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Would you fund your kid's IVY league education if you could?

Posted on 11/30/22 at 7:51 pm
Posted by mattytiger123
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Jul 2014
3022 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 7:51 pm
I got to see my sister's family at thanksgiving. She has three kids, the oldest of which is graduating high school in May. My nephew has been submitting applications at various top-flight schools. He's right at the top of his class, his test scores are off the charts (he scored a 29 on the ACT as a sophomore, now at a 34) and has been groomed for success since infancy. His mom is a nurse practitioner and his father is an MD (nephrology).

Princeton and Harvard are at the top of his list, but he's also submitting applications to Evangelical and Catholic institutions like Notre Dame, Georgetown, Wheaton, Holy Cross, etc. He wants to major in Philosophy for Pre-Law.

His parents are strong conservative Christians and said, in a very matter-of-fact tone, that they will refuse to help fund his education at radical left-wing IVYs and state schools, even going as far to exclude left-leaning Jesuit schools like Fordham, LU-Chicago, etc for their Marxism, and will only pay for "sane institutions." This caused a lot of tension at thanksgiving and is clearly making their boy distraught. My nephew seems pretty set on going to an IVY (if he gets in) no matter the debt he will incur, whereas his mom and dad are pretty loaded and willing to fund his education elsewhere in full.

I told them that most university campuses will expose him to marxism/leftism, especially in the philosophy department (I have an MA in Philosophy) and that it's just a part of his generation's experience. They weren't having it.

Thoughts?
Posted by UndercoverBryologist
Member since Nov 2020
8077 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 7:53 pm to
Only to Cornell, the only land-grant Ivy.

Edit: As long as they don’t major in Underwater Basket Weaving (with Trig) at Cornell, they’ll probably end up okay.
This post was edited on 11/30/22 at 7:57 pm
Posted by fr33manator
Baton Rouge
Member since Oct 2010
124567 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 7:53 pm to
I’ve heard good things about Notre Dame. Beautiful campus.

Hear they used to have a great ball coach
Posted by baybeefeetz
Member since Sep 2009
31644 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 7:53 pm to
Their money. Their principles.
Posted by fightin tigers
Downtown Prairieville
Member since Mar 2008
73681 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 7:53 pm to
Without a doubt. Sets them up for success in life.

Your kid is going to make their political decisions no matter what school they go to. Quit babying them.
Posted by NotoriousFSU
Atlanta, GA
Member since Oct 2008
10258 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 7:54 pm to
Are you a liberal? Sure, what’s $300K for an undergrad when your 18 year old want to save the world?

Are you conservative? Why the frick you spending $300K on your kid to become a communist?
Posted by Oates Mustache
Member since Oct 2011
22187 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 7:56 pm to
quote:

He wants to major in Philosophy


What a fricking waste.
Posted by OweO
Plaquemine, La
Member since Sep 2009
114040 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 7:56 pm to
quote:

if you could?


If I could, why would I not?
Posted by MrSpock
Member since Sep 2015
4364 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 7:57 pm to
Assuming he is Caucasian? He better have something exceptional on his application for admission with a 34.

Also if he's hellbent on going to an IVY ---> ROTC

This post was edited on 11/30/22 at 7:57 pm
Posted by Bobby OG Johnson
Member since Apr 2015
25161 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 7:57 pm to
Can they pay $300 a day for about 7 years to deprogram him afterwards like the pharma heiress?

Posted by TheWalrus
Member since Dec 2012
40741 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 8:01 pm to
I got a 34 on the ACT and wouldn’t sniff the Ivy’s as an undergrad. That on its own is totally meaningless. Has he spent thousands of hours in soup kitchens? Is he president of the chess club? That’s what matters to the Ivy’s, not an ACT score. If anything they will hold it against him that he couldn’t get a 36 with all that privilege.
This post was edited on 11/30/22 at 8:03 pm
Posted by DownSouthJukin
Coaching Changes Board
Member since Jan 2014
27392 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 8:02 pm to
We were raised conservative and Catholic. My parents paid for my brother’s Ivy League education. My other siblings and I went to state schools in the South and my parents paid for that, also. We all ended up with great jobs.

My brother was indoctrinated while at his Ivy League college and lives amongst the elites in the East and I think my parents regret him having gone there. My other siblings and I walk the same path as our parents ideologically.

Take all of that for what it’s worth.
This post was edited on 11/30/22 at 8:04 pm
Posted by Tyga Woods
South Central Jupiter Island, FL
Member since Sep 2016
30374 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 8:04 pm to
quote:

he scored a 29 on the ACT as a sophomore, now at a 34


There are 15-20 of these kids at every high school. They aren’t all getting accepted to an Ivy
Posted by GreatLakesTiger24
One State Solution
Member since May 2012
55843 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 8:07 pm to
quote:

he scored a 29 on the ACT as a sophomore, now at a 34
are yall minorities or just not familiar with elite/competitive college admissions?
Posted by SammyTiger
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Feb 2009
66837 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 8:08 pm to
I hope I have The confidence to send my son to school with the ability to make decisions for himself.

But I would Tell him not to be a lawyer.
Posted by Hou_Lawyer
Houston, TX
Member since Jun 2019
1901 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 8:10 pm to
I had a full ride at UT-Austin since I was valedictorian and had excellent SAT scores. When I got in at Rice, my parents sucked it up and paid (I did have some scholarships but not for the full freight). It has certainly opened up doors.

If the parents can swing it, fund the kid at the best school he can get into. It will pay off. Leave politics aside.
This post was edited on 11/30/22 at 8:37 pm
Posted by jeffsdad
Member since Mar 2007
21490 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 8:12 pm to
The official "hysteria-fixer" of the OT does not have to worry about money....
Posted by armsdealer
Member since Feb 2016
11528 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 8:15 pm to
Getting into an IVY is the hard part. Once you get out you are set for life even with a freaking philosophy degree.
Posted by Ladadof3
Member since Apr 2021
30 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 8:16 pm to
Tough question, my son had similar plans. 35 on ACT, 2 perfect SAT subject tests. However he would have graduated with a sizable amount of student loans, so not exactly the question of if you could fund.
Also he plans on going to graduate school so why spend on undergrad. So he stayed in state, at LSU and fortune to win Presidents alumni scholarship.

That being said we all know LSU rivals some Ivy’s in wokeness
Posted by AbuTheMonkey
Chicago, IL
Member since May 2014
8020 posts
Posted on 11/30/22 at 8:16 pm to
I’d hope to have enough confidence in my parenting abilities to send him anywhere he wants to go regardless of ideological bent. I’d have failed as a parent if I didn’t equip him with the critical thinking and social skills to handle that environment.

The average career and lifetime income premium for an Ivy degree is huge (7 figures in real dollars, easily). A philosophy degree from Harvard is worth more than an engineering degree than all but a small handful of state schools, as one comparison.
This post was edited on 11/30/22 at 8:18 pm
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