<p>Great to hear from you again! You and my D are contemporaries. She just graduated from what was, four years ago, a “lesser” school, too, but has more than made up for it.</p>
<p>I think what many newcomers do not understand is how much financial aid policies at a few top schools like Yale have changed in the past four years, to be much more generous to families making more than $100K per year. Some of our kids were just a few years early from a financial aid POV, I guess.</p>
<p>Regarding comments by Dad II and others about the value of Ivy over others, we will never settle that debate. Please just let it go. (and considering those “hot” Wall Street jobs, would you really want to have received an offer from Wall Street last spring, knowing what is happening to jobs on the street now?)</p>
<p>Since my name has been selected out of 100s a couple time as be negative. Since we are in the high season for debates. Please let me state my position one more time. </p>
<p>Any one who could do a BS and a MS in 4 years has done an outstanding job. No one will ever dispute that. </p>
<p>I would like to think that achievement, however, really has less to do with which school OP went but more to do with his effort and ability. So, from that point of view, the school involved is not a factor - OP could have done that in Yale too. </p>
<p>The next great thing is this “google” job. It is a job. By what standard that you will say a google job is better than an “AOL” or any “xyz” job. Beside, are we saying if OP went to Yale, he would not have gotten a job as “good” as this one? </p>
<p>Then the main focus is “money”. If I remember right, OP got full tuition from Vandy, not a full ride. The only difference between going to Yale or Vandy is about 10K loan per year. </p>
<p>So, in summary, OP did a great job getting his MS within 4 years and he got a "good " job. My problem is that he used those two things to diss people who paid extra to go to HPYSM. I bet there will be plenty of students who would take on 40K loan to go to HPYSM. They will have an arwsome 4 year experiences. At the end, if “job” and “money” are the bars to measure success, I am not sure those decided to go the route of HPYSM will lose. </p>
<p>OTOH, I agree with NMD, we will never settle that debate.</p>
<p>I didn’t interpret ER’s post to be dissing students who choose HYPSM. It was just saying that if you are accepted to one of those schools but can’t afford it, you can still do very well for yourself by going to a school that’s lower down the US News ranking.</p>
<p>Dad II, E<em>R said in his original 2005 post that the cost difference for him between Yale and Vandy was $100k. This was prior to Yale et al’s changes in financial aid policy. While the difference between Yale and Vandy might now be “only” a $10k a year loan, that wasn’t the case when E</em>R matriculated. Regardless, E_R finished school in good enough financial shape to take an extended four month trip with friends through Europe and the US. </p>
<p>I have to say something about the ““google” job” comment. (I’m not an employee). Google has a well-deserved reputation as an outstanding place to work in tech. Its employees are whip-smart, and often brilliant. They’re doing cutting-edge work with like-minded people, with an employer who expects a great deal but which also takes good care of its own. Besides the basics, employees at the Mountain View HQ get access to on-site oil change, car wash, dry cleaning, massage therapy, gym, hair stylist, fitness classes and bike repair. And there’s the food. The free food. The free gourmet food, with a critic, to boot (see [Techie</a> dishes on Google’s grub - Los Angeles Times](<a href=“Techie dishes on Google's grub”>Techie dishes on Google's grub) to get a sense of this). Yeah, Googlers are well paid, but that’s only part of the attraction of a Google job. </p>
<p>Agree with Weasel8488 that E_R wasn’t dissing anyone, just offering encouragement for students who need to pass up their dream school for financial reasons (and even if it’s “only” a $10k loan a year difference, those students are still out there). That’s a very positive message.</p>
<p>E<em>R said that Total Family Contribution per year for Yale would be $32,590, and for Vandy would be $10k. Thus, the four year difference between going to Yale and going to Vandy would be on the order of $100k ($90k if you want to be picky, but that’s on the order of $100k). E</em>R would have needed to cover $40k of this with loans, but the total out of pocket difference would still be about six figures.</p>
<p>E_R: Thank you for taking time to give us the update. Long time posters have always spoken highly of you and your experience. I would be ecstatic if my kid managed to get hired by Google as a software engineer right out of college. Congrats on what you have achieved and best wishes for what appears to be a bright future.</p>
<p>My S would think he was in heaven if he had a job like ER! He’d probably cause himself irreparable harm if he had a job on Wall Street. Different strokes for different folks. One is not “better” than the other. If I say it really loud, Dad II, will you listen? There is no “best.” Period.</p>
<p>Google is the very pinnacle for engineering jobs at this time, just as Microsoft was in 1990, and Xerox Parc was in the 70s. Congratulations! They usually only take the top engineering students from Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Caltech etc. (besides Maryland).</p>
<p>Regarding Wall St., someone very close to me got a coveted internship this summer at Goldman Sachs in Chicago. It is not probably that there will be a job offer forthcoming this Spring… there will likely be no headcount for the first time since… maybe 1992? </p>
<p>ERs EFC was over 32k, the 10k you cited was the part of their EFC that they would have to cover with a loan. Yale would have cost ER about 130k total. With the scholarship, ERs EFC at Vandy was 10k per year, so about 40k total. Thus the difference of about 100k between Y and V.</p>
<p>Throughout the process ER has never dissed anyone. His only intent is to show that there can be many different paths to your goal. I have a kid who made a decision similar to ERs, it didn’t work for her and she has now transferred to Y. The major difference is that we are fortunate enough that she will not have to take out a large amount of loans. However, she is making a compromise, as now she will likely need to take a gap year after undergrad to help fund med school. </p>
<p>Jolynne–yes, UIUC is University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I think they are now trying to go with just “Illinois” as UIUC is not really intuitive.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son!</p>
<p>I always say, the trick is to go to a school that will give you money and has just as good a program as the better-known one that won’t give you money. :)</p>
<p>ER ultimately did much better than he originally calculated – he was able to get his MS during the same four year period. That more than doubles the differential (didn’t lay out another $35k, or whatever EFC would have been this year, and will net at least $50k after tax on his employment at google vs. another year as a student). </p>
<p>So ulitmately, the differential was about $180,000.</p>
<p>As many posters have pointed out, Yale under the current FA initiatives would likely have completely or mostly narrowed the four year gap that ER faced in 2004.</p>