Posted a version of this question in the Parents Form. But I saw this Forum and thought I might get some different perspectives. Thanks to those who already contributed in the PF!
Here’s the numbers:
UKy (Full Ride) Santa Clara (14k, no loans) UCLA (30k on campus or 14k at home) USC (35k or 20k at home)
My D. has some great choices right now, but difficult. She received a full-ride scholarship to U of Kentucky including honors college admissions (average ACT of 32), beautiful new honors dorm, and meal plan. We visited the school and like it.
However, she also got in to two amazing schools in our area, UCLA and USC. No aid for UCLA so full pay living on campus is 30k. This would be hard for us to pay, we’d need some loans to make it work, same for USC. However UCLA and USC would probably work if she stayed at home (14 to 20k).
Lastly Santa Clara University, with grant aid only and no loans, the cost is 14k.
We can comfortably afford around 15k a year our EFC of 35k would be really hard on our finances and savings for our next kid.
She’s a double major Humanities and Pre-med, so grad school is likely.
Kentucky is enticing since she would get the big college experience that I think she wants, great dorms and cool little city. But UCLA and USC for a kid from So Cal is hard to pass up. Santa Clara has a beautiful campus in the heart of the Silicon Valley, closer to home (LA) and she gets a taste of dorm life.
Sorry for the long post. Any advice?
@suzy100 I think if money were no object it would be USC and then UCLA.
Santa Clara living on campus sounds like a good choice - they do have division 1 sports and good choices for humanities, especially philosophy which helps for medschool, and for a premed their relative grade inflation compared to the drastic grade deflation/weedout premed classes at UCLA would be very enticing.
Since you were concerned about finances in your other thread, I’d encourage you to do a detailed spreadsheet of total estimated costs of attendance for each choice on your short list, including health insurance, travel, books, commuting (where applicable). And look at the FOUR YEAR number.
Saying “$15K” (per year) has a different affect on our brains than saying “$60K”.
Then, take a hard look at where that money is going to come from, each time a payment is due, and what you may or may not be giving up in the big picture of your family finances. Are you really going to be okay for the next child’s education, any emergency, job change, and retirement?
I don’t mean to insult your intelligence, but last year we were looking at a surprise admission to a top school, which we could not afford without financial suicide. Nevertheless, there were about 3-4 days where my brain was doing fantastic contortions, completely unrealistic, trying to figure out how to make it work.
If all of the choices are honestly affordable for your family, and if you’d honestly be okay no matter her reaction (let’s say she really didn’t like commuting to UCLA, but at first thought it would be alright), why not let her choose?
If asking from my perspective then UK first since it is a better financial option, great campus, beautiful state, good alumni network, great basketball and she’d be a big fish in a fairly big pond. UC schools also great choices but little fish in a big pond. If it were my choice I’d go for the free ride because all the schools on the list are good choices.