[qwerty49]

A couple quick comments:

First, college enrollment is declining (link), so we may have passed the peak of the admissions issues.  In fact, since the peak in 2011, enrollment is down by about 11%.  Though of course admission to elite universities will remain ultra competitive, unless kids continue to get smarter, there might be slightly less pressure on them.

Second, I've worked with smart people from all sorts of institutions.  Stanford is a great place, but it is not the be all and end all, and if my kids (who are approaching the age at which we are starting to think of schools) wind up being like the 95+% of students who apply and don't get in, there are plenty of places where they will receive a great education and have much more reasonable odds of getting in.

BC

I suppose everything's relative.  The general population has more than doubled since I was in high school, and it just feels like the number of class spots in accredited colleges has not increased at the same rate.  More people applying for not as many slots = harder to get in I think.

I just read an article somewhere that the average age of a licensed electrician in Calif was 57.  And that hence a kid graduating from high school here could be doing really well financially as an electrician by the age of 23, and doing better than a lot of college graduates.  Factor in the 80-300K it might take to spend a kid off to college and the investment payback math gets pretty hairy.

[qwerty49]

A couple quick comments:

First, college enrollment is declining (link), so we may have passed the peak of the admissions issues.  In fact, since the peak in 2011, enrollment is down by about 11%.  Though of course admission to elite universities will remain ultra competitive, unless kids continue to get smarter, there might be slightly less pressure on them.

Second, I've worked with smart people from all sorts of institutions.  Stanford is a great place, but it is not the be all and end all, and if my kids (who are approaching the age at which we are starting to think of schools) wind up being like the 95+% of students who apply and don't get in, there are plenty of places where they will receive a great education and have much more reasonable odds of getting in.

BC

I suppose everything's relative.  The general population has more than doubled since I was in high school, and it just feels like the number of class spots in accredited colleges has not increased at the same rate.  More people applying for not as many slots = harder to get in I think.

I just read an article somewhere that the average age of a licensed electrician in Calif was 57.  And that hence a kid graduating from high school here could be doing really well financially as an electrician by the age of 23, and doing better than a lot of college graduates.  Factor in the 80-300K it might take to spend a kid off to college and the investment payback math gets pretty hairy.