Anonymous wrote:How do you convince DC that flagship state schools are not all that they seem? DC is at a small private and is obsessed with finding the “college experience” of football, social life, community etc but has always been in small classes, small social circles, easy access to resources etc.

This is a description of most public state flagship Honors Colleges.

Maybe the kid wants to stretch & grow. For them, that might be a bigger school.

My kid went to a small private high school and wanted nothing to do with smaller private colleges because of this. He wanted a change. He's currently at a top OOS public and loving it. Your kid knows what's best for them and what will make them happy. Let it be.

You visit both types of schools and let your kid decide. Neither were good for me. I ended up liking living in an apartment and basically being a commuter student, only going to the campus for classes and having a live in the city away from the school. Everyone has their own idea of a college experience.

Now for my own kids, after tours, one likes more what you like. The other wants more of a massive school near a city. Our kids are not us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't but I can share that my private school kid has really struggled with the transition to the flagship public. They thought they wanted the whole rah-rah scene (couldn't wait to get out of the small private!) but they deeply miss the small classes, relationships with teachers, small social circles. They feel lost in the crowd (despite having friends, going to office hours, all the things..)

I guess this is the benefit of going to a large public school. LOL My kid can handle the large class sizes at the large state flagship. They've learned to hustle and has gotten great internships on their own.

I'm the poster you replied to and my kid can handle them in that they did well in them. But really disliked them.

Do they prefer city or suburb/rural? If they don't like large class sizes/schools, they would probably prefer rural/suburban life.

I know people from small private schools who wanted the state flagship for what it offers and are thriving there. Many chose the state flagship for a bigger social scene, a specific program that an LAC/private wouldn’t have, or because the in-state tuition was too good to pass up.

OP, I am a college professor and my two oldest have chosen state flagships. Ultimately I was fine: they both selected in large part for the specific academic programs as well as for the money - and they certainly saved us a lot of money.

But I definitely made sure that they understood the pros and cons. These can be quantifiable (class sizes, available internships, research opportunities) and harder to quantify but very real (is a program "weed out" or supportive?) We also talked a lot about how they learned best so that they could make the most informed choices. My third kid is interested in medical school and we are looking at acceptance rates from different colleges into med school. These numbers/data are helping him decide.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't but I can share that my private school kid has really struggled with the transition to the flagship public. They thought they wanted the whole rah-rah scene (couldn't wait to get out of the small private!) but they deeply miss the small classes, relationships with teachers, small social circles. They feel lost in the crowd (despite having friends, going to office hours, all the things..)

I guess this is the benefit of going to a large public school. LOL My kid can handle the large class sizes at the large state flagship. They've learned to hustle and has gotten great internships on their own.

I'm the poster you replied to and my kid can handle them in that they did well in them. But really disliked them.

Anonymous wrote:You don't but I can share that my private school kid has really struggled with the transition to the flagship public. They thought they wanted the whole rah-rah scene (couldn't wait to get out of the small private!) but they deeply miss the small classes, relationships with teachers, small social circles. They feel lost in the crowd (despite having friends, going to office hours, all the things..)

I guess this is the benefit of going to a large public school. LOL My kid can handle the large class sizes at the large state flagship. They've learned to hustle and has gotten great internships on their own.

Your kid isn’t you, OP.

You don't but I can share that my private school kid has really struggled with the transition to the flagship public. They thought they wanted the whole rah-rah scene (couldn't wait to get out of the small private!) but they deeply miss the small classes, relationships with teachers, small social circles. They feel lost in the crowd (despite having friends, going to office hours, all the things..)

? My kid is at a large flagship and doing great. My other kid can't wait to go to an oos flagship that's even bigger.

Maybe your kid found the small private suffocating and doesn't want that same experience in college.

Maybe they weren’t what you wanted but maybe they are what your kid wants. I don’t think that you can empirically say that flagships, particular those viewed as excellent reputationally (UVA, UNC, UTA, UM, UCLA, UCB, WIS,) aren’t “what they’re cracked up to be,”

Anonymous wrote:How do you convince DC that flagship state schools are not all that they seem? DC is at a small private and is obsessed with finding the “college experience” of football, social life, community etc but has always been in small classes, small social circles, easy access to resources etc.

You don’t. But encourage apps to a few smaller schools along with the flagships. Maybe once acceptances are in, go see the flagships and insist on at least seeing some smaller schools DC gets into. Maybe once DC sees the reality, DC will chance their mind. Probably not, but at least it will be a more informed decision.

How do you convince DC that flagship state schools are not all that they seem? DC is at a small private and is obsessed with finding the “college experience” of football, social life, community etc but has always been in small classes, small social circles, easy access to resources etc.