Could I get into an Ivy League school

You’re in a great position-academically and athletically- and I’m sure Dartmouth will give you a look. I was recruited by Dartmouth and I am more than happy to answer any question you may have. Just pm me!

Unless your family is what most people would consider wealthy, you'll ordinarily pay little or nothing to attend an Ivy. Individual anecdotes do not change this fact.

This is precisely why so many top high school performers, most notably on the men's side, are turning down "athletic scholarship!" offers from Power 5 schools. They (and their families) actually take a look at the bottom line and realize that a half-ride at Inchoate State will leave them with more debt than going to an Ivy would.

To anyone else that might be reading this, the mentioned 75k includes room, board, housing, etc. Regardless, I expect to have about half that covered ahead of time. For the rest: 1) My salary will also be increasing and 2) So will the school’s financial aid threshold.

Additionally, I suspect some of these university endowments will be so large in another 2 decades that they won’t bother charging tuition. NYU medical school is now free to anyone who is accepted.

It is the second tier schools that are a horrible value and only for second tier students. Top tier students can get a free ride at any of them.

Ivy up wrote:

Not fast enough or smart enough. A coach won't use one of their freebies unkess you run 4:12. Do you realize that an Ivy education now costs $300k if your parents are doing well?

Not necessarily. I know a 4:15 guy who got recruited by Columbia

ehhh wrote:

Ivy up wrote:

Not fast enough or smart enough. A coach won't use one of their freebies unkess you run 4:12. Do you realize that an Ivy education now costs $300k if your parents are doing well?

Not necessarily. I know a 4:15 guy who got recruited by Columbia

That he was recruited does not imply that the coach would attempt to get him through admissions.

You are correct not to listen to anecdotal evidence. Instead, click on the school's Net Price Calculator and you will find that if your parents earn a decent salary and have socked a bunch of money away, you will pay a significant amount to attend. $200k salary will have you pay $300k. If parents socked $1m away and earn $150k, also $300k.

Another phenomenon that is little talked-about is upper middle-class or wealthy parents hiding their incomes in order to get their kids to go for free. This happens more often than you would expect.

How do you hide income? You can hide cash under the bed but income is reported.

Lol is this Beck? Exact same times and wanting to follow Eric to Dartmouth. What's up bud

Just my 2 cents, I'd look into a school that'd give you $$$ to go their instead of paying out the ass for Dartmouth. You're a smart kid and you're fast, many schools would LOVE to have you. I was not as fast as you, but had very similar academics and was financially set. I got offered a boat load of money to quite a few schools and decided to go to the most expensive out of them and regret it. Let's say you get a full ride somewhere, go to school 4 years do well and graduate debt free. Then choose to go to an Ivy for grad school. I'd argue you're much better off than if you went to Dartmouth for 4 years considering you have a graduate degree as well and you're paying less overall (quick google tells me you'd be down $110k vs $250k).

The Starved Elephant wrote:

Ha ha Ivy wrote:

My sister and husband make about $200k per year but are always broke. My nephew went off to Harvard and got his degree in sociology. He is still $150k in debt 4 years after graduating. Most of his friends from college are in the same boat. They think the Government should pay off their debt bevause it is somehow not their failt that they chose not to attend a state school.

I take it most of his friends are also in sociology or something . The lesson here is that if you are going to spend a quarter of a million dollars on your education, don't get a sociology degree. Get a degree that creates an income that can pay off that debt and much more. Otherwise, go somewhere else.

It’s like one kid taking $300k and buying a Ferrari, and another kid taking the same $300k and buying a bicycle. A very nice bicycle, but still a bicycle.

It’s not like college sneaks up on you wrote:

Additionally, I suspect some of these university endowments will be so large in another 2 decades that they won’t bother charging tuition. NYU medical school is now free to anyone who is accepted.

It is the second tier schools that are a horrible value and only for second tier students. Top tier students can get a free ride at any of them.

I went to Penn. I graduated 30+ years ago. Did not receive any financial aid even though my family wasn’t wealthy, but the cost of attending wasn’t as high back then. Still, I graduated with debt equivalent to about 1 year’s worth of my starting annual pay coming out of school.

Penn has a $14 billion endowment. And yet every year they send me stuff in the mail or email asking me for money. This from a school that did not offer me aid when I attended. The school’s latest fundraising is for $4.1 billion for the “Advancing Knowledge for Good” initiative. I repeat. $4.1 billion. They want to build a new building that will unite people with common interests under one roof. They want to refurbish the university museum. They want money for a pavilion for the university hospital to “shape the patient experience”. They want money for immunotherapy research. They want money for a new science research building and funds to convene thought leaders and visiting scholars (aka junkets). They want to fund an entrepreneurship venture lab to commercialize innovations (but offer no share in potential profits). The want to endow new cross-discipline professorships and fund a “behavior change for good initiative “, whatever that means. They want to fund an engage Penn alumni program, I.e. more glossy material asking for money not just from alumni but also their parents and friends. And, some money for undergrads ( okay, that’s fine), graduate and professional scholarship (that’s not fine. Professional students ought to fund their own whimsy). And the want money for first generation college students.

The moral of this story is no, free tuition is not forthcoming for most students. It will, for some special interest kids, the same kids whose families already benefit from a vast web of welfare and social services and tax breaks. School administrators will not run out of grandiose ideas to spend money and fund ego boosting projects. And they will not be shy about asking you for money year in and year out.

The truth is, I got a fine education at Penn. The other truth is, it was expensive and I paid full price for it and have no intention of paying any more than I had to. Over the years I have had opportunity to translate my education and hard work into funds for charitable causes. I have chosen to give my money to organizations that treat my contributions with greater respect.

Rich dude wrote:

How do you hide income? You can hide cash under the bed but income is reported.

if you plan ahead, you might be able to hide wealth in antiques, art, first editions of books, jewelry. don't imagine that happens much, but for those who want to game financial aid, it's something fun to consider.

It’s not free wrote:

It will, for some special interest kids, the same kids whose families already benefit from a vast web of welfare and social services and tax breaks.

Man, poor you. It must really suck to be a white male.

To the OP TrackGuy17:

I hope you got some good advice here. You certainly learned a valuable lesson though: when you ask adults a serious question, they will not answer it and instead start talking about themselves, and money, and other people's money, and stupid people without money, and stupid people with money. Those are our favorite subjects.

Best of luck, and remember there's nothing special about Ivy league schools other than the name and larger landscaping budgets. Your education and prospects will be great wherever you end up, so aim high and be very satisfied wherever you end up.

OP,

I attended and ran for an Ivy in the early 2000s, and remain heavily involved with the track and XC programs as an alumni. My perspective is that you are competitive from both an athletic and academic perspective (assuming you are a rising senior and that 1400 SATis out of 1600). Unfortunately, neither your times nor your grades/scores make your chances much better than a coin flip. Your still much better off than the average applicant, but not a shoe in by any stretch. The advice to reach out to the coach at your target schools is good. Awareness on the part of the coaching staff, and demonstrated interest are your friends here. If you could retake the SAT and score closer to 1500, then you’d be well on the positive side of the AI which would grease the skids considerably. Otherwise, have a strong cross season and see if you can’t take another few seconds out of your mile time.

Since cost has come up, and a lot of misinformation has been thrown about, I’ll just say that it is premature to assume an Ivy will be more expensive than your state school. Last I checked, the average expected family contribution at my alma mater was ~$20K per year - and that is inclusive of room and board etc. The average family income of the students was over $200K. The reality is that your parents income has to be well north of $250K before your paying sticker (assuming a normal level of assets for that range of income ). Also, at a top school major field of study is far less important than you’ve probably been lead to believe when it comes to earning potential. Far more important is the field you chose to go into. Ease of entry into banking, management consulting, private equity, or similar is the primary means of realizing a return in your tuition dollars at an elite school. Just go into it with your eyes open.

Money matters wrote:

Everyone on this site blows right past the topic of money. I don't like advising people to take on significant debt. Our society is one of entitlement thinking that choices don't come with consequences.

Because the original poster didn't ask about money. How dare people simply answer the question that was asked.

it's just not fair wrote:

It’s not free wrote:

It will, for some special interest kids, the same kids whose families already benefit from a vast web of welfare and social services and tax breaks.

Man, poor you. It must really suck to be a white male.

I’m male. I’m not white.