Rice is my son’s dream school, but I’m concerned about going for ED. The cost estimator is 130K for 4 years (40K\42K\26K\26K…second child yr 3-4). Since he is NMS, he qualifies for free ride tuition\dorm\books at UF.
Q1. UF (Free ride) versus Rice ($130,000 for 4 yrs)…Is Rice work the premium?
Q2. Is the Rice cost estimator accurate? Especially on the 130K boundry with some home equity…any experiences from last year?
I’m disappointed that the Rice Investment fund is no help because I have lived in same house for last 19 years and thus excluded. Income 130-145 home equity (whatever that is) is 180K. Retire in 9 years.
Any advise\opinion\experience would be greatly appreciated.
If you had all of the money available it might make sense for you to choose Rice.
For many others, it would be wiser to have these resources available for grad school or to buy him a car and new clothes for his career when he graduates. Or a house lol.
Or to help you to enjoy a comfortable retirement you’ve earned.
UF is a top ten us public and top 40 school overall. It’s a home run
But I get it. He probably feels it’s not unique enough or too many friends are going and he worked harder etc etc.
This all dissipates after the first year and he will be all in on Gator nation.
If he wants to stay in Florida it’s a clear winner outside of the money.
Florida looks like the best bet. We forget that they might not finish in 4 years or they might have to take summer school. My son had to do summer and he was at a state school cost around 20K more with housing and now he must take summer next year and his advisor is pushing him for a 5th year (he is an engineer).
A good start. Rest can be made up with wife getting job for next few years and son working summers\weekends\whatever. Even internship that extends time to 5 years is possibility (and give him work experience). We made clear it is shared sacrifice and he WILL be contributing in later years in some way.
Also, the second child will be ok - have plan for her. Fla Bright Futures, etc.
Important to consider intended major area of study & whether or not graduate school is likely for either child.
Absent any compelling reason to attend Rice, Florida on a full ride is the wiser choice & might allow you to add steak & lobster to your diet of rice & beans.
what if younger child wants a $130k school too? What if that’s her dream but you won’t know for a year or two)?
I’m not one who thinks parents have to have everything equal for each child but your son would be getting Rice just because he wants it, not because he needs it. What if she wants something specific too? What if it is a program only offered in Hollywood or she wants a women’s college for the experience?
In engineering, the prestige evens out a lot quicker than with some other majors. NASA hires engineers from all types of schools.
It probably won’t matter, you see the admit rate. I wouldn’t spend time hand wringing. If the FA award doesn’t work, you are not obligated in. And your younger kid is already assigned to BF with no options? am a parent that sees equality as imperative (unless your other kid is a lazy ne’er do well). Again, no ED to schools you cannot afford. It sounds like this is a school you cannot afford. You are relying on the other kid being in college to reduce the cost of Rice. You would want to be clear on how they look at kid 2 who is literally free. Have you done the CSS? Do you know for sure how having kid 2 that costs you nothing, affects FA for RIce? The Rice quick calc is very basic IIRC. Is your cost the “best” or the “high”?
Why does your son get the opportunity to pick a dream school and your daughter only gets what you plan for her? Spending all the family money on one child at the expense of the other can cause family rifts that last for decades. Sometimes they never heal. If you search our forums you’ll find threads with examples of that unfortunate, avoidable situation.
If you have $130k for college that works out to $65k per kid or $15k/year. Why would you give it all to your son?
Take free ride at UF. He can target Rice for grad school.
Life happens- illness, home repair.
It’s a blessing to have free ride. Could study or work abroad.
DS#1 went to Rice (applied ED) and I went to UF for grad school. Vastly different schools/environments/experiences. Both are great, for different reasons, but its hard to turn down a full ride. That said, DS chose not to apply to UF back in the day when the same opportunity was available to him as a NMF (in fact back then they also offered him guaranteed admission with a stipend, so they essentially would have paid him to attend). We promised to pay for both our s’s undergrads, and did not put stipulations on their choices.
DS#1 did get some outside scholarships, and the engineering dept did give him some scholarship $ his junior and sr years, but not enough to make a huge difference.
But for us, fortunately, we had saved and managed finances so that the college expenses didn’t affect our lifestyle or retirement plans. And no loans. If attending Rice makes you do any of those (alter savings, retirement plans, lifestyle, take out loans, etc) don’t do it.
Is there a reason your DD is limited to instate? Is that her choice?
My daughter is not limited by son’s choice and our financial obligatiions. If she wanted to go Ivy and gets accepted, we can pay it. Our state schools have much better “hands on” for her (current) degree. Plus she wants to NGO for a year or two before grad school - (will probably end up with same total cost). They are very different goals in life.
But, the daughter is not the OP question…Is Rice worth ghe premium if you can pay?
Also note that your income will increase when wife gets a job. That will increase your expected contribution in Years 3 and 4, which you may have already anticipated when you ran the Rice NPC.