Kid got in off WL to an elite school but won’t go

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got into a very prestigious school that would have cost nothing. I chose a school that was not nearly as prestigious and cost a little bit but was almost totally covered. My parents were disappointed at first with my choice but they really did not harp on it, and they allowed me to make that choice. I look back today and think about how different my life would be - but not in a bad way. I have a perfectly great career and am a fully functioning, happy adult. I think about how the friends I made wouldn’t be in my life and I wouldn’t have had certain experiences and memories I cherish.

Let your kid decide his future.

Yup. you regret it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will give the opposite advice. Similar situation with both college and law school and I thought I knew it all and chose the lower ranked schools. I have a great career but I have always had to explain myself in an elitist town. I wish my parents would have put their feet down.

I'm sorry PP but grammatically that sentence is a disaster zone - I don't believe you got into a high prestige college, at any point, ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will give the opposite advice. Similar situation with both college and law school and I thought I knew it all and chose the lower ranked schools. I have a great career but I have always had to explain myself in an elitist town. I wish my parents would have put their feet down.

Except kids who choose SLACs aren’t always the legal types. I think you don’t really understand SLAC. They don’t necessarily choose to chase $$$$$.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid in at what is regarded as one of the best SLACs (think Amherst, Williams, Pomona level) but wants to go to his top 15 SLAC with merit. I can’t deal. Was complaining that he did not get into any reaches after RD and now gets in to an elite school and won’t go. I said I didn’t care about the merit.

There’s no top 15 with merit. Name one top-15 with merit.

At a merit college, the kid can be a big fish in a smaller pond. That can do wonders for confidence.

The top 15 is for LACs. Merit is much more common at some of the top 15 LACs than top 15 national universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will give the opposite advice. Similar situation with both college and law school and I thought I knew it all and chose the lower ranked schools. I have a great career but I have always had to explain myself in an elitist town. I wish my parents would have put their feet down.

I'm sorry PP but grammatically that sentence is a disaster zone - I don't believe you got into a high prestige college, at any point, ever.

Umm, no. Try again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will give the opposite advice. Similar situation with both college and law school and I thought I knew it all and chose the lower ranked schools. I have a great career but I have always had to explain myself in an elitist town. I wish my parents would have put their feet down.

Except kids who choose SLACs aren’t always the legal types. I think you don’t really understand SLAC. They don’t necessarily choose to chase $$$$$.

Elitism is not necessarily about money in DC!

[Anonymous]

Picking a specific school so you can fit in with DC elites if you choose to return to this area seems a bit parochial. It’s a big world and most of it is more interesting and less stuck up than this region.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will give the opposite advice. Similar situation with both college and law school and I thought I knew it all and chose the lower ranked schools. I have a great career but I have always had to explain myself in an elitist town. I wish my parents would have put their feet down.

Except kids who choose SLACs aren’t always the legal types. I think you don’t really understand SLAC. They don’t necessarily choose to chase $$$$$.

Elitism is not necessarily about money in DC!

I am willing to bet you didn’t attend a liberal arts college - elite or not.

[Anonymous]

That is not my point. My point is that a parent’s informed opinion should be given more weight than it sometimes is. That is all. I never be amazed with our obnoxious the posters on this board are, but for some reason I am. I hope your children don’t see this side of you.

[Anonymous]

P.S. Happy Mother’s Day.

[Anonymous]

First post missing the word cease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. The OP is the worst of DCUM - only worried about rankings and prestige, not about actual fit and preference. Poor kid.

Agreed! So many DCUMers are like this, especially at the top K-12 privates in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid in at what is regarded as one of the best SLACs (think Amherst, Williams, Pomona level) but wants to go to his top 15 SLAC with merit. I can’t deal. Was complaining that he did not get into any reaches after RD and now gets in to an elite school and won’t go. I said I didn’t care about the merit.

"I got in at what is regarded as one of the best SLACs (think Amherst, Williams, Pomona level) but want to go to my top 15 SLAC with merit. My parents can’t deal. What is wrong with them? "

What he's telling his friends.

Why can't you just support his other very good option that he is choosing for himself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid in at what is regarded as one of the best SLACs (think Amherst, Williams, Pomona level) but wants to go to his top 15 SLAC with merit. I can’t deal. Was complaining that he did not get into any reaches after RD and now gets in to an elite school and won’t go. I said I didn’t care about the merit.

There’s no top 15 with merit. Name one top-15 with merit.

At a merit college, the kid can be a big fish in a smaller pond. That can do wonders for confidence.

I'm curious which top 15 SLAC isn't "elite".

Davidson is a top 15 SLAC that offers aid.

Despite what posters think about it, W&L is elite and offers merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid in at what is regarded as one of the best SLACs (think Amherst, Williams, Pomona level) but wants to go to his top 15 SLAC with merit. I can’t deal. Was complaining that he did not get into any reaches after RD and now gets in to an elite school and won’t go. I said I didn’t care about the merit.

There’s no top 15 with merit. Name one top-15 with merit.

At a merit college, the kid can be a big fish in a smaller pond. That can do wonders for confidence.

I'm curious which top 15 SLAC isn't "elite".

Davidson is a top 15 SLAC that offers aid.

Despite what posters think about it, W&L is elite and offers merit.

PP here, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave out W & L. I just pulled up a list of top 15 schools, started from 15 (since I assumed that if OP's kid's college was in the top 10 they would have written top 10) and posted the first school that offered merit, which was Davidson. W & L is ranked higher than Davidson, so I didn't get to it. I would consider all 15 schools on the list to be "elite".