<p>vs. a school they got a full ride at?</p>
<p>I know why I did. But I feel crappy that my parents have to pay so much. I want to go to Medical School and know that if I work hard I can make it, especially with all the research/other opportunities NU offers.</p>
<p>Take this with a grain of salt because I was fortunate enough to graduate with very little debt and thus can’t relate to your situation that well. That said, I felt my education at Northwestern is one that few institutions worldwide can match. It’s the combination of the resources/opportunities, faculty and students assembled altogether in one place that create a different dynamic that one would not necessarily find in any institution. Also, when you pay the school, you’re not just paying for the 4-year education but the lifetime connections and the brand that you will benefit from for the rest of your life. </p>
<p>Another thing: Prestigious employers do care where you got your undergraduate degree. The only employers who don’t are probably those who didn’t go to elite schools themselves or have a hard time attracting elite school graduates.</p>
<p>Besides the employment boost (which I don’t care that much about), I personally love being part of the Northwestern and Harvard communities for the rest of my life. It’s the best way to earn social/cultural capital if you don’t have it already, and the social circles I’m now able to navigate as a result of my affiliations are priceless. Plus, it’s just great social currency.</p>
<p>In D’s case, she passed up full-ride options at other schools for several reasons – all good enough to convince her parents that it was a worthwhile use of a lot of $.</p>
<p>First, NU has one of the top programs in her field, and the training and connections will have lifelong value. Also, many Theatre programs are highly vocational, and she felt that NU’s broader education will put her in a better position for lifelong employment options, rather than simply training her to kick her face for that first Broadway audition. </p>
<p>Second, she has the option of earning a double major in 4 years. At many state schools, students are having a hard time completing a single degree in 4 years, let alone a double major. In her field very few schools even allow for a double major.</p>
<p>Third, she wanted to spend 4 years among incredible, talented and intellectual people and was willing to work hard during her time at NU rather than coasting at a state school. In my experience, pushing yourself is rarely a bad thing.</p>
<p>Forth, her aunt (who is a HS counselor) urged us to make this choice as she’s seen too many kids who opted for the cheaper education end up dropping out or making transfers that forced an extra year of school. </p>
<p>Fifth, college is not only an investment of tuition, but also of TIME! Most people only get spend 4 years as an undergraduate once in their lives, so we thought it was worth making the absolute most of this time investment. NU has already offered several unexpected opportunities (including overseas travel), and it’s only her first quarter!</p>
<p>Now that she’s there, we’ve all discovered many more reasons to consider it worth every penny (living near Chicago, a dorm right on the beach, getting to know lovely Evanston, etc.). Life is short, and she’s already had so many amazing experiences in her few months at NU that we couldn’t be happier that she made the choice she did!</p>
<p>Oh - and an unexpected fringe benefit for us is that since we’re paying full tuition we’re learning to be perfectly happy on far less income, which can only make us feel that much wealthier in retirement, true? ;-D</p>
<p>Funny MomCares, reading your first three pointsI thought I was reading about my son and his reasons for choosing NU. Seriously, exactly the same.</p>
<p>@DadTimes2 - Obviously great minds think alike, and it sounds like next year they’ll be classmates. Based on D’s experience, I’ll bet he’s going to love his time at Northwestern!</p>
<p>My full ride school wasn’t a target for Wall Street</p>
<p>Another reason: Your peers make more difference than any other single element of college. The students at NU, top to bottom on average, will be smarter, harder working, and more intellectually engaged, than the average student at a lesser school. That can make all the difference to a nerdy/ intellectual kid in terms of learning (facts), education (knowledge), and socialization.</p>
<p>I’m sure at other schools one might be able to sit up while writing an all-nighter paper on Descarte’s meditations in one’s fraternity while watching Stanley Kubrick’s Eye’s Wide Shut starting at 2am with two fraternity brothers and discuss the film’s subtext.</p>
<p>But I doubt it would be very common.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. Affording it is not the issue. Usually it’s the people that CAN afford it (bigger EFC/less FA) that have the money concerns.</p>
<p>Life experiences are important. But it’s also important to not lose sight of the objective for going to college. This site helped us decide.</p>
<p>[What’s</a> Your College Degree Worth? - Businessweek](<a href=“Businessweek - Bloomberg”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>In my opinion the Business Week ROI rankings are incredibly flawed. First, how can one compare schools like CalTech and MIT which offer primarily vocational-type technology training (which as an engineer I am NOT dissing) with a school like Northwestern, which is also a leader in fields like Journalism and Theatre which are distinctly NOT known for producing undergrad incomes comparable to tech fields.</p>
<p>Second, it assumes the worth of an education (or a life) can be measured through financial ROI, which IMHO couldn’t be further from the truth.</p>
<p>It’s the same as the fatal flaw in “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, which implies that one can decide who “wins” by who has the most money, which is a premise that according most happiness studies holds no water (once income climbs above subsistence).</p>
<p>Reasons for going to college vary, but in the end life experiences are all we have. ;-D</p>
<p>And as a former researcher, there’s another HUGE flaw in the Business Week rankings…</p>
<p>“The ranking was prepared by PayScale and is based on self-reported pay data obtained through its online pay comparison tools. On average, pay reports from about 1,000 alumni from each school were used in the return on investment calculations.”</p>
<p>Self reporting, self selection and a very small data set seem to make this data almost meaningless.</p>
<p>Based on what I’ve read of the methodology, I’d say this was a far stronger survey…</p>
<p><a href=“Education - Image - NYTimes.com”>Education - Image - NYTimes.com;
<p>Momcares, I’m a sophomore at Northwestern right now. Your post on why you decided to send your daughter to Northwestern was really inspiring to me. You’re a great mother for giving your daughter such a fantastic opportunity, seriously. Going to Northwestern is a roller coaster for awesome and I hope your daughter enjoys every second of it.</p>
<p>@momcares - “Life” may not lend itself to “measurement.” But the cost of education, the cost of those experiences (not the quality) certainly can be measured, and an ROI delivered. I think, quantitative analysis is all we have since “life experiences” are so subjective. But again, the “objective” of going to college, is to get an education so you can be employed. Presumably in a field you enjoy and are fulfilled by. Nevertheless, in the work world - one can only measure expense and income. Happiness is NOT the same from person to person, and I think payscale has as good (if not the only) methodology available. And it reads pretty comprehensive. I know insurance companies 
that make bigger decisions on smaller sample sizes.</p>
<p>Your submitted link acknowledges a sampling of “hundreds” - and you claim payscales sample of “thousands” to be too small?</p>
<p>S is a sophomore this year at NU. MomCares hit it spot on! His music faculty are members of some of this country’s top orchestras (Chicago Symphony included, and his exposure to music and the arts at NU and in Chicago on a regular basis is second to none, and he gets to be “at home” every night living in the great town of Evanston instead of a skycraper in New York City (which for us was a plus at 18 starting school). The Bienen School for brass is an amazing place to be right now in the U.S. and it was definitely worth his passing up multiple free rides for us to pay our part after need based aid for him to attend NU. I agree - you have four years of your life to have an amazing undergraduate environment and Arbiter is correct - the education and thinking you gain outside of class with friends is really important, too, and he has met and made friends with some of the most amazing young people. Good luck in your decision!</p>
<p>@giterdone - First let me say that my OP only intended to answer the original question “Why do people choose to go to NU over a full ride offer”. It was not meant to suggest that would be the right choice for everyone, but only to share our D’s reasons.</p>
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<p>For many people employment is not the only objective of college. If it was, everyone would opt for strictly vocational education. There is FAR more to life than work and money, and a college education can bring enrichment that goes far beyond finance.</p>
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<p>There is a very big difference between a purposely selected sample of “hundreds of chief executive and chairmen chosen from leading companies in 10 countries” (there are a small number of CEOs from the world’s leading companies) and a sample of “self-reported pay data obtained through its online pay comparison tools. On average, pay reports from about 1,000 alumni from each school” (there are a much larger number of alumni from any given school since graduation was not limited to any particular year). </p>
<p>The recruiting research was a purposely-crafted survey of a small overall data set in which data collection was controlled by researchers, while the salary research was a self-selected sample from a huge overall data set, in which self-reported salary data (notoriously suspect) was collected for a purpose other than the reported research. </p>
<p>I didn’t carefully study either piece of research, but based on the information available I’d say the recruiting research looks far more robust.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, we all can read as much (or as little) into the myriad of surveys, rankings, and reports, that we choose. I think we both agree that; college, wherever and whatever that might be to the individual, is precisely what you make of it.</p>
<p>I am jealous of your take >> “For many people employment is not the only objective of college.”</p>
<p>It implies that college can be like a 4 year, incredibly expensive “camp.” And for SOME (less than many), that is a true luxury. For MOST, the objective of being employed/employable in ones chosen field is the goal and the primary reason for going. Take away that promise? and the aspiration to attend college would wither and die.</p>
<p>@ giterdone - Understand that I’m not Tom Hanks or Meryl Steep or Mikhail Baryshnikov, so our middle-class NU performer will certainly have to earn her own living after college - though hopefully won’t be burdened with huge student loans. ;-D</p>
<p>One of D’s reasons for choosing NU over her free alternatives (in fact the first on her list) was the belief that an NU degree will better support a lifelong productive career in her chosen field, but we supported her choice in spite of no expectation that it would provide better financial ROI than if she had chosen an engineering degree at a free school.</p>
<p>Our hope is that D’s future work will contribute to the happiness and mindfulness of many others like ourselves (maybe some who chose degrees in engineering, law and medicine) who value theatre as a unique form of entertainment, education and introspection.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I also see college becoming an incredible luxury, particularly in the USA today. I remember when DH and I could work very part time to pay our own way through multiple degrees at great schools, but sadly those days are gone for most.</p>
<p>Good luck to your family as you make school choices. What an exciting time it is!!</p>
<p>Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep did both send kids to NU though!</p>
<p>MomCares- don’t leave out marrying rich.</p>
<p>@PizzaGirl - … and so did Mikhail Baryshnikov. ;-D</p>
<p>@arbiter213 - Hah! Maybe I can introduce you to her?</p>