Tough choices

[Anonymous]

Did choosing between larger flagship in cold climate with cute college town. At this school she was admitted into her major but not 100% certain she wants that major. The other choice is a small liberal arts school in a warm climate surrounded by a really touristy area (nice campus but not a great town). It’s a small nurturing environment where she could explore different departments but the students aren’t super intellectually inclined. She does not like cold weather but loves outdoor pursuits like hiking and rock climbing. She can’t decide. We’ve visited both.

[Anonymous]

Why on earth can't you just name the colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth can't you just name the colleges?

That's not helpful

[Anonymous]

In my experience, if she is truly undecided, she needs the small liberal arts college and will be a thousand times happier for it. She may end up loving and majoring in something she's never even heard of before and would never have discovered because of what she though she 'should' do for life back when she was 17.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth can't you just name the colleges?

That's not helpful

Nor is clouding the choices in secrecy so no one can actually give an informed opinion. Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, if she is truly undecided, she needs the small liberal arts college and will be a thousand times happier for it. She may end up loving and majoring in something she's never even heard of before and would never have discovered because of what she though she 'should' do for life back when she was 17.

problem here is that she is excited about several majors at the larger university including the major she was accepted into but only one of the majors at the smaller school. They don't have that many majors and most of them are a hard no for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth can't you just name the colleges?

That's not helpful

Nor is clouding the choices in secrecy so no one can actually give an informed opinion. Ridiculous.

Agreed here. Unless we know the schools we don’t know how cold the cold weather State U is, nor anything about the touristy SLAC. Are we talking Wisconsin cold, or Pennsylvania cold?

[Anonymous]

The choice seems clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, if she is truly undecided, she needs the small liberal arts college and will be a thousand times happier for it. She may end up loving and majoring in something she's never even heard of before and would never have discovered because of what she though she 'should' do for life back when she was 17.

problem here is that she is excited about several majors at the larger university including the major she was accepted into but only one of the majors at the smaller school. They don't have that many majors and most of them are a hard no for her.

Then it doesn't sound like she is actually undecided. Larger university it is. Congrats!

[Anonymous]

Insufficient data provided.

Why does the town matter? Is the child planning on spending appreciable amounts of time there?

Climate seems a low-priority criterion. The child is going to school to learn something and to qualify for remunerative and satisfying employment, yes? If outdoor recreation is all that important, maybe priorities are misplaced.

To sum up, go for the education being sought - big classes versus small classes, major/minor opportunities, research opportunities, working with professors versus mostly with research assistants, whether the environment will be appropriately challenging and enriching academically ("not super intellectually inclined" seems suggestive of a waste of time with respect to the purpose of higher education; is that really an environment worth paying for for four years?) each institution's placement track record, i.e., ROI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Insufficient data provided.

Why does the town matter? Is the child planning on spending appreciable amounts of time there?

Climate seems a low-priority criterion. The child is going to school to learn something and to qualify for remunerative and satisfying employment, yes? If outdoor recreation is all that important, maybe priorities are misplaced.

To sum up, go for the education being sought - big classes versus small classes, major/minor opportunities, research opportunities, working with professors versus mostly with research assistants, whether the environment will be appropriately challenging and enriching academically ("not super intellectually inclined" seems suggestive of a waste of time with respect to the purpose of higher education; is that really an environment worth paying for for four years?) each institution's placement track record, i.e., ROI.

That is a pretty good advice PP on how to think about college choices. Shame it will get lost in this obscure thread

[Anonymous]

You can’t get everything in any one person, place, job, etc

She has to learn to prioritize. It helped my DC to make a pro and con list (one school came out way ahead).

She might also read reviews on UNIGO to see if the social fit/faculty support are far better in one place.
Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did choosing between larger flagship in cold climate with cute college town. At this school she was admitted into her major but not 100% certain she wants that major. The other choice is a small liberal arts school in a warm climate surrounded by a really touristy area (nice campus but not a great town). It’s a small nurturing environment where she could explore different departments but the students aren’t super intellectually inclined. She does not like cold weather but loves outdoor pursuits like hiking and rock climbing. She can’t decide. We’ve visited both.

It is Rhodes.

[Anonymous]

Need to know the names to give an opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth can't you just name the colleges?

That's not helpful

Nor is clouding the choices in secrecy so no one can actually give an informed opinion. Ridiculous.

+100
I hate the coy posts. Just name the school. So dumb.