[quote=flu]I guess all these things are interesting perspectives from real parents going through this lately, because being the planning person as I am, I’m trying to figure how much to put into a 529 account. Since I’m stopping at 1 kid, and since no one else I know will be going back to school, maybe it’s better just to contribute more to a UGMA custodial account.[/quote]

flu, you’ve posted here that you have rentals in SD (MM?). Not sure where else. Have you given any thought to moving into one of them when your kid turns 13-14, just in time to enroll in HS? Your kid can then enroll in a HS where she will likely be eligible for the ELC and have “guaranteed admission” to a UC. If it’s not the campus she wants, she can try to transfer into another one in a couple years.

You’ve stated here many times that you believe that your kid’s future UC app will be rejected due to her race/ethnicity (due to over-admission of same). If there is some merit to this, then ELC eligibility is worth considering on her behalf, IMO. There’s no reason she couldn’t have TWO ways to get admitted to UC (true “merit” and ELC).

This is just a suggestion on a way to “beat the system” at its own game. You can start by beginning to monitor the HS performance stats in the attendance areas of your rentals. Then, later comparing your kid’s 8th grade GPA against those stats and try to forecast how she’ll do in HS.

I laugh when I read here and elsewhere that parents pay $100K to $250K more for the same size and similar house just to live in a particular public school attendance area. It seems that what is lost on many of them is that public university systems DON’T CARE which HS your kid graduated from! Now, if any of those parents are eyeing private colleges only for their kid(s), the school (HS only) their kid(s) attended may factor into their chances for acceptance. But certainly, elementary and middle school are just a blip on the radar screen. When all is said and done, nobody cares about them.