Are "Elite" Colleges Worth It?

[@ghostvanilla5351]

FINALLY! someone says what we were all THINKING!

[@TiaraTanka]

Thank you!!

[@monicaw6247]

My son also went to Northwestern :) We are paying for the networking and opportunities. The facilities are stunning.

[@economicdevelopmentplannin8715]

Nice video topic. We can rank ALL colleges by their ability to catapult students from the bottom fifth to the top 1% (within a certain timeframe). Stanford, for example, does this for 18% of their alumni who entered from families in the bottom fifth of US income and within a decade of graduating were in the top 1% by income. A school could be considered 'elite' by mere virtue of its acceptance rate. But I would argue, 'elite education' isn't based on who can access it, but AFTER it is accessed, what are the chances of BECOMING elite, or JOINING the elite post-graduation. Merely attending an elite college doesn't make one elite, no more than being able to purchase and wear a Chanel bag makes a person from the hood more wealthy. Most schools are just names - nationally or locally. For people from low income American families, very few (a handful?) have a higher ROI than the 'no college' option.

[@doctordora]

I would add that your peers may differ among universities and that can have a huge impact on your social and academic well-being. If you're in a place where students aren't as motivated or performing at a level similar to what you're capable of, then you may not achieve as much or form very deep connection with others. Of course it can happen conversely, if you're in a place that way too demanding or stressful beyond what you're able to do, that will lead to poor outcomes as well.

[@norcaloutdoor5462]

I agree. Good connection is the best.

[@joemacy2776]

It also depends on what resources you have to pay for it. If you go to a super prestigious school like Harvard and you also have a full ride scholarship to pay for it, then yeah, it's worth it. If you're gonna have to go $200,000 in debt to get a bachelor's degree, then it's questionable. I will be honest and admit that I am not nearly a good enough student to get into a top tier school. That's not necessarily to say I'm a bad student. I am currently attending Southern Oregon University and pursuing a mathematics degree. It's not a well known school, but at least I can afford it. I also started at community college and saved a lot of money.

[@user-xx1qc9uz5i]

great points, I agree! How do you suggest a hs student creates the models you talked about if tehy have no background in modeling/excel?

[@TiaraTanka]

Sorry I don’t have a great answer for this. There are a lot of online resources for learning how to use excel and for doing time value calculations