<p>Excuse me, there's no need to judge me. I am very fortunate in that my parents will pay a good chunk of my tuition, but my dad established early on that he would give each my sister and myself a maximum of 100k for college, which is basically four years of in-state tuition. If I choose to go to a private school and exceed that amount, I WILL be paying him back the difference down to the last cent when I start earning money.</p>
<p>just because your parents offered to pay for your education doesn't mean you are spoiled. </p>
<p>My parents saved money for a long time. As far as I can remember, our family never spends money on luxurious things. It's just come down on how your parents manage their money I guess. My parents didn't go for a 2 week vacation in hawaii every 2-3 years nor do they eat out every week. Our family always lives thriftily and as a result my parents saved enough money to pay my college tuition. Of course, having living this kind of lifestyle for a long time I won't take the free tuition for granted. I respected my parents' contribution for my education and I plan to do the same thing for my kids in the future.</p>
<p>Get into debt. It's the American way! Or, if you are smart, go to the state school and become wealthy quicker.</p>
<p>I think most kids and parents go through this.</p>
<p>If your state doesn't have strong programs in your field of interest then you may not have a lot of choices but to attend an out of state public or private school.</p>
<p>If your parents have gobs of money so that the tuition is almost immaterial, I would recommend the better, more prestigious private school.</p>
<p>If you have only crappy state schools, you might prefer the better name school.</p>
<p>If you can't do well in a large, impersonal environment , and that is all that is offered by your state schools, you may be better off at the private, more name brand school.</p>
<p>However, for most kids the state school is the better choice. It involves a LOT less in tuition. For undergrad, the curriculum is very similar. Thus, the school doesn't vary as much as one would think. In fact, I don't think that I would ever recommend a top notch, name brand school if you will be stuck with more than 60K in debt.</p>
<p>Obviously, this assumes that the private, name brand school doesn't award a lot of grants or scholarhsips. If they do, you might be better off going there.</p>
<p>Summarize:</p>
<p>Little money and thus, large loans, go to state school
state schools don't have your major..... go to out of state or private school
Private, name brand school gives good scholarship and/or grants---go there
You can't handle large, impersonal environment....private school may be better</p>
<p>Your parents have gobs of money....go to the name brand school</p>
<p>Obviously, this is my opinion.</p>
<p>as for those considering UCLA vs a private school:
i wasn't quite in your situation (money wasn't THE deciding factor, but it certainly played a role) but i was deciding between three schools.
one, private, small classes, small freshman class, much more personalized attention.
another, public (UC Davis), regent's scholarship (therefore the cheapest option), a good school yet less prestigious (and, arguably, fewer opportunities socially/academically) than UCLA.
and finally, UCLA.
as you can tell <----- i chose UCLA. more expensive than davis, but a LOT cheaper than the private school. honestly, i feel that even if you get "better" opportunities/quality of life/teacher access/smaller classes at a private school, the improvements are not in proportion with the extra money. eg, you get slightly more opportunities (say between a large private and large public), slightly more prestige, slightly more access to profs, slightly more... fill in the blank. not $80,000 grand more, IMO.
if you go to a large public such as UCLA or Cal (i can't really say for any out of state publics), then honestly, you can find EXACTLY the same things that you'd get (a little more easily) at a large private. such as, smaller class sizes. true, lectures will be larger. but the discussion sections are what count, and they're never more than about 20 students. also, with honors programs or other such things, you can find TINY classes (such as 12 people and a 4 person discussion section). true, the discussions are led by TAs, not professors. but both TAs and profs have office hours, and many of them are VERY accomodating and caring. you'll find mean professors at publics OR privates, and you'll find exceptional professors at both as well.
the biggest difference, to me, seems to be the quality of life. at the private school i could have had a single room (or a spacious double), a parking spot, and a 5 (not 25) minute walk to class. and perhaps counseling/academic advising would consist of a little more guidance and hand-holding than at a public. but help is there if you ask for it in the right places.
so it all boils down to where you believe you can thrive the best, and whether you think your extra money will get you any bang for your buck.
good luck to all of you facing this dilemna! :)</p>
<p>As stated so often on these threads, this shows the importance of having an affordable safety that you would be happy with.</p>
<p>At this late date, the choice shouldn't be between $80K for your dream school and an affordable public that you don't like. Either get over your prejudice for the public school & find something to love about it, or find a third choice. MHO.</p>
<p>My daughter is in a similar situation...she has been accepted into the art program at Carnegie Mellon(her dream school), 2 other small LAC, and SUNY New Paltz. We could pay for New Paltz out right, she would be in the small honors program, great location, same size as CMU, not sure about the academic challenge. With CMU(still waiting on fin aid pkg) she would be in debt probably about 50K, same debt with the LAC's. With an art degree is the more prestigious school worth it???</p>
<p>Frankly, the IS schools have a lot to offer besides lower tuition costs. Just because a private school is costly, does not necessarily indicate a superior education or the promise of a lucrative career, either. We often think that if something costs more, it's worth more...but is this always the case??? Before getting into debt, perhaps it's worth the time to further investigate state universities. Even state universities outside of the student's home state could offer great value and an excellent education in the student's particular field of interest. In the end, each family and student must consider what is best for them.... These are very personal decisions....</p>
<p>For all of those deciding between UCB/UCLA and a private school i think the choice is clear. Go to UCLA/UCB. They are top notch universities and every bit as reputable as those other privates. </p>
<p>To the OP: Go to the state school. You can get a lot out of going to a state school and you cna still get into top grad programs. Case in point:</p>
<p>I had three cousins. All were Texas residents. All got into MIT/Stanford/Duke/UPenn etc. But instead went to UT-Austin, in their honors program (plan II). Because they were so bright and so smart, they were able to excel in the classes and becasue it was honors they were actually intellectually challenged. After graduation one went to JHU Medical, another to Harvard Law and another works on Wall Street right now. You can get a lot out of a state school and have great chacnes to get into a top grad school if you go to the state school and DO WELL</p>
<p>Perhaps it would be a good exercise for all students to get a summer job. With that job, give a set amount to your parents for "room and board for the summer", "car insurance" , "gas", "health insurance". Then see how much you will have left over for clothes, entertainment and frills AND try to save $1000. </p>
<p>This would give all students a more realistic idea of what it means to have to pay down debt. </p>
<p>$80,000 in debt is HUGE.</p>
<p>quote: "My daughter is in a similar situation...she has been accepted into the art program at Carnegie Mellon(her dream school), 2 other small LAC, and SUNY New Paltz. We could pay for New Paltz out right, she would be in the small honors program, great location, same size as CMU, not sure about the academic challenge. With CMU(still waiting on fin aid pkg) she would be in debt probably about 50K, same debt with the LAC's. With an art degree is the more prestigious school worth it???"</p>
<p>No, it's not worth it. </p>
<p>Art majors are a dime a dozen and even the most talented more often than not either can't find a job at all or end up working their rear off for a paupers wage. Go with the school you can afford and seek advice on how to tailor the art program so that your daughter will have a marketable skill after she graduates (specializing in restoration, management, business or the like perhaps - you may want to seek out professionals in the art field for advice. I'm sure they will have plenty to give. )</p>
<p>I thought Wesleyan met 100% need of those accepted.</p>
<p>The phrase "will meet 100% of need" is utter nonsense. How a college and the federal government define "need" and what they believe a family can afford to pay is often nowhere near the realm of reality. Several of the schools my daughter applied to this year have officially "met" her need with their financial aid offers--leaving her with possible post-graduation debt ranging from $50,000 to $70,000. Alas. ... I feel your pain, Luwain. Some of these same schools state in their literature that average student debt upon graduating is $18,000. Hmmm. How do they figure? Seems the needs of some are being better met than the needs of others!</p>
<p>
[quote]
With an art degree is the more prestigious school worth it???
[/quote]
</p>
<p>But with an art degree, will you be able to live decently and pay back the amount of the loan? What kind of degree? I have a sister who went to state U over pricey private. No loans. In the end, it was her talent and not her degree that got her in the door and up the ladder. And after the early years of living very simply on an artists salary, she lived the rest of her life simply. She is now working for a very large corporation, and counting the days when her years with the compamy combined with her age reaches 75 (she'll be 53) and she'll be able to retire with benefits.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Excuse me, there's no need to judge me. I am very fortunate in that my parents will pay a good chunk of my tuition, but my dad established early on that he would give each my sister and myself a maximum of 100k for college, which is basically four years of in-state tuition. If I choose to go to a private school and exceed that amount, I WILL be paying him back the difference down to the last cent when I start earning money.
[/quote]
I'm in almost the same situation. My parents are willing to pay 100k, which would leave me with 20k in debt at the private school or plenty to spare at the IS school. I'm still not sure what to do.</p>
<p>I agree with Pearl. I can't see how having 60+K in debt is worth almost any undergraduate major and especialy a low paying major such as art, design and education.</p>
<p>Exact same problem: NYU vs. UGA. I am going crazy trying to make my decision. Whatever, good luck to all.</p>
<p>
I think that if you really like the private school, 20k is a pretty reasonable amount to pay back and can be done pretty quickly. 80k, not so much...</p>
<p>I'm actually in the opposite situation. I was accepted to UCLA (I'm OOS from Florida) and would sell my soul to go there, but my loans would exceed $20k a year. I was also accepted to BU with nearly a full ride and GW with around 80% covered, but my heart belongs to UCLA.</p>
<p>I want to be a journalist so I obviously won't be making a lot of money, but the question is this: will I regret it for the rest of my life if I don't take the chance to go to UCLA? Can I give up that opportunity? Unfortunately, I don't have the perspective right now that I will in 20 years, so I just don't know what to do.</p>
<p>From this thread, it seems that I'm not alone in having budgeted $25K per year for each of my children. I thought I was doing great, saving that kind of money for college, and it WILL pay for any number of public schools, or a lower-tier private with a big chunk of merit aid.</p>
<p>I continue to be astounded, however, that the private schools are charging $45K per year! Are the publics getting that much of a subsidy from their states, or is it just that the market will bear it?</p>
<p>The market will bear it, since they mark that down substantially for students who truly can't pay.</p>