Ok, so my son was accepted into honors programs at both schools. He is a die hard Clmson fan, and Clemson is his dream school. BUT Clemson is giving him $10k/year (we are out of state for both schools) and Alabama is giving him full tuition plus $2500/year leadership scholarship. Ok so practically speaking Alabama makes the miss sense, but should I crush his dreams and not allow him to go to Clemson? I mean how can it be worth an extra $100,000 over 4 years to go to Clemson? What should I do?
What did you tell him about your financial contribution to his college costs last fall, before he made his application list?
It’s not worth $100k more…no way.
Has your son visited Bama? We took our son to Clemson first and he LOVED it…wanted to go there. then when we took him to Alabama, he realized how similar they are…and a LOT cheaper. He loved Alabama…loved it…and still does love it.
How would you pay the $100k? How would it impact your lives? retirement? loans? anything else?
There is no way that Clemson is even worth $50k more. It’s just not worth it.
“crush his dreams”?? lol oh my…he’s 17/18 years old. He’ll have a lot of dreams. 4 years of undergrad is not the dream. The career is the dream…a future family is the dream…future accomplishments are the dream. Four years of college is just a bridge or stepping stone to the REAL dreams.
Clemson only offered $10K? I’m surprised, especially if he got into Calhoun. Definitely not an authority on either school, but what did the Clemson NPC tell you? Did it include the $10K? Or more?
Our son got $10K from Clemson too, as well as tuition scholarships from UA.
As much as I personally love Clemson and where it’s located especially, I don’t think we’d be willing to pay that premium. That’s a good sum of money in the long haul.
Clemson doesn’t give much/any OOS need based aid, so the NPC likely isn’t going to show much other aid.
Clemson ALSO has a higher OOS tuition (about $32k), so that $10k per year is really almost nothing.
Thanks everyone for your responses. We were hoping for more than $10k from Clemson, and when that was all they offered we were very surprised to be the acceptance into Calhoun honors college. Don’t get me wrong, he is very bright and did a good job on the application, but we figured his chances were slim. So when he did get accepted, what we thought was a done deal and that he was going to Alabama kind of went up in the air because of the honor of being admitted to Calhoun. Then I had an emotional reaction saying yes he could go and we would make it work, followed by a practical response of, “what, am I nuts? This can’t be worth it.” We just talked now when I got home from work and I think we have all agreed that Alabama makes more sense and is an equally great honor. And because it will cost significantly less, we could spring for a hotel for a game or two at Clemson. Not a bad trade.
Absolutely! Much cheaper to go to a game or two!
It’s like the kids who want to spend $25k+ per year to be near skiing. For $100k, you can go skiing in the Alps a few times!
I mean, I would have picked Clemson in all honesty. But it seems like you’ve already made your decision…
But why would he spurn his dream school for the school that beat them in the national championship game??
Because he doesn’t want to BURDEN his family with a $100k+ extra in cost that they can’t really afford.
@LBad96 You had a large college fund that enabled you to have little/no concern about cost. That is not true for most people. Yes, you would have chosen your most favorite school that would have accepted you…because money was no concern. When you’re out in the real world and having to spend your own money (however limited that will be), you will not always be able to choose your favorite.
This is an interesting read
http://drtimjordan.com/2016/02/does-it-matter-where-you-go-to-college/
I’m really glad your son got it and was mature enough to make a sound decision. Alabama looks like a great place full of opportunities!
I wouldn’t spend the extra $100,000!
As a current senior, I can tell you he’ll be fine! I once had dreams of attending of attending school in California. CC helped me realized starting adult life $100,000+ in debt is NOT a good decision. I found some more affordable options, and today I know I’ll enjoy (almost) any school I attend!
You can get a fine education at most schools, especially Alabama, it’s a great school! I’m happy he made the right decision.