This is precisely why I provided the info. Posters here have been misled. Read the article. Free tuition at $200k with average assets. That leaves $30k for room amd board. But with significant assets, no discount and $100k per year.
This is precisely why I provided the info. Posters here have been misled. Read the article. Free tuition at $200k with average assets. That leaves $30k for room amd board. But with significant assets, no discount and $100k per year.
Don’t you also claim (under various names) to have $10 million in assets?
In my experience, like half of the American kids at top grad schools come out of ivies (and Stanford, Caltech, MIT) and half come out of everywhere else - from giant state schools to tiny liberal arts schools.
So schools that 1% (at most) of students attend make up 50% of American students at top grad schools?
Yes I can confirm this. There's both a selection effect that students at Ivies are generally very good students to begin with, and on top of that, those students get huge advantages with undergraduate research experience in world-leading labs.
Blows my mind that some Americans spend 6 figures on a piece of paper.
Even this makes no sense. I worked 5 years in London. About 2/3 of the Brits in the office were from Oxford and Cambridge.
Europe has a different system, but there still is a pecking order of 'best schools', with top students aspiring to attend, and grad schools/recruiters seeking candidates.
They probably went to private schools. There is a class system in the UK and certain professions (such as banking and consulting in "the city") will only hire people from certain backgrounds. You could do a masters or a PhD at Oxford but if you went to a state run comprehensive school and a regular university, you've got no chance. Hopefully AI destroys those fields.
So schools that 1% (at most) of students attend make up 50% of American students at top grad schools?
Yes I can confirm this. There's both a selection effect that students at Ivies are generally very good students to begin with, and on top of that, those students get huge advantages with undergraduate research experience in world-leading labs.
I wasn’t disagreeing. I wanted to emphasize it but it didn’t come across that well. I do think it’s a bit of chicken and egg - view it like McKinsey placing people very well into business school. The company’s name does benefit them some (as opposed to weaker consulting firms), but if you hire smart and charismatic people with high GPAs from (mostly - not exclusively , but definitely mostly) some top schools there’s a lot of selection bias.
Our daughter ran for an Ivy and our son ran for our state school. We paid full price at the Ivy and about $5K per year at our state school. Our son is earning $125K and our daughter is earning $80K. He had an easy time finding internships while she did not. We earned $140K per year when they were in college but we saved a lot for their educations which turned out to be a terrible decision. I would absolutely save the $400K that an Ivy costs and give it to your child after college.
Everyone has a different experience with this, and I believe yours to be accurate, and I would also argue that you got screwed, that you did the right, ethical, responsible thing saving for your kids’ education and should’ve been on equal footing with anyone else in your same salary bucket. Others have come on here in past threads on this subject and essentially bragged about how smart they were to use all their extra funds to renovate homes and buy new cars to “hide” their assets to qualify for “free” tuition, which I would argue is very unethical and a very liberal mindset. This is what liberals, in particular, do and they feel like it’s owed to them.
There are others, like myself, who are hardly uber wealthy but also don’t qualify for any need-based aid whatsoever. And, as a parent of an 800 math SAT kid (since someone already brought that up on here as a support for Ivy League schools) who graduated high school when COVID was still “fresh” and colleges like the Ivies went test optional, I knew that the odds were stacked against us as far as even getting admitted. I was proven correct as my kid got waitlisted at some very elite schools while her 1380 friend who did not submit the SAT got into a couple “Southern Ivies” with aid. But this friend was also in that <$200,000 per year bucket so had a better story.
Doesn’t matter, my kid took my advice and got $50,000 in merit money annually from a “Hidden Southern Ivy” and is on her way to med school, another school which made her a generous merit offer based on academics, not some embellished and inflated “story.” And we only paid maybe $28,000 per year, all in, for the undergrad, which was better than our state school at $34,000 per year, all in, which is what I’m paying for my other kid.
Finally, my wife w her State U law degree is in the process of laying off two not super competent lawyers with degrees from top 10 law schools, one a state school everyone has heard of and another an Ivy. And she’s told me her entire career that the least impressive people she’s ever worked with are Ivy League grads, who either don’t play well with others or can’t get out of their own way. But they’re all entitled because they have the “pedigree.” And that pedigree is getting more and more diluted by the day with a shift to filling demographic buckets and quotas. I even have a friend who graduated from an Ivy w a humanities degree in the early 1990s and ended up as a delivery driver who thought he was owed a high salary and eventually wound up in sales. There is nothing particularly special about an Ivy League anymore.
But, if you can get in and get it paid for, then knock yourself out. There are many ways to skin a cat. But anyone who pays $100,000 per year for any education is just dumb. Unless they have F you money and simply don’t care.
This post was edited 37 seconds after it was posted.
We knew what the price was going in but of course still felt some resentment after our daughter starting finding out how much some families earned who paid less than us. Our biggest disappointment was in the lack of assistance she got with internships and employment. Granted, she was an athlete which caused her to miss a career fair or two through the years. But I will admit that I really expected her to have her pick of thise things. I was somewhat naive.
We knew what the price was going in but of course still felt some resentment after our daughter starting finding out how much some families earned who paid less than us. Our biggest disappointment was in the lack of assistance she got with internships and employment. Granted, she was an athlete which caused her to miss a career fair or two through the years. But I will admit that I really expected her to have her pick of thise things. I was somewhat naive.
I didn’t mean to personalize that toward you at all. I didn’t like that you got multiple downvotes for merely posting your truth, just as I posted mine. These are empirical facts that happened, even if people disagree they are wide-sweeping generalizations. My wife, btw, is a 177 LSAT person who could’ve had her pick of law schools but couldn’t afford to attend. So she chose State U, graduated at the top, paid off her student loans (her parents didn’t help one iota), outworked everybody, and still remains incredibly charitable despite our ridiculous tithe to the Federal government every year.
But what an awesome country that allows ideological universities to make you pay full go while the person on here who quite literally bragged that he hid his “extra” money in home renovations and cars gets “free” tuition because he was just “smarter” than everyone else. Completely unethical behavior from the same dude who would tell you what it takes to be a real man. I would put integrity right at the top.
Yes I can confirm this. There's both a selection effect that students at Ivies are generally very good students to begin with, and on top of that, those students get huge advantages with undergraduate research experience in world-leading labs.
I wasn’t disagreeing. I wanted to emphasize it but it didn’t come across that well. I do think it’s a bit of chicken and egg - view it like McKinsey placing people very well into business school. The company’s name does benefit them some (as opposed to weaker consulting firms), but if you hire smart and charismatic people with high GPAs from (mostly - not exclusively , but definitely mostly) some top schools there’s a lot of selection bias.
actually, what companies like McKinsey are looking for are "insecure overachievers". They want people who will work 80-90 hours a week to prove themselves and get ahead. When these people burn out, they hire some more.
actually, what companies like McKinsey are looking for are "insecure overachievers". They want people who will work 80-90 hours a week to prove themselves and get ahead. When these people burn out, they hire some more.
It's not really quite so bad. Most consultants leave the firm at some point, again with a new advantage. Top college plus top consulting firm on the resume.
Consultants jump into industry at higher levels and with higher salary and if they don't screw it up can quickly move into senior management.
Most consultants also go to a client where they have already built a relationship with CEO on a project.
I get it that everybody hates the typical young snot nosed consultant, but for that kid, it's the fastest, highest paying route to CEO.
your argument is silly. you seem to be suggesting not even the top 5-10 schools in the country are cost-effective. in which case, what is? going to State instead? getting a trade?
you also seem blissfully unaware of the financial aid programs at top schools. they will meet "need" more than any school in the country short of west point, berea, or deep springs -- the "free" schools. some schools will meet that need without loans. some schools are tuition free below an income number.
it's only costing "sticker" if mom and dad make like $200-300k+. it is not costing a normal middle class kid anywhere near sticker. it might be free give or take room and board. and if there's aid, there may be no debt involved. federal grants, school scholarships and grants.
and meanwhile, those are the sorts of schools where in a handful of years half the class makes $100k+.
you have it precisely backwards. what's your brilliant idea, instead go to some school that costs more out of pocket, because it's cheaper sticker price, but also lower alumni income afterwards?
and my experience the worse the school the worse the financial aid. common sense. harvard or chicago's alums do well and fund scholarships when done. if you go to 4th tier regional college, people are too broke on their mediocre job afterward to pay their own loans much less help the next generation with a donation.
This isn’t the kind of advice I was looking for. Your boring, just getting by type of life experience really means nothing to me. I’m only seeking good answers from those that accomplished something in life, not old bitter crybabies like you.
your argument is silly. you seem to be suggesting not even the top 5-10 schools in the country are cost-effective. in which case, what is? going to State instead? getting a trade?
you also seem blissfully unaware of the financial aid programs at top schools. they will meet "need" more than any school in the country short of west point, berea, or deep springs -- the "free" schools. some schools will meet that need without loans. some schools are tuition free below an income number.
it's only costing "sticker" if mom and dad make like $200-300k+. it is not costing a normal middle class kid anywhere near sticker. it might be free give or take room and board. and if there's aid, there may be no debt involved. federal grants, school scholarships and grants.
and meanwhile, those are the sorts of schools where in a handful of years half the class makes $100k+.
you have it precisely backwards. what's your brilliant idea, instead go to some school that costs more out of pocket, because it's cheaper sticker price, but also lower alumni income afterwards?
and my experience the worse the school the worse the financial aid. common sense. harvard or chicago's alums do well and fund scholarships when done. if you go to 4th tier regional college, people are too broke on their mediocre job afterward to pay their own loans much less help the next generation with a donation.
This isn’t the kind of advice I was looking for. Your boring, just getting by type of life experience really means nothing to me. I’m only seeking good answers from those that accomplished something in life, not old bitter crybabies like you.
Alright, I'll provide it. I'm a multi-millionaire. I work for one of the most well-known and prestigious market-markers/HFT firms around. I can tell you from first-hand knowledge that at least 75% of the people here are from seven schools: MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Chicago, Princeton. Probably in that order, too. And honestly, if you're not from one of those seven, you've got almost zero shot at getting an interview here.
The bottom line is, as unpopular and arrogant as it might sound, the prestige of the degree matters. It is the most accurate and quick short-hand available for anyone to use to immediately understand a floor outcome for a potential hire.
This isn’t the kind of advice I was looking for. Your boring, just getting by type of life experience really means nothing to me. I’m only seeking good answers from those that accomplished something in life, not old bitter crybabies like you.
Alright, I'll provide it. I'm a multi-millionaire. I work for one of the most well-known and prestigious market-markers/HFT firms around. I can tell you from first-hand knowledge that at least 75% of the people here are from seven schools: MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Chicago, Princeton. Probably in that order, too. And honestly, if you're not from one of those seven, you've got almost zero shot at getting an interview here.
The bottom line is, as unpopular and arrogant as it might sound, the prestige of the degree matters. It is the most accurate and quick short-hand available for anyone to use to immediately understand a floor outcome for a potential hire.
Wow I’m impressed. Do you give autographs? Please provide us your name, so we can all look you up since you’re so rich and famous.
Alright, I'll provide it. I'm a multi-millionaire. I work for one of the most well-known and prestigious market-markers/HFT firms around. I can tell you from first-hand knowledge that at least 75% of the people here are from seven schools: MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Chicago, Princeton. Probably in that order, too. And honestly, if you're not from one of those seven, you've got almost zero shot at getting an interview here.
The bottom line is, as unpopular and arrogant as it might sound, the prestige of the degree matters. It is the most accurate and quick short-hand available for anyone to use to immediately understand a floor outcome for a potential hire.
Wow I’m impressed. Do you give autographs? Please provide us your name, so we can all look you up since you’re so rich and famous.
Look, you responded to someone else like a d-bag, and I called you out on it. No need to double down. Being a troll is pathetic and waste of everyone's time, most notably yours.
If you want actual, useful advice, it is available for the taking. If you want to be a dick on a running message board, sure, I guess you can do that too but I don't understand why you would.
my kid had d3 offers of admit support from arguably 2 of the top 3 academic liberal arts schools in the country - one widely considered the peer of HYPSM. We chose the 50% athletic scholarship to a lesser ranked - but still incredibly strong academically - D1 school. To me the outcomes seemed comparable to the D3 schools. Had it been HYP - one of which he was in talks with - probably would have went that route, which would’ve been impossible to pass up - but only at the tippy top
Wow I’m impressed. Do you give autographs? Please provide us your name, so we can all look you up since you’re so rich and famous.
Look, you responded to someone else like a d-bag, and I called you out on it. No need to double down. Being a troll is pathetic and waste of everyone's time, most notably yours.
If you want actual, useful advice, it is available for the taking. If you want to be a dick on a running message board, sure, I guess you can do that too but I don't understand why you would.
I’m not really liking your tone. Maybe a beer would lighten your angry demeanor. Don’t be bitter because I am young and you’re not.
I wouldn’t go to Cornell, but the others would be worth it.
Maybe you wouldn't go to Cornell University, but it's got some programs among the best of the Ivy League (Engineering), US (undergraduate architecture, Agriculture & Life Sciences School) or world (Veterinary School) - and I'm probably leaving a few out. As for its standing among the Ivies and other US universities, here are the 2026 rankings by US News & World Report for "National Universities:"
1. Princeton.
2. MIT.
3. Harvard.
4. Stanford.
5. Yale.
6. Chicago.
7. Duke.
8. Johns Hopkins.
9. Northwestern.
10. University of Pennsylvania.
11. Caltech.
12. Cornell University.
13. TIE: Brown / Dartmouth.
15. TIE: Columbia / University of California at Berkeley.
By that ranking, Cornell is 5th among the 8 Ivies.
There's a guy who posts here who admitted to denigrating Cornell when he got the chance as a means of belittling Rojo who for years coached there.
This isn’t the kind of advice I was looking for. Your boring, just getting by type of life experience really means nothing to me. I’m only seeking good answers from those that accomplished something in life, not old bitter crybabies like you.
Alright, I'll provide it. I'm a multi-millionaire. I work for one of the most well-known and prestigious market-markers/HFT firms around. I can tell you from first-hand knowledge that at least 75% of the people here are from seven schools: MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Chicago, Princeton. Probably in that order, too. And honestly, if you're not from one of those seven, you've got almost zero shot at getting an interview here.
The bottom line is, as unpopular and arrogant as it might sound, the prestige of the degree matters. It is the most accurate and quick short-hand available for anyone to use to immediately understand a floor outcome for a potential hire.
This is a good example of the degree being very valuable if you have a specific prestige related goal and intend to follow that path. It’s worth it if you want to do the specific thing that it enables you to do. Not every 18 year old has a solid grasp of those possibilities or their own level of interest in them, and in those cases, it may be better to remain debt free. Or rather, not cost their parents a few hundred thousand dollars for no reason.
Theres also a large sociological thing going on with these decisions. If your parents have enough money to not qualify for aid, but not enough money to easily pay, then you might have a weird time at Harvard or whatever because lots of students there have parents that can pay. I’ve heard stories of Wharton students all flying to Aspen on a long weekend, or planning European vacations together over the summer. It can create some negative feelings in some people who can’t do that.