Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really hate the characterization that you're "shooting below your weight". Choosing the best college is the whole package, bet fit, etc. If that's Auburn or St Joes, or where ever, then so be it. Don't both accept the $$$$$ and act like you're too good for the school.

Please. A kid with the grades and scores for Duke or Northwestern is going to be the cream of the crop for a school like St. Joe’s. It is definitely several tiers lower and that’s a real consideration for OP. Why wouldn’t it be?

Why is it a consideration? A kid with good stats is going to get a fine education no matter where they go. If you’re concerned about the tier of a certain colleges, you are concerned with prestige, not education.

That’s like saying any intelligent child will do fine in HS including the inner city public. You full well know that the environment matters.

Any intelligent child WILL do fine in an inner city public HS. You know that full well.

Great idea.
You send your kid to Devry I’ll send mine T20.

That’s the difference between you and me. If my kid wanted to go to Devry because they thought they’d be happiest there, I’d absolutely let them go. 100%.

I know what you are trying to say….but you do realize Devry is a for profit school churning out worthless degrees and a horrific job placement record…also, kiss any hope of grad school goodbye (except at Devry).

99.9% of DCUm aren’t letting their kid go to Devry.

🤷‍♀️

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's punching below your weight, OP.

What matters most is fit. Where your student feels most at home, comfortable. This is where I want to be. Single most important factor.

+1000

Where will your DC thrive socially and emotionally as well as academically? That’s the key question that is often missing in the process.

Please. Telling my friends and neighbors “my DC is so socially and emotionally happy their school” pales in comparison to “my DC goes to Yale.”

C’mon. You know this.

DP: I totally disagree with you on that.

+1
Just shows there are so many families with unique value systems. They aren’t right or wrong just different. For some prestige is more important than fit. For others a thriving and balanced child is the goal. It’s ok. There’s no right answer here.

Mixed metaphor and generally terrible title, BTW.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's punching below your weight, OP.

What matters most is fit. Where your student feels most at home, comfortable. This is where I want to be. Single most important factor.

+1000

Where will your DC thrive socially and emotionally as well as academically? That’s the key question that is often missing in the process.

Please. Telling my friends and neighbors “my DC is so socially and emotionally happy their school” pales in comparison to “my DC goes to Yale.”

C’mon. You know this.

DP: I totally disagree with you on that.

+1 Yes it’s wunnerful that your kid got in Yale. But this isn’t 1980.

These days a Yale acceptance comes attached to a whole file cabinet full of suspicions that kid was cutting corners on phony charities, had family connections pulling strings, had daddy donate a new wing of the Chemistry building, had thousands of $ in SAT prep, had uncle provide documentation for bogus extra test time learning disability, and so on.

Everybody knows a dozen brilliant kids who didn’t even get waitlisted at a T10 because they weren’t related to f’ing Susan “Down with the capitalist patriarchy—but please wait til my kid graduates from Brown before starting the revolution” Sarandon.

Wow. Please address your trauma, bc you sound nuts.

You’re ugly AND stupid.

Anonymous wrote:My son has been advised to shoot below his weight for merit. He is a junior, top 10% of class at a competitive high school with APs across the board, but we make too much and so we will be looking for merit. Our flagship is extremely competitive. That will be his first choice, however.

I know this a very common predicament, and so I am curious how other kids have fared when they ended up at schools that were not particularly competitive. Did they end up thriving? Were they disappointed? Do you regret settling? What were the schools? Our tuition budget for him is $60k, which will open some doors but close many others.

I don't know what you mean by "not particularly competitive." That could mean a lot of different things to different people. I was very unsure how my daughter compared because so many students have so many APs, good grades, good SATs, etc...we also did not quality for aid and while we would have done fully pay I really wanted her to get some merit to be able to save more of her 529 for grad school.

She ended up applying ED to an SLAC ranked around #30 because she truly loved the school and she ended up getting a big merit scholarship--which we did not necessarily expect. The process was so stressful, we just wanted it over with. She did not want to stay in state at a public.

Looking back and also because she did end up with the big merit scholarship, I think she would have had actually had a decent shot at one of the very top SLACs if she had done ED, but there was no way to know that. And honestly saving $140,000 over 4 years of college to me seems worth it, since most people don't even know what those top SLACs are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really hate the characterization that you're "shooting below your weight". Choosing the best college is the whole package, bet fit, etc. If that's Auburn or St Joes, or where ever, then so be it. Don't both accept the $$$$$ and act like you're too good for the school.

Please. A kid with the grades and scores for Duke or Northwestern is going to be the cream of the crop for a school like St. Joe’s. It is definitely several tiers lower and that’s a real consideration for OP. Why wouldn’t it be?

Why is it a consideration? A kid with good stats is going to get a fine education no matter where they go. If you’re concerned about the tier of a certain colleges, you are concerned with prestige, not education.

That’s like saying any intelligent child will do fine in HS including the inner city public. You full well know that the environment matters.

Any intelligent child WILL do fine in an inner city public HS. You know that full well.

Great idea.
You send your kid to Devry I’ll send mine T20.

That’s the difference between you and me. If my kid wanted to go to Devry because they thought they’d be happiest there, I’d absolutely let them go. 100%.

I know what you are trying to say….but you do realize Devry is a for profit school churning out worthless degrees and a horrific job placement record…also, kiss any hope of grad school goodbye (except at Devry).

99.9% of DCUm aren’t letting their kid go to Devry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you will find that any school on the national list in top 120, and any school in the liberal arts list top 80 to 100 or so, and the top 10 regional college in each region will provide an excellent education and land your child a career or a spot in grad school.

Our DC had choices at schools ranked (at the time) 28-120 national and any one of them would have been awesome and a great fit. Chose one in the 60s with a lot of merit aid and is very happy and thriving. Classmates are super smart and motivated. Professors are accessible (no TA taught classes). Job and grad school placement is excellent.

Look at what schools are in the 120-175 range. There are some decent well-known universities there. So I think people can dip well below 120 & still get a fine education. The question is whether friends & family along the east coast can handle the humiliation.

OP. I asked for more details on your kid. If you don't share that this is the kind of well-intentioned, but generic, advice you will get. 5 pages of generic advice you could get out of google.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is he in at both UVA and W&M already? W&M doesn't have EA, only ED1, ED2, and RD. Calling troll.

DP. WM let top RD candidates know they got accepted early.

Yes. Received a cypher card Feb. 1st. Regular decision.

Anonymous wrote:What is NMF?

National merit finalist

I personally took the merit when I was an undergrad, and the special scholarship program that came with it. Won super-competitive fellowships to two consecutive stints in grad school after that, not because undergrad was underprivileged but because I was advised and cultivated and looked after and mentored throughout. Never been sorry, never been in debt, and cost my family nothing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really hate the characterization that you're "shooting below your weight". Choosing the best college is the whole package, bet fit, etc. If that's Auburn or St Joes, or where ever, then so be it. Don't both accept the $$$$$ and act like you're too good for the school.

Please. A kid with the grades and scores for Duke or Northwestern is going to be the cream of the crop for a school like St. Joe’s. It is definitely several tiers lower and that’s a real consideration for OP. Why wouldn’t it be?

Why is it a consideration? A kid with good stats is going to get a fine education no matter where they go. If you’re concerned about the tier of a certain colleges, you are concerned with prestige, not education.

That’s like saying any intelligent child will do fine in HS including the inner city public. You full well know that the environment matters.

Any intelligent child WILL do fine in an inner city public HS. You know that full well.

Great idea.
You send your kid to Devry I’ll send mine T20.

That’s the difference between you and me. If my kid wanted to go to Devry because they thought they’d be happiest there, I’d absolutely let them go. 100%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really hate the characterization that you're "shooting below your weight". Choosing the best college is the whole package, bet fit, etc. If that's Auburn or St Joes, or where ever, then so be it. Don't both accept the $$$$$ and act like you're too good for the school.

Please. A kid with the grades and scores for Duke or Northwestern is going to be the cream of the crop for a school like St. Joe’s. It is definitely several tiers lower and that’s a real consideration for OP. Why wouldn’t it be?

Why is it a consideration? A kid with good stats is going to get a fine education no matter where they go. If you’re concerned about the tier of a certain colleges, you are concerned with prestige, not education.

That’s like saying any intelligent child will do fine in HS including the inner city public. You full well know that the environment matters.

Any intelligent child WILL do fine in an inner city public HS. You know that full well.

Great idea.
You send your kid to Devry I’ll send mine T20.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really hate the characterization that you're "shooting below your weight". Choosing the best college is the whole package, bet fit, etc. If that's Auburn or St Joes, or where ever, then so be it. Don't both accept the $$$$$ and act like you're too good for the school.

Please. A kid with the grades and scores for Duke or Northwestern is going to be the cream of the crop for a school like St. Joe’s. It is definitely several tiers lower and that’s a real consideration for OP. Why wouldn’t it be?

Why is it a consideration? A kid with good stats is going to get a fine education no matter where they go. If you’re concerned about the tier of a certain colleges, you are concerned with prestige, not education.

That’s like saying any intelligent child will do fine in HS including the inner city public. You full well know that the environment matters.

Schools in the T50-150 range are not like having your kids in an inner city public. C’mon. Be real.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really hate the characterization that you're "shooting below your weight". Choosing the best college is the whole package, bet fit, etc. If that's Auburn or St Joes, or where ever, then so be it. Don't both accept the $$$$$ and act like you're too good for the school.

Please. A kid with the grades and scores for Duke or Northwestern is going to be the cream of the crop for a school like St. Joe’s. It is definitely several tiers lower and that’s a real consideration for OP. Why wouldn’t it be?

Why is it a consideration? A kid with good stats is going to get a fine education no matter where they go. If you’re concerned about the tier of a certain colleges, you are concerned with prestige, not education.

That’s like saying any intelligent child will do fine in HS including the inner city public. You full well know that the environment matters.

Any intelligent child WILL do fine in an inner city public HS. You know that full well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's punching below your weight, OP.

What matters most is fit. Where your student feels most at home, comfortable. This is where I want to be. Single most important factor.

+1000

Where will your DC thrive socially and emotionally as well as academically? That’s the key question that is often missing in the process.

Please. Telling my friends and neighbors “my DC is so socially and emotionally happy their school” pales in comparison to “my DC goes to Yale.”

C’mon. You know this.

DP: I totally disagree with you on that.

+1 Yes it’s wunnerful that your kid got in Yale. But this isn’t 1980.

These days a Yale acceptance comes attached to a whole file cabinet full of suspicions that kid was cutting corners on phony charities, had family connections pulling strings, had daddy donate a new wing of the Chemistry building, had thousands of $ in SAT prep, had uncle provide documentation for bogus extra test time learning disability, and so on.

Everybody knows a dozen brilliant kids who didn’t even get waitlisted at a T10 because they weren’t related to f’ing Susan “Down with the capitalist patriarchy—but please wait til my kid graduates from Brown before starting the revolution” Sarandon.

Wow. Please address your trauma, bc you sound nuts.