<p>How much would it improve your experience to attend a great and less costly school where you would be "flush" with spending money over a highly prestigious school where you think you'd be a better fit but would have a more standard amount of spending cash?</p>
<p>What is your experience with the effects of spending money on the college experience?</p>
<p>Thank you, all responses appreciated!</p>
<p>Aren’t college students supposed to be poor? I didn’t have much spending money and still had a blast. There are so many fun things to do on campus, and it’s great just hanging out with friends, that I would definitely go to the school where you’re a better fit!</p>
<p>I can’t imagine why I’d want to have lots of spending money. I always found tons of low cost or free stuff to do right on campus. If you want a little more money get a job. I got better grades once I was working 10 hours a week.</p>
<p>I would think that a lot would have to do with location and friends. My kids colleges were in areas where there weren’t a lot of things to do on campus and remote enough that it took some planning to do things that cost a lot of money. My kids had friends that came from fairly affluent backgrounds but I think there was a separation of parents money and the kids money. They might drive brand new nice cars and not have to work campus jobs but they weren’t out clubbing. I can see how lack of money, or having a lot of money would make more of a difference in an urban setting.</p>
<p>I agree that college is more fun “on the cheap” even if you have money. </p>
<p>I did 2 years at a pricey urban LAC and 2 years at a large state flagship (40,000 students) in a then medium sized town (180,000 pop., including the 40,000 students) back when (1970) the state school cost next to nothing. Hi --MaineLonghorn–Hook Um Horns! [class of 1972]</p>
<p>At the LAC, having money made you more “in the norm,” but we weren’t nearly as creative in coming up with great stuff to do. Think HS with a large budget and easier access to booze. </p>
<p>At the flagship, we were creative even if we had money. But, the area around the flagship had a huge amount of activities that were low cost. </p>
<p>Just from my experience, I’d take the flagship with money for the better social experience.</p>
<p>are you high maintenance or low maintenance? Do you want to spring break in Panama City? go to concerts? etc…
Do you desire to do a semester abroad? this costs money.</p>
<p>OTOH if you are a low maintenance kind of kid that would just be happy at a great school, eating kraft mac and cheese and ramen for 4 years then go for it.</p>
<p>That would be a pretty bad reason to not attend the better college IMO. That would increase the possibility of more spending money in college and less for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>Agree with JustaMomof4–money means that you can spend more on enrichment activities–the symphony, a trip to NYC or DC, an internship abroad (if your school doesn’t have funds for poor students), meals at eccentric restaurants, etc. But I certainly wouldn’t let it be the driving reason for choosing one school over another.</p>
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most kids at “great schools” are on a meal plan. And even though they all love to complain about college food, it is usually quite good - nothing like kraft mac and cheese and ramen for 4 years.
OP, go for the great school…</p>
<p>Hopefully we aren’t getting the two type schools confused.</p>
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</p>
<p>OP’s question was:</p>
<p>
to go to the great school (not the highly prestigious school)?</p>
<p>Tyler,</p>
<p>If you are still choosing between Stanford and Michigan, - you will probably be fine at either one.</p>
<p>However, Stanford is a great school, not just “highly prestigious”…</p>
<p>bump, just weighing this as one factor among many.</p>
<p>Well, having more cash at hand is always nicer than being strapped for money. The big question is whether it is worth being more cash poor and going to a school that you prefer. This is an individual issue of how much more you prefer one school to another and putting it into dollar amounts. Not easy to do and differs from person to person. Someone might feel a $10K differential is ok for Stanford and Michigan, whereas anything over $25K is not. Some might feel a full ride at Michigan is not worth paying full freight at Stanford because they so prefer the latter. For some, even a $5K difference is too much, given personal and family financial situations.</p>
<p>We are a bit over extended but worked it out. Ideally, our son would have picked a school with at total cost under at about $25K. He had some options at that cost range but decided to go a bit higher. He immediately eliminated anything coming close or exceeding the $50K mark, however.</p>
<p>As just one factor, look at what there is to do at each place. </p>
<p>Palo Alto v. Ann Arbor.<br>
On campus stuff v. surrounding area.<br>
Free stuff v. pay stuff.</p>
<p>Also, consider what being flush has to offer if you have a lot of free stuff to do and can pocket the money for other stuff. As someone mentioned, the money could fund experiences not offered on campus or that you could do in the summer or to allow study abroad.</p>
<p>My S had a fellow HS graduate from his private HS who was accepted into Stanford. The student was without any financial ability to pay (for what it is worth he was AA). I read in the HS alumni magazine that the student had spent the summer in Fiji or some exotic locale with one of his professors on a research project. There is no way that student paid for that. So, consider what each school can offer as far as experiences on and around the campus and possibly elsewhere. Factor in that if you save some money going the “good school” route you can self-finance more than if you only have the amount to pay for the “ordinary” level of experiences at the prestige school.</p>
<p>I think that you are showing a great degree of awareness of the aspects that experiences (rather than just the classroom) provide by considering this issue.</p>
<p>OK - so this doesn’t really answer the question. But you should really consider the option of just banking those extra funds for four years and living the standard poor college student life -even if you decide to go for the cheaper option (it’s really not that bad - the facilities and meal plans at most schools are terrific these days). </p>
<p>But imagine graduating with money that kind of money at your disposal. Maybe it takes the pressure off finding a job right away. Or gives you funds to go to grad school. Or lets you travel the world before you settle down with a job. The way I see it, more money gives you the freedom to do what you want to do. So many kids graduate with debt- imagine it the other way around - graduating flush with cash. What an opportunity.</p>
<p>^^^ Excellent post! I never realized that I would have more disposable income at 20 than I do at 45! I wish I had saved more.</p>
<p>If you’re talking about Stanford, it’s quite easy to have a great experience there with very little extra spending money. Keep in mind that about 3/4 of students are on some kind of financial aid, and even those parents who are shelling out $50K a year are not going to have lots of extra disposable income to throw their children’s way. The physical layout of the campus discourages people from going off campus a lot, and there is so much to do right there - every kind of athletic or outdoorsy activity known to mankind (well, that doesn’t involve snow or ice), and lots of cultural events too. One of the great attractions of Stanford is that you can wear T-shirts and flip-flops year-round, so there’s no need for a big wardrobe, and formal events are easily avoidable (if in fact there are any). If a bunch of people are going out to dinner on the weekend and you can’t afford it, no one thinks twice if you just say no, and there will be plenty of people in the same boat as you at the dining hall that evening.</p>
<p>I agree (from experience) that you don’t need much spending money at Stanford.</p>
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<p>S and I did a campus visit to Stanford in March 2005. It was cold and rainy. The campus guide mentioned that the kids from Southern California tended to stay inside and class attendance went down second semester till it “warmed up.”</p>
<p>So, the smaller amount is sufficient at Stanford so long as you do most everything on campus. Others suggest that from being flush at Ann Arbor you can do additional stuff during college that costs money or save and have money left after college.</p>
<p>Either way fits my suggestion that doing mostly stuff on the cheap during college makes for a great experience.</p>