Why wealthy families are always wasting money on these colleges while middle class says there is no real benefit of attending these schools? It’s a consensus they are good and free for poor but doesn’t matter for others.
Because of the social cachet.
If you’re among the rich, people wouldn’t be impressed by your Birkin bag or whatever, but you’d get more reflected glory from saying “my D got in to USC” than “my D got in to ASU”.
So basically everyone with money is shallow?
Did I say every one of them? No.
But many are, certainly. A big percentage of any class of people are shallow.
In many cases, elite schools are “worth it”. But, everything is relative to one’s situation & to one’s options.
@Riversider No. You used the term “always” and “everyone” in the title and content of your posts. That’s a pretty broad brush. All wealthy people aren’t always as you describe.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please avoid stereotyping groups of people. It’s not permitted.
I don’t agree all wealthy families are hung up on elite colleges. I’ve enjoyed following the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal, but I hardly think that is representative of most people of means.
Many CC threads point out how there are smart kids everywhere … there are wealthy kids everywhere, too.
There is no doubt that there is a great education to be had at the “elite” schools. If you don’t have financial constraints, and you have a superstar kid, why not apply.
That said, there are so many great schools out there that no one should feel like they need to bankrupt themselves to sent their kids to an “elite” school.
And for the record, what is “elite” for one major, is not necessarily for another.
I think there is a benefit to attending the elite schools. But I don’t think the benefit is worth my kid coming out of school $150,000 in debt or me refinancing my house or destroying my retirement savings. If I could pay $80,000/year without incurring debt? Sure, it’s worth it. But the vast majority of people don’t have that kind of cash.
All wealthy kids aren’t high achievers so those have to go somewhere if parents aren’t up for bribery or fraud. @houndmom
While I don’t agree totally with your premise, if you are seriously wealthy full pay at a top ranked college or university isn’t going to hurt you as much financially is it?
Why not just buy a child stocks worth of $300k? Why waste on something you can get for free?
Whether it is “worth it” or not depends on what you value.
A top education with brilliant professors surrounded by only the very smartest and most intellectually oriented students… an opportunity to spend four years truly immersed in “the life of the mind”… is priceless. I can think of nothing better I can do with my money than pay for such an education for my son. From the day we were married, my spouse and I started saving every penny we could for the education of our child(ren) who were not yet born. It was the single most important financial priority of our life.
It is a matter of what one values. In certain families and/or cultures, whether the family is rich, poor or middle class, education will be considered the most important expense.
Same reason they spend $80K on a BMW Eight Series when a $30K Camry would take care of their transportation needs just fine: Because they want to and they can afford to.
Yup but BMW driving middle class still prefers to buy BMW and send junior to free school.
It’s about marginal benefits.
The marginal benefits of a brand name school may not be worth the psychological and financial costs of debt, whereas if you have $1m+ in net worth, you can afford to knock $250k off of that.
I can’t afford a $700 phone. It doesn’t make sense for me. There are people for whom the marginal benefits of a $700 phone are worth it, for many reasons, but first and foremost, they aren’t sacrificing any basic life needs, such as retirement income, health care, psychological well being, etc. for the phone.
Does that make sense? Elite schools are a luxury.
Re: #12
$300k is a lot to the typical forum demographic, but may be pocket change to the plutocrat class.
However, the lower plutocrat class with underachieving kids may find that sufficient donation money to get those underachieving kids into a prestigious enough college may be more than pocket change, hence the Varsity Blues scandal.
But if the kids are not seriously underachieving, the usual use of money to give them advantages in the college admissions race (enrollment in high school with grade inflation, privileged connections to desired colleges, and dedicated college counselors; test preparation and accommodations; and, yes, donations) can achieve the parents’ goals of getting them into a prestigious enough college, so that the kids will have at least a veneer of high level achievement when they get preferred access to desired jobs through connections.
the advantage of being wealthy ( and having lots of disposable income ) is that one can pick and choose where one spends their money on without having to worry about drastic change in lifestyle. In other words, for college choice, the financial costs/price tag is of little consideration and fit/academic offerings, etc are the drivers of it.
“Why not just buy a child stocks worth of $300k? Why waste on something you can get for free?”
Nobody’s stopping you from doing that, my man. Go for it.