| Pitt |
| My first kid never had a safety other than UMD. He wound up getting into his ED school. He wanted to go to a SLAC but none of the safety SLACs were appealing to him. In the end, he decided that UMD (while not a SLAC and not a great fit) was better than the mid level SLACs he didn’t love. |
DP here and I agree with pp. I’m from NYC and went to school in Boston. I made friends with students from all over the world. I think I tried a bit too hard to meet different people. I met DH in grad school and we eventually moved to DC. I am honestly a bit envious of some people who stayed in state, who have close friends and family. I’m talking about my friends in NY. Being a townie in NYC is different than staying in Iowa. My friends are from the NY metro area, may have gone to SUNY, NYU, Columbia, Cornell, etc, gotten a job in Manhattan and just has an amazing friend network. I have 3 children. I hope at least one kid stays local. Like NY, I don’t think going to UVA, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins and staying in the DMV is bad at all. I am sick and out internet is down so I’m typing on my phone. We have made friends in DC but it is not the same as the friend groups my friends have in NY. |
The ED acceptance rate for Northeastern is close to 40 percent, amd that’s where they accept most of the class. That isn’t a low acceptance rate. |
The rankings likely reflect the fact that UCSD is a research powerhouse. |
Obviously it doesn't have to happen with undergrad. However, in my experience, kids who do venture out for undergraduate are more likely to continue exploring the world/US and not just return "home". Of the T25 students in my HS (that's the people I keep in touch with/were my friends in HS), there are only 2 of us who left the state (the other did stay in state for undergrad then ventured out for graduate school). The rest still live in VA within 25 miles of where they grew up. If you attend undergrad with people who are all from the same area (State of Va) you are largely meeting others who might just be happy staying in VA for the rest of their lives. Attend undergrad 1K miles from "home" where there are students from all 50 states and many other countries, and your life begins to broaden at age 18-22. Those are key formative years IMO. Exposure to "different" people from different areas makes you more inclined to explore the world |
NP. I have no opinions on Northeastern, but you plainly do not understand the list you linked. Multiple universities on the list do not educate undergraduates at all. Others are notoriously bad for undergraduates as they focus entirely on academic research and graduate education. I used to do admissions for a T20 graduate program, and there are universities on that list that were known for not preparing undergraduates at all for graduate school. A good research institute means very little with respect to undergraduate education. What you linked is a list of well-respected research institutes and graduate schools, because that’s what academic reputation is built on. It is not a list relevant to where good undergraduate students should attend. Your lack of understanding of what you linked makes it hard to take the rest of your rant seriously. |
Agree. Northern Virginia is very diverse but UVA pulls from the whole state evenly. |
You boosters actually don’t help. Most of you sound insecure and defensive. Be happy and proud of your choice. |
replying to my own post: My Best friend from "home"/HS, went to UVA, met their spouse at UVA. Their spouse was good friends in HS with my HS boyfriend---the small group I went to my BF's senior prom with included my Best Friends now-Husband. So they attending different HS, yet went to college and are married to someone who grew up within 10 miles of them. Whereas my friend base from college includes people from all over the USA---we still stay in touch and plan vacations together or visit each other yearly. There are plus/minuses to each situation. I prefer what I got to experience. All 3 of my kids are/did attend college OOS. They looked instate but didn't find the right school for them. So they expanded their horizons and are very happy |
+1 I don't get the disdain some people have for living your whole life in one area. What's wrong with being happy and connected in the place where you were born? I do get the desire to go away. I grew up in LA and hated it. Wanted to get out of state for college -- back to the mid-Atlantic where I was born and we often spent vacations -- but my parents had an in-state budget. So I went in state (3 hrs from home), worked in LA for a few years after college and then used that job as a springboard to move where I wanted to. The rest of my family ended up migrating to northern CA and I have a bunch of old college friends who live in that area too and definitely wonder what it would have been like to have just changed the area of CA and had those strong friend and family connections. I really like my life in DC but I miss my family too and my college friendships are now just xmas cards and a Facebook follow. |
Why are you so obsessed Kids get rejected from many schools for whatever reasons. Move on. |
+1 |
NP. Serious question, I've seen the reference to NEU as overhyped on many threads. Great location with smart kids and a popular co-op program. What makes it overhyped? Poor education? Poor job prospects? I honestly don't know. Rather than 10% acceptance rate it was 50, would that cease to make it overhyped? |
Jeez yourself. It's over 80K a year in after tax dollars. A lot of us can't afford that. |