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

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

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

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]

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.

[quote]

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.

Adds expense, makes it hard to visit/move in/move out, and if kid has an emergency (such as physical or mental health crisis), hard to get there in a hurry. or to get home if something big happens. "

1) Be honest with your kids.  If you're concerned about money or health issues, just say that.  And then have a discussion.  Don't scare them.  Treat them like adults and have a conversation.  Talk about tradeoffs.
2) Barring issues discussed in #1, going to the 'right' place (a combo of academics, fit, and financials) is more important than appeasing parental concerns that have a low liklihood (eg something big happens) but high consequence.   Your kids could go to college 2 hours away, and get into a car accident while your on vacation.  Does that mean you should never go on vacation?  Of course not!

- From someone who went to school on an opposite coast from home, that not only involved a cross-country plane flight, but a 2 hour drive on both ends in a pre-smartphone era.  And who got into  a serious accident far from home when parents were on vacation even further away. And who survived and learned how to take care of herself! [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics