But, and perhaps somewhat related to this thread, she was offered a Regents Scholarship at Davis in 1980. Back then, I believe it was a full ride, tuition, stipend for housing, computer, and summer research paid. Undoubtedly, she also would have gotten into Cal and UCLA if she applied, but instead, she took the money and ran, so to speak.
OP must be amused.
Iāve written about this before on CC. Ds had a friend who graduated a year ahead of him who chose to attend UT-Dallas as a McDermott Scholar over being full-pay at Stanford. Canāt tell you how many folks said he was crazy for turning down Stanford (yes, his family could afford it). When we were going though the process, I had a friend say to me, āAnybody who spends $______ (insert full-pay price of elite college) when they can go somewhere for free is crazy.ā
Iām telling you - youāre d@mned if you do, and d@mned if you donāt. No one is likely going to change anyone elseās mind.
or frightened 
@Rivet2000 Without stamps and the monetary difference i would choose Stanford. 100 percent.
But we donāt usually live in a world of absolutes and vacuums.
The question is actually where would you go under these circumstances. And itās a tough call because of the Stanford advantages. Itās just Wake is close enough for me with the other benefits involved to be worthy of a long discussion. And with the long term consequences for a family and student on the line, quick judgements are irresponsible.
Itās best to let the fever of the hunt subside.
Itās just the Stanford and elite proponents wonāt have it.
Thereās no conversation to be had. Itās easy to spend other peopleās money and endanger the future opportunities for child two, med school and retirement. And with such a nearly equally alternative it seems a bit of a folly.
In my business, it would be called negligence if I gave this advice - to a paying client or company.
@privatebanker Not really. You can say it supports your opinion, but I donāt believe so.
A. The list represents ONLY SV hires and the Bay Area is much more than just SV.
B. My peer/friend network seems more dominated by very successful Stanford alums and a few other prestigious universities not located here (Dartmouth, Yale, Harvard, etc.). I guess Iām lucky to have them around to help me. My views here are colored by those who are around me in my daily life.
C. Cal is the largest university in the area, so yes, sheer volume will give them a better chance at being at the top of the list.
D. The old joke about āStanford Rejectsā (Cal vs. Stanford) didnāt start with me. Itās a very old joke. Funny though. I attended neither one. Iām agnostic.
@bluebayou Unless Davis was different than the other UCs, the Regents was probably several hundred dollars and possibly a one time payment. Thatās all UCSD was back then. Berkeley added guaranteed housing, but not money for it. Also, at least in 1978, you basically applied to all UCs on the same app and ranked the order of preference. So if Davis was put first, since it wasnāt impacted you would not be put into Cal or UCLA if they were ranked lower.
@privatebanker sounds right, although I have not read that the OP has expressed conflicts w child #2 or other. I may have missed that.
Much has been said or assumed about job outcomes / placement for WFU. For those interested in facts, go to the Wake website. Under Career Development screen, you can look at actual data (not stats, real data) that account for EVERY student who replied to their first destination survey (has a massive 90%+ knowledge rate- at least recently). Go look at the spread sheets per major and youāll see Major, Yr, Company, Title, ROle, Location. Youāll see that Wake is very well represented in IB in both NYC and Charlotte, Corp Banking, Private Banking / Wealth Mgmt (wish more cared about that because thatās where you can do incredibly well without killing yourself - at least thatās my experience the past 30 yrs), Consulting (Big 4, Booz Allen, Accenture, a few Bain - not many). Typically Fin majors want banking and approx 50% of them get it each yr.
Does it have the quantity of Stanford? Absolutely not. But it is heavily recruited by major banks and firms. They are on campus alot and kids who want to go down that path ( and who do well academically) have a very good shot at those jobs. This is without Stamps. Although an anecdote, Iāve looked through Sās linkedin contacts. Over 200 so far (not bad for a sophomore). Of his peer network, virtually every junior has an impressive upcoming summer internship at GS, Blackrock, Pimco, Wells, Citi, PNC, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Fifth Third, Suntrust, EY, Deloitte, KPMG, Pepsi, Newell Brands, etc.
These kids do just fine if theyāre motivated (which they are or they wouldnāt have been admitted).
@sushritto. The point is as exactly as youāve stated - oneās worldview is colored by your environment. And by confirmation or selection bias.
It would seem that a young engineer in Mumbai wouldnāt understand why anyone would say no to IIT.
Or the young executive in Florida where UF dominates or Georgia with UGA would naturally wonder why anyone would pay to go to school in New England.
Iāve been around and lived and worked with people from all over the world. Iāve had clients that are considered titans of their respective fields turn to me for advice on financial matters.
I can only share my advice and experiences. Disagree as one is free to do.
But I do believe if we all posted our LinkedIn profiles, posters could better determine who is sharing advice based on expertise and who is using emotion.
@ewho I know itās a thing. A thing started by standford grads who are either needlessly insecure or pissed off at that their cal grad boss.
^ You speculate, it could be your secret and should not tell others. We donāt know.
@ewho. I donāt think the cal kids started it themselves. And no one else gives a ā¦lol
@privatebanker Really are we āmeasuringā by the size of our LinkedIn profiles? 
OK, you win there! I only compete in the gym or on the course, court or field. (all said with a sense of humor, of course)
Iāll stick to my original opinion, which is, if it were my child, and not the OPās, then Iād ābeg, borrow and stealā to send my kid to Stanford (I added quotes there this time). My opinion alone and I certainly donāt care if Iām the only one here and Iām swimming up stream. It wouldnāt be the first time in my life. 
What happened to our collective sense of humor? Itās a joke. That website probably was started around the time when they just begun handing out the 1st domain names. Cal and Stanford have had a rivalry for forever.
Actually, I think the regional hiring effects are and will continue to diminish. They will always be there to some extent but for different reasons. I think they are an artifact from a pre-globalization time that just made it easier to hire local. Most big companies look on a global level now. The Silicon Valley ecosystem is slightly different in that it is primarily a startup incubator spinning out new tech at a high rate (even though more that 90% fail) utilizing Bay Area money and the academic concentration in the valley. Other regions are working to build their own ecosystems (Pittsburgh - CMU) but always in the SV shadow (SV still dominates in WW VC money at ~$140B followed by Beijing at almost half that size). Once a startup becomes successful they tend to stay in area but hire globally (Google et al)
@sushritto not by size but content and quality of experiences. The online cv of sorts. I could care less about how many followers my doc has. But I care about relevant experience. And I think the cal reject site is very funny. Good college humor!
This thread is about outcomes and finances. I know a bit about both. But not everything. And I learn a lot here. From everyone. And lots of times you all actually help me change my mind. But for some their accumulation of experience and situational exposure is just a little wider. . In my case itās certainly not because I am smarter or more educated than the vast majority of posters. Or their children. The absolute opposite. You all are an impressive group. Scary smart actually.
But Iāve been blessed by access to the paths to success across a wide spectrum and locations. And Iāve got a decent memory. So Iām sharing observations based on real life and real people. Itās still anectdotal. Take it as you will.
But between several other posters like @Nocreativity1 @roycroftmom @bluebayou @rickle1 etc you get a fairly wide net of accumulated experience that I would seriously take time to consider.
Best to all !
yes, the (ahem) lower UCās had a much more generous Regents scholarship program. (My S was offered one from Davis, and considering UCD for free or the Ancient Eight on finaidā¦)
@privatebanker fwiw iām not defending Stanford (or the ivies) because I went to any of those colleges. I graduated from the much maligned UC Davis in this thread. However, I did grow up and lived 25 years in the SF Bay Area and I have many start-up clients who are graduates and post-grads of these colleges and have personally witnessed the caliber of professionals coming from these institutions of higher learning. Itās extremely impressive and the tippy top HS students really thrive and grow in these intellectual incubators.
You get one shot at an excellent undergrad education and some colleges are just better at it than others.