True dat. Someone upthread mentioned "Hillbilly Elegy." JD Vance did the Marine Corps and then Ohio State before Yalw Law.

Anonymous wrote:It's so sad to read this forum, but it gladdens my heart that I seem to be a very good parent compared to a lot of posters in this board. The PP who said this is about my child and not me gets it.

I'm in the college application process with DD right now and it is really hard to cut through the noise from the wider culture, from peers,etc. to get DD to focus on the outcome, which is the education you get and not the name of the school. I've also let her know while we can pay quite a bit, money is an issue and she should be looking at things lie college debt at rates at her schools, retention and graduation rates, etc. I've also said that by and large the decision where to go in the end is hers and not mine or her mother's, despite what Mom says otherwise.

In talking with DD I've realized she has a good head on her shoulders and she is giving serious thought to her choices, what she wants and how she'll get there.

Also let her know that where her BA comes from doesn't matter as much as where her MA comes from. Stop worry about the name and find a decent school with value that feels like home.

It's so sad to read this forum, but it gladdens my heart that I seem to be a very good parent compared to a lot of posters in this board. The PP who said this is about my child and not me gets it.

I'm in the college application process with DD right now and it is really hard to cut through the noise from the wider culture, from peers,etc. to get DD to focus on the outcome, which is the education you get and not the name of the school. I've also let her know while we can pay quite a bit, money is an issue and she should be looking at things lie college debt at rates at her schools, retention and graduation rates, etc. I've also said that by and large the decision where to go in the end is hers and not mine or her mother's, despite what Mom says otherwise.

In talking with DD I've realized she has a good head on her shoulders and she is giving serious thought to her choices, what she wants and how she'll get there.

I'm not obsessed with college rankings. A strong student from a good private high school will enter college near the top of the class at every tier 2 university. Getting into college isn't even half the battle. Prepared to ace college courses, especially hard STEM and writing courses is the key. If you go to a top college and can't write or hang in any hard concentration, what's the point.

Wherever they are happy op and will be comfortable socially and academically

I'd like my kid to go somewhere that he finds academically challenging, where he can make good friends and that will help him transition to the adult world. Ideally, the school would be somewhere in the top half of colleges.

I am a parent of several DCs. All of them will have attended private school, paying full tuition, since pre-kindergarten. The oldest is in college.

I can honestly say that I have sent my DCs to private school for the strong quality of the formative education they receive, and the smaller class size. They will hopefully graduate high school with a solid base of knowledge, culture, and understanding, with the ability to communicate well, the motivation to work hard, and the desire to be empathetic towards, and caring of, others.

I hope that the individual attention they received from their teachers, and the opportunities they had at their smaller schools, will give them confidence to experiment and explore without reserve in college, and to take risks beyond that.

DCs should attend whatever college best suits their abilities, talents, and personalities, without excessive emphasis on rankings. I want them to be ambitious and practical, of course, but I also want them to be happy. Where they are admitted and choose to go to college says nothing about me as a parent, but something about them as a young person -- still growing and evolving. It is not the end point for evaluating the worth of an education, only the beginning.

? Both of those are easier to get in and have lower average scores than Middlebury.

Anonymous wrote:Most of us aren't spending $15,000-55,000 a year for Tailgate State.
I'd prefer outside of D.M.V. and nothing lower than Cornell, which is #15 on US News. And I'd also be O.K. with the top 5 liberal arts colleges, e.g. Middlebury.

UCLA or Emory. I'd be disappointed if Middlebury was the best DD could do.

What good schools can a IAC baseball player play at and make the team? Are Ivy teams too hard to make the team (assuming you get in)?