<p>Christian Science Monitor article addresses the issues of best fit since the myth of "the best" versus "the rest" in the pecking order of college prestige is alive and well among students and parents. "And this hierarchy, which drives many conversations, does little to help high school students discern what's really best for them in a college."</p>
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The thrill of impressing people with a brand-name college is rather short-lived. Going to college shouldn't be about reaching a goal framed by others, but about finding a place that can stretch you in new ways ? and there's probably more than one perfect place.
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But in 22 years of working in higher education, I've learned that some rural schools have a vibrant campus life and some urban schools lack vitality, that some small schools are easy to get lost in and some large ones create true learning communities. Size and setting tell only part of the story.
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Given the number of well-prepared PhDs in the market, many institutions have first-rate faculties who develop challenging curriculums in their fields.
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<p>I've heard it before, but it bears repeating.</p>
<p>It's all true, I agree with it almost completely, BUT...aren't they running these articles because that's what their readers want to hear, given that so many of the kids can't get IN to the big-name schools? :eek:</p>
<p>Since Grinnell has one of the largest endowments per student in the country, and likely spends well more per undergraduate student than any of the Ivies, it is not like it is a chump school.</p>
<p>Mini -- darn tootin' its what I want to hear. And we love Grinnell. I hope one of my kids ends up there. (One almost did, oh it was soooo close . . .)</p>
<p>Iowa also has many other fine colleges such as Cornell and Northwestern (No, not THAT Cornell and Northwestern . . .)</p>
<p>Grinnell is one of my son's first choice schools and he'd certainly be in the ballpark for any school in the country. None of the Ivies sounded like good fits to him (Brown was the closest) and for one reason or another, Amherst, Williams and Swarthmore didn't sound like home either. So he applied to places like Reed, Carleton, Grinnell where he felt he could be intellectually challenged and socially comfortable. It's not that pleasant when people say they've never heard of these schools or imply they are "second best". I know these people are misinformed, but I still don't like it. Oh, well. I know my son will make a choice that's good for him. If he thought Harvard was better than Carleton, he'd have applied to Harvard. For him, Carleton is the better fit and the better school.</p>
<p>bethievt -- my daughter has applied to Reed, Carleton and Grinnell as well, and she was impressed by Brown as well, though she ended up not applying there (nor to Wellesley, either, which struck me when we visited as a wonderful school, but oh well). In fact, I think she prefers schools that no one around here has heard of, and in our neighborhood, one not that aware of colleges other than Stanford and the UC's, that encompasses a LOT of schools, including the school one of her brothers is attending, UChicago. I can't tell you how many people have asked me where he is going to school, and then when I mention UChicago, they ask, "Oh, do you have to pay out of state tuition?" Uh huh . . . Anyway, College of Wooster has moved way up on my daughter's list. Boy, I can just imagine the confused looks I'll get if she ends up there . . .</p>
<p>My d had the option to go to Georgetown, Clemson, James Madison Univ, U of Md, Lehigh, Loyola College in Md, and Bucknell. The list was narrowed down to Georgetown and Loyola. Ultimately, she chose Loyola. It was the right choice for her, never mind the prestige of G'town (which everyone looked at her like she was nuts for not choosing G'town). Why, because it has the program she thinks she wants to study, and her other choices, if she changes her mind. G'town did not. Academics are great at both schools, and to put it in her own words, "she'd rather work really hard and get great grades at Loyola, than work really hard and maybe only just get by at Georgetown". She also figures she will have a better shot at grad school with better grades and clinical experience (Loyola has affiliated clinics), than with not so great grades and the so-called "G'town prestige". She would have had to take extra semesters to get into grad school with G'town, and she just doesn't want the cut throat atmosphere (and by the way it would have cost us more $$, but it wasn't a factor).
Like I have read many times, the prestige factor is not all it's cracked up to be, and you shouldn't go to a school just because of it's where everyone says you should go. Your child has to find the right "fit", not the right "name".</p>
<p>My son dismissed Georgetown on a first read because of their Draconian-sounding room searches. He thought it sounded good for grad school maybe.</p>