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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]SLACs outside of the NE continue to gain in popularity (Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, Denison, Macalester, Occidental).[/quote]

They give merit aid.  Lot of parents in the donuthole, which makes them affluent (high achieving kids) in urban areas.  Out of pocket, likely 80k by the time my kid graduates, times two kids.  When WM is an excellent in state option.  Just not going to happen. Oberlin or Grinnell with about 20k to bridge the gap?  Very interested.  Probably more interested in Bates, Bowden, Reed or Amherst.  But with no merit aid, we aren’t even considering them.  We can’t be the only parents making this calculation. [/quote]

[b]I know of two NVa kids admitted to Sewanee and Rhodes [/b]this year with merit aid that put the net cost about 15% lower than W&M in-state.  (Have you looked at W&M's total cost of attendance for next year?  It was an eye opener for me.)  So, don't assume a LAC is out of the question from a cost standpoint.

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you think all colleges are fungible?  W&M is much better than those two schools, so it should cost more.  In this case you get what you're paying for. [/quote]

More prestigious, sure. [b] But, not necessarily "better" from a fit perspective. [/b] Too many posters on this board confuse selectivity with what is the best college for their kid from a fit or even a specific major perspective.  My kid just turned down a whole slew of better/more selective colleges for a school he liked better and a program that he felt really met what he was looking for.  I'm fine with it.  The fact that it's saving me $35k/year is just gravy.

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I hope it works out well for your kid. But what may seem a better "fit" now, to a teenager, might look different to a prospective employer or grad school admissions committee. Without knowing the details it's hard to say.  You're not the one touting JMU over U.Va and W&M are you?[/quote]

Sorry, no JMU bias here.  Interestingly enough, I have a good friend who is the head of a Phd program at a major research university and I asked him about the importance of "brand name" in graduate school admissions.  He basically said that exceling where you were was way more important than the reputation of the school.  (Obviously, with two equal students the nod may go to the one with the undergrad degree from the school with a better reputation.)  One of the points he also made was basically that the big fish from a small pond was way more likely to have had direct contact with professors who could write meaningful recommendations that could sway graduate school admission committees.  There's also a school of thought out there that academic performance will be better at a school where a student is happier.  So, I wouldn't discount it.[/quote]

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