Although I could afford a full pay at Stanford, I would be lying if I did not think to myself “Hey, I would actually like it if my kid went to an Honors College for free or nearly free because we would be saving close to $300k”. I then felt a little bit guilty because I did tell my kid he could apply to Stanford if he wanted to, thinking he had 1% chance to get in. But strangely, I had no hesitation paying full pay at Stanford over in-state costs to Berkeley or UCLA. In my case, we (my kid also) really did not think our kid would get into any of HYPSM. Our goal was get into one of UCLA or Berkeley and one or two Honors with good merits, and then decide.
I will tell you what my biggest fear about my kid’s going to OOS Honors College: even though it had very strong departments in one or two areas, their programs were not strong across the board, and I knew from experience one might change Major one or two times.