Flagship Avoidance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you convince DC that flagship state schools are not all that they seem? DC is at a small private and is obsessed with finding the “college experience” of football, social life, community etc but has always been in small classes, small social circles, easy access to resources etc.

This is a description of most public state flagship Honors Colleges.

+1000 best of both worlds. So many more research opportunities at the large R1 institutions (many are state flagships). And honors college usually gives access to professors, small classes, special opportunities, etc.

+1001. This is absolutely correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you convince DC that flagship state schools are not all that they seem? DC is at a small private and is obsessed with finding the “college experience” of football, social life, community etc but has always been in small classes, small social circles, easy access to resources etc.

This is a description of most public state flagship Honors Colleges.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't but I can share that my private school kid has really struggled with the transition to the flagship public. They thought they wanted the whole rah-rah scene (couldn't wait to get out of the small private!) but they deeply miss the small classes, relationships with teachers, small social circles. They feel lost in the crowd (despite having friends, going to office hours, all the things..)

I guess this is the benefit of going to a large public school. LOL My kid can handle the large class sizes at the large state flagship. They've learned to hustle and has gotten great internships on their own.

Which of your kid's high school classes were taught in 300-student lessons?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid went to a small private high school and wanted nothing to do with smaller private colleges because of this. He wanted a change. He's currently at a top OOS public and loving it. Your kid knows what's best for them and what will make them happy. Let it be.

Just fyi - these are not always the same. Many, many adolescents don't know "what's best for them."

Eh, my kid got into heroin recently and she seems to be enjoying it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you convince DC that flagship state schools are not all that they seem? DC is at a small private and is obsessed with finding the “college experience” of football, social life, community etc but has always been in small classes, small social circles, easy access to resources etc.

Talk to your kid and listen. Both of you are stating preferences but not discussing reasons.

[Anonymous]

You should give your child the agency to make their own decisions, but present all the options, with an open mind on your part. I agree with those saying apply to different types of schools, but I think you should visit them before apps start (I don't recall if you said what grade your child is in) because once your child gets the idea in their mind that they want a large flagship, it will be hard to break that. Make visits to all types of schools now. I don't agree with your perception of big flagships. We knew our DD was clearly only interested in those types of schools, likely because both of her parents went to one (WI & MN) and she had lots of memories of being on those campuses with us. But we devoted most of our college tours to smaller schools to make sure she had full information. She wasn't swayed a bit to apply to smaller schools, however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you convince DC that flagship state schools are not all that they seem? DC is at a small private and is obsessed with finding the “college experience” of football, social life, community etc but has always been in small classes, small social circles, easy access to resources etc.

The biggest red flagship here is that OP believes that every adult knows that flagships are bad, and that the point isn't even debatable. OP is so cloistered in her privileged bubble (probably from generational wealth) that she doesn't understand that some people are normal or can tolerate normal people.

[Anonymous]

State flagships can be wonderful, because they are so large that everyone finds their place.

As for class sizes -- this can depend on major, and also is a problem that gets solved over time. All of my majors subject classes get much smaller junior and senior year. Yes, there are HUGE 101 classes in a lecture hall.

UNC alum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:State flagships can be wonderful, because they are so large that everyone finds their place.

As for class sizes -- this can depend on major, and also is a problem that gets solved over time. All of my majors subject classes get much smaller junior and senior year. Yes, there are HUGE 101 classes in a lecture hall.

UNC alum.

My kid is even excited by the big classes. I think she’s run up against too many “oh that class is full” (because it’s capped at 15 students) issues at her high school.

[Anonymous]

Yes, by all means try to convince her that the colleges that have everything actually have nothing.

[Anonymous]

OP's way of thinking is so yesterday. There are publics that rank a lot higher for popular majors than the more selective privates. In fact, some of the top publics are just as competitive, if not more, for OOS applicants and have single digit OOS acceptance rates and their career outcomes are often are better in many career fields. So, the whole premise of this thread is kind of silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you convince DC that flagship state schools are not all that they seem? DC is at a small private and is obsessed with finding the “college experience” of football, social life, community etc but has always been in small classes, small social circles, easy access to resources etc.

This is a description of most public state flagship Honors Colleges.

I actually don't understand this point whatsoever. Honors Colleges only have small classes for the specific classes required by the Honors College...it's not like they offer their own sections for someone who wants to major in Engineering or Finance or the other very popular majors. Now, perhaps those upper level classes on their own are not huge.

I know just as many kids who dropped out of the Honor College because of the extra bullshit they had to do, as ones that remained in the Honors College.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you convince DC that flagship state schools are not all that they seem? DC is at a small private and is obsessed with finding the “college experience” of football, social life, community etc but has always been in small classes, small social circles, easy access to resources etc.

This is a description of most public state flagship Honors Colleges.

I actually don't understand this point whatsoever. Honors Colleges only have small classes for the specific classes required by the Honors College...it's not like they offer their own sections for someone who wants to major in Engineering or Finance or the other very popular majors. Now, perhaps those upper level classes on their own are not huge.

I know just as many kids who dropped out of the Honor College because of the extra bullshit they had to do, as ones that remained in the Honors College.

Not at UMD. Small sections for Calc and above so they can move really quickly through the material. Probably true of sciences too.

[Anonymous]

Worth reading this entire thread just for "red flagship" ❤️

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you convince DC that flagship state schools are not all that they seem? DC is at a small private and is obsessed with finding the “college experience” of football, social life, community etc but has always been in small classes, small social circles, easy access to resources etc.

This is a description of most public state flagship Honors Colleges.

I actually don't understand this point whatsoever. Honors Colleges only have small classes for the specific classes required by the Honors College...it's not like they offer their own sections for someone who wants to major in Engineering or Finance or the other very popular majors. Now, perhaps those upper level classes on their own are not huge.

I know just as many kids who dropped out of the Honor College because of the extra bullshit they had to do, as ones that remained in the Honors College.

Not at UMD. Small sections for Calc and above so they can move really quickly through the material. Probably true of sciences too.

Does anyone have a good resource for this? There are honors programs and honors colleges and it seems like the they really run the gamut, from "basically the same experience but with the option to take a few small seminar classes" to full "school within a school" experiences. Some involve separate living quarters (optional? mandatory?) and some are basically a status upgrade that allows priority course registratrion (value for those with "impacted majors!")

If anyone has a favorite resource for this, please share, thanks!