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Full Ride at a decent school vs shelling out lots of money and taking on student loans is an easy choice for me. Go with the free ride and make good grades!

Go to a masters program later if you insist on taking on loans and spending your savings.

It's a personal choice, so whatever I say is not advice. It's "what I would do". Also, it applies specifically to CS. I have no opinion on Premed.

I'd consider paying 100K vs. nothing for a slightly better school if, say, there are 1-2 kids in the family and total wealth is north of 3mil. May be north of 5 mil.

My bar would be somewhat high because CS is a very open field. It doesn't require expensive labs or permits. In theory, you don't need to go to school at all for CS: one could study at home using online resources (although in practice I think it would be a bad idea). Some of the best programmers that I worked with graduated from relatively unknown schools, they just got involved with very enthusiastic study groups (I'm talking programming olympics prep level). If you are thinking about Alumni network and making connections, I think that it's overrated in CS. It may matter more at top tier schools (note that most top shots in Silicon Valley are Stanford/Harvard) I don't know if it matters at all even one notch below Stanford/Harvard.

Given enough financial freedom, I'd still pay more for a better school because environment matters. Most college-age kids need to be pushed. Plus, a poorly taught class is a waste of time (the scarcest commodity)

Another (somewhat minor) thing to consider is how good is Math Department in those respective schools. Math is creeping a bit more into CS because of ML/AI (Linear Algebra, Probability/Statistics, etc.), comeback of Functional Programming (Theory of Categories), etc.

mostly reader says

My bar would be somewhat high because CS is a very open field. It doesn't require expensive labs or permits. In theory, you don't need to go to school at all for CS: one could study at home using online resources (although in practice I think it would be a bad idea).

Experience trumps education when it comes to programming. Your skill and past success means a lot more than a degree when you are looking for a programming job. Having said that, if you are working corporate you will hit a glass ceiling without the RIGHT degree.

President Benjamin Harrison went to Miami of Ohio.

mostly reader says

It's a personal choice, so whatever I say is not advice. It's "what I would do". Also, it applies specifically to CS. I have no opinion on Premed.

I'd consider paying 100K vs. nothing for a slightly better school if, say, there are 1-2 kids in the family and total wealth is north of 3mil. May be north of 5 mil.

My bar would be somewhat high because CS is a very open field. It doesn't require expensive labs or permits. In theory, you don't need to go to school at all for CS: one could study at home using online resources (although in practice I think it would be a bad idea). Some of the best programmers that I worked with graduated from relatively unknown schools, they just got involved with very enthusiastic study groups (I'm talking programming olympics prep level). If you are thinking about Alumni network and making connections, I think that it's overrated in CS. It may matter more at top tier schools (note that most top shots in Silicon Valley are Stanford/Harvard) I d...

Thank you for the valuable feedback. Our total wealth is certainly below 2 mil. I know that the Chief Technology Officer of PayPal went to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and CEO of Adobe went to Bowling Green State Univeristy (its a podunk town in Ohio).

I believe that most parents take a backseat once their kids are in undergraduate college. You are quite right when you say that college kids need to be pushed. I think most college kids need their parents as coaches for at least their undergraduate education.

I have thinking about moving to the city where my kid will go to college to help/guide/coach him. Is this a weird plan?

Onvacation says

mostly reader says

My bar would be somewhat high because CS is a very open field. It doesn't require expensive labs or permits. In theory, you don't need to go to school at all for CS: one could study at home using online resources (although in practice I think it would be a bad idea).

Experience trumps education when it comes to programming. Your skill and past success means a lot more than a degree when you are looking for a programming job. Having said that, if you are working corporate you will hit a glass ceiling without the RIGHT degree.

President Benjamin Harrison went to Miami of Ohio.

What do you mean by the RIGHT degree?

gabbar says

I have thinking about moving to the city where my kid will go to college to help/guide/coach him. Is this a weird plan?

Probably not, but it depends on if your kid wants you out of his hair or regards you as a wise, valuable mentor. Helicopter parents aren't always helpful.

gabbar says

Thank you for the valuable feedback. Our total wealth is certainly below 2 mil. I know that the Chief Technology Officer of PayPal went to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and CEO of Adobe went to Bowling Green State Univeristy (its a podunk town in Ohio).

The job and experience are more key than the degree, if the latter is in the right field.

State Universities and Free Rides get shit on, but it opens doors like crazy. There are a ton of Entrepreneurs who got their degrees from State Universities and excited to hire a top student from their alma matter in a role they need.

There are a shit ton of smallish companies on the State level that have the networking to get good contracts and need people.

The idea of college for most is going, the next thing to go is "Silicon Valley Job after Ivy League Education or bust".


Sure, if it's a scholarship and admission to MIT or Stanford, sure. If it's just admission with mucho debt vs. free ride at State School, I'd take the latter.
gabbar says

I have thinking about moving to the city where my kid will go to college to help/guide/coach him. Is this a weird plan?

Yes, it's Boomer to Millennial helicopter parenting that creates dependent permateens. You can guide/coach over the phone or emails.

The very best thing you can do is meet people on your own and let them know your kid has this degree. As a person I assume in their early 20s, they can move at the drop of a hat, and you can help create the opportunities.

Smartest and most valuable IT engineers I've known didn't even have a college degree.

Just knew their stuff.

They ended up getting paid the most too.

They also had no certifications.

If the kid learns to kiss DARPA's ass, he'll always have a job. Pick the free ride.

Onvacation says

Experience trumps education when it comes to programming. Your skill and past success means a lot more than a degree when you are looking for a programming job.

I've seen this for myself. You can get quite a good programming job without any degree if you take the time to learn the material yourself.

I would lean toward taking the full ride.

gabbar says

What do you mean by the RIGHT degree?

Many higher level jobs with corporate and government require specific credentials like "masters in computer science". There is also the connections students make when they go to the "right" institutions.