I was valedictorian at a good school but went to a state school with a good scholarship and am happy with my choice.

I can always wonder "what if?" in terms of ivy, etc.. but I also own a home and have no student debt in my early 30s.. and have had the freedom to travel to ~ 50 countries and live abroad..... none of which would be possible if I had been crushed under loans

I have a six figure income but I am not some crazy successful person either compared to some

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I turned down Williams and went to an Ivy. I don’t really regret that decision but I wish I’d had the chance to experience Williams as well. A SLAC in a small town would have been a different experience.

I went to Middlebury and have had graduates of Duke, Stanford and Columnia all tell me they wished they went to Miss instead. I think they longed for the small SLAC experience.

I think this is interesting. I have a rising senior and I can't get her interested in SLACs to save my soul. She sees them as nothing but an extension of high school and wants nothing to do with them. I've made her tour both Swat and Middlebury and she thinks they seem as boring as hell. What is she missing? I can't impart that information to her because I went to a large state university.

Nothing. Your daughter is right.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I turned down Williams and went to an Ivy. I don’t really regret that decision but I wish I’d had the chance to experience Williams as well. A SLAC in a small town would have been a different experience.

I went to Middlebury and have had graduates of Duke, Stanford and Columnia all tell me they wished they went to Miss instead. I think they longed for the small SLAC experience.

I think ppl from small private school classes want the same in the SLAC experience.

I think *parents* who put their kids in private school for the small classes/UMC cohort often want to same thing for their kids in college. Kids OTOH may be eager for a change. Mine was. And since I sent DC to private school for the curriculum/despite the cohort, I was pro-major research university for undergrad.

+1. I'm so glad I was unsuccessful at getting DC interested in a SLAC. I, too, attended a Big State U and really thought a SLAC would have been a good fit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I turned down Williams and went to an Ivy. I don’t really regret that decision but I wish I’d had the chance to experience Williams as well. A SLAC in a small town would have been a different experience.

I went to Middlebury and have had graduates of Duke, Stanford and Columnia all tell me they wished they went to Miss instead. I think they longed for the small SLAC experience.

I think this is interesting. I have a rising senior and I can't get her interested in SLACs to save my soul. She sees them as nothing but an extension of high school and wants nothing to do with them. I've made her tour both Swat and Middlebury and she thinks they seem as boring as hell. What is she missing? I can't impart that information to her because I went to a large state university.

She's not "missing" anything. She's just not you. My spouse went to an SLAC and enjoyed it, but I would have been miserable there. I went to an urban Ivy and it was the right school for me.

What's "missing" or off at SLACs to PP's kid is that they're full of athletes + boarding/day school alums who all vaguely know each other. If you're a random, non-athlete it's going to sort of suck.

I would have sought out merit aid at smaller schools and majored in something practical. I would have sought out relevant internships.