[wallscratch]

I strongly encourage you to contact MIT about your situation and family’s situation and try to negotiate out more financial aid.

As someone who went to a flagship state school for undergrad and ivy for phd…

A) Most of the people I know who turned down higher-ranked schools for lower-ranked ones because of money regret it. You will make a lot of life-long friends in college, and you will just be exposed to a different caliber of person on average at mit. Random people you meet through friends of friends at brunches or happy hours will be weirdly accomplished and teach you things.

B) Your analysis seems to hinge on doing a phd at a top-n school. What if it turns out after a few years of college that you don’t want to do a phd after all? Then instead of being either mit phd, or mit bs, you are z school bs. This may not be terrible, but not optimal.

D) On the other hand, I think the differences in career outcomes on average are small, although I wouldn’t be surprised if the probability of starting a company with any given level of success x is 10 times higher for mit alum than Z school alums. Anyway, median mit cs alum has some faang-y job throughout their careers, and these companies all know/understand that many top students can’t all afford top colleges, and so they recruit from state schools as well. So the tail outcomes can be quite different, mean/median isn’t that much.

E) For careers like management consulting or investment banking, some top firms only recruit at top-n schools. However, eg mckinsey even does on-campus recruiting at places like ut austin or georgia tech now, so then it doesn’t matter. You just need yo be at an on-campus recruitment target school.

In my opinion, the lifetime of friends and network effects is most of the benefit, and not to be underestimated. You only live once.

[52-6F-62]

> exposed to a different caliber of person

There are many reasons to choose MIT, but I don't think this qualifies.

I studied at one of Canada's top schools, and also have the qualified experience of a drop-out.

Some of the people who impacted my worldview, and also earned the most respect I have for anyone, were a selection of Vietnamese refugees† I worked for in a warehouse after dropping out. At U of T I met some smart people, but also some of the thinnest people in terms of personality, worldliness, and compassion (worse, many of them thought they were already the tops in all of those categories simply because they were where they found themselves in life—often because of where they were born).

No matter where you are, if you go looking for people who will influence your life in an expansive, positive way, you will find them. You don't need to go to school for that. There are countless other reasons to choose one school over another.

Don't quantize your life, kids. It doesn't work that way. It's only you who has to live with yourself your entire life. You've got a heart—use it.

† turned out these brothers I ended up working with were bloody genius-level electrical engineers who designed and resolved bugs in high-powered lighting systems in their sleep. And some of the kindest souls I've ever had the pleasure of knowing

[nextos]

> No matter where you are, if you go looking for people who will influence your life in an expansive, positive way, you will find them. You don't need to go to school for that. There are countless other reasons to choose one school over another.

I agree with this. Also less prestigious universities can have better people to influence the OP right now, even if the end goal is to do a PhD at MIT.

For example, take a look at how some great football (soccer) talents are managing their careers. Many deliberately decline offers from top teams in order to keep growing organically. Knowing when to get into a top team (or university) without getting burnt out is an important aspect in managing your career.

Depending on the OP's personality, getting into MIT too early might be detrimental. Lots of students might not enjoy an excessively competitive place for an undergrad for instance.

In my case, if I was going to college again, I would probably consider small liberal arts programs and some ivies (with access to great CS coursework, e.g. Dartmouth) rather than MIT, if both admitted me of course. That's just me, as I value more that kind of academic lifestyle.

[bko]

> Most of the people I know who turned down higher-ranked schools for lower-ranked ones because of money regret it.

What do you base this on? What about people who went to higher-ranked schools that regret having 100k+ in debt when they graduate. College helps you get your first job, but after that I don't think anyone cares in most fields (true in engineering from my experience, as long as you have a technical degree and even then you can get by). A lot of the difference in outcomes is selection bias. You should look to see how someone who got in a selective school but didn't go compares to someone who got in and went. I've read that the differences are not that stark.

> You will make a lot of life-long friends in college, and you will just be exposed to a different caliber of person on average at mit.

I don't know. I went to a mid-tier state school and my friends were just people I happened to be lumped together in housing. Is it "optimal"? No, but I enjoyed it. My friend crew consisted of a stoner, a very religious dude, a meat head and a Brooklyn hipster. I don't know, I liked it like that. None of them really taught me anything (wtf does an 18 year old know), but it might be different in technical fields. Both have trade offs.

> On the other hand, I think the differences in career outcomes on average are small, although I wouldn’t be surprised if the probability of starting a company with any given level of success x is 10 times higher for mit alum than Z school alums

It'll probably help you raise money, but I think being ex-[FAANG] would be better at least now. And raising money is not the same as starting and running a successful business. FAANG has considerably broadened their outreach and hire outside of top schools. I have a non-technical degree from a mid-tier state school and interviewed with a few FAANGs, more than once.

> In my opinion, the lifetime of friends and network effects is most of the benefit, and not to be underestimated. You only live once.

From what the author stated, I think he would have more experiences from going to school Z with his friends and family. Unless he really wants to get away from everyone, which doesn't sound like the case.

[ProjectArcturis]

> College helps you get your first job, but after that I don't think anyone cares in most fields

If you have a degree from Harvard/Stanford/MIT/etc, this is not true. Those name brands will help you for decades after. Plus they will also help your college friends, so your network will be much better than if you went to a state school.

[bko]

When we hired, we were not interested in brand names of schools applicants went to as long as they were out of school a few years and had a few jobs. In fact, I think that would be a red-flag for places I don't want to work. For instance, I remember filling out a job app at DE Shaw that asked for school and SAT and LSAT/GMAT scores along with GPA. It sounded like a terrible place to work.

In regards to a network, unfortunately 10 years out of school I don't keep in touch with many people I went to college with. We just went in different directions and many of my relationships were relationships out of convenience. Maybe others had different experiences.

[bradlys]

I know people who went to caltech and Stanford in the 90s. They’re still in touch with a lot of people from then.

These schools generally are different.

[wallscratch]

> I went to a mid-tier state school and my friends were just people I happened to be lumped together in housing. Is it "optimal"? No, but I enjoyed it. My friend crew consisted of a stoner, a very religious dude, a meat head and a Brooklyn hipster. I don't know, I liked it like that. None of them really taught me anything (wtf does an 18 year old know), but it might be different in technical fields. Both have trade offs.

Yeah, my ug friend group was similar. It’s completely valid to have different preferences in what one wants out of life. However, I personally did feel much happier / interested later on in life being in friendgroups where everyone had some kind of serious career aspiration.

[bko]

I agree, but college just wasn't that for me and I don't think it could have been. It was more about exploration. I didn't have the drive and focus I have now. I didn't really get that until mid 20s, about 5 years after I graduated.

[lumost]

Anecdotally, in the last recession the difference in starting wages between an MIT alum and a state school alum were nearly 3x. When company hiring gets tight the brand name degree makes a big difference.

[giantg2]

I sort of doubt that will make enough of a difference in this case. If they plan to go to MIT or similar for grad school, they might as well take the free undergrad. The opportunity cost of spending $100k vs free is pretty big in my view when the horizon to the graduate degree is short.

[endisneigh]

That’s not really the situation. I’d be surprised if the wage difference between MIT alums and state school alums who declined MIT is that large

[mindrunner]

Your reply is something a lot of people will only realise its wisdom in hindsight. Like how Job Titles actually matter, most don't realise companies will use any excuse to justify why you don't deserve your asking rate. Never give them the opportunity.

[strikelaserclaw]

Being exposed to really bright people at a early age is a double edged sword, you have the potential to learn a lot from them but if your competitive drive kicks in and overrides your curiosity and independence, you will turn into a lesser version of yourself.