Current college freshmen - how many of them are super happy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A note to other posters. Yes, I know that many students turn down a higher ranked school for a lower ranked one. Mine did, turning down a top 5-7 school for a top 15 for a large merit aid package. What I’m questioning is a student who turned down six schools ranked higher than the one selected. If this really happened, it’s only because the other six weren’t particularly highly ranked - so it made no difference. Once you hit second tier, whatever.

That’s my point.

That definitely is possible. I have no idea why you think otherwise. You clearly have very, very little real-world admissions experience.

Also FYI kids do not turn down higher ranked schools only for big merit age packages. It’s common to have merit aid not factor into the decision at all or very little, actually.

- former admissions officer.

Oh please. If it were so common for merit aid awards not to matter, there wouldn’t be so many of them being offered. It’s simple economics. Duh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was burnt out from the pressures of a W high school, so she chose a lower ranked school to get out of the pressure cooker . Being a big fish in a small pond helped her blossom. I am proud that she could make that choice.

Lol she “chose” it. It wasn’t chosen for her. Sure. Ok.

Yeah, she turned down six more highly ranked schools. You can’t picture that I know.

No, she didn’t. You’re full of it. There’s not a college student in America who chose their 7th ranked choice. Name the schools she turned down and the one she selected.

Why would I lie to a stranger on the internet? My kid's list is not important (nor would I consider providing "proof" to win your confidence in the truth of my post.)

You need to seriously consider why you cannot compute the FACT that a family might have different priorities than you/yours.

Translation: I was right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son, is a junior now, and started college during the worst of the pandemic, when classes were online from his dorm room and the campus was "de-densified." Freshman fall was a slog but by spring, even under not great circumstances, he had made friends and was finding his groove. As a junior, he loves college and is the happiest I've ever seen him.

All of this is to say that under any circumstances, change is hard and you need to give it time and effort. Attending college is a privilege and the opportunity to obtain an education is a gift, and sometimes kids need to stop wallowing and navel gazing and just get on with it. Yes, it's hard, yes it's ok to feel sad and lonely sometimes, but avoidant behavior like camping or whatever is not going to cure what ails you.

If you go camping, it's avoidant behavior? That's random.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was burnt out from the pressures of a W high school, so she chose a lower ranked school to get out of the pressure cooker . Being a big fish in a small pond helped her blossom. I am proud that she could make that choice.

Lol she “chose” it. It wasn’t chosen for her. Sure. Ok.

Yeah, she turned down six more highly ranked schools. You can’t picture that I know.

No, she didn’t. You’re full of it. There’s not a college student in America who chose their 7th ranked choice. Name the schools she turned down and the one she selected.

I'm not the person you're responding to, but would you knock it off? Stick to the topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was burnt out from the pressures of a W high school, so she chose a lower ranked school to get out of the pressure cooker . Being a big fish in a small pond helped her blossom. I am proud that she could make that choice.

Lol she “chose” it. It wasn’t chosen for her. Sure. Ok.

Yeah, she turned down six more highly ranked schools. You can’t picture that I know.

No, she didn’t. You’re full of it. There’s not a college student in America who chose their 7th ranked choice. Name the schools she turned down and the one she selected.

I'm not the person you're responding to, but would you knock it off? Stick to the topic.

But it IS the topic. This poster suggested that the OP’s kid is unhappy because they went by ranking instead of fit in selecting a college, then suggested her kid turned down 6 more highly ranked schools for the one they went to. I’m merely calling them out for the BS. On top of everything else, anyone who claims it’s all about fit and not about rankings isn’t going to know off the top of their head exactly where every one of the schools that their kid applied to was ranked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was burnt out from the pressures of a W high school, so she chose a lower ranked school to get out of the pressure cooker . Being a big fish in a small pond helped her blossom. I am proud that she could make that choice.

Lol she “chose” it. It wasn’t chosen for her. Sure. Ok.

Yeah, she turned down six more highly ranked schools. You can’t picture that I know.

No, she didn’t. You’re full of it. There’s not a college student in America who chose their 7th ranked choice. Name the schools she turned down and the one she selected.

I'm not the person you're responding to, but would you knock it off? Stick to the topic.

But it IS the topic. This poster suggested that the OP’s kid is unhappy because they went by ranking instead of fit in selecting a college, then suggested her kid turned down 6 more highly ranked schools for the one they went to. I’m merely calling them out for the BS. On top of everything else, anyone who claims it’s all about fit and not about rankings isn’t going to know off the top of their head exactly where every one of the schools that their kid applied to was ranked.

Not the PP who told you to knock it off (and I agree with that PP). You are like a case study in why kids are so miserable these days. What is wrong with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A note to other posters. Yes, I know that many students turn down a higher ranked school for a lower ranked one. Mine did, turning down a top 5-7 school for a top 15 for a large merit aid package. What I’m questioning is a student who turned down six schools ranked higher than the one selected. If this really happened, it’s only because the other six weren’t particularly highly ranked - so it made no difference. Once you hit second tier, whatever.

That’s my point.

That definitely is possible. I have no idea why you think otherwise. You clearly have very, very little real-world admissions experience.

Also FYI kids do not turn down higher ranked schools only for big merit age packages. It’s common to have merit aid not factor into the decision at all or very little, actually.

- former admissions officer.

Oh please. If it were so common for merit aid awards not to matter, there wouldn’t be so many of them being offered. It’s simple economics. Duh.

Man, you don’t mind showing everyone how utterly ignorant you are, do you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A note to other posters. Yes, I know that many students turn down a higher ranked school for a lower ranked one. Mine did, turning down a top 5-7 school for a top 15 for a large merit aid package. What I’m questioning is a student who turned down six schools ranked higher than the one selected. If this really happened, it’s only because the other six weren’t particularly highly ranked - so it made no difference. Once you hit second tier, whatever.

That’s my point.

That definitely is possible. I have no idea why you think otherwise. You clearly have very, very little real-world admissions experience.

Also FYI kids do not turn down higher ranked schools only for big merit age packages. It’s common to have merit aid not factor into the decision at all or very little, actually.

- former admissions officer.

Oh please. If it were so common for merit aid awards not to matter, there wouldn’t be so many of them being offered. It’s simple economics. Duh.

Agreed. My kids went IS public flagship for CS. Rejected other higher ranked colleges because IS was almost free for CS with merit aid (even if we were full pay it would be around 80K), OOS and private was ranging from 200K to 360K. We have HHI of 400K. We were not eligible for any aid. Still went to T-13 for major, so no worries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A note to other posters. Yes, I know that many students turn down a higher ranked school for a lower ranked one. Mine did, turning down a top 5-7 school for a top 15 for a large merit aid package. What I’m questioning is a student who turned down six schools ranked higher than the one selected. If this really happened, it’s only because the other six weren’t particularly highly ranked - so it made no difference. Once you hit second tier, whatever.

That’s my point.

That definitely is possible. I have no idea why you think otherwise. You clearly have very, very little real-world admissions experience.

Also FYI kids do not turn down higher ranked schools only for big merit age packages. It’s common to have merit aid not factor into the decision at all or very little, actually.

- former admissions officer.

Oh please. If it were so common for merit aid awards not to matter, there wouldn’t be so many of them being offered. It’s simple economics. Duh.

Man, you don’t mind showing everyone how utterly ignorant you are, do you?

If stating the obvious makes me ignorant, then I’m guilty as charged.

[Anonymous]

Interesting question. Our kid and their friends all were accepted to highly ranked schools, our kid decided they wanted something different, not the top tier school, big, warm, and south.

Interestingly, most of their friends are miserable and not enjoying it our kid is enjoying it, doing well, and not stressed.

Your kids mental health and happiness is much more important than a highly ranked school.

[Anonymous]

My kid is at an OOS top 10 public that DCUM thinks is “meh”. They are extremely happy and have truly blossomed. Some stress over a housing shortage and class capacity/scheduling disappointments but in every other way, doing great.

I’m sorry. These kids really did have some unfortunate high school years. Freshman year is often a roller coaster. I hope they’re all happy after a nice break at home in December.

[Anonymous]

I've already posted about DS who's feeling very little _joy_ at school yet is on stable footing and doing well. Posting again to address the thread drift, which states that Super Duper Happiness is found only that the lower ranked universities that all Just Fit Better. Or something.

I suspect I speak for a lot of kids and parents who believe their kids WOULD have a hell of a lot more fun at a big party school with tons of tailgating, many easy Gen Ed majors to choose from, and a centralized vibrant bar, music and party scene -- or at the very least, a chill, dominant laid back student vibe.

My DS would love that! He applied to multiple schools that offer that!

And none of them are nearly as good as the school / program he chose. None of them will open the same doors directly out of undergrad, just by virtue of graduating (ie, no hustle required). None of them have the name recognition in his chosen study.

Eyes wide open, he's accepting the interim struggle inherent in his caliber of school /program as the price to pay for the almost guaranteed rewards in a couple of years. I think this is a valid and rational plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was burnt out from the pressures of a W high school, so she chose a lower ranked school to get out of the pressure cooker . Being a big fish in a small pond helped her blossom. I am proud that she could make that choice.

Lol she “chose” it. It wasn’t chosen for her. Sure. Ok.

Yeah, she turned down six more highly ranked schools. You can’t picture that I know.

No, she didn’t. You’re full of it. There’s not a college student in America who chose their 7th ranked choice. Name the schools she turned down and the one she selected.

That is not what the poster meant. Their kid chose their personal #1 choice, which happens to be lower ranked by usnews than 6 other acceptances.
Not every kid ranks their choices according to usnews.

Our DD had 4 acceptances to colleges ranked higher by usnews than the one she chose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A note to other posters. Yes, I know that many students turn down a higher ranked school for a lower ranked one. Mine did, turning down a top 5-7 school for a top 15 for a large merit aid package. What I’m questioning is a student who turned down six schools ranked higher than the one selected. If this really happened, it’s only because the other six weren’t particularly highly ranked - so it made no difference. Once you hit second tier, whatever.

That’s my point.

That definitely is possible. I have no idea why you think otherwise. You clearly have very, very little real-world admissions experience.

Also FYI kids do not turn down higher ranked schools only for big merit age packages. It’s common to have merit aid not factor into the decision at all or very little, actually.

- former admissions officer.

Oh please. If it were so common for merit aid awards not to matter, there wouldn’t be so many of them being offered. It’s simple economics. Duh.

DD got merit at higher ranked usnews colleges. Still chose her number one college, usnews lower ranked.
It might not happen in your circle, but the world is larger and so are people's priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've already posted about DS who's feeling very little _joy_ at school yet is on stable footing and doing well. Posting again to address the thread drift, which states that Super Duper Happiness is found only that the lower ranked universities that all Just Fit Better. Or something.

I suspect I speak for a lot of kids and parents who believe their kids WOULD have a hell of a lot more fun at a big party school with tons of tailgating, many easy Gen Ed majors to choose from, and a centralized vibrant bar, music and party scene -- or at the very least, a chill, dominant laid back student vibe.

My DS would love that! He applied to multiple schools that offer that!

And none of them are nearly as good as the school / program he chose. None of them will open the same doors directly out of undergrad, just by virtue of graduating (ie, no hustle required). None of them have the name recognition in his chosen study.

Eyes wide open, he's accepting the interim struggle inherent in his caliber of school /program as the price to pay for the almost guaranteed rewards in a couple of years. I think this is a valid and rational plan.

Why do so many only think in black & white? There are so many assumptions made to put down others choices and make one feel superior. smh