If you could turn back time (college prep and choice)

[Anonymous]

If you could turn the clock back a few years, what would you have done differently in prepping and choosing a college? Either for yourself or your child..

I chose a good, but easy school where I got a very large academic scholarship; I got into 2 IVYs but let money (my parents) decide. If I could do it again, I would have gone IVY and took out loans. The prestige would have helped me to land better jobs/grad school etc.

[Anonymous]

I went to IVY but am spectacularly unsuccessful. I'm glad I didn't have any student loans, I would have been up a creek. If I had to do it over again, I would have paid more attention in math, maybe even gone to a HS with a better math program, and majored in Applied Math rather than humanities.

[Anonymous]

I am the exact opposite of you. I chose full pay at an Ivy over a full ride at a good but not as prestigious school (think Boston University) and it was a good experience but sooooo not worth the debt. Your school of choice has little bearing on your success.

[Anonymous]

My kids are young so I can’t answer for them. But I went on a full ride to a “party school” in state about 4 hours from home. Don’t regret my choice of college at all. I believe you can get a good education anywhere if you put in the effort. And a lot of the state non-flagships are looking for top students to fill out their honors programs and honors colleges, so I got a lot of opportunities that way too. I do wish I had majored in something else though. I was a magazine journalism major - yikes! The job market was good when I started in 2000, not so great by 2004! I never worked in the field. I should have been an English major like I wanted originally.

My husband graduated from an Ivy undergrad and wished he had done the honors program at an in-state school. He was in the donut hole and got no financial aid, so his parents paid for as much as they could and he had to get student loans for the rest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you could turn the clock back a few years, what would you have done differently in prepping and choosing a college? Either for yourself or your child..

I chose a good, but easy school where I got a very large academic scholarship; I got into 2 IVYs but let money (my parents) decide. If I could do it again, I would have gone IVY and took out loans. The prestige would have helped me to land better jobs/grad school etc.

Or not.

Wherever you go, there you are.

[Anonymous]

I would have liked to have a done a gap year. I wasn't ready to go away from home at 18. I ended up going to school very close to home. It made it very easy to come home on the weekends or in the evening if I wanted. In hindsight, I wish I took a year off to go to cc and then went far away to college.

[Anonymous]

I turned down Williams and went to an Ivy. I don’t really regret that decision but I wish I’d had the chance to experience Williams as well. A SLAC in a small town would have been a different experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you could turn the clock back a few years, what would you have done differently in prepping and choosing a college? Either for yourself or your child..

I chose a good, but easy school where I got a very large academic scholarship; I got into 2 IVYs but let money (my parents) decide. If I could do it again, I would have gone IVY and took out loans. The prestige would have helped me to land better jobs/grad school etc.

I wish I'd started in Calculus I instead of blithely assuming that the calculus class at my mediocre high school
had prepared me for Calculus II.

I also wish I'd spent more time exploring the town around my school.

[Anonymous]

I would have liked to have a done a gap year. I wasn't ready to go away from home at 18. I ended up going to school very close to home. It made it very easy to come home on the weekends or in the evening if I wanted. In hindsight, I wish I took a year off to go to cc and then went far away to college.

Good thing you didn't! Such a bad idea for most people! Unless a student has a specific task/goal in mind, like building houses for charity or working on a political campaign, there is a very real risk of losing momentum and the rhythm of being a student. I'm not sure why gap years are so constantly suggested on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

As early as possible for DCs, try to truly focus on the best fit. Is the campus and the environment right for them? Can they see themselves there? We had seen a couple of schools where DC could see themselves two years ago. However, early last fall we, thankfully, reopened our eyes to schools that were always a good fit (and had been recommended to us by school counselor and friends) but that we overlooked for unimportant reasons. DC leaving this week for what seems to be the greatest fit of all and there's a lot to be said for going through the process and letting DC own it. Hoping I report back in six months or a year that it worked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I would have liked to have a done a gap year. I wasn't ready to go away from home at 18. I ended up going to school very close to home. It made it very easy to come home on the weekends or in the evening if I wanted. In hindsight, I wish I took a year off to go to cc and then went far away to college.

Good thing you didn't! Such a bad idea for most people! Unless a student has a specific task/goal in mind, like building houses for charity or working on a political campaign, there is a very real risk of losing momentum and the rhythm of being a student. I'm not sure why gap years are so constantly suggested on DCUM.

I wish I had done a gap year. I was young (skipped a grade) and immature. A gap year would have helped me figure out my major and increased my confidence.

[Anonymous]

I wish I had done a gap year. I wish I had been more vocal about wanting to go to a different HS. I went to a giant FCPS school and just got lost and overlooked despite taking a course load heavy with APs. I really paid the price of going to such a big school. I did fine, but I needed more attention and guidance than I received. I was behind when I went to college so the deficit really took its toll.

And in the hindsight is 20/20 category, I would have taken every computer class known to man where ever I was and parked myself at Apple or Microsoft in 1992 when I graduated. Oh. And sold all my stock options in 1999-2000, bought whatever tanked in 2001 and 2008 with some of the proceeds, and be living large.

[Anonymous]

If I could turn back time...

I think we did OK getting the applications out.

Then I think we adults should have just shut our mouths...

We all three worried way too much about what would be the right choice and made our kid a bit nuts talking about the pros and cons.

Better to have only talked about visits after acceptance, and then saved all discussion for a few days in March.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you could turn the clock back a few years, what would you have done differently in prepping and choosing a college? Either for yourself or your child..

I chose a good, but easy school where I got a very large academic scholarship; I got into 2 IVYs but let money (my parents) decide. If I could do it again, I would have gone IVY and took out loans. The prestige would have helped me to land better jobs/grad school etc.

its "taken" out loans, not "took" out. You write like a hick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you could turn the clock back a few years, what would you have done differently in prepping and choosing a college? Either for yourself or your child..

I chose a good, but easy school where I got a very large academic scholarship; I got into 2 IVYs but let money (my parents) decide. If I could do it again, I would have gone IVY and took out loans. The prestige would have helped me to land better jobs/grad school etc.

I wish I'd started in Calculus I instead of blithely assuming that the calculus class at my mediocre high school
had prepared me for Calculus II.

I also wish I'd spent more time exploring the town around my school.

HA! I did this too! I was very good in high school math and attended an Ivy. My 5 on the AP AB calc test allowed me to skip into a harder class with mostly sophomores. I think it was a combo the class difficulty and the transition from my small private where I knew all my teachers to large, anonymous lecture halls. I was so crushed by that class and the C+ grade I never took another math class in college. In grad school for policy I did stats and regression analysis and found my joy for math again.