How much would you pay to get your kid in Harvard?

CNBC ^ | 11/12/2014 | Barbara Booth

[SeekAndFind]

Two months before 17-year-old Alexa of northern New Jersey—a national merit scholar, Girl Scout Gold Award recipient and standout soccer player—planned to submit her application to Amherst, anxiety set in. Even though she met all the requirements to land her on the college's competitive playing field, she wanted an independent education counselor (IEC) to give the final nod on her application. It didn't matter that her parents, guidance counselor, coach and teachers invested more than 100 hours steering her through the college process.

Her parents contacted a pricey New York City college-planning service and, after relating Alexa's long list of achievements, they agreed to "fit her in," starting off with a 90-minute consultation and then a six-hour boot camp so a counselor could review her essays and Common App. Price: $10,000.

They signed on the dotted line.

While the tab seems exorbitant, Alexa's parents may have gotten off easy. Typically, students begin working with an IEC at the end of their sophomore year in high school, just prior to visiting colleges. But increasingly, parents are signing on as early as middle school and "can spend upwards of $100,000 to $200,000, depending on their chosen program and services," said Dr. Katherine Cohen, the founder of IvyWise, an educational consulting company in New York City that provides admissions counseling and tutoring services to students and their families worldwide.

Cara, a Harvard University student from New York, was in eighth grade when her parents contacted IvyWise.

The company worked with Cara throughout all four years of high school, guiding her on the best way to demonstrate her STEM interest to colleges. IvyWise chose her high school courses, advised her to spend her summers in science programs conducting independent research, and helped her increase her SAT scores and write her essays.

[Bettyprob]

How much would you pay to keep them away from Harvard?

[defconw]

ZERO! If I had a kid I would not let them go to Harvard.

[nascarnation]

Money well spent IF you get in.
Where America’s elites are formed.
It’s a ticket to the bigtime.
Everybody from MooseChelle Obama and Algore to Ted Cruz and Charlie Krauthammer.

[SgtHooper]

Gruber was right about THESE people.

[EXCH54FE]

Not one thin dime!!

Not one Red Cent!!

[taxcontrol]

Not one dime.

[smoothsailing]

Grove City or Hillsdale are far preferable, put your money there.

[moehoward]

How much more does it cost for just the diploma of choice?

[SeekAndFind]

RE: ZERO! If I had a kid I would not let them go to Harvard.

Even if they gave him a scholarship?

[CodeToad]

None. I prefer my child receives a college level education and not just hope they make friends that can later be used for financial contacts. Few from Harvard do that and the rest end up owing a boatload of money and hoping to work in Manhattan to pay back Harvard’s ridiculous costs.

[grania]

With the double standard where minorities and other niche applicants to fill quotas have a much lower standard to be met for the elite schools, Caucasians who aren't children of grads have to maximize their potential to be accepted.

Those parents didn't write the ridiculous affirmative action/diversity rules, so I don't fault them for playing by them.

(yes, almost any Math SAT under 600 can be raised substantially with a really good prepper)

[defconw]

Yes! Of course any kid of mine would not want to go to Harvard. So they would not have applied for a scholarship. I heard from people in the know that it is much harder to get into those types of school than it is to stay there. So if you have a late bloomer, they may be bored at Harvard depending on the subject matter. It's all name a prestige.

The law school for instance, if you are not going to practice in NYC, DC, Boston, LA. No one really gives a rip about Harvard. Save the money and go to a good state school it the same material minus the cost. Most of the “professors” at Harvard type schools do not teach, they write books. Grad students teach. Why pay 50 grand a year for that?

[Da Coyote]

If my child was going for a non STEM major, I would avoid Harvard like the plague.

[reg45]

Two of my friend’s sons went to Purdue and studied engineering. Both of them got good jobs right out of school.

[Rummyfan]

Well, even today, a degree from Harvard opens a lot of doors. But, with all the insanity we hear about what goes on at Ivy League schools and gets passed off as education, and the cost associated with same, I wouldn’t pay a damn dime.

[VTenigma]

I’ll take Outsourcing good parenting for $200,000 Alex.

[nascarnation]

re:Purdue
So did my daughter, but that’s not the goal of these folks.
It’s all about running peoples lives.
That’s what Harvard grads do.

[NCLaw441]

I’d pay the same amount I paid for my two to go to state universities. Maybe less.

[goat granny]

Harvard would have to offer me a truck load of money to send my kids to that liberal indoctrination camp