The cost of an Ivy League undergrad degree next year….

[Anonymous]

Well my brother had to move away from San Diego to get that position, and in any case I have no interest in finance or in being a work-aholic so I wouldn’t trade my life for his.

All I know is I get to go surfing every morning then drive to work in a very fast car and unlike many of you guys, I’m not stressed out about saving money to send my kid to Ivy league because I recognize that my kid will have plenty of opportunity for success if he attends a lower cost school which won’t break the bank such as SDSU.

[Coronita]

Come to think of it, I know of a lot of great engineers that didn’t come from Ivy league schools. A lot of them went to lesser well known engineering schools. But they went their because they were top of the class in Asia and India, and the respective U.S. colleges ended up giving them a full scholarship to their masters of engineering /computer science degrees here in the U.S. And when we did interview them, obviously the were really intelligent. That’s why we hired them fresh out of school years back at Qualcomm and the company got them an H1-B. A lot of them weren’t able to move and eventually got their greencards, but they did get to enjoy an effective 16:1 stock split from then until now.

Funny how that works…Sometimes it’s great to only have one kind of options (pun intended).

I don’t think those folks any any folks in their situation would have been complaining about any sort of “low / depressed salary” now. I guess a lot of non-H1-B’s probably didn’t want to take the job because they thought the pay might have been lower than elsewhere in SoCal. Big financial mistake. Huge!

[bearishgurl]

[quote=deadzone]Well my brother had to move away from San Diego to get that position, and in any case I have no interest in finance or in being a work-aholic so I wouldn’t trade my life for his.

All I know is I get to go surfing every morning then drive to work in a very fast car and unlike many of you guys, I’m not stressed out about saving money to send my kid to Ivy league because I recognize that my kid will have plenty of opportunity for success if he attends a lower cost school which won’t break the bank such as SDSU.[/quote]

Deadzone, I don’t know how old your kid is but he would do well to apply to 6-8 CSUs at one time using the CSU Mentor. SDSU isn’t as easy as it once was to get into and it received over 80K freshman apps for fall 2014. Even local HS students are held to high standards for admission. In Fall 2014, the students in my kid’s senior class of 2014 who DID get accepted into SDSU had a avg 3.9 GPA and most had a handful of advanced-placement classes on their HS transcripts as well.

There are several CSU campuses located in areas where housing costs are a little (or a lot) lower than SD housing costs so all is not lost if your kid doesn’t make it into SDSU as a freshman.

One of my SDSU-student neighbors told me that a community college transfer applicant to SDSU now needs at least a 2.8 GPA and either an AA-T (Assoc Art) or AA-S (Assoc Science) degree from a community college to be accepted as a junior (a 3.0 GPA from CC is better).

If your kid begins college at a community college, they need to finish their AA-T or AS-T degree at community college before attempting to transfer to the CSU. ONLY THOSE TWO (above) degrees are now accepted for transfer into a CSU Bachelor degree program (NOT a “general studies” associate degree or occupational associate degree, as in the past). Completion of the AA-T/AS-T degree at a CC shows the applicant has taken all the correct GE’s for CSU admission and so the CSU will no longer accept a CC student for transfer with less than the necessary 60 units completed at CC for the AA-T or AS-T degree. This means the college student BEGINNING at CC MUST COMPLETE their AA-T/AS-T degree at CC before attempting to apply to the CSU. In other words, a new CC freshman is essentially locked into remaining at CC for at least two years if their eventual goal is CSU admission.

see: http://www.adegreewithaguarantee.com/

[bearishgurl]

[quote=AN] … If my kids are really that smart to be able to get into Ivy/Stanford, I can just retire a few years before they apply, so that my income will be near $0. Then they’ll get a free ride. Then the ROI definitely will be there :-D.[/quote]

Uhh, the only problem I see with this idea is that you would need to quit your job at least one tax year before you file your kid’s FAFSA by January of their senior year. Meaning, quit work during their sophomore year or first semester of their junior year of HS, at the latest. At that point, you have NO IDEA if they’ll be accepted to Stanford and likely won’t find out until Feb through April of their senior year of HS.

Since Stanford only admits ~5% of all freshman applicants, I think that’s quite a gamble to take with your OWN future, AN, considering you’ll likely still be “young” when your kid(s) apply for college!

[an]

[quote=bearishgurl]Uhh, the only problem I see with this idea is that you would need to quit your job at least one tax year before you file your kid’s FAFSA by January of their senior year. Meaning, quit work during their sophomore year or first semester of their junior year of HS, at the latest. At that point, you have NO IDEA if they’ll be accepted to Stanford and likely won’t find out until Feb through April of their senior year of HS.

Since Stanford only admits ~5% of all freshman applicants, I think that’s quite a gamble to take with your OWN future, AN, considering you’ll likely still be “young” when your kid(s) apply for college![/quote]It’s not a gamble if I save enough to retire by then. If I don’t, I can always start working for start ups around town and take a low pay in exchange for a lot of equity.

[scaredyclassic]

[quote=AN][quote=flu]Ok, that’s an interesting point then….

I guess the bigger question is, if cost wasn’t an issue, and your kid did get into Stanford or an Ivy League school and get into say SDSU or UCSD, would you still encourage your kid to go to SDSU or UCSD or would you encourage your kid to Stanford or an Ivy League school?

For me, if cost and my kid’s ability wasn’t an issue, it would be a no brainer, I’d encourage the former.[/quote]I say, what ever would make them happy. They’re old enough to make their decisions and they’ll will have to live with that decision. They can only blame themselves in the future. I will give them all the pros and cons that I know for all the options. I can show them the door but they have to walk through it. We just have different style of parenting. No right or wrong. I don’t have a crystal ball so I can’t be sure which would be better. Especially since I believe the students make the school and not the other way around.

I didn’t apply to any of the Ivy because I HATE living in cold area with snow. I would be miserable there and I know it. I did apply up and down the CA coast though. My parents forced me to go to the better school and I hated them for awhile for doing that.[/quote]

there’s something to be said for being a smarter fish in a less prestigious pond. From where I sit today I’d encourage my kid to go to sdsu even if the price were the same as harvard. I don’t think it’s a no brainer.

I’d rather see him excel than be midpack.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=AN] It’s not a gamble if I save enough to retire by then. If I don’t, I can always start working for start ups around town and take a low pay in exchange for a lot of equity.[/quote]

So you’re thinking outside the box and will find a way.

You are willing to make sacrifices/find a way/ take a different path, if your children apply, get accepted and want to go.

If a prestigious college education has value to your kids, you’re willing to support it because it has value to you.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=flu] I care more about finding more rental properties these days to generate more passive income than I care about being a better engineer/architect/lead (whatever fancy title an employer gives me). Show me the money, and that’s all that matters. You know, in case my kid can get in and does want to go and it’s a right fit. And if my kid doesn’t get in and doesn’t want to go, more money leftover for me and my kid. Either way.[/quote]

Just slowly build a portfolio of properties that generate cash. It’s a skill that is less stressful than working/dealing with people day in an day out.

People are emotional/irrational. Rental properties are not.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=flu] I care more about finding more rental properties these days to generate more passive income than I care about being a better engineer/architect/lead (whatever fancy title an employer gives me). Show me the money, and that’s all that matters. You know, in case my kid can get in and does want to go and it’s a right fit. And if my kid doesn’t get in and doesn’t want to go, more money leftover for me and my kid. Either way.[/quote]

Just slowly build a portfolio of properties that generate cash. It’s a skill that is less stressful than working/dealing with people day in an day out.

People are emotional/irrational. Rental properties are not.[/quote]

I admire you if you can be a successful “buy and hold” investor, FIH. To me, having tenants (whether temporary or on a lease) is a big PITA. Forget “irrational” or “emotional.” A deadbeat tenant can totally wreck your property and leave you with their (frequently inadequate) damage deposit with which to clean it up for the next tenant. And GOOD LUCK on collecting on any small-claim judgments you have against them!

I absolutely HATED dealing with tenants, listening to their “why I can’t pay rent on time this month” sob stories and taking their calls/complaints for minor problems around the property. More power to you if you don’t mind this. I think being a managing LL (even of ONE residential unit/property) is stressful. Lousy, destructive tenants exist at all rental price points out there.

[an]

[quote=FlyerInHi]So you’re thinking outside the box and will find a way.

You are willing to make sacrifices/find a way/ take a different path, if your children apply, get accepted and want to go.

If a prestigious college education has value to your kids, you’re willing to support it because it has value to you.[/quote]To an extent. It all depends on their capability and the profession they want to go in. Majority of them, I would suggest to go to a states school undergrad and apply to private for grad school. If they insist, i won’t stop them, but they would have to pay difference by themselves.

[FlyerInHi]

BG, I used to be like you… but I changed my approach.

My properties are remodeled in a superior way to show nicely. I don’t do lipstick on a pig/typical flipper remodel.

I screen my tenants very well so I haven’t had any problems. I’m not desperate and will not rent to just anyone.

I discovered that a good location close to the city is what renters want. But city/employment/entertainment close condos/apartments usually means old with a yuck factor. I provide a better product.

If I had kids, I would take them with me and teach them what I have learned. But I would still expect them to have good grades and go to top schools.

[flyer]

Agree with flu and FIH that rental properties (residential and commercial) are also a great way to go. Regardless of education and career choices, getting into that game years ago in San Diego and elsewhere has also really paid off for us, and just about everyone we know. As BG said, there are definitely challenges, but that is to be expected, and, in most cases the issues can be managed.

[Coronita]

[quote=flyer]Agree with flu and FIH that rental properties (residential and commercial) are also a great way to go. Regardless of education and career choices, getting into that game years ago in San Diego and elsewhere has also really paid off for us, and just about everyone we know. As BG said, there are definitely challenges, but that is to be expected, and, in most cases the issues can be managed.[/quote]

Ok flyer, totally off topic now. but since you brought it up, I’ll ask. How does one even get started with commercial real estate on a small scale? Beyond fishing through loopnet (which some have said it’s the worst way to buy commercial RE)… If you don’t feel comfortable sharing publicly, it would be great if you could PM me. Would be interested in picking your brain about this, without being fed to the sharks. The last arrangement any family member had with commercial RE had to do with a property that was in Manhattan Beach found by a family friend that had a good rental stream, since it was that was a large land occupied by corporately owned fast food restaurant for which the corporate entity paid for the building and lot maintenance and the property taxes, so the only thing the partners did was collect the rent check and renegotiate the lease every 10 or so years. Unfortunately, the guy that found us this thing tried to squeeze all the other partners out after the thing really appreciated, so everyone ended up selling their respective stake and forcing everyone to get out of that clusterf of an arrangement, and killing the goose that laid the golden egg, so to speak..

So what’s the secret sauce into the world of commercial RE? And do you have anything in San Diego? Would prefer *not* to be involved in any sort of partnership with people that I don’t know well. I’m not interested in any sort of bullshit from PETDNT (piggington experts that don’t know shit), but would be in debt to folks that really know what they are doing to provide some “education”. Rest assured any sort of involvement I would possibly be in would not disturb the 1% club that you belong to, as my financial impact on that club would be like 0.0000000001% if any…. 🙂

[FlyerInHi]

Commercial is harder these days because everything is master planned.

I do however take my inspiration from the scrappy families who built little real estate empires one property at a time. It seems to happen a lot in NYC, or cities that grow more organically.

[CA renter]

[quote=bearishgurl][quote=deadzone]Well my brother had to move away from San Diego to get that position, and in any case I have no interest in finance or in being a work-aholic so I wouldn’t trade my life for his.

All I know is I get to go surfing every morning then drive to work in a very fast car and unlike many of you guys, I’m not stressed out about saving money to send my kid to Ivy league because I recognize that my kid will have plenty of opportunity for success if he attends a lower cost school which won’t break the bank such as SDSU.[/quote]

Deadzone, I don’t know how old your kid is but he would do well to apply to 6-8 CSUs at one time using the CSU Mentor. SDSU isn’t as easy as it once was to get into and it received over 80K freshman apps for fall 2014. Even local HS students are held to high standards for admission. In Fall 2014, the students in my kid’s senior class of 2014 who DID get accepted into SDSU had a avg 3.9 GPA and most had a handful of advanced-placement classes on their HS transcripts as well.

There are several CSU campuses located in areas where housing costs are a little (or a lot) lower than SD housing costs so all is not lost if your kid doesn’t make it into SDSU as a freshman.

One of my SDSU-student neighbors told me that a community college transfer applicant to SDSU now needs at least a 2.8 GPA and either an AA-T (Assoc Art) or AA-S (Assoc Science) degree from a community college to be accepted as a junior (a 3.0 GPA from CC is better).

If your kid begins college at a community college, they need to finish their AA-T or AS-T degree at community college before attempting to transfer to the CSU. ONLY THOSE TWO (above) degrees are now accepted for transfer into a CSU Bachelor degree program (NOT a “general studies” associate degree or occupational associate degree, as in the past). Completion of the AA-T/AS-T degree at a CC shows the applicant has taken all the correct GE’s for CSU admission and so the CSU will no longer accept a CC student for transfer with less than the necessary 60 units completed at CC for the AA-T or AS-T degree. This means the college student BEGINNING at CC MUST COMPLETE their AA-T/AS-T degree at CC before attempting to apply to the CSU. In other words, a new CC freshman is essentially locked into remaining at CC for at least two years if their eventual goal is CSU admission.

see: http://www.adegreewithaguarantee.com/%5B/quote%5D

It’s been a long time but, IIRC, we had similar requirements when I transferred from a CC to a CSU back in the day. I’ve reviewed the new requirements for the transfer students, and they don’t seem that arduous. Students just need to stay on top of things, and everything should turn out okay.

[Author]

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