Be careful what wish for: daughter accepted to Ivy

Tell her if she wants to go there then she's paying for it. And if she plans on majoring in humanities or gender studies then Lord help us all.

Not what I envisioned wrote:

I was never one of those parents who pushed their kid to excel in track in hopes of a scholarship. However, as my daughter began to excel, the thought of a nice, partial ride was a nice hope.

Well ... it turns out her ability has attracted the attention of 2 Ivy League schools. What I've since discovered is that they don't give athletic scholarships ... it's all need based and we make too much.

So now my daughter has just returned from a recruiting trip to Columbia and loves the place.

My question is ... how much should I agree to pay? On the one hand, I'm very proud of her, but I can't shell out $72k per year either. What is a reasonable compromise?

You are rich and annoying. Try to get her to Duke, UNC, or Stanford but in the meantime, just pay the price. An undergrad Columbia degree is one of the most valuable things you could ever give your daughter.

And if you seriously are rich enough to have an EFC that exceeds $72k, I can't see why you would have any qualms about shelling out that kind of money. My EFC is $15k and my family considers itself upper middle class.

Very unfortunate climate right now at Columbia.

http://nypost.com/2017/02/02/suicide-wave-grips-columbia/

Tell her you'll pay what you can - if you're saving properly for retirement you should be able to halve what you save per year for a few without significantly throwing off your retirement - under the agreement that she majors in something that has good career earning prospects (i.e. STEM, not lit/philosophy/soc/dance/etc) and that she takes out her own student loans for the rest.

Why is this even an issue?

Halving retirement for a few years is something I hadn't thought about. Thanks!

She says she ultimately wants to be a surgeon, but major in Sociology for undergrad. Should I balk at that and require a more traditional pre-med study?

Also, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I don't feel rich. I make about $170k per year, but only recently got some big bumps to put it there. And I'm already mid-fifties.

Am divorced, and the ex makes over 200k, but expects me to pay half. So, I'm looking at 36k per year with 2 younger kids.

Columbia, Duke, UNC, Stanford.

One is not like the others.

I know the University of Northern Cansas is a good school but it's no Columbia!

bad advice wrote:

Columbia, Duke, UNC, Stanford.

One is not like the others.

Not what I envisioned wrote:

I was never one of those parents who pushed their kid to excel in track in hopes of a scholarship. However, as my daughter began to excel, the thought of a nice, partial ride was a nice hope.

Well ... it turns out her ability has attracted the attention of 2 Ivy League schools. What I've since discovered is that they don't give athletic scholarships ... it's all need based and we make too much.

So now my daughter has just returned from a recruiting trip to Columbia and loves the place.

My question is ... how much should I agree to pay? On the one hand, I'm very proud of her, but I can't shell out $72k per year either. What is a reasonable compromise?

I once went to a meeting of the friends of an Ivy sport. Not running. The coaches reported in how hard it can be to recruit without athletic scholarships. They said they lost several prospects because they were offered free rides from other schools.

So your choice is not that unusual.

where do you think the leaders of our society come from?

Not what I envisioned wrote:

I was never one of those parents who pushed their kid to excel in track in hopes of a scholarship. However, as my daughter began to excel, the thought of a nice, partial ride was a nice hope.

Well ... it turns out her ability has attracted the attention of 2 Ivy League schools. What I've since discovered is that they don't give athletic scholarships ... it's all need based and we make too much.

So now my daughter has just returned from a recruiting trip to Columbia and loves the place.

My question is ... how much should I agree to pay? On the one hand, I'm very proud of her, but I can't shell out $72k per year either. What is a reasonable compromise?

Tell her to look at Cornell or Yale

that's nonsense. 90th percentile philosophy mid-career earnings are $160k, better than a lot of majors. but as this website indicates, every college major generates far higher earnings than a high school degree on its own.

http://www.hamiltonproject.org/charts/career_earnings_by_college_major/

The climate at Columbia? I don't know may an psyops,

experiment?

If I was in your shoes, I would go to a local state college,

and try for a pell grant. Otherwise, there's a chance

the young lady may become another Lady Godiva!

Pay nothing

She will end up getting done lame degree that she can get at any State school, a State school loaded with smart professors that were trained in the IVs.

You should have nipped it in the bud when it started.

My 6 year old is say, "I know, we don't have money for that ..."

Music to my ears ....

They already have 20 fold what I had as a kid.

I did a mid-level State university and then went to an elite school with lots of history for a Masters degree.

It may be too late for your daughter if she's a senior, but for other HS students and parents

https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings?rankings=best-financial-aid

Sorry, Sociology

Lol

I'm telling you now, your daughter, she has no clue. Which is fine, but don't compound it.

Save your money or have the Ex-wife pay for it all.

I've never said this, Bc ppl around me say it.

But Sociology is a bad, bad, worthless degree.

Actually for you I'd wish her a general mid-grade degree, Chem, Bio, History, then get married and have kids with a decent guy that loves to work, loves family and kids himself.

Why $72k? US News & World says $55k (it's #5):

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities

So you're down to $27.5k for your half. Put $7.5k on your daughter ($4k loans, $3.5k summer earnings), so that's $20k out of your pocket. It's still a lot but you can manage that with your salary.

Like the previous poster, are you actually calculating your estimated financial contribution? Though Ivies don't give out scholarships, they have huge endowments, and give grant to cover what would have been loans. I went to an Ivy a decade ago, and received a good amount of grants funds - much more than most schools give in scholarships.

There are a many presitgious academic D3 schools with billion dollar endowments. If your daughter wanted to run and be all-american she should have checked out these schools, and it would have saved you money.