Talk me off a ledge

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of you urging OP’s DD to go to ESU would send your own kid there, turning down Lehigh?
My concern would be that your DD may not be able transfer, coming from ESU, regardless of her grades.

[crickets]

I would. I went to ESU!

THANK YOU. Can you please tell us more about your experience and what it was like? Major of study? Etc.? Would be great to have a firsthand account of someone who actually WENT there vs. the speculation and biases on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I understand your fear and frustration. I think at this point I would ask DD to take another very serious look at the middle options. She might change her mind about med school (as so many kids do) and she wants to be left with as many options as possible. Having a degree from a better school will be something she will take with her in every job or school search of her life. My DD was offered a full ride from a comparable school, and of course she was really excited and flattered. If she hadn't gotten in anywhere else she would have made the best of it. But because she knew she wanted to go someplace that might offer more choices for the future, and because she knew we could afford it, she never seriously considered taking the free ride. Some things aren't as "free" due to the opportunity cost. If you didn't have the funds for other places that would be different.

She's still a kid. If she hasn't thought all of that through you can gently and tactfully point it out. If she has thought all of it through and still wants to make that choice, then be supportive and proud and encourage her to make the most of the opportunity.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Revisit Denison.

[Anonymous]

as someone who is a practicing physician who also obviously went through med school. The free option is the obvious choice. Medical school predominantly cares about MCATs and GPA. A less cut throat school will give your student the ability to really focus on grade perfection. A less cut throat school will give your student time to perp for the MCAT. Medical school is expensive and this is where you will need to spend your money.

For the record I attended a small public without prestige. I was not even a pre med major, I was a math major. I ended up attending medical school at JHU. Because I saved my parents money they were able to contribute to medical school and I graduated with less debt than many of my colleagues.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend who always has said to me, undergrad doesn’t matter so much. It’s how well you do there that matters bc grad school is the most important. She’s a fan of saving money for a higher tier graduate school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:as someone who is a practicing physician who also obviously went through med school. The free option is the obvious choice. Medical school predominantly cares about MCATs and GPA. A less cut throat school will give your student the ability to really focus on grade perfection. A less cut throat school will give your student time to perp for the MCAT. Medical school is expensive and this is where you will need to spend your money.

For the record I attended a small public without prestige. I was not even a pre med major, I was a math major. I ended up attending medical school at JHU. Because I saved my parents money they were able to contribute to medical school and I graduated with less debt than many of my colleagues.

My dh also went to Hopkins medical school, after attending one of H/Y/P. His medical school friends attended a number of other T 5 schools, and all went to T50. So, obviously you can get to medical school from outside top 50 but it’s a lot easier from a better school.

I am quite confident your school, no matter your description of non prestigious, had a graduation rate of above 40 percent.

[Anonymous]

Med school admissions have become insanely difficult. The experience of a practicing physician are no long relevant. There will be many applicants who have equally good records at much better schools than ESU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand the people who say she can always transfer, but is that really true? It's been shown that kids at community college are told they can transfer but it rarely ever happens. This is different of course but would it still be possible?
Will she be able to get into the Colgate/Lehigh level college from ES?

I am just starting this journey with my high school junior but I went to Colgate and I never heard of anyone transferring in from another school that was not about the same level of rigor.

I don't know if this ever works but could she start at the best of the schools she got into and try and get money later at another school? Do transfers get money?
It's a gamble but turning down admission to those schools right now with so few kids getting in seems really tough.

My kid could not handle Colgate (I remember how tough it was) so I'm now trying to find less competitive schools that still have a decent name that don't overwhelm a smart kid with terrible ADHD. If he could handle Colgate/Lehigh, I'd be over the moon!

The community college transfer programs are often actual entitlements to transfer to a public university (sometimes the state flagship) if the student gets a certain number of credits/grades. I know several people who did this to get into Berkeley. The reason the numbers are low is because most community college students are in fact not traditional college students and don’t have the resources, ability or interest in doing the work it takes to transfer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Med school admissions have become insanely difficult. The experience of a practicing physician are no long relevant. There will be many applicants who have equally good records at much better schools than ESU.

Are you a med school admissions officer? Or just some rando not even in the field?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who always has said to me, undergrad doesn’t matter so much. It’s how well you do there that matters bc grad school is the most important. She’s a fan of saving money for a higher tier graduate school.

Your friend is very wise.

[Anonymous]

I do think there is a lot to be said for graduating debt- free, but I think it makes more sense if you're choosing a state flagship over say a SLAC or something along those lines. I would have concerns with ESU given your DD's other choices. The concerns are both academic and social.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who always has said to me, undergrad doesn’t matter so much. It’s how well you do there that matters bc grad school is the most important. She’s a fan of saving money for a higher tier graduate school.

Your friend’s take is overly simplistic.

What if the student changes his/her mind and decides against going to grad or professional school? I’m strongly of the opinion that you should go to the best school you can, assuming it is affordable. In the case of ESU, the student will be attending a school of dubious quality, which is “regional” but lesser known than other regional schools in the area. This is going to make getting jobs/internships very difficult. It’s probably best for the parent/student to go with the middle tier options.

Also, let’s assume the student does decide to attend grad or professional school. The middle tier options have better outcomes for med school, law school, PhD programs, etc. Additionally, the middle tier schools will have better advising that positions students to get into such programs.

[Anonymous]

Forget prestige and all of that. The 36% graduation rates tells me that’s not a place I want my child to go, if they have another option that won’t sink us financially. That does not sound like a great learning community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who always has said to me, undergrad doesn’t matter so much. It’s how well you do there that matters bc grad school is the most important. She’s a fan of saving money for a higher tier graduate school.

For those of us that went to a solid undergrad and never had to attend grad school and are quite successful…we would disagree. Your friend gave this advice because she went to grad school.

The majority of kids that start as premed don’t end up going to med school. They switch majors or decide med school is not for them.

OP…think of one of the lowest tier regional schools you know in the DMV…if you are fine with your kid attending that school, then you are OK with ESU…though it is still weird to travel 4 hours to attend a school like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of you urging OP’s DD to go to ESU would send your own kid there, turning down Lehigh?
My concern would be that your DD may not be able transfer, coming from ESU, regardless of her grades.

[crickets]

I would. I went to ESU!

THANK YOU. Can you please tell us more about your experience and what it was like? Major of study? Etc.? Would be great to have a firsthand account of someone who actually WENT there vs. the speculation and biases on this thread.

You have to know that less than 1% of DCUM would have personal experience with ESU, right?

Did you try the Philadelphia board? At least that is in the general geographic ballpark.