Reply to Okay, so where is DS/DD going to go to college next fall?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So first my background--I have experienced the range of schools:  I attended a state school, went to a HYP for grad, and taught at a Top 25 liberal arts college.

I'm just curious...I went through this thread and I see a lot of people saying that they are going to stretch financially to send their kids to places like the place I used to teach.  Which is to say schools like Bates or Pomona.

And I guess I'm just curious and trying to understand why.  Based on my experience, these are places that are great and where a student will get a decent education and have a pleasant life for four years.  But very honestly, they are a similar price as HYP without offering the same level of name recognition, facilities, faculty, peers, etc.  You can get an equivalent education at the University of Maryland--maybe better if you are interested in doing undergraduate research--and typically go to the grad or professional school of your choice.  So what draws people to faraway expensive colleges?

The answers I came up with myself are that for some parents college is not just about education but about DS/DD finding a partner, or maybe the family is interested in a religious education (Catholic schools, BYU, etc.), or maybe they think that four years on an idyllic campus and what are hopefully lifelong friendships are worth the $240k price tag.  But I still honestly have some trouble wrapping my mind around that.  I'd be curious to hear people's responses.[/quote]

Another academic here -- and, abstractly, I have the same reaction to SLACs vs. public schools (with some exceptions re specific schools and specific majors).  But I'd also throw in the mix the facts that the best state universities are getting harder to get into for in-state residents and, of course, for those of us in DC, there's no high-quality public university.  So, yeah, Berkeley over Bates but if the choice is Claremont vs. JMU (or Carleton vs. UC Merced), it's not so clear cut to me.

What I don't get is why so many private school parents seem be more inclined to pay for Colby than to pay OOS tuition to send their kids to Ann Arbor or Madison.   But then I'm biased toward major research universities and am not particularly invested in the public/private distinction.  And I'm guessing that not many parents (or kids) are primarily interested in seeking out schools where the intellectual action is.  They're looking at social environment, networks, job prospects, and grad school acceptance rates.  [/quote]

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