<p>Markbass–I think the comment about changing their mind is a good one. People have to consider that kids often get their first “ideas” about which schools they want to look at based on comments from classmates or students in older grades and schools they have looked at. Older student may just LOVE Mega Huge State U but never really gets into details about why. Younger student gets the impression that it’s “THE” school because Older Student loves it…until they get on campus. DD came with us on a college visit that DS was going on, she was very reluctant to go and was actually kind of a brat about going. 30 minutes into the tour, it bumped up to #2 on her list. Her reason for not liking the school, too many kids from our high school go there–which is fair–but the positives of that school outweighed that. Now, it has fallen off her list again as the program for her intended major isn’t as strong as other schools she has looked at.</p>
<p>I don’t get the LAC love either, but then, I’m a westerner and we don’t have much of an LAC tradition “out here.” </p>
<p>I’ve met too many kids who felt that they grew out of their LACs long before graduation; all too often, I hear words such as ‘too small’ ‘incestuous’ and ‘limiting’ describe their dissatisfaction. Our closest friend is a professor at a highly regarded but somewhat remote east coast LAC, he says on campus boredom is one reason so many of his students do a semester/year abroad in their junior year, and sees many kids feeling disconnected and certainly not $50,000-a year-worth of ‘happy’ by the time they’re seniors. </p>
<p>That said, it IS an individual decision. Some people thrive in being a small fish in a big pond; others prefer it to be a small nurturing pond. Vive la difference, I say.</p>
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<p>Hhhmmm … my ‘ex’ went to a very highly regarded east coast LAC and she did a year and a half abroad.</p>
<p>Interesting thought. I’ll have to ask her.</p>
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<p>Very funny scout. The quirky accountant is quite an image. 
Now maybe someone could do the same for the equally vague and overused descriptor, preppy.</p>
<p>I couldn’t generalize about LACs any more than I could generalize about research universities – they have different personalities, different academic levels, different environments. </p>
<p>I went to a mega-sized State University. I received a fine education, but it was the wrong choice for the person I was at 17. [What I wouldn’t give for the chance to do it again older and wiser!]</p>
<p>My son went to a small, insular, academically rigorous but highly social LAC. It fit him like a glove and because of the experience and connections doors continue to open. He’s now doing graduate work at a large private university and says he’d take the LAC route again in a heartbeat.</p>
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<p>In addition to what Haystack said: Kirksville is pretty isolated, so I would think it’s tough to get away for weekends. All the major Missouri population centers would be significant drives.</p>
<p>We’re also looking at Truman; DD has been admitted and right now it’s at the top of her list, although she’s still deciding. The price is right - COA about $21K OOS, a couple thousand less if you live in a Midwest Student Exchange state.</p>
<p>Annasdad–the tuition is very reasonable there. With the midwest exchange it is less than instate tuition/room/board here. Even without it the OOS tuition is only $2000 more than the state schools and $1000 less than the flagship school here. We will have to go look for sure but our kids like more remote areas. They aren’t into the big “urban” experience at all. If the campus has enough to do on weekends, they will be fine. It’s a “reasonable” driving distance to their Grandparent’s house too so that is a bonus. A 3 hour drive to them is nothing. We do several 3 hour day trips around here (out and back in the same day-3 hours each way).</p>
<p>As for the study abroad question–I don’t know anyone that did a study abroad because they were bored on campus. They did the study abroad for the experience. We have told the kids that they will do some kind of study abroad program. For DD it might have to be a short trip in the summer but she will do ‘something’. DS will have more flexibility.</p>
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<p>It’s all about perspective, I think. For my D, who grew up in a town a tenth the size of Kirksville, the size of the town is not a deal-breaker. For a kid who grew up in the Chicago 'burbs, it’s going to feel pretty isolated. What? No Bed Bath & Beyond? No Hobby Lobby? No Chili’s? A big night out is dinner at the Country Kitchen?</p>
<p>Once again, some posters think the only choices are polar opposites- either a “big urban experience” or a remote area. Ever hear of a decent sized college town? Or a non-urban feeling campus within a city (e.g. Rice or Vanderbilt)? Shockingly, there is middle ground between Sewanee or St. Benedict and Penn/Columbia! I actually think Bloomington, Indiana is a perfect college town. Big enough to have what you need but not a big city.</p>
<p>annasdad–I guess we have to define “small”. I just looked up the population of Kirksville–to me “small” would be 1000-2000 people, it’s 17,000 people in Kirksville. That will be plenty big for them :). </p>
<p>Bloomington, IN would be WAY too big for them</p>
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<p>Plenty of suburban Chicago kids (mine included) seem to like Grinnell, which is certainly isolated. It’s all individual preference and I don’t think you can generalize.</p>
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<p>But that doesn’t apply here at all. IU-B is hardly a LAC. And that’s what this thread is about.</p>
<p>Unfortunately or not, most (not all) LACs are located in or near small towns.</p>
<p>MarkBass- What I wrote applies to the issue raised in a post about urban v. small town and the inference in several posts that small/rural = LAC. If you expect every post in a thread to be exactly on point with the OP, you are on the wrong forum! :)</p>
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<p>Agree. But I think in general, kids from very small towns like mine and mncollegemom’s are going to feel less isolated in towns of 15-20,000 than are kids who have grown up in metro areas. For my own taste, picking a college based on the size of the town where it’s located is right up there with the USNWR rankings and name of the mascot as really dumb reasons.</p>
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<p>Besides price, I really wonder what you DO consider good reasons for picking a college?</p>
<p>I can’t imagine NOT considering the surrounding town/city in a college search. For one thing town/gown relations can greatly affect the experience. For another, availability of services such as good Physical Therapy or other medical providers can be very important to students and their families. Add transportation services church communities etc. Of course you weigh all the factors. For example, Colgate isn’t in much of a town (although there was a great sushi restaurant when we visited) but there are lots of options for things to do on campus. Of course you don’t say “I want to go to Drake only because it is in Des Moines!” but why would not consider the location? I know I would have been miserable in the middle of New York City (or even Philadelphia), but it’s the dream location for many students!</p>
<p>Actually, my D DID use location as a primary filter during her college search, and she is far from dumb.</p>
<p>Somehow, as a high school senior, she already knew that she wanted to study business in a large urban area that would afford her job opportunities upon graduation. Therefore, her college search criteria included an urban setting, the presence of a respected business school, and a good alumni network in the area. </p>
<p>You can argue, maybe, that she was too narrowly focused on jobs at an early age, or that she left no room for error if she needed/wanted to switch majors. Obviously, this kind of focus doesn’t work for everyone - but it sure worked for her. Four years later, she’s graduating on time with a job in the same urban area as her university.</p>
<p>Doesn’t sound so dumb to me.</p>
<p>On another thread there is a whole discussion about Chick-Fil-A being a deciding factor in college choice. The rationales mentioned here seem a lot more logical.</p>
<p>Oh, and D did rule out some schools because they were too small or too isolated. I tried to change her mind. We visited some really great LACs and medium-sized schools, but she just couldn’t visualize herself there. (It didn’t help when the tour guide at one such school started talking about a Friday night where students pile on a bus and drive 45 minutes to the nearest movie theater complex. I think the guide saw it as a community-building event, but my D just saw it as another reminder of the remoteness…)</p>
<p>The kid needs to decide based on which UG fits the best to his persoanlity and wide range of interests. Parent input here is very limited except maybe to help planning financial side and future goals (researching job market after college graduation, financing UG/Grad school). LAC / no LAC/ Ivy / Elite / Ranking is very important to some and paly NO role in decision making in other cases. We did not care, we made appropriate input and let our D. decide. She made a great decision that lead her to achieve her ultimate goal. But every family situation is different, I came accross very immature high schoolers, so basically you are the only one who can make decision based on your personal assessment of your family situation.
I can only share the fact that all 4 of us (my H., me, our S. and D.) went to state UG’s and were fine with that. Thank goodness, 3 are employed and one is in Med. School. We end up paying only one tuition (for our S.), which is a blessing. Not having student loans is great! More so if there is a plan to go to Grad. School.</p>
<p>LACs are sickeningly liberal.</p>
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<p>I’ll direct you to the research:</p>
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<p>Cue the CC chorus: “Oh, but my kid’s top-whatever has all those things! And the no-good state school down the street doesn’t.” Sorry - no correlation with prestige or selectivity or resources.</p>
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<p>The kid is going to be there for four years. Most of that time is going to be spent on campus, with fellow members of the college community.</p>
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<p>Obviously, if a student has special medical needs, that changes the equation.</p>