Talk me off a ledge

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I find it utterly bizarre that you allowed your daughter to apply to any school that would actually be a stretch financially. It sounds like all of the other schools she applied to are expensive privates - why? You say she wasn't interested in a large state school, but surely there were small or mid-sized Pennsylvania state schools she could have included in her list? Your situation is so bizarre because while you don't want her to attend the no-name school for free, you also seem hesitant to pay $200,000 on an expensive private.

Where are your state school options?

She said that the kid didn’t like big state schools. Get off her back about the list and try to be constructive!

OP- if your kid is okay with the free school, go for it. She can transfer to UMD or your flagship state school if it feels wrong… with nothing out of pocket. Good luck.

Is it easy to transfer to UMD or UVA?

I think it's easy to transfer to the UVa main campus from UVa Wise after two years.

Yes. There is a GPA threshold, but it is doable.

[Anonymous]

OP what are the in between options? Why not appealing and then why did she apply? That seems the most logical route. Like why either esu or 300k in debt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I find it utterly bizarre that you allowed your daughter to apply to any school that would actually be a stretch financially. It sounds like all of the other schools she applied to are expensive privates - why? You say she wasn't interested in a large state school, but surely there were small or mid-sized Pennsylvania state schools she could have included in her list? Your situation is so bizarre because while you don't want her to attend the no-name school for free, you also seem hesitant to pay $200,000 on an expensive private.

Where are your state school options?

She said that the kid didn’t like big state schools. Get off her back about the list and try to be constructive!

OP- if your kid is okay with the free school, go for it. She can transfer to UMD or your flagship state school if it feels wrong… with nothing out of pocket. Good luck.

Is it easy to transfer to UMD or UVA?

Not particularly, really not sure why people think it would be so easy to transfer from ESU to a T50 public. Way better off coming from a local community college with an established pathway.

This. East Stroudsburg is not a good school and has no relationship with UMD or UVA. Does it have matriculation agreements with any decent PA publics? Because, if not, this is a firm no for me.

What state do you live in, OP? If she can get into Colgate & Villanova, there is a happy medium. Perhaps the smaller non-flagship campus of a state college?

I went to HYPS and I 100% admit I am a school snob. But I would do everything in my power to convince my kid to go somewhere better. And, being honest, I would cave and take a second mortgage/co-sign loans/etc to send her to either Colgate or Villanova. They are *so* much better than ESU. It is really hard to overstate the difference.

What's the happy medium in VA? There are other threads for the various states that come down hard on those too--- VA? Lynchburg? Bridgewater? Roanoke? UMW? CNU?

I think CNU and UWM are squarely in the middle in VA these days. JMU too, though it’s gotten more competitive (but still a pretty high acceptance rate overall).

All of these schools have acceptance rates pretty near one another . . 75-85%. So aren't they all in the middle?

CNU GPA: 3.76 SAT 1191 (74percentile)
ESU GPA: 3.2 SAT 1054 (53 percentile)
UMW GPA: 3.68 SAT 1247 (80 percentile)

Those 3, while they might have similar admission rates are NOT that similar.

CNU and UMW are closer and I'd consider "similar" but ESU is a tier or two below.
The GPA is what tells you that. It's the difference between mostly B/B+ in HS vs A/A-

Look at the SAT percentiles. 74 to 80 is not that different. But 53 to 75th is a HUGE difference.

So the cohorts you will have around you are entirely different.

Now look at graduation rates after 6 years:

CNU:76% (recent CDS)

ESU: 49% (from 2018 because ESU doesn't have a CDS online after that, not a good sign)

UMW: 68% (recent CDS)

Huge difference in types of students you will get as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I find it utterly bizarre that you allowed your daughter to apply to any school that would actually be a stretch financially. It sounds like all of the other schools she applied to are expensive privates - why? You say she wasn't interested in a large state school, but surely there were small or mid-sized Pennsylvania state schools she could have included in her list? Your situation is so bizarre because while you don't want her to attend the no-name school for free, you also seem hesitant to pay $200,000 on an expensive private.

Where are your state school options?

She said that the kid didn’t like big state schools. Get off her back about the list and try to be constructive!

OP- if your kid is okay with the free school, go for it. She can transfer to UMD or your flagship state school if it feels wrong… with nothing out of pocket. Good luck.

Is it easy to transfer to UMD or UVA?

I think it's easy to transfer to the UVa main campus from UVa Wise after two years.

Yes. There is a GPA threshold, but it is doable.

You can go to NOVA and automatically transfer to UVA with a minimum GPA.

The question was how easy is if for someone coming from East Stroudsburg University in PA to transfer to UMD or UVA. I think it is nearly impossible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I find it utterly bizarre that you allowed your daughter to apply to any school that would actually be a stretch financially. It sounds like all of the other schools she applied to are expensive privates - why? You say she wasn't interested in a large state school, but surely there were small or mid-sized Pennsylvania state schools she could have included in her list? Your situation is so bizarre because while you don't want her to attend the no-name school for free, you also seem hesitant to pay $200,000 on an expensive private.

Where are your state school options?

She said that the kid didn’t like big state schools. Get off her back about the list and try to be constructive!

OP- if your kid is okay with the free school, go for it. She can transfer to UMD or your flagship state school if it feels wrong… with nothing out of pocket. Good luck.

Is it easy to transfer to UMD or UVA?

I think it's easy to transfer to the UVa main campus from UVa Wise after two years.

Yes. There is a GPA threshold, but it is doable.

You can go to NOVA and automatically transfer to UVA with a minimum GPA.

The question was how easy is if for someone coming from East Stroudsburg University in PA to transfer to UMD or UVA. I think it is nearly impossible.

I personally don't think you can say that, unequivocally, if the GPA is high enough and it's something like bio or chem, where all the classes are the same content. Maybe it's harder but I don't think you can say "nearly impossible."

[Anonymous]

Still not understanding what's wrong with the schools in between East Stroudsburg University and Villanova.

[Anonymous]

My 2 cents -- I went to Blair Academy in NJ, East Stroudsburg was the closest "city" and it is a DUMP (still in 2024). East Stroudsburg is also SO much weaker than Lehigh, Villanova etc. she is going to have SUCH a different cohort of peers both academically and socioeconomically. Most kids who are less academically rigorous but still somewhat MC UMC would go to a school like Muhlenberg. ESU is going to have a really different demographic. That being said, I would assume, I think correctly, that getting a 4.0 in the sciences at ESU is going to be MUCH easier than at Lehigh or Villanova. If her ultimate goal is med school, this is going to set her up better for med school admissions. If she is factoring in enjoying her college experience, I would visit and really look closely and think about if that is possible at ESU. I made my best friends in college, and most where at least somewhat like me -- either socioeconomically(UMC), religiously (Jewish), or academically driven. Will your daughter have a cohort of peers who are like her? Do they stay on campus over the weekends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, OP - looks like you were pushed swiftly off the edge on this thread.

As the mom of a college athlete, if this is athletics related - do NOT make the choice based on that. Your dd is one injury away from never playing again. You need to pick the college that will enable her success. No way is that ES. She can play club sports at a better place, with like-minded students.

Yup. DS tore his ACL freshman year, never competed again. Fortunately he didn't choose his college based on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 2 cents -- I went to Blair Academy in NJ, East Stroudsburg was the closest "city" and it is a DUMP (still in 2024). East Stroudsburg is also SO much weaker than Lehigh, Villanova etc. she is going to have SUCH a different cohort of peers both academically and socioeconomically. Most kids who are less academically rigorous but still somewhat MC UMC would go to a school like Muhlenberg. ESU is going to have a really different demographic. That being said, I would assume, I think correctly, that getting a 4.0 in the sciences at ESU is going to be MUCH easier than at Lehigh or Villanova. If her ultimate goal is med school, this is going to set her up better for med school admissions. If she is factoring in enjoying her college experience, I would visit and really look closely and think about if that is possible at ESU. I made my best friends in college, and most where at least somewhat like me -- either socioeconomically(UMC), religiously (Jewish), or academically driven. Will your daughter have a cohort of peers who are like her? Do they stay on campus over the weekends?

Like PP said...it is a 1/4 a step above a community college, and I might argue that NOVA or Montgomery College is possibly better. That's how you have to think about it.

There are tons of better, affordable options between ESU and Lehigh/Villanova.

[Anonymous]

So I went to check out ESU on Niche and the most review:

I believe this is a school where you get what you pay for. The education is fantastic and despite being only a first-semester freshman, I am very excited for what the school has to offer. However, aside from academics, there are a few issues I have with the school. My number one thing is safety - just in this first semester alone, there has been a stabbing, robbery, multiple shot-up parties, and a car explosion (a bomb was made by a student) all of which the university has not made a single comment on. Most of the information regarding events like this travels by word of mouth. The activities the school holds are very fun and I always enjoy partaking in them. Overall, the education is great, and the activities can be fun if you are willing to make time to go to them. However, the school needs to do a better job of protecting its students.

Even if I were willing to overlook the 36% graduation rate, this would make it a hard NO from me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 2 cents -- I went to Blair Academy in NJ, East Stroudsburg was the closest "city" and it is a DUMP (still in 2024). East Stroudsburg is also SO much weaker than Lehigh, Villanova etc. she is going to have SUCH a different cohort of peers both academically and socioeconomically. Most kids who are less academically rigorous but still somewhat MC UMC would go to a school like Muhlenberg. ESU is going to have a really different demographic. That being said, I would assume, I think correctly, that getting a 4.0 in the sciences at ESU is going to be MUCH easier than at Lehigh or Villanova. If her ultimate goal is med school, this is going to set her up better for med school admissions. If she is factoring in enjoying her college experience, I would visit and really look closely and think about if that is possible at ESU. I made my best friends in college, and most where at least somewhat like me -- either socioeconomically(UMC), religiously (Jewish), or academically driven. Will your daughter have a cohort of peers who are like her? Do they stay on campus over the weekends?

Why are you concerned about wealth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, don’t send your highly capable kid to a no name regional school. Stretch and send her to Colgate. Just do it. This is a no brainer.

Maybe a no brainer for you, but that’s your opinion.

Pretty sure OP was asking for our opinions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, don’t send your highly capable kid to a no name regional school. Stretch and send her to Colgate. Just do it. This is a no brainer.

Maybe a no brainer for you, but that’s your opinion.

Pretty sure OP was asking for our opinions

Do you acknowledge for some folks in the DMV choosing ESU would be a no brainer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, don’t send your highly capable kid to a no name regional school. Stretch and send her to Colgate. Just do it. This is a no brainer.

Maybe a no brainer for you, but that’s your opinion.

Pretty sure OP was asking for our opinions

Do you acknowledge for some folks in the DMV choosing ESU would be a no brainer?

Explain? I can't envision for any folks in the DMV that choosing ESU would be a "no brainer"...none.

Considering the academic quality of the school is not a factor, there are many schools that will offer this kid $0 tuition to attend that still will have better outcomes and provide a better college experience.

Someone may still take ESU...but it's not a a "no brainer" for anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, don’t send your highly capable kid to a no name regional school. Stretch and send her to Colgate. Just do it. This is a no brainer.

Maybe a no brainer for you, but that’s your opinion.

Pretty sure OP was asking for our opinions

Do you acknowledge for some folks in the DMV choosing ESU would be a no brainer?

Explain? I can't envision for any folks in the DMV that choosing ESU would be a "no brainer"...none.

Considering the academic quality of the school is not a factor, there are many schools that will offer this kid $0 tuition to attend that still will have better outcomes and provide a better college experience.

Someone may still take ESU...but it's not a a "no brainer" for anyone.

That’s your opinion. Why can’t you acknowledge for others ESU is a no brainer?