Why apply to an Oberlin/Kenyon/Grinnell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:when there are similar schools on the East Coast? Not trying to be snarky; genuinely wondering what these schools have that a Bates/Bowdoin/Colby/Hamilton does not.

They are all safer than Bates. What's unsafe about Bates? Genuinely curious, don't know.

They are all easier admits than Bowdoin.

They all offer merit scholarships that are not offered at Hamilton.

Better weather. [OK... Ohio and Iowa winters are not Maine winters, but they still suck.]

Bates is in Lewiston/Auburn which has historically been a depressed (former mill towns no real industry - think smaller version of Lowell Massachusetts) and not super safe area. I’m not sure if that’s still the case FWIW. Brunswick, where Bowdoin is located, is safer but pretty depressing in my opinion. Then again, I went to Williams and western Massachusetts can be pretty depressing. Hamilton is in the middle of nowhere and that’s not fun. Most selective liberal arts schools have cons when it comes to location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell is frickin loaded. They support kids with a lot of opportunities during their 4 years.

Sure, but all that money can’t change the location. Our DC visited and concluded, despite our efforts, it would be depressing to go there based on the tiny town, isolated location, difficulty with flights (so fewer friends would visit and easier to get stuck in a random connecting airport during a storm, which almost happened during visit), Trump signs on the drive in, multiple gun shops in town (stands out more when there’s so little else), and small/boring (in their view) campus. The academics are, however, first rate, and they are known for their merit aid. Facilities are very good. An alum we know was very positive on their experience from decades ago. Would recommend visiting if possible cause not everyone will react the same way. Some athletes might prefer schools with shorter commutes for league games, as only one other school is in the same state. Did not visit Oberlin or Kenyon.

Dartmouth is surrounded by trump signs and gun shops.

I love Grinnell but will note there are no gun shops in Hanover. Hanover won’t even allow McDonalds. It’s more of a Simon Pearce town.

NH is live free or die territory. It’s libertarian and independent. Sounds like you’re making assumptions about rural America. Not cool.

[Anonymous]

Grinnell asked my kid to submit an optional why us supplemental essay a few weeks after submitting his application. Grinnell was also the only school he applied to that made him submit official test scores. Every other school allowed self report of scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell is frickin loaded. They support kids with a lot of opportunities during their 4 years.

Sure, but all that money can’t change the location. Our DC visited and concluded, despite our efforts, it would be depressing to go there based on the tiny town, isolated location, difficulty with flights (so fewer friends would visit and easier to get stuck in a random connecting airport during a storm, which almost happened during visit), Trump signs on the drive in, multiple gun shops in town (stands out more when there’s so little else), and small/boring (in their view) campus. The academics are, however, first rate, and they are known for their merit aid. Facilities are very good. An alum we know was very positive on their experience from decades ago. Would recommend visiting if possible cause not everyone will react the same way. Some athletes might prefer schools with shorter commutes for league games, as only one other school is in the same state. Did not visit Oberlin or Kenyon.

Dartmouth is surrounded by trump signs and gun shops.

I love Grinnell but will note there are no gun shops in Hanover. Hanover won’t even allow McDonalds. It’s more of a Simon Pearce town.

NH is live free or die territory. It’s libertarian and independent. Sounds like you’re making assumptions about rural America. Not cool.

Sounds like you have never been to Hanover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone clutching their pearls about gun shops in Iowa should check yelp for gun shops near their kids school. There are at least a dozen gun shops in Boston, oh no better take Harvard MIT BU and Tufts off the list, right?

I think the point is less that people don't want to go to school in a city with gun shops and more that if in a town with so few other things to see and do that you find yourself counting them, then maybe it's not the off-campus scene one had envisioned when imagining college life. If the on campus scene makes up for it, great. For some it clearly does; for others it clearly doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell asked my kid to submit an optional why us supplemental essay a few weeks after submitting his application. Grinnell was also the only school he applied to that made him submit official test scores. Every other school allowed self report of scores.

Was that this year? How long was this optional supplement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell asked my kid to submit an optional why us supplemental essay a few weeks after submitting his application. Grinnell was also the only school he applied to that made him submit official test scores. Every other school allowed self report of scores.

Was that this year? How long was this optional supplement?

He graduated high school in 23. He applied regular decision. Off the top of my head, the supplement request arrived in February and he had a few weeks to complete it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell is frickin loaded. They support kids with a lot of opportunities during their 4 years.

Sure, but all that money can’t change the location. Our DC visited and concluded, despite our efforts, it would be depressing to go there based on the tiny town, isolated location, difficulty with flights (so fewer friends would visit and easier to get stuck in a random connecting airport during a storm, which almost happened during visit), Trump signs on the drive in, multiple gun shops in town (stands out more when there’s so little else), and small/boring (in their view) campus. The academics are, however, first rate, and they are known for their merit aid. Facilities are very good. An alum we know was very positive on their experience from decades ago. Would recommend visiting if possible cause not everyone will react the same way. Some athletes might prefer schools with shorter commutes for league games, as only one other school is in the same state. Did not visit Oberlin or Kenyon.

Yea, well, with a 9 percent acceptance rate and one of the most geographically diverse student bodies of any college in the country, it attracts plenty of applicants who aren’t discouraged by such trivial stuff. Grinnell is doing just fine without your kid.

Wow, a personal dig. Well, my kid is doing fine without Grinnell too, but neither is the point. The point I thought was to help people who haven’t visited understand both the pros and cons so they can decide whether applying or visiting is worth their time. If you re-read my post, I listed both the pros and cons we saw. Your purpose seems different. But I find your immediate reference to admit rate very telling. It’s as if you think legitimate concerns regarding mental health can be overlooked if admit rate is something parents can brag about on anonymous forums.

Since you brought up admit rates, tell me, what do you think Grinnell’s admit rate would be if they required a supplemental essay like most schools? LACs are supposed to be about fit, and this ultra endowed LAC dropped the one part of the application that asks students to explain why they see the college as a fit. Between no supplement and no application fee, I’m honestly surprised they don’t have a much lower acceptance rate than their class of 2027 rate of 13% (not 9% as you say). It costs nothing, time or money, to apply. When they had a supplement their admit rate was in the mid 30s. They dropped it in 2014 and, big surprise, as word got around it costs no money or work to apply to Grinnell, applications went up. Admit rate going down doesn’t fundamentally change the experience. It still has the lowest retention rate of any of the top 15 LACs; in fact students are *twice* as likely not to return after their first year as at the others averaged. If the aforementioned concerns were “trivial” as you dismissively claim, first year transfers out wouldn’t be double its peers.

Grinnell will absolutely be a good fit for some and, as already mentioned in the post you replied to, has a lot of positives. But I think honesty will help not hurt those matches occur. Grinnell’s retention and grad rates have actually dropped as their admit rates have gone down, because no supplemental essay means weaker fits. There’s a reason why USNWR counts retention and graduation rates and not admit rates; practices that drive low admit rates are at best irrelevant to the experience but at worst negatively impacting it. If families want to be spared the difficulty of a transfer or a health crisis, they should learn what they can about both the pros and cons early in the process. Personal attacks because someone shares both positive and negatives doesn’t signal institutional (or for that matter personal) strength.

NP. if I ever reach a point in my life where I can rattle off these sorts of details and opinions about a random college in Iowa that my child does not attend...please just make the call

If a family visited a rural Iowa town it means the interest in the college was more than passing, right? If you are on this site but don't want to know about things like retention rates, or admit rates, or supplements, or campus visits, well, I guess there's some other motivation for you.

it's the level of detail here that is of note (and hence the suggestion by the other PP to "make the call"). yeah, my DC may have written this about Colby, a school about which they had a lot of opinions, many negative, but I wouldn't and I visited the school with them and had some similar observations.

also, how is it any easier to get to Amherst or Williams than it is to Grinnell?

Sounds like you prefer making/reading bold declarations without offering/reading the supporting facts. If someone asks about Colby, and you then reply with a one paragraph explanation of pros/cons as your daughter saw them, and then someone makes personal jabs and dismisses your daughter's reservations as "trivial," and you choose not to share whatever facts supported your daughter's assessment, then perhaps you missed an opportunity to help others make slightly more informed decisions. That's your decision and you are free to withhold info. But it's odd to stick around a public forum that's whole purpose is to share advice to criticize those who choose to make the extra effort. Maybe there's another motivation.

I can explain how Amherst and Williams are easier to access for some families than Grinnell but I'm probably close to your word count comfort zone, so my apologies. Perhaps take a break here before proceeding, or, I guess, skip it, since you probably already know the answer.

No one said every school is equally inaccessible to everyone. It depends where you are starting from. More people on this site are likely to be starting from somewhere that's driving distance to Williams or Amherst than to Grinnell, and for those further out, more people prefer one flight to Boston than two flights (for most days and airports) to get to Des Moines or Cedar Rapids. But it all depends on your starting point, so use a travel site and google maps to check for your own situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell asked my kid to submit an optional why us supplemental essay a few weeks after submitting his application. Grinnell was also the only school he applied to that made him submit official test scores. Every other school allowed self report of scores.

Was that this year? How long was this optional supplement?

He graduated high school in 23. He applied regular decision. Off the top of my head, the supplement request arrived in February and he had a few weeks to complete it.

100 words?

Interesting they do it that way rather than ask upfront. Are they worried they would get fewer applications if it's known from the start? Maybe it's truly optional, maybe it's a yield protection thing to see who replies. My understanding is that sometime in Feb most schools have read applications and start on final class "shaping."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell is frickin loaded. They support kids with a lot of opportunities during their 4 years.

Sure, but all that money can’t change the location. Our DC visited and concluded, despite our efforts, it would be depressing to go there based on the tiny town, isolated location, difficulty with flights (so fewer friends would visit and easier to get stuck in a random connecting airport during a storm, which almost happened during visit), Trump signs on the drive in, multiple gun shops in town (stands out more when there’s so little else), and small/boring (in their view) campus. The academics are, however, first rate, and they are known for their merit aid. Facilities are very good. An alum we know was very positive on their experience from decades ago. Would recommend visiting if possible cause not everyone will react the same way. Some athletes might prefer schools with shorter commutes for league games, as only one other school is in the same state. Did not visit Oberlin or Kenyon.

Umm, I visit there every few months and there are no more Trump signs than what I see driving out to the DMV shore. Heck, there are Trumpers living in DC, MoCo, NoVA, so whatever.

I grew up in a rural part of a blue county (also blue) and there are more gun shops there than Grinnell, which is the county seat.

Yes, the location factors make it a challenge, but neither DC picked a college based on ability of HS friends to visit - that's what school breaks are for.

Breaks at schools don't necessarily coincide. Which is how one student on break can travel to another; both of our kids have done so, and both of them have been visited multiple times. Families and grandparents also visit and want easy access. Students, friends, or families can get stuck in airports, more often if using connecting regional flights on small planes during winter. We have heard from more than a few Grinnell families about travel issues and I think they were more upset than my words of caution would suggest. I am truly happy if your experience has been different.

Incidentally, the airport issue wasn't a dealbreaker for us. There was a combination of things. The endless flat cornfields came off as less interesting for our kid than areas one can hike or ski or swim or boat in. And the town was the smallest and had the least to do of any college town we saw. That could be more easily offset if the student body (1750) or campus (120 acres) were larger. And if you are an athlete who prefers studying at an actual desk, then having only one other in-state league school can be a nontrivial challenge. There was some hesitation about the academics as well. The department our child was most interested was smaller than at other schools. I'm sure it was good but there's a critical mass of profs for certain subjects and we felt Grinnell was a little thin in terms of headcount.

All that said, there are students that will love the campus and town, it has a great reputation, great facilities, and great aid. It's also great there are so many internationals, imo. I think it's a fantastic option for some. For prospective families, just do your research, even if the occasional poster on here tells you its overkill to think about what makes up fit for you.

The fact that you think there are “endless flat cornfields” indicates you spent no time driving around the outlying area of Grinnell. There are more rolling hills around the town than there are driving from DC to Rehoboth. And yes, no downhill skiing, but you are wrong on the other counts. I also never saw Grinnell hawking itself as a ski school.

Regarding a “thin” department, that happens at large and small schools. It’s the nature of tenure, retirements, and sundry other factors. Good to know in advance if that is your DC’s area of interest.

Yes, it’s great when folks can visit yet neither of my kids nor any of their friends selected colleges based on the ease of their HS friends visiting them. True, breaks don’t always align but there is nearly always overlap at winter break.

Weather and the related travel challenges can happen to a student anywhere, whether it’s the West coast, Midwest, the South, etc. There are daily direct flights from Des Moines to the East coast. The flight may be a little longer but the overall logistics seem no more challenging than they are to reach Amherst, Bates, Colby, or Williams.

Again, just seems odd to harbor such a negative level of detail for a school your kids don’t attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell is frickin loaded. They support kids with a lot of opportunities during their 4 years.

Sure, but all that money can’t change the location. Our DC visited and concluded, despite our efforts, it would be depressing to go there based on the tiny town, isolated location, difficulty with flights (so fewer friends would visit and easier to get stuck in a random connecting airport during a storm, which almost happened during visit), Trump signs on the drive in, multiple gun shops in town (stands out more when there’s so little else), and small/boring (in their view) campus. The academics are, however, first rate, and they are known for their merit aid. Facilities are very good. An alum we know was very positive on their experience from decades ago. Would recommend visiting if possible cause not everyone will react the same way. Some athletes might prefer schools with shorter commutes for league games, as only one other school is in the same state. Did not visit Oberlin or Kenyon.

Yea, well, with a 9 percent acceptance rate and one of the most geographically diverse student bodies of any college in the country, it attracts plenty of applicants who aren’t discouraged by such trivial stuff. Grinnell is doing just fine without your kid.

Wow, a personal dig. Well, my kid is doing fine without Grinnell too, but neither is the point. The point I thought was to help people who haven’t visited understand both the pros and cons so they can decide whether applying or visiting is worth their time. If you re-read my post, I listed both the pros and cons we saw. Your purpose seems different. But I find your immediate reference to admit rate very telling. It’s as if you think legitimate concerns regarding mental health can be overlooked if admit rate is something parents can brag about on anonymous forums.

Since you brought up admit rates, tell me, what do you think Grinnell’s admit rate would be if they required a supplemental essay like most schools? LACs are supposed to be about fit, and this ultra endowed LAC dropped the one part of the application that asks students to explain why they see the college as a fit. Between no supplement and no application fee, I’m honestly surprised they don’t have a much lower acceptance rate than their class of 2027 rate of 13% (not 9% as you say). It costs nothing, time or money, to apply. When they had a supplement their admit rate was in the mid 30s. They dropped it in 2014 and, big surprise, as word got around it costs no money or work to apply to Grinnell, applications went up. Admit rate going down doesn’t fundamentally change the experience. It still has the lowest retention rate of any of the top 15 LACs; in fact students are *twice* as likely not to return after their first year as at the others averaged. If the aforementioned concerns were “trivial” as you dismissively claim, first year transfers out wouldn’t be double its peers.

Grinnell will absolutely be a good fit for some and, as already mentioned in the post you replied to, has a lot of positives. But I think honesty will help not hurt those matches occur. Grinnell’s retention and grad rates have actually dropped as their admit rates have gone down, because no supplemental essay means weaker fits. There’s a reason why USNWR counts retention and graduation rates and not admit rates; practices that drive low admit rates are at best irrelevant to the experience but at worst negatively impacting it. If families want to be spared the difficulty of a transfer or a health crisis, they should learn what they can about both the pros and cons early in the process. Personal attacks because someone shares both positive and negatives doesn’t signal institutional (or for that matter personal) strength.

NP. if I ever reach a point in my life where I can rattle off these sorts of details and opinions about a random college in Iowa that my child does not attend...please just make the call

If a family visited a rural Iowa town it means the interest in the college was more than passing, right? If you are on this site but don't want to know about things like retention rates, or admit rates, or supplements, or campus visits, well, I guess there's some other motivation for you.

it's the level of detail here that is of note (and hence the suggestion by the other PP to "make the call"). yeah, my DC may have written this about Colby, a school about which they had a lot of opinions, many negative, but I wouldn't and I visited the school with them and had some similar observations.

also, how is it any easier to get to Amherst or Williams than it is to Grinnell?

Sounds like you prefer making/reading bold declarations without offering/reading the supporting facts. If someone asks about Colby, and you then reply with a one paragraph explanation of pros/cons as your daughter saw them, and then someone makes personal jabs and dismisses your daughter's reservations as "trivial," and you choose not to share whatever facts supported your daughter's assessment, then perhaps you missed an opportunity to help others make slightly more informed decisions. That's your decision and you are free to withhold info. But it's odd to stick around a public forum that's whole purpose is to share advice to criticize those who choose to make the extra effort. Maybe there's another motivation.

I can explain how Amherst and Williams are easier to access for some families than Grinnell but I'm probably close to your word count comfort zone, so my apologies. Perhaps take a break here before proceeding, or, I guess, skip it, since you probably already know the answer.

No one said every school is equally inaccessible to everyone. It depends where you are starting from. More people on this site are likely to be starting from somewhere that's driving distance to Williams or Amherst than to Grinnell, and for those further out, more people prefer one flight to Boston than two flights (for most days and airports) to get to Des Moines or Cedar Rapids. But it all depends on your starting point, so use a travel site and google maps to check for your own situation.

Is your DD basing decisions off DCUM?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell asked my kid to submit an optional why us supplemental essay a few weeks after submitting his application. Grinnell was also the only school he applied to that made him submit official test scores. Every other school allowed self report of scores.

Was that this year? How long was this optional supplement?

He graduated high school in 23. He applied regular decision. Off the top of my head, the supplement request arrived in February and he had a few weeks to complete it.

100 words?

Interesting they do it that way rather than ask upfront. Are they worried they would get fewer applications if it's known from the start? Maybe it's truly optional, maybe it's a yield protection thing to see who replies. My understanding is that sometime in Feb most schools have read applications and start on final class "shaping."

I could only guess Grinnell's motives in asking for the optional supplement. I can tell you that my kid did submit it and was later admitted with a large merit scholarship. I don't know the length requirement of the supplement.

For those looking at Grinnell and other small schools, we found the youtube videos put out by the various schools to be a decent representation of the schools. Watch several of them to get a feel for the school and students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell is frickin loaded. They support kids with a lot of opportunities during their 4 years.

Sure, but all that money can’t change the location. Our DC visited and concluded, despite our efforts, it would be depressing to go there based on the tiny town, isolated location, difficulty with flights (so fewer friends would visit and easier to get stuck in a random connecting airport during a storm, which almost happened during visit), Trump signs on the drive in, multiple gun shops in town (stands out more when there’s so little else), and small/boring (in their view) campus. The academics are, however, first rate, and they are known for their merit aid. Facilities are very good. An alum we know was very positive on their experience from decades ago. Would recommend visiting if possible cause not everyone will react the same way. Some athletes might prefer schools with shorter commutes for league games, as only one other school is in the same state. Did not visit Oberlin or Kenyon.

Umm, I visit there every few months and there are no more Trump signs than what I see driving out to the DMV shore. Heck, there are Trumpers living in DC, MoCo, NoVA, so whatever.

I grew up in a rural part of a blue county (also blue) and there are more gun shops there than Grinnell, which is the county seat.

Yes, the location factors make it a challenge, but neither DC picked a college based on ability of HS friends to visit - that's what school breaks are for.

Breaks at schools don't necessarily coincide. Which is how one student on break can travel to another; both of our kids have done so, and both of them have been visited multiple times. Families and grandparents also visit and want easy access. Students, friends, or families can get stuck in airports, more often if using connecting regional flights on small planes during winter. We have heard from more than a few Grinnell families about travel issues and I think they were more upset than my words of caution would suggest. I am truly happy if your experience has been different.

Incidentally, the airport issue wasn't a dealbreaker for us. There was a combination of things. The endless flat cornfields came off as less interesting for our kid than areas one can hike or ski or swim or boat in. And the town was the smallest and had the least to do of any college town we saw. That could be more easily offset if the student body (1750) or campus (120 acres) were larger. And if you are an athlete who prefers studying at an actual desk, then having only one other in-state league school can be a nontrivial challenge. There was some hesitation about the academics as well. The department our child was most interested was smaller than at other schools. I'm sure it was good but there's a critical mass of profs for certain subjects and we felt Grinnell was a little thin in terms of headcount.

All that said, there are students that will love the campus and town, it has a great reputation, great facilities, and great aid. It's also great there are so many internationals, imo. I think it's a fantastic option for some. For prospective families, just do your research, even if the occasional poster on here tells you its overkill to think about what makes up fit for you.

The fact that you think there are “endless flat cornfields” indicates you spent no time driving around the outlying area of Grinnell. There are more rolling hills around the town than there are driving from DC to Rehoboth. And yes, no downhill skiing, but you are wrong on the other counts. I also never saw Grinnell hawking itself as a ski school.

Regarding a “thin” department, that happens at large and small schools. It’s the nature of tenure, retirements, and sundry other factors. Good to know in advance if that is your DC’s area of interest.

Yes, it’s great when folks can visit yet neither of my kids nor any of their friends selected colleges based on the ease of their HS friends visiting them. True, breaks don’t always align but there is nearly always overlap at winter break.

Weather and the related travel challenges can happen to a student anywhere, whether it’s the West coast, Midwest, the South, etc. There are daily direct flights from Des Moines to the East coast. The flight may be a little longer but the overall logistics seem no more challenging than they are to reach Amherst, Bates, Colby, or Williams.

Again, just seems odd to harbor such a negative level of detail for a school your kids don’t attend.

Such a negative level of detail? I don't know what that means, but the post you replied included this:

"All that said, there are students that will love the campus and town, it has a great reputation, great facilities, and great aid. It's also great there are so many internationals, imo. I think it's a fantastic option for some. For prospective families, just do your research, even if the occasional poster on here tells you its overkill to think about what makes up fit for you."

What seems to be hard for you to accept is that beyond the above praise we had some criticisms. I'm sorry you feel our take wasn't positive enough, but that happens with colleges, and I think the more you (and others?) dismiss our impressions about the school by spinning statements out of context the more I explain how we came to our conclusions, which probably just frustrates you more, which isn't my objective. I genuinely hope the right students find Grinnell. If people just want to hear the positives, they should go to a college website. If they want to hear a broader range of perspectives, they come to forums like this. We spent a weekend there so it wasn't like we just passed through for a quick tour. We had a great offer so it wasn't like we didn't want to like it. We actually usually very fond of small towns in rural areas. But a town of 7,000 was small even for us, the campus didn't have the kinds of spaces to explore other colleges we preferred did, the surrounding area seemed worse for multiple reasons, travel time to out-of-state colleges is a factor for an athlete who puts academics first and doesn't want to study in a bus, we had a hard time with flight connections in and out just in our visit in a month that supposedly was one of the tamest weather wise, and we have heard first hand from many Grinnell parents they and their students have ongoing travel grievances. I can simultaneously think Grinnell is one of the great colleges in the country and also think it has real problems that people should know about. I think everyone, even Grinnell, is better off with good matches. A transfer rate double its peers tells us we aren't alone in our assessment. Maybe the college should focus less on growing applications and more on ensuring good matches, but, hey that's just my take and reasonable people can disagree.

[Anonymous]

Grinnell alum who adored the place — the school, the town, the state — weighing in to declare that it is 100% okay for people to decide it’s not for them, and to say why, using specifics.

For me (jaded east coaster) that unlikely school rising out of cornfields beneath the widest sky I’d ever seen happened to be everything I most needed. Something about the isolation helped me become more myself. But it’s not for everyone! Nor should it be.

PP, you’ve been very patient, explaining your and your child’s perspectives and decision process.

[Anonymous]

Each are excellent, special schools in their own way and perhaps have advantages that the east coast schools do not. Location is a turn off for many applying from the east coast, where many if not most students whose parents can afford any of these schools happen to be located. So they are a little more attainable if a student isn't perfect. Supply and demand isn't as out of whack as it is for the more conveniently located schools. But in many respects they are "better" than the more selective peers on the east coast.