College Search & $$$
 

Well I thought I was ahead of the curve as I already have the funds necessary for my daughter's (currently a junior) college costs for an Ohio Public College (about 110k) and have her graduate debt free.
She is interested in pursuing a broadcast/journalism career. She had shown an interest in attending Ohio University, but now out of the blue she wants to attend Syracuse University as her "dream college". Syracuse is a private school $56k/year and wants mom and dad to step up our college budget. I told her she can pay for the difference. I am almost certain she would not qualify for any financial aid. She is a smart kid, 27 on ACT w/out really preparing for it and I am confident she will do better on the next go round.

So (if you are still reading) has anyone invested in a college consultant to assist with any grants or tuition reductions ? Are they worth the investment?

TIA

Ed

I'd look at it like a bank would a loan . So she pays $100k for a college degree... what is her earning potential once she has that degree? IE for Engineering school or similar, where a good job paying $60k+ per year on graduating is probable, dropping $100-125k on a degree makes sense - even if you did the whole thing with student loans, you could pay it off in a reasonable time with a good paying job. However, with a degree in basket weaving, English Lit, etc. that same investment wouldn't pay off - you qualify to be a manager at a Starbucks or similar.

After 3 kids and 3 college degrees I agree with your original plan. We paid for state university or equivalent and they could go anywhere they want and cover the difference with scholarships, grants or student loans (their dime). We strongly discouraged entering the workforce with a big fat debt.

Results:
Kid #1 went 2 yrs to JC, AA in photography, and was hired full time by the company she was doing volunteer hours. She is now the Volunteer Coordinator for a major charitable organization.

Kid #2 was offered a partial athletic Scholarship to Bucknell but chose UCSD for the weather. BA in communications w/minor in biology, she served a 1 yr internship and now works as the lead MRI tech at a major hospital.

Kid #3 was recruited to play Womens Water Polo by Princeton and Brown but chose UCSD for the weather. BA in History and Religious Studies, she went on to get her Masters in Education at Claremont (student loans) and was hired by her student teaching school. She teaches high school history.

Bottom line, if your kid has the right stuff for broadcasting, she needs to get into a school doing broadcasting internships that regularly hire the best and brightest. I would discourage the use of college consultants or large student loans. A good college prep counselor has as much or more knowledge about the process as most paid college consultants and they are free.

Damn, she must have been a hell of an athlete to be offered the only athletic scholarship to Princeton or Brown in their 265+ year histories, in violation of their Ivy League agreements:

"Undergraduate Financial Aid

Administered by the Undergraduate Financial Aid Office, the University's financial aid program provides assistance to all students who are judged to need aid. Princeton does not offer academic or athletic scholarships."

Undergraduate Announcement - Undergraduate Announcement


Q. Does Brown award merit-based financial aid, such as academic and athletic scholarships?

A. No. As a member of the Ivy League, Brown does not award academic or athletic scholarships.

General Questions | Financial Aid

(I went to an Ivy. The Ivies have never offered any kind of athletic scholarship, partial or otherwise, so you may want to pull that bit from your otherwise good story. ;) )

News to me. I was not present for her meetings with both coaches but I defer to your superior knowledge. :)
I was present for the meeting with Bucknell and was handed the offer. In any case, they still chose the west coast schools.

This statement just stuns me. You are already going to pony up $110K, which would pay for her entire in-state college career, but that's not good enough.

I guess when you pal around with several "silver spoon" friends your attitude changes to "entitlements" ..... I was taken aback.... "Dad your crushing my dream"

I paid for my entire college on my own..... I thought I was doing well for my kids...go figure

I have four kids, I told them all i will pay for a State school. If you want to go somewhere else, it's on you. 2 went to State schools, 2 did not.

I remember the local high school use to hold free seminars on trying to obtain student loans and stae grants and the like. I would check into that before i payed for anything. I think with some reasearch, you could figure it out on your own. It's all about the FASFA

My son graduated high school in Dec, eariler than most. He is currently attending a JC waiting acceptance for college this coming Sept. His high school has a wonderful college placement department. They looked at his grades, ACT scores and interviewed him and his mom and me to get an idea of what we would be my son's next step. As we went thru this process, we narrowed the focus to a few schools that are fundamentally in the same price range and my son's interest (environmental sciences). We limited the geographic area (Midwest, WI, MI, IA,IL) too. We also explained to the school and to my son, what our price point was/is.

We did look into a academic consultant. IMO, unless your child has needs (special) or extremely gifted (academically, athletically )or is an artistic prodigy, I don't think you need one. However they are helpful in the selection and acceptance process - good ones do have inside tracks.

offer to make her a loan - reduce the interest to less than a bank would charge

also, has she visited Syracuse? send her there in the winter

I'm 28 and currently in grad school. Tell your daughter to read this, she'll thank me later:

Get bachelor's degree cheapest way possible via a public school with a good reputation in the major/industry she wants to go into with a solid recruiting/career services office. Then after working for a few years, splooge the big bucks on the best grad school regardless of cost. Today's bachelor's degree is yesterday's high school diploma. Means little to nothing and only used to weed-out applicants in first-pass by HR.

I went to a very good state school and it only cost me $12K + living expenses after transferring from a junior college. I'm so glad I didn't drive myself into debt for that bachelor's degree, as it doesn't do much outside of engineering/science degrees (and even then it can be a crap shoot these days).

Tell her not to go to Syracuse, it's a big factory.

This really puts today's youth into perspective.

I'm a hard-ass. She pulled that attitude with me, I'd let her pay for year 1 herself, and see how easy it was. Can just about guarantee her tune would change for the next 3 years...

If they attitude persisted, I'd have myself a nice, new car financed by what I'd saved for her college. And in the long run, she'd have a life lesson.

My son is a senior now and is in the process of accepting the college he will attend next year. My wife and I have a bit of practical experience with degrees and real life employment, so I think our advice and experience is sound.

First, I would not hire a financial aid planner. They don't know anything you can't figure out on your own. And you'll work harder for you than anyone else will. I recommend educating yourself and spending a lot of time with your daughter's high school counselors. They are likely to be very good.

Second, don't make your decision based on the schools' "sticker price". The public state school is $25,000-$30,000 a year compared to Syracuse at $56,000. But Syracuse is private and has a huge endowment and has more flexibility on financial aid and scholarships. The Ohio state schools will have every other bright kid with a 3.5 GPA/30 ACT competing for the same scholarship dollars and financial aid will be stretched more thinly. My son is looking at a local state school that is a little under $20,000 all-in or a local well-regarded private school that is in the $40s. But he will get nothing from the state school and he is getting between $10,000 and $15,000 from the private school. So now the gap is $7,500 to $10,000 a year. Still a lot, but it is close enough to consider. This brings us to the real tipping point:

Third, what will the extra money buy your daughter and is it worth the expense? Certain schools open doors for you that would otherwise be closed. The extra money you pay in tuition will pay itself back many times over. Also, paying extra to get a better fit for your kid where she gets better grades and then gets on track for a better career can also be money well spent. The question is whether the school, degree and your child's needs converge to make the high-priced, more prestigious school worth it.

Look at it this way. If your kid gets into Harvard and wants a career in law or business, the money she spends on Harvard's tuition versus in-state at Ohio, is obviously going to be worth it. A Harvard business grad's lifetime average earnings are that much greater than the average business grad's earnings at any state school. But, is your kid going to benefit from a more expensive school, either because she is going to do that much better there, or because the school opens options? A teacher is going to make the same whether she graduates from Harvard or Metro State University.

In my kid's case, I think he will do much better at the private school and it has an alumni network that is well known for helping its grads. The state school gives an excellent education, but won't give him the same leg up on getting a job, and I'm worried he wouldn't thrive in that environment. So to me, $10,000 a year is worth it. The quid quo pro is that he knows that has to show the grades to justify our ongoing investment.

So that's what it boils down to. What is the real retail price difference between the two schools when you see their financial aid and scholarship packages? And when you see the actual cost difference, what does Syracuse offer that Ohio doesn't? Does Syracuse qualify her for a career in national broadcasting, whereas the local college is an outlet for small local radio stations? If so, the extra money can be worth it, if she is the type of kid who can take advantage of the opportunity. If she's not of the caliber to make that leap, even from a nationally renowned school, then it doesn't matter if she does go to the big name school. But if she does have that potential, and that is her career goal, it could pay off to spend the money on Syracuse.

Finally, there's nothing wrong with her incurring some debt. Studies have shown that there is a direct negative correlation between the amount of money parents spend on their children's college and their grades - the more a parent gives the kid, the worse his grades are. If you have $110,000 saved, and that would cover four years at a state school and half to two-thirds of a prestigious private school, why not let her go to the private school with the understanding that she has to borrow the rest. It wouldn't be a crushing debt load for her and it would give her some skin in the game.

Ivies don't give athletic scholarships, but they do have discretion on how much financial aid they offer prospective students. The athletic department always coordinates with the financial aid department to make sure good athletes get generous financial aid packages. This may be what the family above interpreted as a partial athletic scholarship. Strictly speaking it's neither a scholarship nor legal, but it's the way things are done.

Ohio state school? Miami. Guaranteed to be the best 4 years of your life.

Like an empty soda can. I'd be tempted to tell her that I'd be happy to send her there as soon as her silver spoon friends parents cut me a check for the difference.

You have my sympathies. We're pretty much doing a similart approach - budget is $30K per year, per kid, 4 years. That's what they get - spend it wisely...dont spend it thanks to scholerships/grants, it's theirs; go over, they foot the bill.

Pfffffffffft.

JCrew U. Poseurs and yuppie wannabes.


:D :D :D :D



I kid - my wife went there.

I am debt free... Fairly certain with my financial status she will not qualify for any financial aid... Hoping she can qualify for some academic merit grants...

Must have a pretty wife.

I embrace that J Crew U stereotype.