Should you incur substantial debt for dream school or even pay the "dream" tuition?

[psych_2]

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The fact of the matter is that family priorities can lead to decisions that end up in kids going to schools that are not the best fit for them. I fully believe that some small LAC chock full of high achieving kids, for an example, would be a better choice than commuting to a local college with larger classes, kids who are not as academically prepared and able, lots of adjunct profs, a large commuting/suitcase population. But the finances may dictate the latter choice. I’ve seen it happen many times.

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<p>I think you are creating a false dichotomy between “top, wonderful LAC” and “bottom of the barrel, commuter/suitcase public U.” There’s A LOT of schools in between (and outside) those two extremes!</p>