Are there any top schools that you would NOT send your kid to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son wants to be a nurse. He also wants to live in or near a big city, so between those 2 the list gets short pretty fast.

Look at Pitt. Awesome nursing school, and you can't get more in the city...

Different poster -- but I came here to say the same thing. Pitt Pitt Pitt.

[Anonymous]

Not Columbia and not NYU. Going on the name alone isn't impressive to me, and I haven't met any alum who had more than a "meh" experience at either university. It was confirmed when we visited. Yes, there's the NYC factor, but that can be a pro and a con.

As an alum, interesting to see several "Cornell" responses on here. PPs are not wrong - it's sink or swim. And there's the beautiful campus and plenty of school spirit, but goodness, Ithaca can be an icy, depressing hell. I'd still consider sending my kid if they wanted to go, though. Met some lifelong friends there.

[Anonymous]

Cost is the only factor, otherwise it is entirely up to DCs.

[Anonymous]

Duke, if we were to go by the alums we've met. With almost no exceptions, the people we know who loved Duke are obnoxious and the nice alums hated their time there. But these are people who graduated 20-30 years ago. Hopefully it's no longer filled with the same kind of money-obsessed, social climbing frat boys and sorority girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a super social kid who gets really good grades at a really tough HS. We were *completely* turned off by Chicago and VT at a college fair. Multiple parents have told me that W&M is challenging in a good way academically, but also challenging socially which would not be a good fit for our kid. We will still be looking at both VT and W&M because they are state schools, but Chicago is off the list.

DC is currently at Purdue because VT engineering turned him off. They were still talking’everyone for himself’ and ‘you’re on your own’. Purdue was talking collaboration and support.

Must be nice to afford paying an extra $100,000 for something like that.

It will be closer to a $60k difference- all in. It nice to give ones child options. When we planned for college for our two children, we saved to be able to afford to send them out of state or to a private if that was the best option for them. My other DC is currently at a private, but has a nice scholarship that brings it down to about the same cost as his brother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duke, if we were to go by the alums we've met. With almost no exceptions, the people we know who loved Duke are obnoxious and the nice alums hated their time there. But these are people who graduated 20-30 years ago. Hopefully it's no longer filled with the same kind of money-obsessed, social climbing frat boys and sorority girls.

you would be disappointed to learn it still is full of these types. they also got a chip on their shoulders for not being ivy which makes them even more obnoxious. haven't had good experience with duke alums either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son wants to be a nurse. He also wants to live in or near a big city, so between those 2 the list gets short pretty fast.

Look at Pitt. Awesome nursing school, and you can't get more in the city...

My nurse-to-be goes to Loyola in Chicago and LOVES it. Kind of random, yes, but they gave her a very nice chunk of change that brought COA down to $35k/year. It's very urban and a nice environment. She also looked at Pitt and liked it but ultimately preferred a smaller school. Marquette in Milwaukee was her other top choice - very urban, good nursing school, gives merit aid to good students that can bring the cost down to $30-40K/year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not Columbia and not NYU. Going on the name alone isn't impressive to me, and I haven't met any alum who had more than a "meh" experience at either university. It was confirmed when we visited. Yes, there's the NYC factor, but that can be a pro and a con.

As an alum, interesting to see several "Cornell" responses on here. PPs are not wrong - it's sink or swim. And there's the beautiful campus and plenty of school spirit, but goodness, Ithaca can be an icy, depressing hell. I'd still consider sending my kid if they wanted to go, though. Met some lifelong friends there.

I had to laugh at "sink or swim"
Did you know that Cornell literally has all freshman take a swim test? If you don't pass, you have to take their swimming class until you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ds: Very nerdy, science and math oriented, so no LACs.

Dd: No Deep Southern schools. We are northerners and some southern schools can be difficult socially for girls/women. She also disliked Harvey Mudd, but for an entirely different reason - the campus is extremely ugly and in the middle of a very boring, sterile suburban area.

Claremont/Pomona are gorgeous little towns. A little too antique shop cutesy for some, but it's not like its in the San Fernando Valley. Perfect SoCal weather and less than an hour off-rush to West LA, beaches, or Palm Springs. And you can even go skiing within 30 minutes at Mt. Baldy.

I have to agree - Claremont is great!! Not sterile at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm always amazed at people who encourage their high achieving kids to apply scattershot to "top schools." Even among "elite" northeastern schools you're going to get a very different vibe at different places. Not that kids won't find their way, and not that many aren't similar, but there ARE real differences.

So, for example, I took my kid to visit Hamilton (which he loved) but we didn't consider Colgate. Bates but not Colby. Grinnell but not Swarthmore. If you are paying attention and have a few things that you care about above and beyond "reputation" you will find that there are reasons not to pounce on any and every "elite" school.

Out of those six schools, I've only heard of one. I think their "reputations" don't extend much beyond the NE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm always amazed at people who encourage their high achieving kids to apply scattershot to "top schools." Even among "elite" northeastern schools you're going to get a very different vibe at different places. Not that kids won't find their way, and not that many aren't similar, but there ARE real differences.

So, for example, I took my kid to visit Hamilton (which he loved) but we didn't consider Colgate. Bates but not Colby. Grinnell but not Swarthmore. If you are paying attention and have a few things that you care about above and beyond "reputation" you will find that there are reasons not to pounce on any and every "elite" school.

Out of those six schools, I've only heard of one. I think their "reputations" don't extend much beyond the NE.

Just because you've only heard of one doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't get out more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm always amazed at people who encourage their high achieving kids to apply scattershot to "top schools." Even among "elite" northeastern schools you're going to get a very different vibe at different places. Not that kids won't find their way, and not that many aren't similar, but there ARE real differences.

So, for example, I took my kid to visit Hamilton (which he loved) but we didn't consider Colgate. Bates but not Colby. Grinnell but not Swarthmore. If you are paying attention and have a few things that you care about above and beyond "reputation" you will find that there are reasons not to pounce on any and every "elite" school.

Out of those six schools, I've only heard of one. I think their "reputations" don't extend much beyond the NE.

Just because you've only heard of one doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't get out more.

+1 How can you be on the College thread and still be that ill-informed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm always amazed at people who encourage their high achieving kids to apply scattershot to "top schools." Even among "elite" northeastern schools you're going to get a very different vibe at different places. Not that kids won't find their way, and not that many aren't similar, but there ARE real differences.

So, for example, I took my kid to visit Hamilton (which he loved) but we didn't consider Colgate. Bates but not Colby. Grinnell but not Swarthmore. If you are paying attention and have a few things that you care about above and beyond "reputation" you will find that there are reasons not to pounce on any and every "elite" school.

Out of those six schools, I've only heard of one. I think their "reputations" don't extend much beyond the NE.

Only two of the six are in NE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not Columbia and not NYU. Going on the name alone isn't impressive to me, and I haven't met any alum who had more than a "meh" experience at either university. It was confirmed when we visited. Yes, there's the NYC factor, but that can be a pro and a con.

As an alum, interesting to see several "Cornell" responses on here. PPs are not wrong - it's sink or swim. And there's the beautiful campus and plenty of school spirit, but goodness, Ithaca can be an icy, depressing hell. I'd still consider sending my kid if they wanted to go, though. Met some lifelong friends there.

I had to laugh at "sink or swim"
Did you know that Cornell literally has all freshman take a swim test? If you don't pass, you have to take their swimming class until you do.

Engineering students don't have to take the swim test. I went to harvard when it still had the swim test left over from the Titanic/Widener days, but it's now long gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No state schools, no high greek percentage schools, no religiously affiliated schools, no schools that require a plane ride.

Wow. So no Berkeley, UNC, GT ????

No, not even in the ballpark but mind you I'm a huge, unrepentant education snob.

Not much of an *education* snob if you’re making college decisions based on mode of transportation.

NP here. This exchange sounds like what I hear from some friends. "My kid can only go to college within a five-hour drive of home" or whatever. Basically it seems to be their way to say "You have to stay in-state" but signaling that they'd consider somewhere just over a border. It's like they put the point of a compass on their hometown, drew a circle around it and said, "You have to go to college within this circle."

I'm curious to know from the "no schools that require a plane ride" poster why you consider that a factor, unless you just mean you want them to stay in-state for financial reasons but "no plane ride" is your way of saying so--? I ask this as someone who did go to school a plane ride (or one very long drive) away from home, and who has told my DC that staying in-state or in a certain driving distance is not required.

Maybe the concern is that if a kid is in trouble, sick, hurt, it's harder to get to your kid or harder for your kid to get home if they're a plane ride away? I can see that as a reason if a student has health or other issues. Asking this seriously.

I was born and raised in DC but live in NYC now so my drive ring includes Dartmouth to the north, Cornell to the west and Princeton to the southwest. Our thinking is two-fold.....convenience and safety. I'd much rather just give DC a car and not have to ever worry about booking travel months in advance and Ive had friends that have had serious medical issues with their children in college. I can't imagine getting a call about my child having a health issue and not being able to jump in a car and being at their side in max 4-5 hours. Maybe I'm being paranoid but why take the chance?

Dartmouth and Cornell are out because of the high Greek percentage. On that basis Princeton should be out too because of their eating clubs. And Harvard for sure. So you are starting to limit the options for your kids.

Concerning Greek percentage...here are the top 11 schools with highest percentage of Greeks: Washington and Lee comes in at #2 with 78%, only 1 percentage point from #1. MIT and Dartmouth are included...

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2016-10-25/11-colleges-where-the-most-students-join-fraternities