Are elite colleges worth the cost for undergrad?

[bigalt]

it depends on what you're weighing against the costs.

some people will have their families pay millions for the privilege of saying they went to Stanford.

Chances are you won't automatically get a better paying job if you go to Stanford, but it will be easier to land jobs without having to prove yourself.

 

[SuperTool]

I don't know if I would recommend Stanford for EE undergrad. They are all right for grad, but to me, their classes are like slideshows. So you are paying insane money to watch excel presentations from your profs. I think they are too geared towards grad school. Also, I don't see many Stanford EE undergrad degree holders in my industry and this is in Silicon Valley. I see many more people from Purdue, Wisconsin, UT Austin, UC Berkeley, etc. than from Stanford.

 

[SuperTool]

Oh yeah, the area that Stanford is in is extremely boring. Silicon valley is like giant engineering quad, and Palo Alto is like Fresh Prince of Bel Air type of place.
It's not worth 43K/year. Period. End of Story. You will drop 150K for name "Stanford" on your diploma.
CU Boulder might not be too bad. How far is it from Fort Collins? There is industry there. One thing Stanford has going for it is that it's easy to interview for jobs, and companies come there to recruit because it's 10 mins away and they don't have to spend a lot of money to fly out.

 

[bigalt]

Originally posted by: SuperTool
Oh yeah, the area that Stanford is in is extremely boring. Silicon valley is like giant engineering quad, and Palo Alto is like Fresh Prince of Bel Air type of place.

the palo alto high school kids have good weed sources, though.

and the stanford campus is gorgeous.

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: bigalt

Originally posted by: SuperTool
Oh yeah, the area that Stanford is in is extremely boring. Silicon valley is like giant engineering quad, and Palo Alto is like Fresh Prince of Bel Air type of place.

the palo alto high school kids have good weed sources, though.

and the stanford campus is gorgeous.

Yeah, the area in general is good for outdoors stuff.
But the only way an elite college is worth it is if you are rich and it doesn't matter how much it costs, or you are poor and get financial aid. Middle class it makes no sense, IMO. You can always get a Stanford graduate diploma, and have your company pay for it if you work in Silicon Valley.

 

[LordFortius]

I keep hearing about these "intangible" benefits, but would I still get them if I ended up going to a place like Stanford for grad school?

I am starting to lean against going just beause of the enourmous cost... and it's only going to get more expensive. It is 43k now, but in four years, it will probably be about 50k. So, we are talking about a minimum of 180k here. If there are any loans involved, once the interest is factored in the cost is easily pushing 200k. For someone in the middle class, I don't think that cost can be justified.

 

[Nanotech]

Ultimately, I think it depends on who is interviewing you and where you are interviewing. For instance take the following scenerio:

I have a friend who has done real well for himself at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) and in May will receive his CPA certification from there (5 years all together). He has already accepted a job offer starting out at $45,000/yr in Southern Illinois.

I graduated last May from Illinois State University (4 years) and my first job started me out at $40,000/yr in Central Illinois.

Very comparable cost of livings mean that his degree, while much more elite, does not really pay for itself (at least yet) because his schooling cost much more than the extra $5000 he is making out the door. Of course, who knows maybe it could be argued that with his degree he will move up the "ladder" quicker or receive higher % future increases but I doubt it.

 

[Aznbruin]

Originally posted by: LordFortius
I keep hearing about these "intangible" benefits, but would I still get them if I ended up going to a place like Stanford for grad school?

I am starting to lean against going just beause of the enourmous cost... and it's only going to get more expensive. It is 43k now, but in four years, it will probably be about 50k. So, we are talking about a minimum of 180k here. If there are any loans involved, once the interest is factored in the cost is easily pushing 200k. For someone in the middle class, I don't think that cost can be justified.

I think if the real question is finance then I think you need to ask someone what are the long term benefits of going to Stanford? How much more salary would you expect to make if you went there? 20k, 30k, none? If cost is 200k and you only made 20k then you would recoup the cost after 10 years.

What if you decide to change majors. This is a good possibility. I would get in touch with some alumni from Stanford. They have a good support network and I think they would give you a better understanding of the "intangible" benfits.

Good Luck.

 

[KarenMarie]

My daughter went to Penn State, Univesity Park for one year. With tuition, room & board, decorating the room, books and lab fees, food plan then really feeding her, spending money and other costs, we went thru $30,000. cash in one year. No kidding. She was undecided so did not have a major.

She hated it.

She now goes to York University, York UK. Cost for tuition, room & board, books and fees are $8,500.00 - spending money and food we have not gotten a total for yet. She loves it.

I was under the impression, perhpas wrongly and no doubt I will be corrected if I am, that an B in a top school is more valuble then an A in a state school. But hellfire, I did not go to college so I am not sure.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
If you think a grad school is going to pick a state school student with a 3.5 over a top 20 school student with a 2.5, you are lying to yourself or letting someone lie to you...

Grad school acceptance is based on a lot more than just gpa and school.

Whatever else there is, an elite school is going to be better for that too... unless they look at your university's sports record.

 

[bolido2000]

I would say 200K is waay to much just to go to Standford. Especially if you are planning to go to grad school. I know many people who got accepted to elite universities, but didn't go because of the cost. Now most of them are doing extremely well. Standford will open more doors for you, but at the end it depends on you to advance in life.

 

[SuperTool]

It's not worth 180K.
Save the money for your MBA program, you'll need it.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Btw, grad schools have equivalency charts of undergrad GPAs.

 

[BigPoppa]

If you're in colorado, why not go to CSU in Fort Collins? Excellent coop program and I believe a new engineering complex.

 

[CanOWorms]

not worth it for $180k... Did you apply anywhere else? If you got into Stanford, you can get into other top schools (like ranked 10-30) that will give you some financial aid.

 

[hdeck]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
You get the best professors
You get the best students to collaborate (& compete) with
You get a well endowed school
You get your resume put at the top of the pile for a few years

If you can hack it and excel at an elite school, you will see a payout. If you are a jackoff and graduate with a 2.5, you'd be better off saving your money and being a star at a lessor school.

best professors? you means the one that are constantly doing research so their classes are taught by TAs?
best students? there aren't bright students at other universities that don't want to pay insane amounts of money or be in debt for half their life?

 

[Spamela]

for undergraduate work, emphatically NO.

 

[z0mb13]

its all about networking and the type of people that you associate with

chances are the stuff you will be learning will be the same as if you go to a state u.

But your friends will be smarter, richer than the typical state goer. Also your prof will be more famous, nobel laurates, have hundreds of connections, etc.

Also the alumni of stanford are generally extremely succesful compared to most state u..

 

[eLiu]

I'd say it's worth it. I'm about to drop 43k/yr on my education too. I mean, sure it's very possible to not go to a top tier college and then enter a top notch graduate school (I know several people who did undergraduate at NC State Univ and then graduate at places like MIT and Caltech), however I think the experiences you'll gain from a place like Stanford justify the cost. An education is only what you make of it, but a place like Stanford should allow you more opportunities--better professors, more research opportunities, more access to top tier graduate schools, etc. Of course...if you plan on partying and getting a 2.0 or something, screw Stanford and go some place cheap b/c you're wasting big bucks if you go to slack.

And, I'd tend to disagree with the idea that it's difficult to earn back the cost. I've talked to numerous MIT graduates (undergrad & grad), and the ones who had to take loans to pay their way through college said they had their money paid back within 2-3 years.

The people I talked to said money should not be a major concern...b/c you shouldn't have a huge problem paying it back if you work hard, get involved with research, have good relation with professors (grad school), do some co-op/internships, etc. Top tier colleges are for the opportunities...sure the classes will be better, but not by a huge amount--it's all about the experience.

 

[RabidMongoose]

I would say that it's not worth it if you didn't get any $ and if you're in engineering. However, you should be able to go to a good (top 20) school WITH a scholarship or money being offered to you if you were accepted to Stanford. You can still go to an elite school - it just won't be as elite as Stanford.

 

[HamSupLo]

for those who say it cost too much, this guy still has like 45 years left in his life. Over the long run, it's not going to mean anything.

 

[csf]

These debates are always pretty amusing; those who went to public/state schools are full of unwarranted vitriol against Ivy/Ivy-type schools; those that went to Ivy-type schools are vigorously defensive about their choice.

That said, I would go for it if I were you, but the thing is you have to be sure you like the environment, the campus, and the general atmosphere. If you're interested not just for the name, you should definitely go.

 

[Gibson486]

If I got accepted to MIT, I would have to think hard about it. Yes, teh top professors are there, but, they will never teach you because all classes are taught by TA's. The name will open doors however. It all dpends on what you wanna do after college.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
If I got accepted to MIT, I would have to think hard about it. Yes, teh top professors are there, but, they will never teach you because all classes are taught by TA's. The name will open doors however. It all dpends on what you wanna do after college.

Where do you get the idea that they're all taught by TAs?

 

[bonkers325]

academically, there really isnt much of a difference between colleges. but elite colleges present better opportunities to students. the people you meet and associate with in elite colleges will definitely give u an edge when you graduate. if u goto an ivy league, you might meet the future president or something.