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Not really. The opportunity cost of going to Berkeley over Harvard (and I'm specifically choosing Berkeley, a top public school with some programs having a simi

Not really. The opportunity cost of going to Berkeley over Harvard (and I'm specifically choosing Berkeley, a top public school with some programs having a similarly low acceptance rate to Harvard) is not knowing the people who went to Harvard, who are more likely to have powerful connections. $200k is nothing, really, in the long term. It's one or two years of salary, whether you've gone to Harvard or Berkeley. It's the non-salary aspects that make the Harvard degree (not education) more valuable.

argumentum 13y ago
Well actually not even the degree .. just actually going to the school, even if you drop out prior to graduation.
argonaut 13y ago
My point was that this distinction is dubious because while Harvard is probably worth more for some fields, like finance or law, in other fields like engineering, UC Berkeley + 240k is worth more in my opinion.
- argumentum 13y ago
  Still, depends on the purpose. Do you want to get a job at Google or Facebook? Then in engineering, Berkeley would be as good or better than Harvard. But who wants to get a job after undergrad?
  - argonaut 13y ago
    But who wants to get a job after undergrad? What do you mean by this? Are you talking about starting a startup? You could fund your own company for $240k and work on multiple ideas in that time (assuming your first few ideas fail quickly).
    - argumentum 13y ago
      A startup is only one option .. you could go to grad school, you could write a book, start a band .. you could travel etc. Where are you getting the $240k? If you could easily get a loan for that amount to do "whatever you want" instead of for higher education, a lot more people would be doing it.
      - argonaut 13y ago
        I'm pulling that amount from the cost of attending a school like Harvard (60k/year, not accounting for YOY tuition increases). The reason a lot more people don't do this is 1) irrationality when it comes to evaluating the brand of colleges, and 2) People don't tend to think in terms of opportunity costs, especially spread over 4 years (which is what the 240k represents).
        argumentum 13y ago
        It may cost that much, but you couldn't get that $240k in cash otherwise. Either your parents are paying the $240k or your taking loans or some combination thereof. How do you get a $240k loan if you are not studying at Harvard or a similar school?
        argonaut 13y ago
        The $240k could be realized through a varying mix of: not having debt (and having to drain off 240k + interest in future income), not spending money you earned working over the summer/part-time (this won't cover it all, though), and/or a your parents giving you the college fund. Regarding the point about the parents, I readily acknowledge that not all parents would be willing to do that, but many probably (in my opinion) would.

argumentum 13y ago

Well actually not even the degree .. just actually going to the school, even if you drop out prior to graduation.

argonaut 13y ago

My point was that this distinction is dubious because while Harvard is probably worth more for some fields, like finance or law, in other fields like engineering, UC Berkeley + 240k is worth more in my opinion.

argumentum 13y ago
Still, depends on the purpose. Do you want to get a job at Google or Facebook? Then in engineering, Berkeley would be as good or better than Harvard. But who wants to get a job after undergrad?
- argonaut 13y ago
  But who wants to get a job after undergrad? What do you mean by this? Are you talking about starting a startup? You could fund your own company for $240k and work on multiple ideas in that time (assuming your first few ideas fail quickly).
  - argumentum 13y ago
    A startup is only one option .. you could go to grad school, you could write a book, start a band .. you could travel etc. Where are you getting the $240k? If you could easily get a loan for that amount to do "whatever you want" instead of for higher education, a lot more people would be doing it.
    - argonaut 13y ago
      I'm pulling that amount from the cost of attending a school like Harvard (60k/year, not accounting for YOY tuition increases). The reason a lot more people don't do this is 1) irrationality when it comes to evaluating the brand of colleges, and 2) People don't tend to think in terms of opportunity costs, especially spread over 4 years (which is what the 240k represents).
      - argumentum 13y ago
        It may cost that much, but you couldn't get that $240k in cash otherwise. Either your parents are paying the $240k or your taking loans or some combination thereof. How do you get a $240k loan if you are not studying at Harvard or a similar school?
        argonaut 13y ago
        The $240k could be realized through a varying mix of: not having debt (and having to drain off 240k + interest in future income), not spending money you earned working over the summer/part-time (this won't cover it all, though), and/or a your parents giving you the college fund. Regarding the point about the parents, I readily acknowledge that not all parents would be willing to do that, but many probably (in my opinion) would.