If you child got into a top college

[Anonymous]

correction: schools

[Anonymous]

i'd rather go to UCLA. great school, awesome location, beautiful campus, big-time sports program and great price.

Similar (except for the price) would be Duke or Vanderbilt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I completely disagree with your assessment of Georgetown. I know many people who attended who had no interest in ivies. I know that some of you can not understand this, but many, many people have NO INTEREST in ivies. And for many, many reasons including avoiding pretentious snobs such as yourself.

NP here. I'm not trying to hijack the thread, but could you please explain the underlined statement? Are you saying many people (including you, I'm guessing) just outright refuse even to consider Ivy league schools? If that's correct, could you please list some of the "many many reasons" why not? The Ivy league schools are a relatively diverse lot (at least as far as top-20 colleges go). They range from very large, city schools like Penn or Columbia to fairly small and almost bucolic schools like Dartmouth, with several other options in between. Some have particularly strong business schools, while others may excel in programs like history or sociology, and there are even the relatively obscure programs like Cornell's hotel management and Penn's nursing schools.

Rejecting all Ivy league schools as a group strikes me as just as illogical as someone saying she'd only consider Ivy league schools. But maybe I'm not understanding you correctly, so perhaps you'll explain your thinking further.

I am mostly speaking regarding my DD's situation. She wants a comfortable and welcoming campus with a liberal/progressive/artsy lean. Consequently she is looking at small liberal arts schools. She has not completely ruled out ivies, but has little interest in them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:is Old Dominion University considered elite? I know it isnt in the ivy league technically, but curious if it is otherwise considered as good. Up there with the Georgetowns, Radfords and Delawares. thanks.

This is how I see it.
Radford, ODU and Delaware are not thought of as competitive schools.
Georgetown is for kids who could not get into ivies.

I got into an Ivy but chose Georgetown (and way before Georgetown was considered a top school) because the particular program suited me better.

[Anonymous]

so is Raford considered really elite or not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:so is Raford considered really elite or not?

Possibly in Southern Virginia, but not in the rest of the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:so is Raford considered really elite or not?

Possibly in Southern Virginia, but not in the rest of the country.

I doubt even in Southern Virginia it's seen that way.

[Anonymous]

friends of mine went to radford and really seemed to enjoy it. all found husbands there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:friends of mine went to radford and really seemed to enjoy it. all found husbands there.

Ugh...the college forum has been so great in terms of tone thus far. Let's not let it devolve with comments like this one.

[Anonymous]

Many prospective students and their families consider the quality of the undergrad education they will receive and choose a top, small liberal arts school because the student faculty ratio is lower and there's more opportunity to develop relationships with professors in a student's chosen field. I think it's a common strategy: attend an elite, but smaller school for undergrad, and then a large university for graduate school. Makes a lot of sense.

[Anonymous]

lots of strategies are common and lots work. i'd rather do the opposite - go to a large state university for undergrad, then a smaller elite school for graduate studies. seems like you have a larger social environment in undergrad this way and a stronger connection as an alumni. then once you are older and more mature, go to a grad school in a bigger city.

as for the radford comments - what was wrong with sharing observations about your friends success there?

[Anonymous]

Um, I think the PP's disgust with the comment on husbands was derived from a perceived unspoken out-of-date point of view that women go to college, perhaps especially Radford, solely for the purpose of obtaining an MRS degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um, I think the PP's disgust with the comment on husbands was derived from a perceived unspoken out-of-date point of view that women go to college, perhaps especially Radford, solely for the purpose of obtaining an MRS degree.

Exactly what prompted my comment.

[Anonymous]

are people serious about Radford and ODU? I thought that was where you went if you couldn't get in anywhere else??

[Anonymous]

They range from very large, city schools like Penn or Columbia to fairly small and almost bucolic schools like Dartmouth

Columbia College is actually quite small, approx. 1000 per class. Dartmouth also has about 1000 per class. Since we're talking about undergrad here.

Columbia's got more, and bigger grad schools (true), but the in-class, undergrad experience would be similar in terms of #s. Put another way, Columbia's med students won't be taking up seats in freshman history.