Which schools have kids with happy experiences and outcomes?

[Anonymous]

Really depends on the kid. In my kids' friends' experience, the happiest kids seem to be the ones who landed just a little below what their stats indicated. They seem to be loving the big state schools -- Rutgers, Tennessee, South Carolina, Pitt, Penn State.

Conversely, some landed at small colleges in PA, and are liking that -- Dickinson, Lafayette, Scranton, St. Joe's.

We live in NJ and I think a lot of kids were ready to get out of this pressure cooker.

[Anonymous]

Bryn Mawr! Some of the most intelligent, caring women I have ever met went there.

[Anonymous]

Colorado or Colorado State. Both schools have happy kids, who ski a lot and get jobs because people think it is cool they went to school in Colorado

[Anonymous]

Among the ivies, I think Yale has pretty happy kids.

[Anonymous]

This thread is absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:JMU

Anecdotally: Sadly, I know several students that left JMU with mental health issues. They did not have them prior. It could be timing, onset of some issues are early adulthood/late adolescence. It just stood out to me that I know 5-6 kids that left for a year or completely due to this and none of the other many, many college kids I know from other schools had this issue.

[Anonymous]

Ditto on Brown. My kid is incredibly happy there. The peer group is extremely smart and yet grounded. Collaboration is real. They all seem to go on to do meaningful things post-graduation, with very high acceptance rates to top Ph.D programs, law schools, med schools and MBA programs. My kid declined two other so-called “higher ranked” Ivies and has never looked back. Go with your gut, not with BS rankings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Princeton Review has lists and rankings for this:

https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/?rankings=happiest-students

Interestingly, many of the well-ranked schools on this list are almost never brought up on this board.

In fairness, this website is coastal-centric and usually people are asking for advice on admissions.

Kansas State, Taylor, University of Dallas...these aren't schools that require much admissions advice since they are 75%+ admissions schools...nor are they local options for many people on DCUM.

I will agree that Auburn isn't talked about much compared to University of Alabama. Certainly Emory is probably mentioned too much on DCUM.

Roll Tide! My kid just finished orientation at Alabama and had a great time! He’s really looking forward to it and I’m very pleased with the active parent groups who’ve been super helpful in preparing for move in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is absurd.

I've found it interesting and helpful. What's absurd about good mental health?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is absurd.

I've found it interesting and helpful. What's absurd about good mental health?

It’s absurd thinking that become some anonymous poster’s kid is happy at a particular school, that yours will be too. Happy kids are everywhere and kids with mental health problems are everywhere. Good mental health does not come from the institution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s so strange to me that people expect actual lists of schools that produce happy young people. That’s just not the way college, or anything else in life, works. It’s a lot more complex than that, but ultimately, it helps to raise your kids to value human connection, to be content with less, and not to have overblown expectations of what college is about.

+1. Think about your kid’s HS. Did it produce happy kids? Probably some that are happy, some that are not, and it has much more to do with the kid than the school.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think any college provides excellent mental health support. The needs are too staggeringly great among the current population of college students. I wouldn’t expect much in the way of services and would use private therapists if needed, the same way I wouldn’t expect college health centers to do much for physical health issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think any college provides excellent mental health support. The needs are too staggeringly great among the current population of college students. I wouldn’t expect much in the way of services and would use private therapists if needed, the same way I wouldn’t expect college health centers to do much for physical health issues.

+1

And alcohol causes depression.

Weed causes schizophrenia and depression in kids younger than 25. New studies. Weed is everywhere now.

[Anonymous]

^ weed today is not the weed of the 80/90/early 2000s

[Anonymous]

My kids play club sports, workout and don’t go to a drinking culture school. They are both health nuts. They don’t stay up all hours and have good control with SM/iPhone use.

They don’t stay in their dorm rooms- study at the library, go to the fitness center, get outside, involved.

All of that has kept them mentally and physically healthy.

It’s a far cry from my college days of binge drinking several nights a week, day parties, football tailgates, etc.