When?
- When you can afford the cost.
- When the top school is a great fit for your kid.
- When YOUR KID (not you) wants to go to that top school.
- When you feel that the process of his/her education at the top school is important as well as getting a job.
- When the top school has a great program in the area your kid is interested.
- When the top school has a prestigious brand in the geographical region where your kid wants to work.
- When the top school has other great programs in the event your kid wants to change a major.
I would say the above factors are the minimum requirements for you to pay a “big” premium. If the premium is not that big, one or two factors can be missing.
Final decision - YSU’s Dana School of Music. After meeting with a violinist who got her undergrad at BW and is currently working on her grad at YSU, plus getting an actual tour of YSU’s campus, it turns out that D liked YSU a whole lot better than she was expecting. Money aside, she liked them both about equally, but for somewhat different things. BW actually did review her scholarship offer and came up with an additional $2000/year, which was fantastic! But no joke, about 2 hours later we got an email from the YSU flute professor that said “Congratulations! Your music merit scholarship has been increased from $2000/year to $4000/year!” So the financial gap stayed the same. Although she’s very sad to be declining BW, she does see herself doing very well at YSU, and YSU’s offer is just too good to turn down.
We aren’t telling the family yet. We’re going to get those “YSU Grandparent” tee shirts and give them to the grandparents as a reveal.
Now, how about all that paperwork?
Woo Hoo! It always feels good to have a decision made.
That’s great, I think you both made the right choice.