Anonymous wrote:Has good program for intended major with good internships
Merit $
Has what DC was looking for- southern, SEC school, great sports and happy student body

Got into 2 higher ranked schools, but actually program of study not as high

In hindsight, my son would have preferred this. Many of his friends are going to an SEC school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, in all seriousness, it seems like maybe you could stand to hear this: The best parts of you are not your accomplishments. You are not your job title, or the name of the school on the sticker of your car. There’s something about you that’s far bigger, more meaningful and beautiful, than any of those things. I suspect you’ll roll your eyes at this post, but I hope someday you let the truth of it in. Not only will you be more at peace when you do, the world will also come more alive for you.

Not OP but I love this and so feel it. Thank you!

This is nice but can we ever discuss in a real, honest way of whether or not we should be sending a certain number of kids to a certain level of university that costs a certain amount of $? Or will it just continue to be "you're mean" to suggest that college isn't for everyone....and that those people are probably not the most academically gifted people?

There is so much more to the college experience than just academics.

+1 and having the degree, from anywhere, gives you more options than not having it.

FWIW, I have a lot of electricians in my family. Most of them also went to college. It was encouraged by their electrician fathers. And my grandfather was a Midwestern farmer but also went to college back in the 1920's, returning to the farm with more knowledge to improve his business.

Absolutely students should not run up a lot of debt for college (regardless of how good a HS student they are). So a lower ranked school that gives a lot of merit or is a regional public school might be the better choice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, in all seriousness, it seems like maybe you could stand to hear this: The best parts of you are not your accomplishments. You are not your job title, or the name of the school on the sticker of your car. There’s something about you that’s far bigger, more meaningful and beautiful, than any of those things. I suspect you’ll roll your eyes at this post, but I hope someday you let the truth of it in. Not only will you be more at peace when you do, the world will also come more alive for you.

Not OP but I love this and so feel it. Thank you!

This is nice but can we ever discuss in a real, honest way of whether or not we should be sending a certain number of kids to a certain level of university that costs a certain amount of $? Or will it just continue to be "you're mean" to suggest that college isn't for everyone....and that those people are probably not the most academically gifted people?

Sure, but it’s always “those people,” right? Those other people should consider whether college is good for them. Those other people whose kids got a 2.8 GPA, or didn’t take APs, or scored 1200 on the SAT. Not YOUR kid. YOUR kid will make the most of their education, and will just HAPPEN to also benefit from four years of extra maturity, social connections, safe independence building, and a safe ring on the income ladder.

I have one of those kids. I am also myself over educated at a string of elite institutions. I expect you don’t actually think of my kid as one if “those people” because he goes to school with your kids, is on student government and band and track with them. But he is. He is just who you are “just wondering” whether should go to college like your kids.

Maybe delve into the research, OP? Get curious. Read a little. You’ll find that college outcomes have little to do with the institution itself and everything to do with the socioeconomic stats of the family. So. Your question isn’t why kids go to non-selective colleges. It’s why poor and working class kids go to college.

Because the college has his major, the # of students will never exceed 5K, he loves the school and its support of his religion, and he already has a successful internship while in college and a job offer for after graduation, all with no debt.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, in all seriousness, it seems like maybe you could stand to hear this: The best parts of you are not your accomplishments. You are not your job title, or the name of the school on the sticker of your car. There’s something about you that’s far bigger, more meaningful and beautiful, than any of those things. I suspect you’ll roll your eyes at this post, but I hope someday you let the truth of it in. Not only will you be more at peace when you do, the world will also come more alive for you.

Not OP but I love this and so feel it. Thank you!

This is nice but can we ever discuss in a real, honest way of whether or not we should be sending a certain number of kids to a certain level of university that costs a certain amount of $? Or will it just continue to be "you're mean" to suggest that college isn't for everyone....and that those people are probably not the most academically gifted people?

There is so much more to the college experience than just academics.

Anonymous wrote:Why are any of you engaging in this nonsense post? Smdh.

Guess what you just did. Guess you went to a top infinity college?

Why are any of you engaging in this nonsense post? Smdh.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are over 1,000 four year colleges in the US. The question isn’t why a kid goes to 101-1,499. The question is why do you think the normal thing to do needs explaining, or apologies, or reasons? Why are you so afraid of falling out of the elite that you pathologize the normal, typical thing for a young person to do?

It's only been the "normal thing to do" for average to below average academically strong people to go to college in the last 20 years or so. Before that, people went into trades, opened business, or worked for companies.

I have the same question as OP but mine is more in the context of does it make more financial sense for people in a 101-1500 school to just start working any job after high school or go to trade school and get technical training to start moving up immediately. Start saving sooner. Not have to pay insane tuition.

Why do the 4 year education if it won't do anything for them? And possibly make their lives more difficult?

this is baloney.

i graduated high school in 1982 and even then the average/below average kids were all going to college. i am not sure if i know a single kid from my class that **didn't** go to college.

I’m not the poster you’re quoting but you must have lived in a very UC neighborhood for that to be true, or you’re just trolling. I graduated in the late 90s in a truly MC/LMC area. Maybe 25% of my class went to a 4 yr school, another quarter went to community college (and most never finished). The rest went to the military or vocational schools or worked retail/service jobs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are over 1,000 four year colleges in the US. The question isn’t why a kid goes to 101-1,499. The question is why do you think the normal thing to do needs explaining, or apologies, or reasons? Why are you so afraid of falling out of the elite that you pathologize the normal, typical thing for a young person to do?

It's only been the "normal thing to do" for average to below average academically strong people to go to college in the last 20 years or so. Before that, people went into trades, opened business, or worked for companies.

I have the same question as OP but mine is more in the context of does it make more financial sense for people in a 101-1500 school to just start working any job after high school or go to trade school and get technical training to start moving up immediately. Start saving sooner. Not have to pay insane tuition.

Why do the 4 year education if it won't do anything for them? And possibly make their lives more difficult?

this is baloney.

i graduated high school in 1982 and even then the average/below average kids were all going to college. i am not sure if i know a single kid from my class that **didn't** go to college.

Actually according to data I easily found using something called Google, the % of college bound hs graduates increased significantly from 1995-2000. Prior to that it was marginally increasing linearly. And 2010 was a huge jump.

So maybe you lived in a highly educated echo chamber.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are over 1,000 four year colleges in the US. The question isn’t why a kid goes to 101-1,499. The question is why do you think the normal thing to do needs explaining, or apologies, or reasons? Why are you so afraid of falling out of the elite that you pathologize the normal, typical thing for a young person to do?

It's only been the "normal thing to do" for average to below average academically strong people to go to college in the last 20 years or so. Before that, people went into trades, opened business, or worked for companies.

I have the same question as OP but mine is more in the context of does it make more financial sense for people in a 101-1500 school to just start working any job after high school or go to trade school and get technical training to start moving up immediately. Start saving sooner. Not have to pay insane tuition.

Why do the 4 year education if it won't do anything for them? And possibly make their lives more difficult?

this is baloney.

i graduated high school in 1982 and even then the average/below average kids were all going to college. i am not sure if i know a single kid from my class that **didn't** go to college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, in all seriousness, it seems like maybe you could stand to hear this: The best parts of you are not your accomplishments. You are not your job title, or the name of the school on the sticker of your car. There’s something about you that’s far bigger, more meaningful and beautiful, than any of those things. I suspect you’ll roll your eyes at this post, but I hope someday you let the truth of it in. Not only will you be more at peace when you do, the world will also come more alive for you.

Not OP but I love this and so feel it. Thank you!

This is nice but can we ever discuss in a real, honest way of whether or not we should be sending a certain number of kids to a certain level of university that costs a certain amount of $? Or will it just continue to be "you're mean" to suggest that college isn't for everyone....and that those people are probably not the most academically gifted people?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are over 1,000 four year colleges in the US. The question isn’t why a kid goes to 101-1,499. The question is why do you think the normal thing to do needs explaining, or apologies, or reasons? Why are you so afraid of falling out of the elite that you pathologize the normal, typical thing for a young person to do?

It's only been the "normal thing to do" for average to below average academically strong people to go to college in the last 20 years or so. Before that, people went into trades, opened business, or worked for companies.

I have the same question as OP but mine is more in the context of does it make more financial sense for people in a 101-1500 school to just start working any job after high school or go to trade school and get technical training to start moving up immediately. Start saving sooner. Not have to pay insane tuition.

Why do the 4 year education if it won't do anything for them? And possibly make their lives more difficult?

Are you suggesting that an education from a college or university "ranked" 101st or more somehow doesn't do anything for the student, or might even make their life worse? What a creepy and ridiculous thing to suggest. Hat kind of sheltered life have you led that makes you write stuff like that?

No. I'm using numbers that someone above threw out.

Read. Please.

And do everyone a favor and read these posts in context. Of course I'm not suggesting that the 101st college is bad and will do nothing. It's a way to get the idea across of competitive vs non-competitive colleges.

If you weren't so defensive you'd understand that.

Because community colleges are not in your top 100.

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, in all seriousness, it seems like maybe you could stand to hear this: The best parts of you are not your accomplishments. You are not your job title, or the name of the school on the sticker of your car. There’s something about you that’s far bigger, more meaningful and beautiful, than any of those things. I suspect you’ll roll your eyes at this post, but I hope someday you let the truth of it in. Not only will you be more at peace when you do, the world will also come more alive for you.

Not OP but I love this and so feel it. Thank you!

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, in all seriousness, it seems like maybe you could stand to hear this: The best parts of you are not your accomplishments. You are not your job title, or the name of the school on the sticker of your car. There’s something about you that’s far bigger, more meaningful and beautiful, than any of those things. I suspect you’ll roll your eyes at this post, but I hope someday you let the truth of it in. Not only will you be more at peace when you do, the world will also come more alive for you.

This is so nice