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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My son has been advised to shoot below his weight for merit. He is a junior, top 10% of class at a competitive high school with APs across the board, but we make too much and so we will be looking for merit. Our flagship is extremely competitive. That will be his first choice, however.

I know this a very common predicament, and so I am curious how other kids have fared when they ended up at schools that were not particularly competitive.  Did they end up thriving? Were they disappointed? Do you regret settling? What were the schools? Our tuition budget for him is $60k, which will open some doors but close many others. [/quote]

I went to a state flagship and I got nearly perfect grades but I was still challenged and busy.  I enjoyed having top grades.  My sister who went to an Ivy had spotty grades and a lot more stress.  We make the same amount of money now despite different fields.  She is younger and we are both permanently mommy-tracked.

Some of the most impressive colleagues I have are hard workers who went to average colleges that are sub-state-flagship in prestige.

My advice is that you only send your kid to schools they are proud and happy to go to.  At every level, including Ivies, there are people who would rather be someplace else.  That interferes with the student's success and their social networks.  Part of that comes from your attitude as a parent.  Dig deep and find schools that are "right" for your kid...discard rankings-based thinking...do your family's own version of "colleges that change lives".

I recommend my undergrad school, Pitt, which seems to be a very popular safety school on DCUM.  I completely understand why.  It doesn't give much merit, but you might get lucky (5, 10, 20K buckets).  DCUMers recommend applying ASAP (August/Sept.)  Then you get merit info in October.  My kid got 5K and was a Nat'l Merit Commended Student.  Seems best to have 1450+ SAT.[/quote]

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