STATE HONORS COLLEGE VS PRIVATE COLLEGE

College Search & Selection
1

Hello… I have been reading many posts on this site. And I probably already know the answer to this… but here we go.

I am a single parent. My DS is a senior this year. # 1 in his class and just got his Eagle Scout status. Great kid, very very hard working and has his priorities in order. Did 1540 on SAT… so, I think, WOW… college choice should be easy, right?

Then comes the reality. I have a DD who went to college to a PA State school when she graduated. Here abilities were very basic. The costs associated with that state school were doable, as we were PA residents. She is successful now, and college was a benefit to her.

Now, with my DS, I had high expectations. Yes, I was not a college attendee, so I am living vicariously through him… I felt that he deserved the best for working extrememely hard during his high school years. So I hired an advisor and we started the process.

Applied to some state schools (Univ of Pittsburgh, and Penn state) just to check on the economic side of things. Then a slew of others. Georgetown (accepted) Villanova (accepted) Lafayette (hoping for local scholarship) Cornell, Univ of Penn ,Boston college, Univ of Rochester, John Hopkins, and the big “H” just to see ( we haven’t heard from these yet- will soon). And you know what, I think I really screwed up.

Even with an advisor, I truly didn’t comprehend the way these private colleges do business. I made the assumption that my DS would be awarded a myriad of merit based scholarships… only to find out that that just isn’t true. Almost every one of the colleges listed will provide “need based” aid. In reality, as a single wage earner, I cannot afford these other colleges. I have about 100K saved up. And my wages are very up and down.

So, when Georgtown sent the accepted letter, we were both ecstatic!! Proud I was!! Then the “financial” aid… almost nothing. about 4K, based on my 2018 salary, which was inflated based on how my company paid me. Anyway, I submitted paperwork for an appeal, as my 2019 income is half of what 2018 is. Still waiting to hear.

I decided I needed to have “that talk” with my DS. I sent him an article about the options of going into hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt for the chance to go to a private college, vs a great state school. We discussed how long he planned to go to college, which is a minimum of 8 years, as he is interested in the medical field. the numbers were frightening.

So, we are closely monitoring what will come in. University of Pittsburgh accepted him, and then another acceptance came in from the Honors College. 300 applicants get accepted out of 7,000 who apply. Seems prestigious to me, with some perks. And Pitt has associations with 7 local hospitals, etc. Lastly??? As a PA resident, the cost is 30K a year, and they gave him a 10K scholarship/year. Total cost? 20 K… Unreal.

I am almost fearful that he will get accepted to some of these other schools, especially Univ of Penn, his favorite. But this kid is realistic… he really is. After our discussion, we both agreed that so far, Univ of Pitt makes sense. But I can tell that as the “Valedictorian” of his class, that saying Pitt vs Georgetown( or other private school) seems like a downer… My heart breaks for him a bit on this.

We will see what comes this spring.

Comments welcome…

p.s. my DS told me his one friend is in the same predicament… He was accepted to $$$ school and State school. His parents said they would buy him a Tesla if he took the State school. My jaw hit the floor. My DS is not serious in this, but it certainly was an interesting discussion. I said (with a laugh) that if anyone gets a Tesla it would be me , as my car has 130K miles on it. It was funny, but indicative of what parents are thinking … these days. Just look at the well offs who are bribing college admission officers. This entire sitaution is crazy…

2

Pitt is a great school. Georgetown is unaffordable. Debt is bad.

3

There are many, many top HS students, valedictorians etc who are/were in the same financial situation as your son. He is not alone.

Pitt is a great school with lots of amazing opportunities. In my opinion he should attend an affordable school and really rock those 4 years!

4

Of course see how things shake out but if he does end up in the Honors program at Pitt you should both be very proud!

5

Yeah, typically to get those big merit awards, you’d have to apply to colleges a bit lower in the rankings, where your son’s stats are towards the top of the class. But honors at Pitt IS something to be proud of and does reward his hard work and accomplishments! If you can get him through with little to no debt, that would be a wonderful gift.

6

First of all, I’d recommend cutting yourself a bit of slack. I’ve learned that the process isn’t as logical or intuitive as expected. I’m curious if his adviser was unaware of the lack of merit aid at these schools?

It sounds like you have a really awesome and practical kid. If you can continue to steer him away from debt, you will be helping him so much in the long run (even if there isn’t a Tesla in the mix).

7

https://finaid.org/calculators/awardletteradvanced.phtml

This is a nice calculator that will help you and your son crunch the numbers and come to a final decision. He also needs to know that he can only borrow the standard federal student loans on his own ($5,500 freshman year, $6,500 junior year, $7,500 junior year, and $7,500 senior year). He can’t end up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt right out of college for an undergraduate degree unless you co-sign the loans with him. Fortunately, you don’t seem to by the type to do that. :slight_smile:

Wishing you all the best!

8

Pitt grad and currently in a Pittsburgh suburb. Your story is normal. My son had no intention of attending a public school. I still made him apply to our flagships this year. He did begrudgingly.

Most of his classmates go to Pitt or Penn State. I told him it’s not because they can’t get into other schools. It’s cost. I don’t think he believed me. As his acceptances and scholarships have arrived he’s starting to understand. He got into almost every school with merit. Just not as much merit as he thought he would get.

Your son will be fine at Pitt especially with Honors access. If he’s thinking medical field then he’ll have access to plenty of research and clinical opportunities plus no debt. Med school or PA school is expensive. For $20k/year Pitt is a steal. The best gift you could give is no debt with some money left over for med school or grad school.

9

My journey with my D sounds so similar. She has worked so hard throughout all her years of school and is such a great student and a great kid in general. I want her to be able to go to whatever school she wants. Similar to you, reality sunk in. I had her apply to U Alabama for a full tuition scholarship but she does NOT want to go there. She just applied to Pitt last week. She did not want to but as I was pressuring her to apply to have another affordable option - I sent her SAT scores and they emailed her offering a application fee waiver based on her test scores - so she agreed to apply. I also told her she could take a car to school if she goes there. I really assumed she would get accepted with alot of merit aid but had no idea how many kids out there have top stats. I wish I had started this process setting out more realistic expectations - for both of us. Pitt is considered a safety for top students at her school and she looks at where her friends have gotten in ED (Yale, Emory, Brown, etc…) and wants a top school for herself. I tell her its not where you go but what you make of it. So we will see in a few weeks where all this shakes out.
A friend of mine has a son who was accepted to Georgetown with no money and got a full ride to St Josephs in Phili - he is at St Josephs and really loves it. So it all works out. Good luck!

10

Oh, congrats on Pitt Honors! Thats fantastic! I told my daughter the average stats at Pitt from their common data set - they are very impressive. 53% of last years class in top 10% of class and 61% had a GPA of 4.0!

11

@Ohtheplaceswego merit from Pitt will be tough at this point if you need it. Typically all merit is awarded by March 1.

IMHO a car at Pitt isn’t a great idea. It’s an urban campus. Expensive, no spots, and cars get dinged up. Walking to class would be faster than driving around for a spot.

12

Thanks for the advice on the car. We are in DC so get $10k off a public university and my D has $7k per year on raiseme.

13

Also I was thinking a car not to get to classes but to get from home in DC to Pitt.

14

It may be tough for teenagers to understand, but a college isn’t a prize (just like a spouse/SO shouldn’t be either). It should be something that helps you on your journey in life towards fulfillment and happiness. Which means that the financial aspect matters. Often more than the facile opinion of others.

15

To each their own but same principles apply. Cost, parking expense, headaches, maintenance, insurance costs for 4-6 trips per year? Typically a 4 hour drive unless you hit 70/270 traffic then all bets are off plus weather can be interesting in the winter on 68 through Maryland.

Amtrak, Megabus, or plane would seem to be the more practical approach. Probably tons of kids from NOVA would be willing to ride share.

Good luck.

16

I know it’s tough - kids feel like they need to leave the state to be successful. I can’t tell you how many high achieving NJ students pay full price to go to Pitt!

17

You know… I am not sure. The Advisor and I had a very frank conversation about it. So, I think we were both hoping. The A had Villanova, BC, University of Rochester, Lafayette, and Pitt and Penn. We threw in a couple big ones just because. Georgetown was just a hope at that point, but he got in EA… At the time the A and I were using my 2017 income which is comparable to my new 2019 income (hence me filing some appeals). But my 2018 was such an anomaly that I will be paying full price for these schools based on that… I truly feel like I failed this kid Sad mom…