Anyone change their mind on a school based on too many kids from HS attending?
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Anonymous
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Back in the dark ages, I didn't want to apply to JMU because everyone else at my FCPS did. My parents made me apply anyway.
Want to guess which school I ended up loving when I visited? And where I never ended up seeing any of my HS classmates who also attended? Let your kids make their own decisions, but these schools are huge, and the whole "13th grade" thing really isn't. |
Anonymous
| I heard my friend's kid did not go to Pitt because some kids attended. They attended UMD instead, but they were happy with their choice. |
Anonymous
Not UMD, but I wasn't interested in even applying to the public U that was basically in my hometown. I probably could have gone for pretty cheap, too, as I likely would have gotten merit for the honors college which was pushed HARD at my HS. Staying in my hometown never interested me for college. Thankfully, my parents had told me to apply wherever I wanted and never once tried to push the state school on me. Keep in mind, this is when top privates were like $25K/year and the one I wound up at was ~$20K/year all in. Also understand that my grandfather had forced my mother to go to the state school (which happened to be UMD - she and my dad met at an MCPS school) despite getting into Columbia. She was pretty bitter about that as it was done out of sheer sexism. These days, though, cost is such a huge part of the equation. I did SOOO much research to help my own child with ideas on where she might apply. If I didn't think there was any chance of bringing costs to a reasonable level, the school didn't even make consideration. She did apply to 2 in state public schools (though neither of them was nearby) and a private that was about 3 hours from home. She wound up at a private 8 hours from home that was the best fit for her and comes in at about $40K/year, which I understand is what UVA and W&M run in state these days? That's so crazy. |
Anonymous
A bunch of kids (including me) from my DE parochial HS applied to Madison. I think 8 or 9 actually went there? Had I not gotten into the private I eventually attended, that is where I would have gone. OOS was like $14K/year then |
Anonymous
That's the individual's issue. If they don't have that drive to meet new people, more than likely, they will find it very difficult to do that in an oos school. |
Anonymous
Does your kid seriously think s/he will run into ten kids from their high school at a large state school? C'mon, man. This is so stupid. |
Anonymous
My DS attends JMU along with about 15 other admits from his high school class. He never - ever - sees any of them. |
Anonymous
Well, my kid isn’t a CS major, and there were plenty of better schools for the majors she was considering. I wanted—and she wants—to get out of my bubble and experience more of the world. Its not just the other students, but the environment as a whole. |
Anonymous
that's nice, but if you read through the thread, you will see that it started with "DC turned down UMD-CS with merits ". That's what I was responding to. Maybe post separately, like others are doing. |
Anonymous
| I know a few immature students turning down top in-state options like UVA, UT Austin, UNC and UMich just to avoid too many of their HS classmates. Instead they went to OOS public. |
Anonymous
Why are parents letting immature HS kids decide on how $200K+ is spent? |
Anonymous
| I have all boys and they never seemed to care one way or the other if it was a popular school for our district. They were very low-drama and it wouldnt not matter to them. However, the two colleage age already- both went OOS for higher ranked programs. I will say I was not in love with the idea of going to our state flagship when I was going to college becuase I wanted to do something a little different - but in the age of in state tuition being such a big difference, I probably would tell my own kid to suck it up if that was their reasoning. |
Anonymous
My DD attends JMU along with more than 25 others from her HS class and some older and sees them all the time - isn’t friends with any BTW but she advises that can feel like 13th grade sometimes. Many of the girls joined the same sororities. Older DD said same of Tech. |
Anonymous
I have kids at both schools, and this couldn't be further from their experiences. No one sees anyone from high school unless they deliberately seek them out. DP |
Anonymous
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If you are from NOVA what is the offchance of seeing your high school peers at JMU if you are on the same major track. Could you avoid seeing others then or is that not possible?
What about VT, UVA, UTK, BAMA? I am thinking it would be nearly impossible to avoid if that was the case. |