Worth going to MIT, Stanford or Harvard for undergrad?

gadad
Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:53:33 +0000

^^^ I agree with Jonri regarding H, M, and S, and a few others at that level. I think that HYPMS - and particularly their students - constitute such an unusual level of excellence on the higher ed hierarchy, that I could easily see an additional $80-90K as a reasonable choice. I’d feel the same way about schools like Williams and Amherst too. But my 11th-grader, who should be in the ballpark admissions-wise for those schools, insists upon a big-time and accomplished marching band. That puts his top academic options - outside of our in-state public options, Georgia Tech and the UGA Honors Program - as Northwestern and Vanderbilt. I would be delighted for him to be at one of those, but I find myself balking at the big cost differential there. That’s nothing against NU and Vandy - I’ve done campus visits at both and love them both - I just find myself drawing the line of added-value beyond Georgia Tech at somewhere north of Northwestern and south of HYPSM. Other folks’ lines would adjust according to their own means, I suppose.