These two things do appear to square up:
If income is $200K, and there are no other extraordinary assets or a healthy college fund, can your parents actually pay $65K/ pa- approx 1/3 of their pre-tax income / nearly half of their post-tax income??
@collegemom3717
I do not know what my parent’s income bracket really is so I just assumed that much. When I ask my parents about paying for top schools that are expensive, they said if it was ivy league they are will pay. When I asked how they said they have the money so idk.
@BKSquared
I understand that is the case. I created this forum for those types of colleges to see where I stand, as I consider those my reaches. I am considered to go to UTD as they have a good CS program, and I think that I have a good chance to get in.
@retiredfarmer
My parents really want me to go to ivy league as they know that going to these universities will help me to some degree in the future with more job opportunities, higher income, etc. They also like the good, notable alumni. My parents know that ivy league does not guarantee success, but they tell me it would certainly help in that direction.
As for me, I really love math and physics, I am not one of those Indian kids that do what their parents tell them to do (there are too many kids I know that are that situation), and I want to explore these topics in different ways. So even though I did computer science, I also want to get a taste of engineering, natural science, medical, etc. But I also want to go to school with good ROI, as making money is very important in my family.
Although my dad says he will be happy where ever I go, I can sense that he will only be proud if its ivy league or that tier. (Lol idk why I even mentioned this, but I think its relevant).
Also please do not think that I am applying to Ivy’s just because of my parents. I love the engineering program of Cornell and the environment of Columbia and Princeton. I am planning to go there this summer, but from the videos and pictures I’ve seen, I had a sense that I could go there and that I could fit in. Obviously, I won’t know for sure until I visit, but there was that feeling.
Just found this Washington Post article “How much is too much to pay for college?”
Where you go, what you study and how much you pay makes a difference. The University’s graduation rate should also be considered as well as the selected major and debt incurred by students who do graduate. ( I apologize for the pop-up ads! ) See https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/02/24/how-much-is-too-much-to-pay-for-college/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ed3779913105
The above article was written by a former editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education and points out that a $80,000/YR income can pay back a sizable debt a whole lot easier than a $30,000/YR income. If you do not graduate, you will have a smaller debt, but you still have a problem. In fact, a large part of today’s college debt issues arise from uncompleted studies. Find out what a school’s default rate is on student loans. Find out what the drop out rate is. Do not panic. Look at the whole picture.
Educators also want to raise families and have homes! In the STEM field, they are competing with high paying jobs in industry for faculty and incredibly expensive laboratory equipment which becomes obsolete shortly after purchase.
That LA education should cost less. We can really cause trouble here and point out to all those smart Lehigh University students that the BA’s are subsidizing the STE students. (the M for Math students are still a bargain!) To make matters worse, the Engineering students are in a better position to pay off tuition debt.
No disrespect intended for the Language, History, Philosophy, Art, et al majors! After all, Stephen King did rather well and he majored in English.
Scientists like to use real world data to answer questions, but always be sure you first defined the question you hope to answer. Be sure to check the reliability of your data.
If your parents are concerned about job placement, income, professional success, you actually have a wide range of options way beyond the Ivies. This is particularly true when you move into the traditional STEM university world. I would even argue that many traditional STEM schools are at least as good as an Ivy in most STEM fields.
Early STEM Schools include MIT, Caltech, Case, CMU, Rice University, RPI, WPI, Colorado School of Mines, Stevens Institute of Technology, et al. The three oldest are RPI, MIT and WPI. In the computer science field, CMU is widely regarded as the best, but MIT is trying to catch them. With the exception of Cornell, the ivies have a rocky history with STEM because they were born in the classics era when STEM was considered more of a trade. The well-to-do, theologians, MD’s and lawyers studied at the Ivies. If concerned about ROI, check out these historically STEM universities as you are looking at CS, math and physics. Harvard, Princeton, Caltech and MIT are right up there for theoretical physics, but the others are not “chopped liver.”
A later development came as the west was settled. State, not private, schools were the norm. Their resources went into state universities. In CS and many other fields, different UC campuses are very highly regarded, as are Purdue University and University of Washington. This is not a complete list. The reputation of these schools are very well known to corporations doing the hiring when they are looking for CS graduates. The ROI in the STEM fields are impressive. Check out the data yourself by finding out the average incomes accepted by CS graduates and the graduate school placements. If you want to go into investment banking, go to Harvard or U of PA.
Now the “sales pitch” for my alma mater, WP. Points 5-9 also apply to other many other STEM schools.:
- The entire program is project/research directed for ALL students (see https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/wpi-plan);
- Interdisciplinary thinking is the norm (see https://www.wpi.edu/academics/undergraduate/interactive-qualifying-project);
- International project studies are available to all at 46 locations around the globe (see https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/global-project-program);
- The National Academy of Engineering gave their highest award to WPI four times in 2016 for the program (see https://www.nae.edu/Activities/Projects/Awards/GordonPrize/GordonWinners.aspx#tabs);
- Average salaries in CS are about as good as they get (see https://www.wpi.edu/student-experience/career-development/outcomes and click on latest year, go to page 19 for CS);
- We have the alumni to match (not me, I worked in education), see https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1&q=worcester+polytechnic+institute+notable+alumni&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgFuLUz9U3MCy0NCtUQjC11LOTrfRTU0qTE0sy8_P0S_Myy1KLijNLKq3y8ksSk3JSFRJzSnPzMgEzgZP6QQAAAA&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjvnPfDpcnaAhUNZd8KHbg7CLMQzToI9gEoATAj&biw=1600&bih=735. For CS people of special note, click on Naveen Salvadurai, Eric Hahn, Jeremy Hitchcock. A classmate of mine, Curtis Carlson, recently retired as head of SRI international, a primary player in the development of Silicon Valley. The most well known inventors are Robert Goddard and Dean Kamen. Like many inventors, Dean left school with his invention before finishing his studies. He developed and tested his insulin pump as a project at WPI with the U Mass Med School as a testing site. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Kamen.
- For ROI see https://www.wpi.edu/news/2012roi
- It is difficult, but not approaching impossible to gain admission to WPI. I like to believe the STEM history is not so well known and many Easterners are still not aware of the high program quality available at western US schools (Caltech and Berkley excepted)... BUT the employers do!
A later STEM school of special note is Olin College in Wellesley MA (see http://www.olin.edu/). A newer STEM program built around project work.
MY POINT: You have a wide range of solid choices, but do not apply to any programs that you cannot get excited about. Any one could be the one you end up attending. You will be doing the work and enthusiasm helps!
Make sure to have schools like Purdue, Penn State, etc on your list that still have great engineering but are not as selective.