School? Doctor.
Sheāll do great.
For those who can afford it, Iāve seen most of my kidsā peers go with the elite school over the full ride. I remember only one student who picked the full ride Temple award over having to pay full price to a private top 20. So there are many folks who go with the prestige, the name.
In addition to the full freebies at Old Miss, the parents can also throw in the cost difference between the two schools at graduation. That kind of money would give most graduates a huge head start in life along with the no loan status. Iād throw that into the equation if possible.
People make very different decisions when they are bearing the cost, in colleges, and in life. Personally, I think decision making improves when people are personally invested in the outcome.
This is a great discussion. My daughter may face a similar question next year with different schools. For me the āXā factor is how good of a fit the student thinks the full-ride school (Wake/Old Miss etc) is for him/her. Someone raised the point that Wake may not offer a good experience for Jewish students, and maybe Old Miss for Houstonken might be a hard place for kids from New England to find their community. Itās probably too late to schedule a weekend with a student at Wake, but if I were in your position, Iād plan a two-day visit, sit in on some classes and hang out at the student center, and let your daughter see how good a fit there is. If sheās gonna be unhappy, no amount of scholarship money is worth it, IMO. Itās four years of her life, after all.
OP. Beware of posters who joined CC in the past 24 hours and suggest you spend $500,000. Thatās unless they are writing the check or willing to endanger their own retirement for years to come as well.
OP here. @privatebanker Thanks for the advice and keeping this fascinating topic alive.
@HoustonKen Congrats to your daughter. I feel like Iāve had almost identical thoughts as you. Iāve even mentioned the money for a new vehicle and traveling. Itās a great problem to have, but still a problem. I have āWakeā days and I have āStanfordā days. Itās amazing how undecided we all are.
Good luck to you guys - keep us posted.
Iām late to the thread, but Iāll throw in a vote for Stanford. Yes, we are paying the equivalent of a (cheaper) Tesla, yearly, but Iāll just keep driving my 2001 Toyota until it breaks. If you had to go into true debt, then thatās a whole other story, but if we are talking about vacations and nicer cars (and homes), then Stanford. I may not see the inside of a Ritz-Carlton or Four Seasons for another 20 years, but hopefully sheāll take us there some day!