Better to go to expensive dream school or cheap safety?

College Search & Lists
5

Actually the title does not say it all.

  1. It’s impossible to answer expensive dream school or cheap safety without knowing the schools. Your “safety” may have a perfectly fine reputation and be many kids’ “dream school.” Status and reputation of schools is in the eye of the beholder. Why not reveal the schools and see if your assessment matches CC’s.

  2. There are lots of schools that can offer merit aid to bring costs down to $30K that may or may not be on your list. So this is a false dichotomy. Is your list final? Why not see if there are other schools that might be compromise candidates.

Bottom line: Many, many kids cannot afford to go to their “dream school” and find another alternative. They do just fine in the end. The fact that you cannot afford the “dream” does not mean that you are doomed suffer for four years at a school that doesn’t meet your expectations. You just need to be a bit more creative.