<p>I'm pretty sure more than a few of the parents who comment on this board are Ivy or MIT/Stanford grads. </p>
<p>I'm curious how many of us have as a goal (or at least are directing our child in the direction of) similarly selective schools for our kids. </p>
<p>Feel free to name your school or just "Ivy + M/S".</p>
<p>I'll kick things off...</p>
<ul>
<li>SevenDad: Penn, No</li>
</ul>
<p>EXIEMIT - suggested Yale and Brown. Child declined and we’re happy with her rationale. None offered strong programs in her target major. Potentially on the radar for Grad school.</p>
<p>A quick revision, based on Exie’s post, plus a consolidation:</p>
<ul>
<li>SevenDad: Penn; Only if child is interested/school offers desired area of study</li>
<li>ExieMITAlum: MIT; Suggested Yale and Brown. Child declined and we’re happy with her rationale. None offered strong programs in her target major. Potentially on the radar for Grad school.</li>
</ul>
<p>It’s more like DC’s goal than mine. DC does not like west coast nor science nor engineering, so target schools will be Ivy+LAC in NE area.</p>
<p>M, no preference.</p>
<p>Sevendad- you’re not outing me! LOL But I do know several parents on this thread who have children at MIT. And they are happy there! And they were happy at boarding school. And no, they do not want to become investment bankers!</p>
<ul>
<li>SevenDad: Penn; Only if child is interested/school offers desired area of study</li>
<li>ExieMITAlum: MIT; Suggested Yale and Brown. Child declined and we’re happy with her rationale. None offered strong programs in her target major. Potentially on the radar for Grad school.</li>
<li>SharingGift: MIT; no preference</li>
</ul>
<p>Note that I am genuinely curious if the parents who went through one of the “top tier” schools expects/desires their children to…</p>
<p>… be happy whatever they choose to pursue wherever they like to live. :)</p>
<p>Dad: Go to Haahwad. Child: I’m going to Hamburger University (yes it exists).</p>
<p>I went to 3 of the biggies and Mom3ToGo has 2 biggy degrees … we want our kids to go to schools that will challenge them and are good fits … each of oldest did NOT pick their highest rank option out of high school and we absolutely backed their choices (both supporting them and agreeing with them).</p>
<ul>
<li>SevenDad: Penn; Only if child is interested/school offers desired area of study</li>
<li>ExieMITAlum: MIT; Suggested Yale and Brown. Child declined and we’re happy with her rationale. None offered strong programs in her target major. Potentially on the radar for Grad school.</li>
<li>SharingGift: MIT; no preference
-3togo: IVY +M/S; want our kids to go to schools that will challenge them and are good fits … each of oldest did NOT pick their highest rank option out of high school and we absolutely backed their choices (both supporting them and agreeing with them).</li>
</ul>
<p>It’s all good fun, but whatever the poll result will be, I think we all know what the reality is. How else could you explain why legacy is still called a “hook”, meanwhile why a legacy is becoming a more unreliable hook, and how many alums are “heartbroken” every year when their DC is rejected from their beloved alma mater? I do think or hope most of the alums who want their kids to go to their alma mater do so because they love their school and want their kids to have the same wonderful experience, and the prestige and alum network don’t hurt either; and that when/if they can’t reach this wonderful “icing” they’d still be happy knowing they have a best cake already!</p>
<p>Does HBS count? I’m much more attached to my undergraduate school (Go Blue!) Have not/will not steer DS toward any college, only away from OSU for obvious reasons. ;)</p>
<p>I’m a graduate of Harvard. My son, who graduated from Hotchkiss last spring, declared, as far back as middle school, that his number one college was Dartmouth. Hanover was his goal, not mine, although I’m sure that my attending Harvard encouraged him to chase an Ivy League education (for better or worse). He applied to Dartmouth. He got in. He is now a freshman there (“enjoying” his first Winter Carnival in, according to the Weather Channel, an epic blizzard). </p>
<p>So my son drank the Ivy poison, but it hasn’t killed him…yet. My conscience is clear, however.</p>
<p>Yes - attended one within the ivy + m/s group. Enjoyed it at the time, though probably would not make same choice if I could be 17 again but with some of the wisdom and experience gained in later years. For my kids, I have no preference other than that they understand themselves well enough in high school to choose what best suits them. I suspect one will fit best at a small LAC, while the other will probably fit well and prefer one of those “top tier” or similar.</p>
<p>Accepted to an Ivy, but went to a non-Ivy because of choice of major</p>
<p>Not encouraging BS child to apply to an Ivy because Ivies do not offer merit aid but other top universities do</p>
<p>I went to Stanford. I want both of my DCs to attend the “best” school they can, but my definition of “best” is pretty broad in that it encompasses pretty much any strong and well-regarded college or university. </p>
<p>Since we live in CA we also have the possibility of in-state tuition at the University of California, which has several very strong campuses (Berkeley, Davis, UCLA). With that possibility I’m not sure I would be in favor of them attending similar schools in other states (such as University of Michigan), but I say that only because of the money. If they were going for a very different kind of experience out of state at a school that’s not in the Ivy/M&S category (and here I’m thinking of places like Oberlin or Kenyon or Carleton) I would support that decision.</p>
<p>As for Stanford - I don’t think my alumna status will help them much in such a competitive situation, and I feel like it’s a very different school than the one I attended. If my kids wanted to go there and were accepted I would be thrilled (how could I not be?) but I don’t feel I have a lot of need for that particular outcome.</p>
<p>Double Penn legacy- no preference, for now. Waiting for her and her advisor to give us a list and rationale for its creation. Then we will comment</p>
<p>Updated the compiled list:</p>
<ul>
<li>SevenDad: Penn; Only if child is interested/school offers desired area of study</li>
<li>ExieMITAlum: MIT; Suggested Yale and Brown. Child declined and we’re happy with her rationale. None offered strong programs in her target major. Potentially on the radar for Grad school.</li>
<li>SharingGift: MIT; no preference</li>
<li>3togo: IVY+M/S; want our kids to go to schools that will challenge them and are good fits … each of oldest did NOT pick their highest rank option out of high school and we absolutely backed their choices (both supporting them and agreeing with them).</li>
<li>ChoatieMom: U of M + HBS; I’m much more attached to my undergraduate school (Go Blue!) Have not/will not steer DS toward any college, only away from OSU for obvious reasons.</li>
<li>toombs61: Harvard; Hanover was his goal, not mine, although I’m sure that my attending Harvard encouraged him to chase an Ivy League education (for better or worse). He applied to Dartmouth. He got in.</li>
<li>honoraryamom: IVY+M/S; For my kids, I have no preference other than that they understand themselves well enough in high school to choose what best suits them. I suspect one will fit best at a small LAC, while the other will probably fit well and prefer one of those “top tier” or similar.</li>
<li>friendlymom: Stanford; I want both of my DCs to attend the “best” school they can, but my definition of “best” is pretty broad in that it encompasses pretty much any strong and well-regarded college or university.</li>
<li>BAREERS: Penn [GO QUAKERS!]; No preference, for now. Waiting for her and her advisor to give us a list and rationale for its creation.</li>
</ul>
<p>My POV on college is close to friendlymom’s and BAREERS’. I’m VERY curious what the advisors will come up with next year.</p>
<p>Curious about the comments re: seeing what the counselors/advisors come up with?? I don’t really see the college process working that way. I always thought of it as student crafting the list, with some degree of support/input/guidance from family, advisor will weigh in and perhaps make some additional suggestions. Have you folks actually had an advisor who came up with the list for your child?</p>
<p>At our daughter’s BS (she is a junior) she and her counselor came up with an initial list together, after she got input from some of her arts-major faculty. She’s at Interlochen, and they have many, many years of history with loads of colleges, universities and conservatories. They have lots of alumni placed at various schools, have a pretty good handle on how their students do with placements, and also have lots of input on the level of academics, specific arts training, social vibe, etc.</p>
<p>It’s a bit of a different animal than most college admissions - on top of the “normal” process (apps, essays, recommendations, test scores, etc.) most of the schools have an audition component, too. Some schools require auditions on-campus only, others participate in “Unifieds” (she’s a theatre major), where 50+ of the top schools travel and hold auditions in several major cities (New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and LA). The competition is brutal - most of the top programs will have 1000+ students apply for 20 or so slots. The level of expertise the College Counseling office brings to the process is invaluable in this case.</p>