Best non-stressful selective schools

[Anonymous]

My DD is applying to colleges. She's spent the last 4 years over extended and stressed. Her resume is good but its taken a toll. She's looking for a less-stressful selective college. Any suggestions?

[Anonymous]

Brown
Notre Dame

[Anonymous]

This is such a frustrating question, OP. Your child is stressed out. Why are you still focusing on “selective” colleges? Look for good fits and step away from the prestige focus.

[Anonymous]

Stress is self-imposed. You could go to Harvard and not stress yourself out to get perfect grades. You could go to community college and be a basket case of stress.

[Anonymous]

How about a big state college that has school spirit, strong academics, but still not cut-throat admissions? Maybe University of Delaware, or someplace like that. Hard to say without more info about your kid’s profile, list of prospective schools, and what else they want in a college.

Wooster may also be worth considering. Smart kids, great academics, but a more nurturing environment, and less competitive admissions. Just making a random suggestion since I don’t know much about your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stress is self-imposed. You could go to Harvard and not stress yourself out to get perfect grades. You could go to community college and be a basket case of stress.

This! It's the kid, not the school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stress is self-imposed. You could go to Harvard and not stress yourself out to get perfect grades. You could go to community college and be a basket case of stress.

This! It's the kid, not the school

Of course the campus atmosphere matters. If you go to a school where everyone else you know is relentlessly focused on GPA, it’s much harder to maintain a healthy perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stress is self-imposed. You could go to Harvard and not stress yourself out to get perfect grades. You could go to community college and be a basket case of stress.

This! It's the kid, not the school

Of course the campus atmosphere matters. If you go to a school where everyone else you know is relentlessly focused on GPA, it’s much harder to maintain a healthy perspective.

No, it really isn't.

[Anonymous]

Avoid engineering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is such a frustrating question, OP. Your child is stressed out. Why are you still focusing on “selective” colleges? Look for good fits and step away from the prestige focus.

This. Mental health > name on sheepskin

[Anonymous]

William & Mary

They have an entire wellness center focused on helping kids stay balanced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:William & Mary

They have an entire wellness center focused on helping kids stay balanced.

So does every school these days.

I agree with pps - it’s definitely more about the kid than anything, but I also agree with pp who said the key is to look at less selective schools.

[Anonymous]

The key is not less selective schools. The key is a school matched to the kid's abilities that also has a less stressful vibe. Whatever that level of abilities is--which could be very high. You want peers and a curriculum that will challenge your kid but an environment that values learning as an inherently good thing and supportive student relationships. I would start with schools that advertise them that way and avoid those that are known to be very competitive

[Anonymous]

You also might want to prep her that even though she's stacked an impressive HS resume, it might not be enough to get into "selective" schools.

You should do like everyone else, find a balanced list of schools and cross any off that are known to be cut-throat like Ivy, UChicago, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You also might want to prep her that even though she's stacked an impressive HS resume, it might not be enough to get into "selective" schools.

You should do like everyone else, find a balanced list of schools and cross any off that are known to be cut-throat like Ivy, UChicago, etc.

+1

My kid has super high stats and initially wanted to go to CMU. Went to state flagship instead. It's a much better fit. CMU is way too intense for my DC who, even with high stats, is somewhat chill. DC is happy at the state flagship, and while it is less impressive than CMU, DC's mental health and happiness is, in the words of Mastercard, "pricesless".