Middle class family being bamboozled with large "scholarships" from tier 5 LACs

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Which schools do you mean? I'm not familiar with this and am curious if tier 5 LACs are names we'd know


Non-selective, middle of nowhere, mediocre graduation rates, around 2,000 students


Examples?


Thomas College. Husson University. (Two in Maine that I have some experience with.) Anyplace with a sub 70% graduation rate. I'm with OP--they're taking advantage of kids/families who don't know the college landscape and they are a ridiculous waste of money.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Most private colleges are expensive for no reason. Many end up transferring out and boomerang back home to a regional public university or if they have the grades, try to get into the state flagship for their second year.


They have to pay people and operate facilities just like every other business.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:NSF list if anyone is interested -- you'll find the list of top 50 adjusted for institutional size in Table 6:

https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22321


The smaller schools on the list are very attractive given all the benefits of being at a smaller school, including not being taught by TAs.
Anonymous

+1 the real scam is any college being $60K+

^
+1
Plot twist: OP is really the one being scammed but perhaps it is ok because she has the $ for the taking?
Anonymous
I went to what you all probably think is a bottom tier college on a ginormous scholarship. Wasn’t a scam. Just brought the cost way way way down. Didn’t want the big state school. Got great teaching, attention from really awesome professors. Went on to grad school at an Ivy League and became a professor myself- at a large state school.

So I guess it works? My kids will definitely consider being big fish in small ponds if they are so inclined.

DCUM is so status obsessed it’s shocking sometimes.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:NSF list if anyone is interested -- you'll find the list of top 50 adjusted for institutional size in Table 6:

https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22321


The smaller schools on the list are very attractive given all the benefits of being at a smaller school, including not being taught by TAs.


Plus, there are stellar tenure track/tenured faculty at every school and at LACs faculty have to give more agency to undergraduates than at a larger university. So while the faculty may be less likely to have the big money research grants than at an R1, they still need to be research-productive and thus undergraduates are more likely to take on meaningful roles in faculty research without having to compete with master's/PhD students/post-docs.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:OP:

Two reasons it might make sense:

1. Scholarship brings the cost down equivalent to in-state public options.

2. If the kid needs a really small environment and lots of hand-holding. Think: a kid with ADHD, mildly ASD, executive functioning issues, or has some mental health issues. Such a kid will fall through the cracks in a large public college or university and can probably cope a bit more easily in a small LAC setting.


This. Or, as in my case a lower ranked LAC gave me merit aid sufficient to cover all of tuition and then some. I then parlayed my high GPA and high GRE score into a large fellowship at grad school. Then from there onto a six figure job and am retiring in my late fifties. It is completely possible to do very well out of a small, lower-ranked liberal arts college. I now hire multiple people every year who are from a variety of institutions — everything from Ivy League schools to SLAC’s to state schools.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I went to what you all probably think is a bottom tier college on a ginormous scholarship. Wasn’t a scam. Just brought the cost way way way down. Didn’t want the big state school. Got great teaching, attention from really awesome professors. Went on to grad school at an Ivy League and became a professor myself- at a large state school.

So I guess it works? My kids will definitely consider being big fish in small ponds if they are so inclined.

DCUM is so status obsessed it’s shocking sometimes.

but you went on to grad school.

And it's ironic you did not want big state school experience, but then ended up teaching at one.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I went to what you all probably think is a bottom tier college on a ginormous scholarship. Wasn’t a scam. Just brought the cost way way way down. Didn’t want the big state school. Got great teaching, attention from really awesome professors. Went on to grad school at an Ivy League and became a professor myself- at a large state school.

So I guess it works? My kids will definitely consider being big fish in small ponds if they are so inclined.

DCUM is so status obsessed it’s shocking sometimes.


Gives me hope given all this snobbery. My DC has merit scholarships at smaller regional schools (wants that type of environment) that bring the cost to low 20s. May go on to get a masters and the lower price definitely helps.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I find it so interesting that so many kids from my DC's public MCPS high school go to these no name D3 colleges to play a sport. It's not like they are getting a full scholarship. Just seems so short sighted to pick a school with low return on investment for the privilege of playing in a mediocre league for 4 years. Some of these kids could clearly get better educations for the same price.


Kid not good enough, huh? Sorry. So many benefits to college sports, playing at the next level, being a part of something and seeing it through. Don’t worry about these kids, they will go to great grad programs and have a sport community for a lifetime.

so, they have to spend even more money to get a good paying job? Even more bamboozling.


Most kids at LACs / SLACs go to grad school.

right, so more bamboozling
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:NSF list if anyone is interested -- you'll find the list of top 50 adjusted for institutional size in Table 6:

https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22321


The smaller schools on the list are very attractive given all the benefits of being at a smaller school, including not being taught by TAs.


+1
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I went to what you all probably think is a bottom tier college on a ginormous scholarship. Wasn’t a scam. Just brought the cost way way way down. Didn’t want the big state school. Got great teaching, attention from really awesome professors. Went on to grad school at an Ivy League and became a professor myself- at a large state school.

So I guess it works? My kids will definitely consider being big fish in small ponds if they are so inclined.

DCUM is so status obsessed it’s shocking sometimes.


Just list the school. I actually think more often than not, someone prefaces a comment like this and then say the school…and it’s not that bad (if defined purely by USNews rankings).
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So I was just looking at the National Science Foundation report on the 50 colleges and universities with the highest rate of alums earning Ph.D.s in science and engineering. There are plenty middle-of-nowhere merit-aid LACs on that list, including a bunch that many DCUMers would dismiss as "no-name."

For example, Kalamazoo and Hendrix both rank higher on the list of S&E doctorates than Dartmouth, Columbia, Bowdoin, RPI, Rose-Hulman, and WUSTL. (Plenty of DCUM faves don't make the list at all.)

Meanwhile, over the last three years alone, Kalamazoo produced more student Fulbright scholars than several NESCACS, CMC, Caltech, Georgia Tech, and Case Western, among others. In the last 4 years, Hendrix appears to have produced more Watson Fellows than Bates, Williams, or Middlebury. Meanwhile, a kid can go to either of these schools for (literally) a third-to-half the cost of east coast LACs.

For the record, I don't have a kid at either of these schools, nor am I an alum. But I'm definitely paying attention. And if my LAC-inclined kid should wind up at either, I'd be delighted. Not because we've been "bamboozled," either.


I think the Tiers need to be defined...I would actually look at the total universe of LACs (let's just use the USNews universe) and then divide by 5. That probably puts 50 colleges into each Tier.

I know Kalamazoo and have heard good things about it. Is it really ranked say 200+? I will admit I have not heard of Hendrix (is it named after Jimi?).


No, a liberal arts college based in Arkansas. Worked with them years ago where they were generous with hosting refugee students - beyond generous. Always have a fond feeling about the school.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I went to what you all probably think is a bottom tier college on a ginormous scholarship. Wasn’t a scam. Just brought the cost way way way down. Didn’t want the big state school. Got great teaching, attention from really awesome professors. Went on to grad school at an Ivy League and became a professor myself- at a large state school.

So I guess it works? My kids will definitely consider being big fish in small ponds if they are so inclined.

DCUM is so status obsessed it’s shocking sometimes.


Right? I've had a similar career path, including the Ivy. I had opportunities at that small school that I would have never gotten at the state school. I'm always amused when folks cleave on to their T5 LAC degree as if they have nothing else going for them in life.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I went to what you all probably think is a bottom tier college on a ginormous scholarship. Wasn’t a scam. Just brought the cost way way way down. Didn’t want the big state school. Got great teaching, attention from really awesome professors. Went on to grad school at an Ivy League and became a professor myself- at a large state school.

So I guess it works? My kids will definitely consider being big fish in small ponds if they are so inclined.

DCUM is so status obsessed it’s shocking sometimes.

but you went on to grad school.

And it's ironic you did not want big state school experience, but then ended up teaching at one.


Yes, because very few folks with BAs as their terminal degrees end up teaching at the university level.

Why is it ironic? IDK if the PP is first gen, but a SLAC can help mitigate the sense of impostordom some have and boost their confidence.
Forum Index » College and University Discussion
Go to: