what "good" college did you attend but would not necessarily recommend to your kids or others?

[Anonymous]

Northwestern. I was a STEM major and they did some stuff that was crazy. Every STEM class was graded on a strict thirds curve, meaning in one advanced math Class I had a 95 average and that was a B. In another the average in our midterm (in a class only in major junior and senior classes would take) was an 18%, again graded on a thirds curve instead of anyone questioning if the professor was ineffective. There was definitely some issues with sexism as well.

The quarter system is also crazy. A class that had 4 hours of classroom work plus a ten hour lab counted for the same number of class credits as a 3 hour English lecture.

In some ways I had a good experience, I took classes and used equipment that many doing masters degrees don't use.

I will say this was NOT my experience in my liberal arts double major. They were super supportive.

There's a lot about the school I loved but I quit STEM after undergrad and do wonder if I would have continued anywhere else

[Anonymous]

Georgetown-- I wouldn't want my kids to go there because the kids are snotty know-it-alls and it is Catholic.

[Anonymous]

+1

[Anonymous]

I went to NYU undergrad 2000-2004. Absolutely would not recommend it, tho I know its now a lot more prestigious and tougher to get into.

The school purposely targets 1st generation college attendees and tries to load up the families with student and Parent PLUS loans. I honestly think its a predatory institution.

[Anonymous]

I went to Colgate University, no way I would send my student there. Education was decent though not exceptional. But man, the isolation was terrible. Then add long, dark winters and heavy Greek life. I can list 100+ schools that offer the same education with better climate and proximity to cities, culture, etc. Even if your student were someone who wanted a more rural campus, there are many others that offer that option better than Colgate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Michigan

-- overwhelmingly huge; over 50,000 students, 30,000 undergrads
-- dovetailing above, bureaucracy is bloated beyond belief; it's daunting and exhausting
-- bottom 20% of LSA are legitimately dumb
-- location is cold and grey most of the school year
-- Mid-Michigan is dreary and isolated; spare me the Ann Arbor "great" college town rankings nonsense
-- Greek life and pseudo pro sports control campus
-- Lots of cocaine use
-- Everyone from out of state was rejected from all private top 20s and the top UC campuses, so they have an obnoxious insecure chip on their shoulder
-- dovetailing above, there's a lot of over-the-top and tacky bragging and flashing of money

If you truly seek a school environment like Michigan, I'm not sure why you wouldn't just go to USC. Or even Georgia, Clemson, UNC, Texas, UVA, Alabama. Honestly, nobody cares about Michigan "top 30" standing, our BA/BS degrees are treated like any other large public university.

Funny, I have a kid there now and their experience seems to be radically different than yours. They LOVE it, are doing very well academically and have had great research and internship opportunities through the alumni network.

[Anonymous]

LOL OP - I read your headline and thought “oh, that describes my experience at CWRU”. I grew up in NE Ohio and was happy to go to a good school. If you are from the area, the gray weather where some winter weekends it never seems to be daytime seems normal. I imagine for most other people it would trigger seasonal depression.

I would not recommend my kids go there because so many grads get jobs and live in NE Ohio and western PA. I left for a reason, and don’t really want to go back. It’s just a sort of depressing place that always seems on the cusp of turning but doesn’t quite happen. It’s way more conservative/ Republican now and so any thoughts of going back are forever erased.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure it counts as a "good" college, but Syracuse. I had a great time there, but the overall student body is mediocre and not very intelligent, and it is so darn expensive. No way I would let my child attend there today.

+1

+2

[Anonymous]

Good luck with UVA applications, OP.

[Anonymous]

University of Richmond. I absolutely loved my time there, but the social scene was dominated by Greek life. In retrospect, not at all healthy, though I was heavily involved at the time.

[Anonymous]

Georgetown - Graduated in 1989. The school hasn't repaired, replaced or updated one single thing since I was there. Even the graffiti is still there. The same old broken stair railing too !!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke. So insanely pompous, and the kids there wear their pretense on their sleeves. Also extremely "white". Racism and micro-aggressions are fairly standard, and the Greek life only magnifies those issues.

When did you graduate? I am class of ‘07 and the culture was super weird. The campus was actually 40% POC but it seemed like everything revolves around the rich white kids who were in frats. It’s a very self segregated campus. White people did not want to befriend POC. Just kind of a nasty place all around for me as a POC.

Class of '02. My cousin who graduated much more recently, in '16, reported the same exact experiences. It is a weird culture indeed. There were other POCs who I would befriend at Duke who would very clearly think of themselves as superior to me because they were more "in" with the white crowd, and were not ashamed to communicate that. I got a decent education, but wonder what my experience would have been at a slightly more welcoming or genuinely inclusive campus.

What ethnicity are you? I am Middle Eastern and people simply could not handle that level of racial ambiguity. I think the whole experience sort of soured me on white people for a long time.

[Anonymous]

I wish there were a way to validate that the responses are actually coming from people who attended the colleges they are now denigrating.

[Anonymous]

University of Texas. It’s too big and easy to get lost in the crowd. Unless you’re in the business college, there is minimal career/job counseling or guidance of any kind. It is a good school for a self-starter with intuitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish there were a way to validate that the responses are actually coming from people who attended the colleges they are now denigrating.

Oh relax. It is an anonymous chat forum. Take everything with a grain of salt for crying out loud.