What is affordable is in the eye of reader and I agree with the poster who said it is a very individual family decision.
Personally, I read having to dig into retirement and loans for the students (and “we are taking loans” which lead me to believe that it’s more than the federal student loan amount that the students could borrow alone) as being a hardship for both student and family.
I would say that for the specific field he’s interested in, American is more highly ranked than both! And if he’s interested, he can easily add minors, a double major, a language concentration… To his major of interest.
American offers many majors so if you had to pick between Business at URichmond vs. American, or Engineering at Cornell vs. American, it’d be different as they’re not American’s “specialty” - yet they’re offered and decent. An advantage is that it’s very easy to add and switch, with no barriers beside having the pre-req, even for CS.
Re: the question of “network”. I think this means different things to different people. For example, if your goal is to get into say, consulting, then it matters a lot which undergraduate school you go to in the sense that the top firms will go to recruit from schools A, B, and C, but they will not go to school D. So you are basically eliminating yourself from the set of possible recruits if you choose school D. You could be the best student ever at school D, but no dice.
Or, true story, someone I know went to a med school interview at Harvard and they spent like half of the interview taking football. Of course, the stellar undergraduate transcript probably was the main consideration, but did it hurt that they could discuss the finer points of the shared college’s team and recent performance? Probably not.
Are there networks that smooth your path to certain jobs based on what sports team you were on in college? Yes.
As to whether Cornell’s network is worth it, my guess is that it would be numerically larger than Richmond’s but also concentrated differently both in terms of geography and profession. There might be lots of Cornell engineers out there who are like, yeah, Go Big Red! Or maybe the Ag school crew is very tight? I would look at the network issue more in terms of sector. If the school has lots of people pursuing the path that your kid is interested in, that is where the network might come in handy. Like if I want to be a biologist but this is not a profession many Richmond grads pursue, then the network is not really useful to me because there won’t be some group of alums out there who will go out of their way to help me. But if I want to be in state politics in VA, then obviously Richmond will give me a leg up.
Is the Cornell network worse than the Harvard network? I’m not sure this question makes a whole lot of sense. It’s probably just distributed differently, just like the MIT network or UIUC network.
To me, these are just vastly different schools. Does your son like the South? Does he vibe better with the student population at either place? The demographics of each school are not the same at all; do you think he will find his people at either place?
For my idealistic down with capitalism son, we agreed that he could apply to schools with a reputation for leaning left but also schools that would be big enough where he could find his people. Like even if there are a lot of frat boys at school X, maybe there is also an environment club or fishing club where you will make friends. But in his case a school where the majority of the students were going into tech was not going to be his scene. He wanted a place where there would be other people interested in history and poli sci, so this eliminated places which felt too business-centric.
I think Cornell is big enough that he would likely find his people there somewhere? The advantage of any smaller school is of course the size and support. But this can also feel too small for some. Is your son a small school or big school kind of person?
Oh yes. A sibling is starting freshman year as well and we said no to the more expensive schools and they are going to state school so that’s another whole layer so where are you leaning?
Maybe it’s just not as well perceived anymore. I don’t know.
Thank u!
My DS vibes with a bigger school. I am concerned that too big with no supports will just make it more difficult, especially with the financial strain you’re breaking down sectors regarding the impact of alumni network is very important. Son has no interest in remaining in Virginia, but possibly DC although Richmond is two hours from DC
To me, American is the unsung hero of this opera. If your son has an interest in DC, this seems like an obvious front-runner. Even the kids I know who weren’t originally interested in some sort of government involvement, ended up doing something cool due to the proximity and overall culture at American. Volunteer work, part-time job at a government agency, summer job learning advanced statistical analysis for a polling company, professor holding regular roundtables with interesting people from his/her network to chat with students…
What didn’t work for your kid? Yes, Richmond is two hours away. But is that going to be a regular part of his routine?
It’s an extra 45 at the end of the day. Combination of really savings that’s it. I’m just concerned about not having any cushion for summer internship, etc..
This decision ultimately comes down to weighing $140,000 against potential lifelong regret. When your family supported siblings attending Princeton and MIT, while directing your youngest to Richmond instead of Cornell, you’re creating an unavoidable comparison. As we all know, Cornell carries international prestige as an Ivy League institution, while Richmond, though a fine school, has primarily regional recognition.
Despite the many perspectives shared in this discussion, what matters most is how this will affect your son’s perception of his place in the family long-term. The question isn’t just about current finances, but about potential resentment and regret that might last decades. When siblings received support to attend their dream schools, establishing different standards for another child creates an imbalance that’s difficult to reconcile. I honestly don’t see how you can say no to Cornell at this point unless the finances just can’t be made to work.
Then tell him he’s choosing between American and Richmond because you can’t afford Cornell if that’s the case.
I don’t think you should prolong the agony… there are no new facts here. He wants Cornell, you’re worried about the pricetag, both Richmond and Cornell can likely get him where he wants to go in life.
Reading back through the thread, apparently finances are a bigger concern, especially with a sibling coming up the ranks. In that case, paying that much more for the potential “network“ doesn’t seem practical. Also, haven’t quite found where it was noted, but when did American get added to the conversation? Has the student been accepted there as well and is it affordable?
Apparently the student HAS been admitted to American and it’s affordable but he’s afraid it’s not “highly ranked”, by which I assume he means “by USNWR” which ranks every major together, when American is nationally known for Politics&International Relations as a tier above Cornell&URichmond. 
This scenario is not about the OP. This is the situation another poster is facing. Please do not continue that conversation so the thread can concentrate on the OP’s questions. Thank you for your understanding.
This is a tough one – stretch financially to send your son to his favorite school, or try to convince him about the merits of Richmond or American U at significant cost savings?
Honestly, at this point – if you think it’s going to be hard to afford Cornell – I might concentrate on the strength in International Relations at both U of Richmond and American. Especially at American, where he is right in DC and able to work alongside IR-inclined kids from Georgetown and GWU as well. Richmond is known for business strength in general, so if he decided to pivot into a basic BBA course of study, well, he’d be just fine. I am not acquainted with American’s offerings in Business, or if they even have a Business major. But every place has Econ, so at least there would be that. Or Poli Sci.
If Cornell weren’t going to cause you any hardship, then it would be a no-brainer: the kid loves Cornell, so that’s where he goes.
But American and Richmond are very good for his area of interest, and since they’ll cost so much less, they really make sense – if he can accept the logic.
Thanks. Found it. American honors and “full merit” (full tuition???) is hard to walk away from. Especially with the field of interest. Again, if cost were absolutely irrelevant, and the family could pay full cost at Cornell and wanted the “prestige“ or network or what have you then that would be their choice. In this case, however, with it requiring loans and another child coming up the ranks to be considered, it seems to be more, as they used to say here earlier, paying for the window decal.
I am with you. Honors program top merit. The ranking of american generally. not as high but I told DS. Who cares. And know richmond to ct. not regular part of routine nor would going to DC. just thinking about internships
Thank you for your wise words. More interested in International Relations. Richmond better ranked generally. Told him it doesn’t matter … And kid willing to take out loans but I am now really thinking bad idea.
Yeah DS thinks Cornell CALS is the program he wants but I am sure decal sticker helps. No American with merit comes in at 60K versus 96K Cornell
Now there is an important data point. DS compares it to Georgetown and I tell him there is always something better or different. Your point is well taken. you think American is more highly ranked in IR than Cornell? That makes sense.