<p>I’m sorry, where did I say that only one college could ever provide that right fit or that a student should pick /idealize one school only? I never did. </p>
<p>As an example, my son who ED’d at Northwestern and for whom it’s a great fit, indeed more than I ever thought – his second choice was ED II at Kenyon. LAC, small town, versus uni near major city. I have no doubt he could have loved and fit into Kenyon as well -on different dimensions, but still had a great time. I don’t think he’d “fit” at a school the size if Michigan, nor would he have fit at NYU or George Washington.</p>
<p>“it is important for a student to understand themselves and find the right fit for them.”
-This is the ONLY thing that is important. Many transfer because they do not feel that they fit. It is better do lots of research and not stick to ranking as the most important criteria, as it is NOT. Kids who are taking it very seriously, visit several times, talk to current students, stay overnight, talk about their prospective classes, check out dorms, food service, potential advisory in their area of interest, walk on campus, check out housing for upper classmen,…the list can go on and on, but the point is that the deeper they check the better off they are later on. Frankly, ranking does not provide any of that. Un-happy kid will not produce “happy” results, the goals will be in danger. Ranking is the same as letting others to decide where you want to go.</p>
<p>For my D, exactly what PG states is true for her. She came from a large public HS and did “cherry pick” the other focused-on-education kids to hang with (outside of her teammates), but was pretty tired of so many kids who were just average or worse. She is loving her choice - worth every penny to my family.</p>
<p>Not many “average” were around my D. at her state public. Honors accepted only the top 200 with qualifications of being top 2% and ACT=31+. Later we found out that most were valedictorians with high number from private HSs. D. fitted in that group perfectly and had good variety of friends, including other majors.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP, while that is true of the Honors programs, there are plenty of average students at her school. Plenty of scores below CC standards were there, if she chose to look for them. That is what makes state schools a great experience, the diversity outside of the classroom.</p>
<p>^This is very possible. Cannot judge, except for several comments from my D. who currently has many in her class from Ivy’s and other very top colleges. Apparently it is too general of statement and there are exceptions, but she calls many of her classmates “intense people from fancy schools”. As I said, many probably are not, but she has very hard time being around very focused people, they make her feel high level of anxiety that nobody needs to experience, it does not help. She likes those who have a bit more relaxed attitude. Apparently, she learned that wide variety of people and being able to choose your own crowd will help in any situation. You can only learn this if you are in diverse environement. She also acknoledges that being “intense” works for some and there is nothing wrong with it, it is just a different attitude.
Diversity in UG helps a lot with personal growth and I strongly agree with that.</p>
<p>Pizza girl is getting a lot of support on this thread. She described a STEM kid like the worm, who chose the STEM schools for UG and grad, rather than the more well- rounded schools like HYP. I think the worm would be content to work in a lab or research group forever.</p>
<p>The fitting is a key. Not all STEM kids are rather be in research though, it is way too general. How about all MD’s? They were STEM kids at some point in their lives. How about engineers. IT, many others who “human” skills more than their technical skills, cannot do anything without VALID input from customers and internal users. To obtain this input is a major task. Misunderstanding is very common, many people who these “technicians” ask, do not have a clear clue at all, you need to be able to break this barrier. I believe that very few of STEM will be in research. most others will do other jobs that require great communicatin skills, understanding of personalities, different business cultures and many other “human” aspects.</p>
<p>Fit, fit, fit. In our case, the kids’ first choice was the state U. Bright Futures made it possible for us to “save” the savings we had accumulated for their college educations. They were happy as clams, dove into lots of opportunities that the huge university had to offer, and found their niche social clan among the thousands of students. Fast forward to one in med school and the other in grad school. Boy, am I glad that money didn’t get touched!</p>
<p>^Exactly our story, I could have just retyped it. The little side comment, if if a kid is Ivy’s caliber, most likely he/she will have free or close to free UG education at many State Publics and good number of great privates. Just keep this in mind. And opportunites for “star” caliber kid at non-Ivy UG’s is literally boundless, they get hand picked, they are showered by various opportunites and awards sometime even without any application. We had no idea, but it truly was way beyond what we expected. But, many others would find their “fit” at Ivy, which is fine, whatever fits will work out the best.</p>
<p>Diversity and Miami Ohio is an oxymoron. If intensity bothers a person, med school might be a tough road. State medical schools are actually the best idea. You could have saved the money to build your own swimming pool!</p>
<p>I think there’s some difference of opinion in this thread because some people are looking at the “worth” from an utilitarian and bottom-line job creation and employability perspective, and others are looking at it from a “starting your adult life with generative mind-expanding experiences (without use of drugs (necessarily))” perspective.</p>
<p>Sevmom is absolutely right. We both have certainly enjoyed and benefited from our education at HYP in both fronts, and are hoping that our kids can do the same.</p>
<p>The Original Post was: “$20,000 to $30,000” total for 4 years - I would pick Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, etc. for that price. It is not just an education, but it is also the connections you make.</p>
<p>Now, if you are talking full price Flagship State School vs. Harvard, that is also an easy choice. In order for you to be paying full price to attend Harvard, the parents are making a lot more than $150,000+ per year. Harvard’s financial aid is: For people making $150k it is 10% of your income, or $15,000/yr. So, in order to be paying full price for Harvard, you are probably making $250k/yr or more (although, I’m guessing at $250k, you are probably paying closer to $40k, not the full $55k to go to Harvard). Assume the differential is $30k per year. If I am making $250k, I would pay $30k/yr to send my kid to Harvard.</p>
<p>My point is: The cost of going to some of the top schools, like Harvard, is not that much more - Unless you are in a really high income bracket, in which case, you are being really cheap not to send them to Harvard if they get in.</p>
<p>If you have to pay full freight and you child is not looking to be POTUS, you are likely wasting your money. Better to choose a high quality state flagship honors program and use the money saved for something else. I have seen many cases where a diploma from a very selective school has been an expensive nonstarter. I know people who will have expended in the neighborhood of $1 million on total educational costs. Especially considering the time value of money, this is an absurd luxury in many cases.</p>
<p>Whether a luxury is absurd or not is in the eye of the beholder. Personally, I think spring water bottled in Fiji and shipped to the US is an absurd luxury, but I don’t feel that way about a Yale education.</p>
<p>Ditto the “eye of the beholder” comment regarding whether someone is cheap for not wanting to spend a particular amount of money (that you feel they should be able to afford) on their kid’s education. I know what I am able and willing to spend. I do not think it’s my place, regardless of how much money a person has, to say that they are “cheap” (see post #115) because they are not willing to spend money on something I value more than they do.</p>
Aw, go ahead. That’s what the Internet is for. For any educational expenditure, there’s somebody who thinks you’re cheap for not making it, and somebody else who think’s you’re stupid for making it.</p>