Where would YOU attend if you (the parent) could choose any school as a freshman in 2026? And why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stanford
Princeton
Duke
UNC Chapel Hill
UVA

All have a strong balance between academics, high-end athletics and social scene.

I’m curious about your background. This seems like an odd priority.

My background? My background is that I enjoy college sports and the on-campus excitement and morale that they inspire. Ever heard of Cameron Indoor Stadium? I would choose to attend a school with strong academics, D1 athletics, and a vibrant social scene.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stanford
Princeton
Duke
UNC Chapel Hill
UVA

All have a strong balance between academics, high-end athletics and social scene.

I’m curious about your background. This seems like an odd priority.

My background? My background is that I enjoy college sports and the on-campus excitement and morale that they inspire. Ever heard of Cameron Indoor Stadium? I would choose to attend a school with strong academics, D1 athletics, and a vibrant social scene.

Which college did you attend? Were you a college athlete?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stanford
Princeton
Duke
UNC Chapel Hill
UVA

All have a strong balance between academics, high-end athletics and social scene.

I’m curious about your background. This seems like an odd priority.

My background? My background is that I enjoy college sports and the on-campus excitement and morale that they inspire. Ever heard of Cameron Indoor Stadium? I would choose to attend a school with strong academics, D1 athletics, and a vibrant social scene.

Which college did you attend? Were you a college athlete?

Really strange line of questioning. Not a college athlete. But a big fan of college athletics. You must have attended a DIII school that pulled 25 students to a basketball game.

[Anonymous]

Yale hands down, Princeton close second

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. John’s. Live in the desert and read great books? Yes, please.

In New Mexico? Santa Fe is woodsy and quasi-mountaineous.

Please do not interfere with my hermit/monk fantasy life in a college setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rice. I visited it’s a beautiful little bubble of hope.

Rice is a more humid and less accomplished Vanderbilt.

But a more diverse and intelligent place than Vanderbilt will ever be..

[Anonymous]

I went to Brown and had a great experience there and am happy with where it landed me, but I was always curious about Yale and not allowed to apply since I was looking at colleges shortly after the height of the crack epidemic and came from a law enforcement family. New Haven was considered too dangerous. But I've met a ton of great, smart Yale grads and think I would have enjoyed their company during undergrad!

[Anonymous]

Davidson
I loved it there. Great academics, beautiful campus, quaint college town, small size, and nice weather. I like the openness to other religions even as it identifies as Presbyterian. The students we met were really friendly and social as well as bright.

My DD was just waitlisted, but when we were touring she said, “Mom, this is where you wish you’d gone to school, but I’m not sure it’s the right place for me.” I went to Georgia in the 90s and it was a good education, but way too big for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you mean they'd just let me in?

then Yale or Oxford.

Even in your unlimited fantasy, you’d pick four years in Downtown New Haven. Unbelievable.

I’d like four free years in La Jolla please, sign me up for UCSD.

Yeah. it's about who is around the table and I'd be happy in a residential college.

I also dont like San Diego.

I can - and did - move to a nice climate after college. Spend half my time in Ojai now. But for college, I want the academics.

New Haven is actually quite nice now. And we all managed back in the day. Was quite a culture shock for me, but it was good for me too.

I have a theory that more interesting people go to Yale (vs say Princeton) because of New Haven.

[Anonymous]

I would have loved a SLAC. Pomona for sure.

[Anonymous]

St Olaf for STEM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stanford
Princeton
Duke
UNC Chapel Hill
UVA

All have a strong balance between academics, high-end athletics and social scene.

I’m curious about your background. This seems like an odd priority.

My background? My background is that I enjoy college sports and the on-campus excitement and morale that they inspire. Ever heard of Cameron Indoor Stadium? I would choose to attend a school with strong academics, D1 athletics, and a vibrant social scene.

Which college did you attend? Were you a college athlete?

Really strange line of questioning. Not a college athlete. But a big fan of college athletics. You must have attended a DIII school that pulled 25 students to a basketball game.

Not that strange; just trying to understand different perspectives.

Did you attend a D1 school? In the South?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Knowing what I know now, I’d go to the best college where I could get a full ride. I went to a no name undergrad and a t5 MBA program and quickly discovered that the kids from name brand schools were absolutely no more qualified or smarter than I was. I’d save the money, be a big fish in a small pond, and appreciate that the amount you spend on you undergrad has tenuous, if any, relationship to you overall economic outcomes.

Same here. Went to a podunk undergrad but got into a top 15 sometimes top ten MBA school. Ivy classmates were no smarter.

[Anonymous]

Pomona. I went to a nescac. The weather in California would have made the experience even better.

[Anonymous]

As a guy who went to a 55/45 male school and had a major that was even more male-dominated, I’m choosing one of those 65%+ female campuses. Could not care less about what the campus looks like.