Do you wish you attended a different type of college or university?

[Anonymous]

Hindsight is 20/20. I chose to live my life without regrets - however I sometimes wonder why my 18 year old self chose such an expensive small liberal arts college when I should have gone to an in state university and majored in something more useful. What about everyone else- do you wish you chose a different route and why?

[Anonymous]

Yes. This will sound maudlin, but it is the biggest regret of my life. My alma mater has a religious affiliation, and I am not a member of that religion. My parents pressured me into going there because it was a free ride, but I often wonder what my life would have been like had I gone somewhere else. I would have fit in a lot better at a more academically oriented university, like one of the ivies (where I eventually went for grad school).

[Anonymous]

I did a big, not especially academically well-regarded state school, in a boring suburban/rural location, with tons of Greek organizations and a heavy emphasis on athletics for undergrad. (I participated in neither athletics nor Greek life.) It was fun.

I went to a private, top-5 law school in a very urban setting. It was fun.

Bloom where you're planted.

[Anonymous]

Yes, of course. I paid my own way to college and commuted. Dudsville. If I or my parents had money, I would have loved to go to an Ivy like my DD did.

[Anonymous]

I went to a small, reputed LAC and then grad school at Oxford. Oxford was magical in its own right but helped me realize how special the liberal arts experience was (you have to specialize in the British schools and don't get much immersion/exploration with non-related disciplines).

No regrets in my opinion, and I do push my children to look into them. I wouldn't have a problem paying full price to some of them. I think the whole "major in something marketable" is good advice for most people but not those who're adaptable and well-rounded enough to position themselves anywhere. In that sense, the Ivies and LACs don't differ much since the Ivies primarily confer degrees in liberal art disciplines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hindsight is 20/20. I chose to live my life without regrets - however I sometimes wonder why my 18 year old self chose such an expensive small liberal arts college when I should have gone to an in state university and majored in something more useful. What about everyone else- do you wish you chose a different route and why?

Total opposites. I went to a state school and was just a number and allowed myself to slack. Wish I had gone to a SLAC, maybe a women's college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did a big, not especially academically well-regarded state school, in a boring suburban/rural location, with tons of Greek organizations and a heavy emphasis on athletics for undergrad. (I participated in neither athletics nor Greek life.) It was fun.

I went to a private, top-5 law school in a very urban setting. It was fun.

Bloom where you're planted.

Penn State undergrad and Chicago Law (or, possibly, Columbia. I don't think NYU or Penn is top 5).

[Anonymous]

Nope, but I got to see lots of options along the way, which probably shields me from grass is always greener fantasies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did a big, not especially academically well-regarded state school, in a boring suburban/rural location, with tons of Greek organizations and a heavy emphasis on athletics for undergrad. (I participated in neither athletics nor Greek life.) It was fun.

I went to a private, top-5 law school in a very urban setting. It was fun.

Bloom where you're planted.

Penn State undergrad and Chicago Law (or, possibly, Columbia. I don't think NYU or Penn is top 5).

No, but probably equivalent experiences (especially with how nuts Penn State people are about football!). Solid guesses, though.

[Anonymous]

DH and I went to large state schools. Encouraged the same for our kids. I think people tend to view their own experience as optimal - at least I hope so.

[Anonymous]

No. I don't care. I got the degree. I have had nothing to do with my college since I completed my last class - didn't even go to graduation.

[Anonymous]

I loved my SLAC college, but sometimes I wish I'd gone to school near the beach, joined a sorority, majored in a language and then traveled a lot. Woulda been nice.

[Anonymous]

sometimes I wish I had transferred out of my HBCU. I chose it as most people I knew from my country who studied in the US went to that school. I was comfortable, my countrymen were there in fair numbers, and it was a diverse international group
It did lack many resources though, and I wonder if I should have taken up the offers I got at UMD or UMich
I might have been miserable though

[Anonymous]

I went to UVA because it was cheap (at the time) and it wasn't too far from family. I wish I had gone to a smaller private school. I was pretty sheltered growing up and needed more support than I realized. In my day, the advisor you got was not at all related to what you were interested in studying and it was completely unhelpful.

[Anonymous]

Nope. I went to the cheapest and quickest place to get my degree. Starting working FT and let my job pay for my masters.

If I would have went to a big school or expensive school, I would have debt up to my eyeballs.

I visited friends in colleges and still had an active social life. Just didn't pay an arm and a leg for it.

No regrets. That is why seeing everyone in this area jump thru hoops for the top 10 colleges always makes me laugh.