Reply to Which schools will continue to be the most sought after in the next decade? Which ones will hit a downward trajectory?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In general I think there will be a push to schools perceived as fun but with good educational rigor. The northeast schools will drop because they are perceived as grim grinds filled with backstabbing, unfriendly people. Political moderation will be appealing. I think this generation of kids, who suffered through covid, has little patience for schools where, fair or not, there is a perception of tolerance of drama queens and waste of education. This will also go with an increasing demand for good ROI.

Excessive drama, misery, and petulance is headed out, solid education, fun, and good ROI is in.

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So kids weren't interested in schools that were fun before recently?  And plenty of drama and backstabbing in the Southern sorority scene. [/quote]

They were, but schools in the northeast used to be a lot more fun because there was more personality variety in who they attracted. They used to attract the population that made campuses come alive: the quirky geniuses, the smart frat and sorority kids, the theater kids who had the time in HS to really perfect their craft, etc. But those kids often don’t have the mid-career project management skills that getting perfect GPAs in a test-minimizing environment along with the requisite resume-polishing now requires. So these schools are instead filled with grim armies of Tracy Flicks who don’t understand what “fun” even means.

Have you been on the campus of some of these schools recently? What’s remarkable is how silent they are. It’s like walking through a library, but outside. It’s outright depressing and for some bright kids, that’s not going to be appealing no matter how shiny the name is.

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I’ve visited nearly 100 colleges in the last decade. You are so right. Students walking to class at Williams were like zombies (and not in a GOOD way). Students at Michigan, Baylor, & Kansas State looked like they couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. [/quote]

Since you brought up Kansas State, I was wondering if you could compare it to Univ of Kansas in terms of culture, student body, campus, and surrounding town.  If you’re familiar! Thanks [/quote]

As in many states, the “University of  xxxx” is considered a notch up from the “xxxx State University.” Both Kansas schools have a distinct attractive architecture that is fairly uncommon for the Midwest, & which I thought looked different than in photos.

Kansas is supposed to have more students from out of state, & that gives them a more liberal tilt.

KSU seems to have more businesses & restaurants adjacent to the campus. Kansas kind of reminded  me of Wake Forest in that you’re driving along a normal street, & bang—there’s the campus. But the downtown area is lively.

The reason these two schools (along with Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ok State, Iowa State, & Iowa) are of particular note is that they are true safeties for many people, with acceptance rates in the 80-95% range. But they are still fun, well organized, and respectable academically. I know this  combination of characteristics doesn’t compute for most Northeasterners (I went to undergrad in Boston, so I know about prestige whoredom) but that’s why they are still safeties.

Most offer significant automatic merit aid that can bring the met price way down. Also generous with AP credits. One of my kids went to one of the schools mentioned here, got an excellent education (business) had a very good time. [/quote]

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