Do i stand for a chance?

roadlesstraveled
Sun, 02 Jul 2006 15:59:45 +0000

I doubt that the original poster would be in a position to “pay a few more dollars” a year (based on the info she supplied), no matter how much she wanted to attend a school.]]

I’m sorry if you misunderstood my thoughts–my apologies. I simply meant a few extra dollars in loans that can be amortized over many yrs may be more than worth it in the long run for certain students. I wasn’t speaking about Hz_paula specifically. She may qualify for a full ride.

My wife attended Smith and a top 3 grad program. Both were far more expensive alternatives over other colleges she was accepted, but the decision to incur substantial loans (she was not from an affluent family–far from it) has paid her back exponentially over the yrs b/c many companies, consciously or unconsciously, in her field do take into consideration the college one attended for their corporate, or health related facility resume. I won’t link the web site, but one company she worked for has zero sr executives listed on the sr management resume web page that didn’t attend a top college, B or Med school. It’s referred to as CEO arrogance.

Could she have reached the level she has without the prestigious and highly respected colleges?. It’s conceivable. And the thought the best will always rise to the top no matter what college they attend does have some validity. That’s another debate

Yes, her loans were an annoyance for a time. But the return for her has far outweighed the minor cash flow issues she (we) had for a few (ok, more than a few) yrs.

During Google’s formative yrs, they only hired from the top colleges --i.e. Ivies, MIT, Caltech, Stanford, etc. The practice may still be occurring today in some form. Although I have a friend that was hired at Google who attended a top 50 low tier college, but he had substantial work experience, was the national Jeopardy champion and had won an Emmy. I imagine that counted for something. ;)

I have another friend who attended MIT and was informed by the CEO, without hesitation, he was hired over the competition b/c of his MIT degree. I know what is compensation is, and the substantial loans incurred to attend MIT have returned well over mid 7 figures in total compensation in the last 10-15 yrs. In his view, I can almost guarantee, to him, the substantial loan amount he incurred was more than worth the short term repayment burden,

MLB, I am, of course, relaying only a couple of examples and by no means should it be construed attending a top college or grad school is the road to wealth and happiness. After all, there are more CEO’s at the fortune 500 companies who attended UW Madison than HBS.

But for some students, borrowing more to attend a certain college for future goals or achieving extreme happiness and contentment (fit) at their dream college might make perfect sense in their minds.

I borrowed substantially more than some might have deemed necessary to buy a house in a superb school district. Was it worth the extra cost? Dunno, never will, But my daughter was accepted to Smith and many other top LACs and offered large merit awards at lower tier colleges. I believe the school system was partly responsible for that, and the h/s curriculum and outstanding teachers made her far more prepared over some students for the rigorous course work and writing skills required at Smith. In my view a larger loan was more than worth the sacrifice. Sometimes investment vs. return is not computable in analytical terms. You have you have to make decisions on your 6th sense or intuition.

MLB, you were fortunate the aid and college was a perfect match. But for some students, borrowing more to attend a certain college for future goals or achieving extreme happiness and contentment (fit) at their dream college might make perfect sense.

As with many things in life, sometimes you need to follow your heart, not your wallet, to achieve happiness both in the present and the future. Money is replaceable. The college you attend and the happiness, friends and memories you incur lasts for a lifetime and are irreplaceable.

.