What are the non-top 10 (maybe in the top 40) unicorn schools?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At a SLAC, half of your class will be in recruited sports and basically only socialize with their team — so it can feel WAY smaller than advertised.

You throw this around like its gospel. At many smaller schools, "half" your class are definitively NOT recruited athletes. Frankly, if you are that good in a sport (with the time commitment needed to practice and compete) AND still meet the rigorous academic requirements needed to be at a very competitive college which does not offer athletic scholarship, more power to you.

okay, 40%

If your "facts" are negotiable, that in itself says a lot about you

50% was obviously a rough guess, & if dropping the figure to 40% shuts the nitpicker up, I say 40% guy wins the argument.

40 percent still way off the mark! Is there room for further negotiation on your part?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At a SLAC, half of your class will be in recruited sports and basically only socialize with their team — so it can feel WAY smaller than advertised. Hi

You throw this around like its gospel. At many smaller schools, "half" your class are definitively NOT recruited athletes. Frankly, if you are that good in a sport (with the time commitment needed to practice and compete) AND still meet the rigorous academic requirements needed to be at a very competitive college which does not offer athletic scholarship, more power to you.

okay, 40%

If your "facts" are negotiable, that in itself says a lot about you

We get it, you went to law school. Congratulations.👏🏼

I didn't, just calling it as it is but thanks

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At a SLAC, half of your class will be in recruited sports and basically only socialize with their team — so it can feel WAY smaller than advertised. Hi

You throw this around like its gospel. At many smaller schools, "half" your class are definitively NOT recruited athletes. Frankly, if you are that good in a sport (with the time commitment needed to practice and compete) AND still meet the rigorous academic requirements needed to be at a very competitive college which does not offer athletic scholarship, more power to you.

okay, 40%

If your "facts" are negotiable, that in itself says a lot about you

We get it, you went to law school. Congratulations.👏🏼

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a small school and regret it. It was good for the first two years and then felt very confining.

Oh come on. Just bc you go to a 30K-40K or whatever sized school does not mean that a small one is "confining." You don't interact with all those students but tend to congregate within a smaller subset or group anyway (or a couple of groups). I went to a school with >20K students and, even then, by the end of 4 years I was ready to move on. That's natural for a school of any size.

That person is sharing their experience. They said that to them it felt confining. How can you argue w their feelings/opinions??

I'm not arguing with their feelings. I'm arguing that their sample size of 1 is not a conclusion on the matter. Not sure why that gets your panties in a wad.

Yes, you are. Their feeling was that a small school was confining. You specifically argued w/ them on that point. Of course their "sample size of 1" (which is the same as your "sample size", btw, so not sure why you think your opinion matters more than theirs when you are both just 1 person) is not a "conclusion on the matter." It's an experience they had and shared. You are free to share your experience too but don't take someone else's lived experience and tell them it's not true.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a small school and regret it. It was good for the first two years and then felt very confining.

Oh come on. Just bc you go to a 30K-40K or whatever sized school does not mean that a small one is "confining." You don't interact with all those students but tend to congregate within a smaller subset or group anyway (or a couple of groups). I went to a school with >20K students and, even then, by the end of 4 years I was ready to move on. That's natural for a school of any size.

That person is sharing their experience. They said that to them it felt confining. How can you argue w their feelings/opinions??

I'm not arguing with their feelings. I'm arguing that their sample size of 1 is not a conclusion on the matter. Not sure why that gets your panties in a wad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At a SLAC, half of your class will be in recruited sports and basically only socialize with their team — so it can feel WAY smaller than advertised.

You throw this around like its gospel. At many smaller schools, "half" your class are definitively NOT recruited athletes. Frankly, if you are that good in a sport (with the time commitment needed to practice and compete) AND still meet the rigorous academic requirements needed to be at a very competitive college which does not offer athletic scholarship, more power to you.

okay, 40%

If your "facts" are negotiable, that in itself says a lot about you

50% was obviously a rough guess, & if dropping the figure to 40% shuts the nitpicker up, I say 40% guy wins the argument.

Anonymous wrote:The unicorn size college is defined as 5000 to 10000. Small enough to have small class sizes and contact with professors, big enough so it doesn’t feel like high school and school can support a wide range of clubs, competive sports teams, etc . . . The entire T10 qualifies as unicorn size other than CalTech.

This. Loved my T10. Kid loves their different T10. It is the perfect size, and the big endowments and world class faculty adds to that perfect size and leads to impressive personal growth and outcomes. But they are not for everyone . They feel too competitive for some students and they struggle to stand out.

Anonymous wrote:Fit is the most important. Some like smaller and some like larger

Next up: Which ice cream tastes better, chocolate or vanilla?

Anonymous wrote:DC having a hard time selecting between 2 schools. T10 and small school.

My DS is happy he picked medium size T10 over SLAC. His decision was mostly driven by cost and distance but he feels small campus and small town would've been the wrong choice for him.

My kid picked small school, less than 2000 students, and it was a mistake. Fewer resources, and major not very deep so when key Prof left, there was a gap in course availability. Limited dining options and small town so only a few off campus places. Local hospital and Dr offices over a mile away and very few taxi/uber options so had to walk there when sick. Other child is in a city school of 6000. It’s been so much better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At a SLAC, half of your class will be in recruited sports and basically only socialize with their team — so it can feel WAY smaller than advertised.

You throw this around like its gospel. At many smaller schools, "half" your class are definitively NOT recruited athletes. Frankly, if you are that good in a sport (with the time commitment needed to practice and compete) AND still meet the rigorous academic requirements needed to be at a very competitive college which does not offer athletic scholarship, more power to you.

okay, 40%

If your "facts" are negotiable, that in itself says a lot about you

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At a SLAC, half of your class will be in recruited sports and basically only socialize with their team — so it can feel WAY smaller than advertised.

You throw this around like its gospel. At many smaller schools, "half" your class are definitively NOT recruited athletes. Frankly, if you are that good in a sport (with the time commitment needed to practice and compete) AND still meet the rigorous academic requirements needed to be at a very competitive college which does not offer athletic scholarship, more power to you.

okay, 40%

whatever you say

I'm in my late 40s now, and I definitely think I would have gotten a better education at a smaller school. The large state university I attended had poor academic advising, and I got lost in the big classes my first two years.

I came from a mediocre high school and didn't have the academic background that some of my peers had.

However, top large state university allowed me to make amazing lifelong friendships that I don't know I would have had at a smaller school. I really was able to find my people.

We've celebrated (wedding, baby showers, our kids' HS graduations), laughed, and cried (saying goodbye to parents) together.

At almost 50, I don't feel that a better education would have rewarded me with the fulfillment that these friendships have given me.

6000-8000 undergrads is the best size, imo.