Is your child happy with their college choice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, could she attend another local school instead, such as GMU?[/quote
We thought about it. However the commute will be about 3 hrs every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is a sophomore at Marymount in Virginia. She needed to attend college close to home for personal reasons. The workload is totally excruciating and students are tested frequently. I have heard from her and her classmates that the education model is very old fashioned and nothing exciting happens inside the classroom. There are also very few clubs and the average age of undergrad students is about 25. She wishes to live the real college experience but I am not able to leave my job and move with her.

What about attending the local community college for 2 years and then transferring for the last 2 years on campus to a school with a more robust “college experience.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, could she attend another local school instead, such as GMU?

We thought about it. However the commute will be about 3 hrs every day.

Ok, where do you live that Marymount is convenient but GMU is a 3 hour commute?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Yes, more please if you all are willing to share! I am interested in the “colleges that change lives”

Hate this, it is nothing more than a marketing campaign for small privates with declining enrollments.

Graduating from college is a game changer, period. And if you think the Ivies just perpetuate the status quo, you are incredibly uninformed as to who is getting into the Ivies today.

Yes, because the Harvard professor who wrote it was in marketing.

Many of the CTCL such as e.g. Denison are becoming more, not less competitive.

All colleges are becoming more competitive, but clearly the CTCL nonsense was an effective marketing campaign.

My DC's CTCL school has in fact, been life-changing. I have never seen DC so happy, or succeeding so much.

Ok? And? That’s great, but it’s not like this is in any way unique to schools named in a for-profit book.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
PP, could she attend another local school instead, such as GMU?

We thought about it. However the commute will be about 3 hrs every day.

Ok, where do you live that Marymount is convenient but GMU is a 3 hour commute?

I was wondering the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love this thread, except for the annoying rankings person.

I have a kid looking at Oberlin, Kenyon, Wooster, Grinnell, Macalaster. Plus WM, which he will be accepted to based on Naviance. Basically SLACs with merit money (donut hole family).

If you have a kid at one of these schools and they love it or hate it, why? What is a sketch of the type of kid who does well. I have a brilliant but quirky and socially awkward kid with drama and music interests. Small groups, not large crowds. Has a 504 for ADHD and may need some supports in executive functioning. Is that the sort of kid who would do well?

Also, if your kid looked at these schools but ended up somewhere else, where and why?

I don’t want to hijack, but I love hearing that kids are doing well at Oberlin, Grinnell and Juanita. It would be great to know what type of kid succeeds at these schools and why. .

My son is the one at Grinnell and loves it. He finds the faculty fascinating, even the ones that were not his favorites taught him a lot and he said were nice people. He loves the 'smartness' factor oft he student body, he loves the discourse among faculty and students. The faculty live in the same small town so it really is like family. Many of the support staff have worked at Grinnell a long time and are very invested in the students. The equipment manager for the sports teams has worked there for 30 years and invites the football team to his farm every august for a fishing derby - that kind of thing. He has always had nice roommates - if I could pick one word for Grinnell students it would be nice. I will ask what he does not like and get back to you on that.

Thanks! It sounds like wonderful place.

It is. And it's much more economically diverse than Colby, which is why in the latest US News rankings Grinnell jumped to #11 while Colby dropped to 18.

Grinnell is a clown college that no employer outside of whatever hick town it happens to be in has heard of.

Your post speaks far more to your own ignorance than it does to Grinnell. It's unfortunate that the only schools you've heard of happen to play football on TV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, college has been in session a couple of weeks now. Did your college meet/exceed your expectations or is it not what it seemed?

My daughter choose Colby in Maine over a number of schools. She's super happy there. Kids are nice and smart; classes challenging. The new Davidson Center is already setting up an internship for her. Having a fabulous time.

Others?

Colby dropped from #12 to #18 in US News. Quite a drop.

And exactly what changed making Colby six places lower?

Quite a stupid comment, for many reasons. Rankings are subjective, for one. #12 and #18 are virtual ties out of 3,000 colleges. And, also, you are just being a jerk to a parent who is expressing some joy. Sorry you are joyless.

Colby dropped because US News adjusted its formula to reward schools who are successful in enrolling and graduating an economically diverse student body. Colby is less economically diverse than many other SLACs.

So USNWR is rewarding schools that have a lot of money to give away to students that need the funds. That is great for the deserving students. But the rankings are meaningless and USNWR is just rewarding rich schools.

[Anonymous]

Daughter attends East Stroudsburg University, loves her classes and has a few friends, but says it’s boring. She wants to transfer .

I’m making her stick with it and told her most schools are in remote areas. I just being a city girl is starting to play out.

[Anonymous]

DC is having a great time at SC. He chose a major that is very demanding but still loves it. Exhausted but is not complaining of the late hours.