<p>The offer has been open to both my daughters that because of difference in tuition between our awesome in-state school and the out-of-state schools they’ve chosen, that we could buy them a new car with the money saved. It didn’t make a difference in either case, and it wasn’t a bribe to keep them close (they would have been 3 hrs away instead of 7)…just an investment! That’s where the “fit” and “go with your heart” came in and neither of them took the car!</p>
<p>I would never present this sort of “bribery” to my children. If I ever have teenage children who want to go to college, I will let them choose where to apply and attend with as few strings attached as possible. </p>
<p>If at all possible, no strings attached, but there’s no guarantee I’ll be affluent enough to afford every college, so I really can’t give a clear projection. </p>
<p>College is one of the most substantial choices a teenager leaving high school can make, and even if they choose the wrong college at first, the experience gained is more than likely invaluable to their future as independent adults.</p>
<p>I don’t think of it as bribery in the cases I have seen. THe money that would have gone into boarding goes to a car. Sometimes, the parents themselves don’t have a strong preference for which way the kid will choose. As I said before, I may be giving a choice like that to my next one.</p>
<p>Personally the money offers I would more likely give my kids is along the lines of something like this offer. We have $100,000 for you to get started in life. You can use it for undergrad, grad, and buying your first place … feel free to use it as you see fit but that is your budget.</p>
<p>Yes, a couple of family friends did make the car offer in exchange for attending college within driving distance of home. Their kids did not bite…one is at UCD and the other is at Brown.</p>
<p>Not us. No car, yes college. Money we save on no car helps us pay our EFC! ;)</p>
<p>I think it’s immoral to ask a 16-year-old to agree to such a “deal.” There’s a reason kids of that age can’t sign binding legal contracts.</p>
<p>Why the hell would you want your kid to go to a community college if they are capable of better than that? If I was a parent I’d surely want my kid to go to the best college possible, and that’s way more important than being able to buy them a car.</p>
<p>Car = depreciating asset (beginning as soon as you drive it off the lot)
College + experience of living away from home = appreciating asset</p>
<p>:-)</p>
<p>
Made me snort like a pig. Funny!</p>
<p>We have the idea that if D chooses to go to Fordham and live at home (which we’re not thrilled about by any means), we might have to use some of the discount for commuters to get her some kind of a car. I guess the same thing with other local-ish schools since SI has terrible public transportation.</p>
<p>Lol. Why the hell would you want them to stay at home?</p>
<p>If I have kids, I’m handing them the account number for their college savings account and a credit card, and throwing them out, the minute they graduate from high school.</p>
<p>We’ve also offered up marriage bribes to both daughters already…instead of a big wedding, how about we send you someplace really cool and exotic on a honeymoon? It probably won’t work, like the new car bribes didn’t work 
hopefully, we won’t have to worry about that for a LONG time!!</p>
<p>My dad used to say," Fifty bucks and a ladder," when it came to weddings.</p>
<p>This went on back when I was in high school, over 30 years ago. I know kids who were offered cars if they went to state school instead of a private, or if they commuted instead of going away and paying room and board. I didn’t think of it so much as a bribe as the parents evening out the playing field so they’d be paying comparable amounts of money for the total package. The same parents were offering down payments on houses in exchange for elopements.</p>
<p>im a senior in high school getting ready to graduate and getting my license this monday. my dad made me the deal of getting me ANY truck i wanted if i agreed to stay in my little town and attend the community college,which by the way doesn’t offer all my classes(i’d need to travel an hour every now and then). I said NO to the truck and will be leaving to the university of my choice this summer. Both of my parents are convinced to support me no matter what money issues we will have soon. I must admit i understand why my dad would rather have me in town. Our situation at home is very complicated and difficult. But for this reason, I want so much more and better because i know I am capable of it. :D</p>
<p>I have to admit after spending a bundle of time and money for D1’s Sweet 16 dinner, twe offered up money to D2 for hers…and she took it!!! D3 is turning 16 in August…looks like she will follow the same path! :)</p>
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<p>Now THAT is a bribe I could live with. I was planning to get married in court anyways :)</p>
<p>I disagree with linking car and college in the decision-making stage for reasons already articulated by other posters. However, if a child of mine were to choose to attend a college close to home but then as an upperclassman were denied campus housing (this is happening to a friend’s son), then at that point we might have no choice but to use the cost difference in board for a car so the child could get to classes. Living in a dorm on campus is something I’d subsidize. Renting an apartment off campus only 20 minutes from home is not.</p>
<p>Heck, here in Texas we bribe BIG. One of my law partners made a deal with his senior son many years ago - (local top 100 research uni) and you drive the same car or CC and a new red Porsche. It was just the money, not the distance. He took the Porsche and for him it wasn’t that bad a choice. He wasn’t going to study wherever he went.</p>
<p>For my kid? Nope.</p>
<p>Our accountant told us about 15 years ago that he told his kids he’d buy them a car if they went to a SUNY over private so they did. The kids here ALL get brand new cars at 16 (don’t have jobs, just get the keys handed to them) and go to one of the state schools nearby. When our son howled in protest about not getting HIS keys, we told him that a private college education costs a heck of alot more than a car and to zip it! (I have noticed that the kids here come home from State constantly, and some can’t take it and end up back here going to CC. Not sure what that’s all about…has nothing to do with money, though)</p>