<p>Here is our issue:
Our son who has been accepted to Yale also has been accepted to Univ. of Minnesota Carlson School Of Business and the Honors Program. The scholarships U of M are offering pay for his entire four years of undergraduate plus even more. These are all merit based scholarships. There are some of the Merit Scholarships that he can use at Yale but we qualify for absolutely no financial need based scholarships. He is an only child who is really driven. Almost perfect ACT's, SAT's and Grades. He is an athlete Football/Wrestling and also an exemplary saxophone player. The President of 2 major clubs at school and in 2 Jazz bands. If there was an advantage to going to an Ivy league school he would probably be right there. What do you think? We can afford Yale but geez...is it that big of an advantage? P.S. He was also accepted to Columbia and Princeton...waitlisted Harvard and Stanford. What would you do?</p>
<p>I would send him to Yale in a heartbeat, assuming that’s his preference. Going to an elite college is not a golden passport to success, but it’s got immense value. It’s not just the resources and opportunities available at a school like Yale. It’s also who you go to school with. Being with some of the smartest students around really does increase peer learning. </p>
<p>You mention that your son’s scholarship is to U of Minnesota’s Business School. There’s a big difference between the broad liberal arts education he’ll receive at Yale and the more narrowly focused education he’ll get at an undergraduate business school. I have a strong bias in favor of the former for every undergrad student, but especially for kids who have multiple talents. So many kids change their minds about careers and majors during college. Is he sure he wants to lock into a specialized program? Can he use his scholarship funds at U of Minn in the liberal arts college if he changes his mind about the business school?</p>
<p>I agree w/WJB’s assessment. I was lucky enough to attend a HS where I was surrounded by incredible kids – they kept my fires going and I felt I learned a ton from them. When I went to New Haven, that level was just ramped up incredibly so. I was educated by my fellow students as much as by the faculty. I’m certainly not a prestige hound but I found my undergraduate experience absolutely wonderful and haven’t heard others expound about their college days like my friends and I uniformly view our Yale days.</p>
<p>Yes he can use the money he is getting for the Business School in the general college at U of M. I appreciate your comments. As his mom I want him to be happy. His high school peers presented little challenge to him but when he was at the United States Senate Page School he got a real sense of diversity and challenge. This is what motivated him to apply to the Ivy’s. It is too bad that there is so much “Merit” money for the public schools and none with Yale.</p>
<p>Where does he want to go? Also, what does he want to study and how definite is he about this?</p>
<p>He is leaning towards Yale…and he is going to BDD’s. He also is going to do a visit to Princeton and Columbia. He wants to study business but seriously he has changed his mind about this many times. He more undecided than anything.</p>
<p>If he is indecisive about his interests, absolutely go with Yale. If he goes to the Carlson School of Business and changes his mind again, which statistically he is very likely to do, then he’ll just be a liberal arts student at UMinn that passed up the opportunity to be a liberal arts student at Yale, Princeton, and Columbia. As T26E4 said, this isn’t about prestige – it’s about the type of environment in which his mind will be stimulated throughout the next four years. If Yale is not too much a financial burden, I think it would benefit him much more intellectually.</p>
<p>Yale will challenge him much more than U of MN. The intellectual growth is priceless.</p>
<p>My D, also an only child, now finishing her first year at Yale, was in a very similar situation last April. What worked for us: we left the choice of schools entirely up to her. Last April, she went off, far from where we live in the West, for basically two weeks of events, roaming the East , that included Bulldog Days. D chose Yale. Like your S, our D had very definite interests, as perhaps is esp true of driven, only children. She is still studying her main field of interest but she has also found at Yale several worlds full of interests and possibilities that she would have been less likely to try and find at the other (excellent) full-ride schools that she decided not to attend. Joining her in those interests are outstanding kids from all over the country and in some cases, the world, to a far greater extent than in the most of the other schools that accepted her.</p>
<p>Of course the money part isn’t a minor consideration. It wasn’t (and isn’t) for us. The money part varies from one family to the next. Yet one of the best immediate “returns” we have had on “the investment” involved letting the decision be hers. Yale also proved reasonable in the matter of financial aid, given that they let her use merit moneys she’d located and earned, and also given they’ve made significant summer work available to her, work that would not have been available at any of the state schools that she decided not to attend. </p>
<p>Giving the decision to your S is not the same as telling an 18 year old “B” student that they can spend many thousands of dollars as they like, for whatever reason, or go to “X” school to follow a girlfriend, or whatever. Your S sounds very mature. It sounds like the Senate Page program made a big difference in his thinking, the way that a similarly competitive program that our D did in the summer after her junior year of HS, made an enormous difference for her. She realized not just that she was, indeed, Ivy League material, but also that there was no one “right” school for her, and finally, that she could think about where and what commitments she wanted to make, and to pursue her dreams. </p>
<p>Treating our D as a responsible person and nearly an adult, giving her the decision to make, and supporting her as she made that choice helped her grow up tremendously, and to “own” that choice. </p>
<p>This has all been so earnest that I wish to end with a note of levity about studying business: DH, D’s father, is a professor of Business. He regards a liberal arts major is far, far better preparation for business than studying business at the undergrad level. </p>
<p>Be proud of your son and good luck!</p>
<p>first i would want to know if you son visited any of the campus’ and how did it feel to him. he is going to be living among the people and environment for 4 full years and that experience cannot be replaced. it will be a part of him for life. next, let me first say congratulations on having such a fun well rounded life. the academic achievements go without saying, but to be involved in sports and music and have such a passion is the ultimate, in my opinion. if i were looking at this, i would go for the full free ride as the priority. you will have plenty of time to spend your money on grad schools and beyond where spending that money really counts. kids from age 18-22 are still growing and if they go away, who knows what will happen with your hard earned money. wait until they are mature enough to know the value of the dollar. that doesn’t kick in until the 20’s. remember when you were that age? also, ivy league vs. not? i think the question would first be, is he comfortable in the setting? then, if yes to both, pick ivy league. let’s face it, you want to get what you want when you want it, correct? it’s who you know, not what you know that counts. that will always be until… hope this helps!</p>
<p>When I went to Yale, the cost difference to a state school - Michigan in my case - wasn’t that much. It is now huge. I would ask whether:</p>
<p>a) Minnesota is a good school, but it’s big. Will he be happy there socially?
b) Does he really want to be in the business school? If so, then he’ll do very well, he’ll score very well and he’ll end up getting into an excellent MBA program. Going to Yale will not change that materially one way or the other.
c) Is he more a liberal arts fit? There is another thread about Wharton vs Yale and I rather bluntly stated that if a person wants a business education, then Wharton is great but it’s not what Yale is about and a person who is that sort really should give up their place for a kid who believes in a liberal education.
d) What can you afford? How much of a stretch is it? And how much is your decision influenced by the warm feelings of being able to say my kid is at Yale, etc.?</p>
<p>EngProfMom really got to the essence of what Yale is about. So well put! There are many opportunities for your son to explore his interests even within his intended career path. D wants to go into “business” as well and, this summer, secured a spot in a very competitive summer internship program with with one of the top financial firms in the world. She also has been given the opportunity, however, to look at, and work with, “business” in Africa (she worked with the Gates foundation), Cambodia (NGOs that work to provide gender equity in business and government), and in several other parts of the world as well (the former Soviet Union for one). She, too, had the opportunity for a free ride, but after visiting that school, decided it wasn’t for her. Luckily, with financial aid, we were able to send her to Yale and none of us has ever looked back. She is thriving there and we couldn’t be more thrilled to see our D grow, and continue to grow, nurtured by the environment Yale provides. </p>
<p>I know money is no small part of the decision. . D could not attend without the support Yale provides. . .but even work she chooses to do on campus has sparked her interest in future career paths. Her boss is now talking with her about career paths within the university system, something D had never thought of.</p>
<p>Your son sounds like the kind of person that would thrive at Yale. He will be constantly challenged to think and grow and mature and will be fully supported in whatever path he ultimately chooses to take. You ask if it’s that big of an advantage and I say “yes”, wholeheartedly. </p>
<p>Good luck to your son and in the decision you all are about to make!</p>