<p>hmmm…thanks hmom…your thoughts parallel mine…I went to Duke over the objections of my Mom (she wanted me to go to Amherst or Williams)…needless to say I think she was right.</p>
<p>the undergrad experience does indeed form the nexus for all els</p>
<p>Mini, I’m not saying they are not. All I can say is I didn’t have that experience at Wharton, my other kids did not at their schools including a state school honors program and it seems common at Dartmouth. There’s something about being out there in the woods that seems to bring this community together in an exceptional way.</p>
<p>noted, suggested, but in my view Dartmouth would give him a global ticket…FSU a parochial one…</p>
<p>maybe a lien on his first 5 years income post-grad…;)</p>
<p>I don’t know…he’s my youngest…all doors will be open if needed.</p>
<p>I kind of figure an acceptance to Dartmouth IS a scholarship, in a way.</p>
<p>As for debt, I think we need to look at the big picture. To not qualify for any aid at Dartmouth means we’re probably looking at a househole bringing in the cost of the four year education every year at minimum. It might delay the bigger house in the better neighborhood, but it sounds like a reasoable expenditure in context.</p>
<p>jdjaguar, we’ve bitten the bullet and have 3 we pay full freight for at great private schools. All big ticket purchases are delayed. Would not have it any other way, all three have everything they need to have every opportunity they desire.</p>
<p>In a recent study published in Forbes magazine, Dartmouth grads are making more money 10 years after graduation than graduates of any other school. The Dartmouth education will open the door for some great summer jobs and fabulous internships that will recoup some of the tuition paid over that of less expensive schools. S is at Dartmouth and is very happy there; the school offers a quintessential college experience. S knows some athletes, though not football players, and they are still able to participate in fraternities and other EC’s.</p>
<p>i agree.</p>
<p>tell DW. lol</p>
<p>jdjaguar, you mentioned saving for the future “graduate school”. If that’s the case (not a professional one like med. or law school), most graduate students are funded through research and/or teaching assistanships. Many moons ago, I was paid a thousand bucks a month to be a graduate student :)</p>
<p>If Dartmouth is what your son wants and you can afford it without going $250K into debt… If you have to borrow that much, then no school is worth it, IMO.</p>
<p>I was flippant w/ the 250k…probably a rolling 100k…and, yes. he’s thinking either med or law or business…not exactly focused…but he;s 17…neither was I.</p>
<p>Can we assume DW is not DS’s mother?</p>
<p>Not even a close call–go to Dartmouth. It is a $100k investment that will repay many times over in your son’s lifetime. There IS a difference between going to top schools (Ivy, Stanford, Williams and the like) and everything else. For those who disagree I respectfully suggest they have not attended these schools and seen the power of the name in opening doors and clearly underestimate the alumni connections.</p>
<p>You have no savings for college??</p>
<p>hmom</p>
<p>no, we cannot…lol</p>
<p>married only once…although she thrice…and there, there, is the rub</p>
<p>Trig</p>
<p>Have recently put 2 stepsons through college and am supporting mom and aforementioned “DW” lifestyle.</p>
<p>do you have 200,000 tucked away for DS?</p>
<p>It depends on the kind of student your son is. Is he going to be willing to look into research opportunities on his own, get in touch with faculty, find study abroad programs, work well with the Honors department staff, and in general get the most out of his opportunities? Or is he more likely to be laid-back, enjoy college, and graduate in the middle of the class? If it’s the latter, then you probably want him at Dartmouth or a similar school where he’ll have a number of opportunities open to him and won’t have to be as much of a self-starter. If he’s more inclined to the former, then FSU’s Honors Program would be the place to be, since he would have access to just as many-if not more- opportunities there, at a much, much lower price. I’ve met students from FSU’s Honors Program and it’s clear that the Honors folks in Tallahassee know what they’re doing with their program. And he could always play intramural sports too; those teams can be just as competitive as DI sports without the huge time commitment. </p>
<p>Look at it this way: many of the statistics that you read are about the “average” student from each college/university. No student is exactly “average,” so forget those stats and look at what your son will get out of the experience at each place, especially with his unique talents like a love of football factored into the equation. Take a careful look at how your son will fit at each location before you get lured by visions of prestige.</p>
<p>now THAT…is some good advice.</p>
<p>thanks my internet friend.</p>
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<p>Hm…not wishing to knock this kid…but most “gifted footbal players” have at least some school that is recruiting them to play. They are not counting on being a walk on player.</p>
<p>That being the case…I would go with the FSU honors college or Dartmouth…if you can afford it.</p>
<p>Just an FYI…Dartmouth hasn’t had terrific football teams…Perhaps he would be able to help out that football team??</p>
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<p>Option 1 sounds like the best one to me. If grad school is a goal (which I assume it is since you mentioned it) then academics, not football, needs to take priority so choose the school based on that. As for grad school, quality state universities consistently produce students that are just as successful with grad school admissions as those at expensive privates (just look at department webpages at target grad school and look at the diversity of undergrad backgrounds).</p>
<p>Option 3 is totally out of the picture… no undergrad degree is worth going into that much debt!</p>
<p>i want to concur that football is a full time job for student athletes and is a different kind of college experience. We have a friend whose son has played Division 1 football for his first two years and is leaving the team this spring. He wants a more normal college experience (and he isn’t playing much anyway.) </p>
<p>We have good friends whose son was a “gifted” baseball player and just loved playing. He wasn’t quite good enough for Division 1 so they allowed him to go to a school (one step below the Ivies) where he got no money but could play baseball.</p>
<p>The parents’ hope was that some merit money would come his way once he had been there for a year or two (sometimes departments have scholarships etc). It didn’t and he is now home.</p>
<p>He would have been better off forgoing college level baseball and entering the honors program at state University which is highly regarded and a great value (free).</p>
<p>Dartmouth was 0-10 this year, any one of us could probably walk on!</p>
<p>Dad, you don’t get to mention to your wife, “hey, we just finished putting your two kids through college. Now we’re putting our son through college so the move is going to have to wait a while” ???</p>
<p>Spend your money any way you want, but it seems unfair to make your son end up with the short end of the stick just because the step brothers got there first.</p>
<p>And why are you paying for grad school anyway? I don’t see the logic of saving the money on undergrad (which will be in a year) for some far off event which may or may not occur 6-8 years down the road. A top B-school will want him to have quality work experience before he even thinks of applying… and if he’s good enough to get accepted to a top professional school, he’ll be smart enough to figure out a way to pay for it.</p>
<p>If I were going to help my child pay for med. or law school, I would not go 100K in debt for him to get his undergrad degree.</p>
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<p>Or we have family who are Ivy grads who think it’s financial insanity for people to go into large debt to send their kid to any school, especially for undergrad. Or we take our retirement planning seriously so as to not have to ask our children for money in our, should we be so lucky, old age.</p>