Oxford

Anonymous wrote:where would you want to go (or want your child to go to) for an undergraduate education, and why? Feel free to list multiple choices if you have them.

If selectivity and the cost of the school were no issue, we'd probably choose the same small liberal arts program, with a very strong support program for students with learning disabilities, close to home, because that's what my child needs. I know he'll do better if the workload is manageable, and where he'll feel confident in classes where his skills are similar to his peers, so highly selective schools wouldn't be an issue. He'll also do better if he's able to keep regular appointments with the same medical team

If money weren't an issue, not just tuition but I could pay for a variety of tutors/coaches, and a private jet to bring him home for appointments, then we'd look further afield. He'd really like an urban campus, and there are programs in Chicago, NYC, Boston, Pittsburg and Seattle that I think he'd love, but we aren't considering seriously, due to distance from the medical team and less intensive LD support. So, we'd investigate those. Whether we'd choose them depends on how well we liked them.

If I was going back in a time machine for me, I'd look at city/close in suburban LAC's. For some reason, my college counselor and parents only told me about urban research universities and rural LAC's. So, I felt like I had to choose between Georgetown and Williams for example. I decided that my love of the city outweighed my desire for small classes. Now, I know there are places like Haverford with easy access to a city and small classes, but as an 18 year old I didn't know they existed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Knowing what I know now, I don't think that I'd be interested in him chasing a big-name school that costs 3x what a state school costs. He's not going to work on Wall Street; those name connections aren't really make-or-break for many careers as long as he puts in the work and hustles to find companies that want him.

It's kind of like -- why pay first-class prices on a 2-hour flight? Sure, the champagne is fun, but you get there with everyone else.

Totally agree. One of my kids has always wanted to be a teacher. She was a national merit scholar with a 4.45 GPA admitted everywhere she applied, including an Ivy. She chose a full ride at a state school. Even at 18 she understood that Princeton made no sense for her. And she loved the idea of getting paid to go to school. I think kids and parents need to consider the cost benefit when selecting a school.

I can see your point, but not sure I agree. My guess is that Princeton would have presented your DD with a whole set of new options and introduced her to a different bunch of friends/connections. That exposure and links could easily piqued her interest enough to try other things, besides teaching. And even if she stayed in teaching, connections to a bunch of folks, many of whom are going to do other interesting/high profile things, would have given her an additional perspective. Sometimes you need to experience that first-class treatment for a just little bit, so that you have a perspective on what is and what is not important/possible to work for in life. Of course, if there are serious financial constraints, or the kid is not open to new, potentially challenging experiences then there are much better ways to spend your money.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Knowing what I know now, I don't think that I'd be interested in him chasing a big-name school that costs 3x what a state school costs. He's not going to work on Wall Street; those name connections aren't really make-or-break for many careers as long as he puts in the work and hustles to find companies that want him.

It's kind of like -- why pay first-class prices on a 2-hour flight? Sure, the champagne is fun, but you get there with everyone else.

Totally agree. One of my kids has always wanted to be a teacher. She was a national merit scholar with a 4.45 GPA admitted everywhere she applied, including an Ivy. She chose a full ride at a state school. Even at 18 she understood that Princeton made no sense for her. And she loved the idea of getting paid to go to school. I think kids and parents need to consider the cost benefit when selecting a school.

My kid wants to pursue a career but not be paying student loans along the way. She chose a state school (with a merit scholarship) and she is quite happy.

Anonymous wrote:Knowing what I know now, I don't think that I'd be interested in him chasing a big-name school that costs 3x what a state school costs. He's not going to work on Wall Street; those name connections aren't really make-or-break for many careers as long as he puts in the work and hustles to find companies that want him.

It's kind of like -- why pay first-class prices on a 2-hour flight? Sure, the champagne is fun, but you get there with everyone else.

Totally agree. One of my kids has always wanted to be a teacher. She was a national merit scholar with a 4.45 GPA admitted everywhere she applied, including an Ivy. She chose a full ride at a state school. Even at 18 she understood that Princeton made no sense for her. And she loved the idea of getting paid to go to school. I think kids and parents need to consider the cost benefit when selecting a school.

Knowing what I know now, I don't think that I'd be interested in him chasing a big-name school that costs 3x what a state school costs. He's not going to work on Wall Street; those name connections aren't really make-or-break for many careers as long as he puts in the work and hustles to find companies that want him.

It's kind of like -- why pay first-class prices on a 2-hour flight? Sure, the champagne is fun, but you get there with everyone else.

For my younger son, Princeton. I liked the way they organized the dorms, it is small, not too many grad students, lovely college town next to defined campus, excellent physics department. For my older son, Purdue. He was drawn to the larger land-grant schools that were rurally isolated, Midwest niceness and inclusiveness, defined campus, decent college town.

It really depends on the kid. Younger son did not even apply to Princeton, and will be attending a school that is a better fit in other ways. Older son is at Purdue.

Anonymous wrote:You do realize how pointless this thread is, don't you? It's all based on individual kids and their interests so it won't be a particularly helpful reference point for your child. The answers are going to be obvious....they'll map against the top 20 schools with may a stray oxbridge or service academy.

+1000000

You do realize how pointless this thread is, don't you? It's all based on individual kids and their interests so it won't be a particularly helpful reference point for your child. The answers are going to be obvious....they'll map against the top 20 schools with may a stray oxbridge or service academy.

I have to say that I think my kids ended up at their dream schools, Rice and Yale.

Anonymous wrote:where would you want to go (or want your child to go to) for an undergraduate education, and why? Feel free to list multiple choices if you have them.

Why don't you start?

Where they end up happy and meet life long friends and possibly a permanent mate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:where would you want to go (or want your child to go to) for an undergraduate education, and why? Feel free to list multiple choices if you have them.

These kinds of threads are getting old.

I haven't seen any in 5 pages of browsing through the most recent posts.

Anonymous wrote:where would you want to go (or want your child to go to) for an undergraduate education, and why? Feel free to list multiple choices if you have them.

These kinds of threads are getting old.

where would you want to go (or want your child to go to) for an undergraduate education, and why? Feel free to list multiple choices if you have them.