Some students get energized surrounded by high achievers and others can get demoralized. It’s the classic Big fish vs small fish syndrome.
IMHO, finances should not be the main criterion as he OP has indicated they can comfortably afford S. Does it hurt that we could have bought multiple Tesla’s or paid off our mortgage with the money spent on tuition? Yes, but we don’t mind driving older cars and working longer.
Great overall thread. A salient point was made about supporting one’s decision. That seems unavoidable as OP’s S will do great at either and he’ll never know the other experience.
Something to consider re the fit issue is the type of experience S is seeking ( beyond the brand) Stanford is incredible but much of the wow factor exists at the graduate level. UG is wonderful too. Wake, like truly fine LACs - really what it is from a practical standpoint ( with the exception of having a top notch UG biz school) - is all about the UG experience . Their UG academics are on par with the best schools in the country. That’s their focus, an in person, intimate, outstanding UG education to prepare students for top careers or top grad schools. Much smaller than Stanford. My guess is a more collaborative environment, etc.
Fit is a big thing.
I may have missed something, but OP has not said anything about the son’s intended field of study or his career ambitions. Prestige may or may not matter that much depending on these factors.
We were in a similar situation last year—full ride with scholarship (at a T15-25 school) vs HYPS full pay. I totally agree that there is no an easy answer as someone pointed out when stakes are high opinions are full of confirmation bias. Our thought process was a bit simplistic–when money is lost you will always have a chance to make it back; when prestige and opportunity are lost they are gone forever. We preferred a situation that was a little more repairable if we were wrong.
I am not familiar with the prestige and opportunities Stamp will bring. They seem to be on par with those of Stanford to many people on CC here. But outside of certain circles I imagine Stamp is not nearly as well known as Stanford.
So I’m seeing a trend here, the logical part of us says save the money and go to WF, but the parent in us who sees a child work so hard to get where they are will simply foot the bill for Stanford. My bet is he ends up at Stanford, let us know.
@NCKris: “IMHO, finances should not be the main criterion as he OP has indicated they can comfortably afford S”
I wouldn’t say that when the OP has stated that they have $250K saved up for the college education of 2 kids and 4 years of Stanford costs $300K.
Would you like to tell the younger sibling, if she also got in to Stanford: “sorry, we know you got in to Stanford but we simply can’t afford it and you’ll have to go to a state school instead because we blew all our college funds on your brother even though he actually got a terrific free Stamps Scholar opportunity at WFU so he gets to go to Stanford but you don’t”?
I don’t think this is necessary a reward for a kid who has worked so hard. Internationally, Stanford is still a more recognizable name - if it is important to OP’s kid some day. For some career it matters more than others.
“when money is lost you will always have a chance to make it back; when prestige and opportunity are lost they are gone forever.”
I disagree with this line of thinking. Hopefully, one doesn’t die straight after attending undergrad, in which case, there are plenty of opportunities to gain prestige through grad school, companies/positions on your resume, etc. And smart driven kids can create their own opportunities.
Money, on the other hand, compounds. You can keep gaining money and spend it, or you can gain money, invest it, and see it compound.
Now granted, there are situations where spending the money on education/prestige makes a lot more sense and investing. In a corrupt country where you are an oppressed minority who could gain a huge increase in income by migrating out, for instance. I would say that, as of yet, that doesn’t describe the US.
Some of this decision comes down to whether or not you’re a parent who puts the kid’s college bumper sticker on your car.
My friends and I have determined this is a pretty good, if crude and simplistic, metric for how prestige driven a person is.
@PurpleTitan
My comment was based on how I read OP. , have quite a bit of college savings already and a high income. They didn’t mention it anything about being impossible to send the 2nd kid to college.
Hope OP comes back with an update!!
I’m more of a license plate frame person myself - swag is fine if it also has a function. I hope my demographic is represented in your analysis, @milee30 
It was a fairly lengthy, wine-fueled discussion that included people of the bumper sticker persuasion and those that prefer to go without, so you can imagine there was a variety of opinion.
Some of the categories we discussed included:
- Parents who have a bumper sticker from a prestigious college
- Parents who have kids at a prestigious college but who do not have a bumper sticker
- Parents who have kids at a nonprestigious college and who have that bumper sticker
- Parents who have kids at a nonprestigious college and do not have a bumper sticker
- Parents who only put the prestigious bumper stickers on yet somehow leave off the nonprestigious colleges their other kids attend
I don’t remember licence plates entering in the discussion. Guessing there is some critical information we’d need to understand, such as just how flashy and bedazzled the plate is or whether it’s just a subtle surround in the college colors. 
This is rather silly. I could buy a lot of Birkin bags with 300K and I could get a lot more ooh and ahhs than a bumper sticker.
@milee30 How about parents who have the non prestigious bumper sticker but not the prestigious one?
Nope. You “show” the bumper sticker to far more people as you drive around and given how many knockoff Birkins are out there, not to mention how many people have no idea how much one costs or what one is… the Birkin is only an “in the know” showoffy thing.
As a Wake grad, your son should choose Stanford, especially if he wants to major in a STEM field or go to med school. If he wants a small liberal arts school in the South, go to Wake.
I am not a bumper sticker person, but if I were, I would certainly never do this! Its just awful. By the way, we have strayed far away from OPs original question. Sorry OP!
No different than colleges. Most Americans wouldn’t be able to name all the Ivies. It is silly to think people would send their kids to a particular college just so they could tell people about it. On the other hand, if it matters for future career then it is a complete different discussion.
Didn’t come up in conversation since none of us knew of any of those.
Not silly at all and we see it multiple times a day here on cc. A good example is a kid who applies to all the Ivies.
We are talking about the same Wake Forest, the really prestigious one in North Carolina?
The one that costs $70,000 per year and has some top students at the valedictorian level considering a gap year because they didn’t get in?
The one known as Work Forest because of the academic rigor and intensity?
The one with the spectacular and beautiful campus? And all the school spirit?
And the Stamps Scholar is the one with the national network and way above honors college prestige, access to research and selectivity?
I’m just asking because there are a lot of schools with similar sounding names. Like Lake Forest or Sherwood Forest etc.
This is the school offering the OP $300,000 and Stamps. Just checking.