@socaldad2002 I find the use of the word slander interesting. I guess I touched a nerve. I am sorry that you feel that my opinion of people choosing full pay at such an extreme yearly rate as foolish is so damaging to said families. I guess prestige seekers may struggle when they don’t get the adoration for their accomplishment of being chosen to pay for prestige.
I do continue to have reservations about the political climate of where my DD chose to go to school and said that “she” would likely have ruled out the school if that national controversy were happening when she was applying. I also am not afraid to face that controversy head on and I can stand confidently on that belief without it impacting my confidence in her school. I believe in fit first, over prestige and over politics. I also said in that same post that this had nothing to do with the school or the education my child was receiving. My reservations are about the political climate that does not value the health of young women. This is not much different then my children ruling out schools that are involved in other political and ethical controversies that would shine a negative light on the school, a situation that prestigious schools have found themselves in frequently (Varsity Blues, Harvard admissions or memes scandal, free speech at Stanford, racial issues at Yale, the spotlight on Duke athletics). She is not likely staying in Alabama as that was never her plan so I am not sure why that is relevant to a discussion on the merits of selectivity. She would not stay in Nashville if attending Vandy, Houston if attending Rice, Hanover if attending Dartmouth, or Philadelphia if attending Penn so bringing up that she would be leaving Alabama is not an issue for me. My DD drove her school selection process. She is getting a world class education. The OP asked a question. Our answer is there is no advantage of selectivity beyond the financial aid advantage. Your answer is different. It has nothing to do with our ability to pay but our willingness, so our tune would not change. No sour grapes here, just practicality and confidence in our children.