Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I didn’t grow up here, and I really don’t know why people like slac. On the international level, no one has ever heard of any of the slac, so go with the unverisities?

Yes

Only matters if you are trying to get a job in another country. SLACs are very well-respected here, have great graduate school admissions and provide a high quality education that is more engaging to students that prefer SLACs. Unis are great for those who like them.

Anonymous wrote:I have a student that was in the top grouping/stress inducing tier at a W school for high school and faced with a similar choice, chose the "happier" place. He is really happy with his decision. He still works hard and takes challenging classes but the other students are happy and relaxed and love college. What a difference.

Yes, my child had also had enough of that type of community after surviving a W school in Montgomery county.

I am glad that your son is also thriving.

Anonymous wrote:I think you (and possibly DD) are looking at this entirely the wrong way. How can a school be only "happy" or only "stressful?" Surely, there are stressed out kids at the happy school, and happy kids at the stressful school.

I think if you're a bit more nuanced, your DD will find what she's looking for.

But UNIGO shows survey results on whether or not the workload is manageable at a given school. Major variations in responses to that question probably say something about the l climate.

Be aware that college students are establishing their adult habits.

Do you want your kid to grow into a stressed out adult (not getting enough sleep, not enough time for exercise or socializing, competitive vs cooperative?) or a happy/healthy adult?

Environments and social norms matter, especially at an impressionable age.

I have a student that was in the top grouping/stress inducing tier at a W school for high school and faced with a similar choice, chose the "happier" place. He is really happy with his decision. He still works hard and takes challenging classes but the other students are happy and relaxed and love college. What a difference.

I think you (and possibly DD) are looking at this entirely the wrong way. How can a school be only "happy" or only "stressful?" Surely, there are stressed out kids at the happy school, and happy kids at the stressful school.

I think if you're a bit more nuanced, your DD will find what she's looking for.

Anonymous wrote:All the top 8 SLACs on USNews are very well known and prestigious, I don't think the prestige would be a problem if she chooses the SLAC. I suppose Bowdoin is not as well know as the others.

Is the top 25 university CMU? If so that is tough to beat for CS, but otherwise I don't think schools like Pomona are less prestigious at all.

Also, personally I think Pomona, Claremont etc. are as prestigious or more prestigious for undergrad than Vanderbilt, Rice, Washington University, Northwestern, Hopkins outside pre-med, even Duke.

Fewer people will know about them, but those that matters - graduate admissions, professors, top firms - will know about it.

I think their popularity will only increase more than it already has as students prefer the sun belt and particularly California. Same trend with Stanford vs. HYP, multiple UC's vs. the top public universities in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.

Anonymous wrote:Most important is: she owns the decision. This is on her. First big decision of her life. She will want to prove she made a good decision. She will work hard to prove that it was a good decision.

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