<p>My daughter turned down a full tuition scholarship at Emory for Harvard (same difference as Yale, IMO) and never looked back. That being said, we are not paying for her ongoing education. The deal was that if she took a free ride or paid state school tuition, we’d be able to help her pay for graduate/medical/law/whatever school but if she chose a private school we couldn’t do the same. She had incredible experiences, made great friends, etc at her school. That being said, I’m sure she would have been fine at another school too. We would have spent the same money either way; this way she will have loans for grad school. What is your son thinking about his options?</p>
<p>Oh, and we’re driving two cars with over 100,000 miles in this family. Well worth it to us.</p>
<p>“He would also spend four years elevating his goals, aspirations, and sense of efficacy to a world-class level.”</p>
<p>“But it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity foregone. Medical school at a top school is not the same thing as coming of age among the world’s best and brightest.”</p>
<p>These excerpts from gadad’s post make me nauseous. Some of you guys need to get a hold of yourselves. Yes, Harvard and Yale are elite schools, but their graduates don’t walk on water. I know this may be sacrilegious here, but I am sure this student can receive an equally excellent education at many non-ivy schools all over the country. Here is how I think about this: If given a choice of having a drink with either a student at Yale or USD, I would gladly recommend a nice bar in San Diego.</p>
<p>$56k in this house means two cars, each of which we expect to last for 10-12 years and 150k+ miles.</p>
<p>A LOT of kids start out thinking premed and change their minds by the time they hit Orgo (if not sooner). I’d look for the best educational opportunities, period, which does not necessarily mean the most expensive or prestigious school.</p>
<p>Regardless, $120k for medical school might make it possible for him to go into the specialty he really wants, rather than the one necessary to pay off the humongous med. school costs (which could be $270k by the time he gets there). </p>
<p>Four years at Yale is really, really nice. A lifetime in the career one really wants, and with much less debt to worry about, nicer. </p>
<p>(But if he isn’t SURE he wants pre-med, let him go to Yale, if you can swing it. And if you can’t, no guilt!)</p>
<p>(P.S. My REALLY nice car cost $2,200 six years ago. I just spent $81.26 to soup it up! And, no, I won’t trade you for a $56k car - then I’d have to worry about it, and with mine, I never do. Same with debt.)</p>
<p>People, there are plenty of nice cheaper cars, but a $56K car <em>is</em> a nice car. (That’s a new Chevy Tahoe with upgraded features). Let’s not get into the whole class warfare thing. If OP is paying $30K at Yale, which has the most generous FA in the world, then OP is upper income and can probably afford a $56K car.</p>
<p>parent57,
I personally know kids who go to USD and they are nice kids (except for one), but in the academic realm of Yale et al., (and keep in mind I am talking about Yale et al.,not all college-bound students), USD is a great place for average students. It also has an unbalanced gender population and is Catholic, so if those two attributes are a problem for you then it is a non-starter as an option.</p>
<p>I also think you are making an inaccurate assumption that all Yale students have spent their lives trying to get into Yale. It is simply not true, and I know what I am talking about.</p>
<p>All Yale students have not spent their lives trying to get into Yale. My daughter didn’t even intend to apply to Yale until her brother said, “Why aren’t you applying to Yale?” and she added it to her list at the last minute. In fact, she imagined herself going to Berkeley for most of the time she was in high school. She had a lot of passions when she was in high school. The rest of the stuff – the GPA, strength of program, test scores, etc. just came easily to her, which it does for some people. My experience of the students at Yale is that they are extremely bright, interesting and passionate and that they would be that way even if they hadn’t applied to Yale. But there is an energy about having so many people like that in one place that is an integral part of the overall experience.</p>
I would like to comment on this idea, which I see often on CC. There is some truth to it, but I think it’s only true when we are talking about what will stand out professionally. I think most people, even those with professional degrees, tend to identify more closely with their undergraduate schools, and many retain a lot of friends (and networks) from those schools.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your comments. I am in pretty much the same situation with my D. She’s been admitted to Yale and to Stanford at considerable cost. Is also considering U of Arizona with a $120,000 scholarship. She’s anticipating Grad school but not medical. All of your thoughts/comments have been appreciated. She’s leaning towards Y or S but sure hates to pass up $30,000 per year at Arizona!!</p>
<p>If it’s not medical school, the equations change somewhat. In most of the best Ph.D. programs, they pay you, you don’t pay them. Preparation at the top schools will usually be better than that at the state u’s (the honors colleges were created in order to make up for at least some of that gap), and, especially if you’ve been able to work with best people in your field (more often found at these schools), their recommendations are going to count for an awful lot. (I’d note, however, that in my d’s graduate program at Princeton, despite dozens of applicants, they haven’t accepted a single Ivy or Stanford grad in three years. Including Princeton’s own, where the faculty knows the students. Could be an anomaly, but it is what it is.)</p>
<p>The larger reality is the student who passes up Y or S for UofA is still the same intelligent, exciting, intellectually together student wherever she chooses to go.</p>
<p>My comment wasn’t regarding what the student would identify with - it was regarding what would be most prominent when seeking employment. </p>
<p>The school they’d identify the most with would probably just come down to which one (UG or post) they happened to like better and the one they had more memorable experiences at.</p>
<p>Yale…I wish it was a choice of Yale vs another school with tippy top stat kids, but USD just is not that school. However, if you can not afford the debt, than that is the final answer. And if this is your first child, in my experience the effects of trying to meet the gap at a school is much harder than anticipated and the rest of the family suffers, and the other kids are much more limited in their college choices. This is not because of favoritism, but rather just not fully understanding the impact on their family currant income and accumulated debt. </p>
<p>It is very hard to keep the true costs of a school like Yale in perspective in the heat of the application process. I don’t envy you dear parent.</p>
<p>No, I am not impressed by the name of a school, unlike some others. Where you went to school is far less important than the multitude of other personal characteristics and qualities I am looking for…</p>