<p>But it’s okay to bash the Ivy schools, hmmm? Ironic.</p>
<p>Consolation, Not sure who you think is bashing Ivy League schools. Certainly not me. The post from MomofWildChild is probably pretty offensive to UK people(although maybe the University of Kentucky folks have a thick skin, not sure since I’m not from Kentucky). No need for anybody to bash a school ,public or private .</p>
<p>I think colleges with low graduation and retention rates ought be bashed at least a little, especially if this is combined with a high tuition bill. </p>
<p>But, you know, I don’t think there are any of those schools on this thread.</p>
<p>The OP referred to Princeton-UK. UK is a school I happen to dislike due to the fans and the ethics of the basketball program. I am entitled to my opinion and have valid reasons (other than sour grapes) for my bashing of it. I am quite fond of many other state universities and attended one myself (one which instilled my early dislike for UK)!</p>
<p>P.S. If you ever had the UK basketball fans descend upon your city, you might feel the same way. And then there is the basketball coach who has been stripped of more titles and game wins than many other coaches have played!!!</p>
<p>Yeah, Calipari, Cashipari, highest paid coach in basketball who’s never officially been to a final four since both teams he took there got DQ’d for recruiting violations.</p>
<p>Leave it to MoWC not to like a school because of the basketball team, but I think it is just as good of a reason as any.
D2 liked Berkeley over Stanford because Stanford campus was too perfect looking.</p>
<p>State schools in states with weak public educational systems scare me. Some have worked hard to overcome the built-in problems re: overall quality of student body. Ole Miss and 'Bama are examples of this. The Nevada state universities are extremely weak and a lot of this is due to horrible pre-college educational systems. Kentucky, in my mind, hasn’t risen nearly to the level of many of the other SEC schools who do attract strong out of state students and keep strong in-state students there with good honors colleges etc. I know there are strong students at UK and I’m sure you can get a decent education (well, maybe I’m not all that sure…) and if you want to live and work in the state, it may be an appropriate choice. Let’s not pretend it has much of anything to offer over a selective private, though.</p>
<p>This topic has been sooooo overdone! People need to choose for themselves what is best in their particular situation. Broad generalizations are not very helpful to anyone. The whole Ivy thing is not even on the radar of the average person–sorry CCer’s but its just not that important in the scheme of things (of course for some, $$ and bragging rights are what they live for). If someone chooses their state flagship over an Ivy–who cares? I am sure they took the FA package into consideration before they made that decision–if they didn’t, they’re probably not on CC so your advise falls on deaf ears.</p>
<p>TK…just to clarify, the acceptance rates and stats for OOS students at some flagships (Cal, UVa, UCLA, UNC) does indeed compare to Cornell. Furthermore, the stats of a huge contingency of IS students at these schools is also on par with Cornell and others. D turned down Northwestern for UVa, three of her friends turned down Duke, two turned down Penn; they’re not anomalies – they’re more common than you think.</p>
<p>mtnmomma,you are riight- 90+ percent of the population would not be debating schools, worrying about “selective private” admissions. I’m with you(like SNL)-so what ,who cares? Best of luck to all of our kids.</p>
<p>Some of the comments on this tread assume that the cost of attending an ivy is always substantially greater than the cost of attending a public university. While this is certainly true for many (most?), it is not true for all. My daughter is currently a high school junior and until the last year or so I had always assumed that she would attend a public university (we live in California, so UCLA, UCB, UCI, UCSB, etc.) since there is no way I could afford $50,000+ per year. But, I now know that at least for us, because of extremely generous financial aid, it would be much less expensive for her to attend a school like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Stanford. Of course, her chances of being admitted to any of these colleges is low, as it is for most. So, in a year from now she is unlikely to be in position to choose one of these schools over a public university.</p>
<p>For those touting the benefits of a public university, would you feel the same way if your son/daughter could attend an ivy type school for less?</p>
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<p>See, now THAT is an oranges to oranges question. Also, very interesting.</p>
<p>Count, Only you and your family can decide if you want to/need to pursue financial/merit aid elswehere (outside of the very good California public options). Good luck!</p>
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<p>For many (but definitely not all) students, the actual educational benefits between a top private and a top public are not all that different overall. If it is the case that the differences are small, then net cost after non-loan financial aid becomes a fairly big factor in the decision. It can go either way, depending on the generosity of the financial aid package for the student’s situation (and what is less expensive for one student may be more expensive for another).</p>
<p>Where it becomes a harder decision is if the more expensive (in net cost after non-loan financial aid – for some students, a school like Harvard or Stanford may be the less expensive one) school is significantly better than the less expensive one. In that case, the student and parents need to weigh whether the better expected education is worth the extra cost.</p>
<p>Of course, if the better school is also the less expensive one, then the choice is easy.</p>
<p>But “public” versus “private” descriptions are really not specific enough to make assumptions about whether one is better than the other, or whether one is more or less expensive (in net cost after non-loan financial aid) than the other.</p>
<p>Yes, it is interesting, really. Because there are some state schools, like UNC or UVA, where it’s a toss up, and depends largely on the experience the student wants, once costs are equal. In fact, I’d bet there are kids who would rather go to one of these schools but the FA is better at some of the Ivies and they “have” to go there. I really bet there are a few kids like that each year. But, then, there are other schools…not so much. It’s all about the cost.</p>
<p>In comparing State schools and private schools one needs to consider something not often discussed on these boards, and that is the issue of “traffic.” Assume (just assume, now) that your kid will marry someone he/she meets at the school he/she attends. In a large state university, that would likely mean marrying someone from the State who was admitted IS. In a private school, it means marrying someone who came from anywhere and who was admitted with brains (not on the basis of leveraging tax dollars from State taxpayers who demand admittance). In simple terms, would you want your OOS New York kid, accepted OOS to UNC-CH, marrying someone from a rural county in North Carolina who got into UNC-CH because, generally, UNC-CH has programs to admit kids from places like that? In more specific terms, do you want your Manhattan baby marrying a trailer park kid from East Bumblebutt?</p>
<p>Traffic = smarter kids with more interesting backgrounds and the likelihood of your kid learning more and doing better and, God forbid, not falling in love with someone a parent would tear their hair over. Private schools deliver much better traffic than public schools.</p>
<p>At the undergrad level, there isn’t much that the Ivies are going to cover in class that the public honors colleges aren’t going to cover. Few professors are straining the limits of their knowledge with the subject matter of undergrad courses. I think the main reasons people want elite private colleges have nothing to do with in-class academics. They go for the prestige of saying they went there, and to mix with a population dense with social and financial elite students that they might some day marry or use to get a job.</p>
<p>placido,You obviously have never been on UVa’s campus.Not all state schools are alike. I’m sure many of the UNC kids are VERY bright and motivated,at the top of their class in their high school. Probably lots of rich kids too ,especially in this economy. Good value.
poetgrl,You are right that UVa can be more expensive for an instate kid than some of the merit aid options.</p>
<p>^ I’m old enough to remember a time when husband-hunting was a more or less socially acceptable goal of many “coeds”. This has become politically incorrect but in fact, many students of both genders do still meet their future spouses in college.</p>
<p>Marriage prospects aside, there are other social-networking implications of the choice between state flagship and the private alternatives. The top private schools educate “thought leaders” for a national and global economy. State flagships do that to some extent, too, but their first obligation is to address more localized needs. </p>
<p>A case could be made for more localism, less globalism, in education as in industry and agriculture. It’s interesting to imagine what the country would be like if very few of the best students went far away to college (not in an even distribution, either, but in a brain drain to the states with “elite” private schools).</p>
<p>Wow placido240! I’m not even sure how to respond to your post. My son is an instate freshman at UNC and your post is very offensive. My H and I are both professionals who are college educated beyond undergrad. We also happen to originally be from the northeast. Your post shows ignorance.</p>