Do regret/resent that you didn’t go to a better college if you went to a regional one? Or one ranked

[Anonymous]

First gen student here, graduated college about 20 years ago. B+/A- HS student, SAT was abysmal (550+ verbal, 450 math). Applied to regional, small schools and ended up at 3rd choice for scholarship reasons. Zero regrets and I remain grateful for the experience to this day. FWIW, I am an attorney. I wouldn't change my ugrad experience for anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First gen student here, graduated college about 20 years ago. B+/A- HS student, SAT was abysmal (550+ verbal, 450 math). Applied to regional, small schools and ended up at 3rd choice for scholarship reasons. Zero regrets and I remain grateful for the experience to this day. FWIW, I am an attorney. I wouldn't change my ugrad experience for anything.

Sounds like it was a great school! I like opportunities to give love to places like these, so come back and share the school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My regret is first picking the prestigious college for its name and reputation. I hated it and transferred to a small college with a high acceptance and I have no idea the rank. The program was excellent, you knew the faculty and other students and it had a lot of internship opportunities. I want to encourage my students to look off the beaten path to find the best fit for them and not be blinded by a name.

Good for you! My regret is that I chose the prestigious college and hated it, but never had the balls to transfer out.

[Anonymous]

I went to a regional state U - grew up in Wisconsin and didn't want a monster school like UW-Madison, so chose a different school in the UW system (UW-Eau Claire) that was smaller and a better cultural fit for me. In hindsight I could've gotten in to much higher ranked schools, and there are obviously plentiful high ranked schools that aren't as big as UW-Madison, but I didn't know those schools existed. Where I grew up...you just went to the UW school of choice, maybe the little regional privates like Viterbo or Edgewood, but definitely no one was going to Tufts, LOL. Or knew it existed.

But...whatever. I had a great experience, made lasting friendships, and have been successful in my chosen career. It really, really doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

I definitely do. I applied to and got into a much better school. My mom called and tried to appeal my crappy merit award and that’s when I found out there was no money saved. I was gutted at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Tbh I have no idea what my school was ranked at the time. But I have been told on this website that my diploma wasn’t worth the paper it’s written on
I am a doctor and work in public health and am a fully functioning member of society. I LOVED my school so no. No regrets at all.

+1
Similar experience here. I *loved* my undergrad years, even though my college was one that is routinely disparaged here in DCUM-land. Wouldn't trade those four years for anything.

[Anonymous]

no, and I think if you are over the age of...I don't know, 22...and are still resenting or mourning your college choice, you need to grow up. Or get therapy or something. That's not healthy or normal.

[Anonymous]

Graduated HS in 1987. I got into the only VA college that accepted me with my 3.1 GPA and an SAT score barely over 1050. My verbal score far outweighed math. My guidance counselor sat me down and nearly tearfully announced that had my math score matched my verbal, we’d be having a different conversation.

Back story: I had a suspected learning disability in math discovered first semester freshman year. My parents were notified and asked to meet with my algebra teacher to discuss next steps. My father thought learning disability meant that I was functionally r-word. Really. He rebuffed any/all suggestions of changing my schedule to work with a math specialist or even determining where I might need additional supports.

Instead, he hired a peer tutor for me; once a week, $5. I continued to struggle and skated through with C- or D throughout HS. I took AP Govt and English.

All said, no regrets. It took me decades to believe that I’m highly intelligent, witty and a fast learner.

[Anonymous]

Yes, sort of. I didn't have any choice about schools and went to the school that was close to home. My mother picked my school. I could have done much, much better. I had the whole package - high SATs, 4.0, strong extracurriculars, first generation college student from a very underrepresented high school. I don't know about T10, but I could have gotten into T11-30 in 1987. Having those connections would have been helpful for my career.

It was all fine. I ended up at a T14 law school and did very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:no, and I think if you are over the age of...I don't know, 22...and are still resenting or mourning your college choice, you need to grow up. Or get therapy or something. That's not healthy or normal.

Not a resentment. But I do have a mild regret that I could have made better choices. It's not a big thing in my life. I don't spend time gnashing my teeth or rending my garments over what might have been.

As I get my kids ready for the process, though, I look back and think "Oh, wow! I could have done so much more!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:no, and I think if you are over the age of...I don't know, 22...and are still resenting or mourning your college choice, you need to grow up. Or get therapy or something. That's not healthy or normal.

Completely agree. And conversely, if you are over the age of mid-20s and still boasting about what college you went to, you need to grow up/get therapy. Either way, it's unhealthy and abnormal.

[Anonymous]

No, I don’t regret it - nor should you or anybody else. I attended multiple colleges before I graduate and I ended up with a successful career. A friend of mine attended a small religious college because she had a full ride — and she’s now a successful physician. I have colleagues who went to Harvard and colleagues who went to community college — and we are equally successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:no, and I think if you are over the age of...I don't know, 22...and are still resenting or mourning your college choice, you need to grow up. Or get therapy or something. That's not healthy or normal.

It is not uncommon for one to think about their college experience at any age or at any stage of life. The college years are during years that typically have a significant impact on the rest of one's life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no, and I think if you are over the age of...I don't know, 22...and are still resenting or mourning your college choice, you need to grow up. Or get therapy or something. That's not healthy or normal.

Completely agree. And conversely, if you are over the age of mid-20s and still boasting about what college you went to, you need to grow up/get therapy. Either way, it's unhealthy and abnormal.

At least in this thread, the focus is not on boasting about one's college experience; this thread is about lamenting and regretting one's college experience with the benefit of hindsight.

[Anonymous]

It depends.

I have no regrets. I don't think I would have got thru my major at a big state school where they have weed out classes. As a freshman, I felt a little bit left out of the rah rah of my friends that went to big state school, but after first semester freshman year I never thought about again and I appreciated the smaller sports scene at my school.

Sadly, Hubby who had an amazing college experience feels like the same college name on his resume is a week point in the business world and really pushing our kids to go to top 20 colleges.