Glad he’s had a good first year!
FWIW, I turned down Amherst for … drum roll please … Rutgers! Yes, Rutgers. In my case it was a financial decision - $0 vs. $50K in 1980s dollars, with about 70% of that being loans for me to repay.
I found my peeps, had great professors, learned a lot, and got into great grad schools. I’d make the same choice again.
I turned down USC for community college, then local state U. My life would have been completely different from how it has turned out if I had gone to USC. Because I went to CC, I was allowed to flounder around, take lots of time off to travel, and eventually get my act together. I spent six years getting a degree. I wasn’t ready to get serious about college, so what a waste of dad’s hard earned money that would have been.
To be fair, I never applied to USC in the first place, but it was the only college dad ever expressed interest in me attending. And there was no way I was interested in that, because, duh, it’s where dad and mom went. I ended up being the only kid in the family to get a degree, so I don’t think he is disappointed anymore.
@greeninohio “I can’t help but wonder if a little financial pressure would motivate him a little more.”
I went to MSU, but completely understand your modest disappointment in your son choosing MSU.
Whether your son works this summer is not critical, but I would challenge him to make an effort to line up a research assistant position for next year. He can get a Northwestern or Amherst quality education at MSU if he is willing to take the initiative. A good research experience would be a good step.
@greeninohio thank you for the update. Very interesting thread. I’m on kid #2 and he usually doesn’t seem to listen to me much about college, unlike kid #1. [#1 listened but ultimately chose Cal over UCSB, even though I was very nervous about Cal for her (academic pressure, urban environment etc). She ended up doing very well there and now has a great job and is happy.]
Balancing giving input vs letting them make their own decision is a very tricky balancing act and can be totally different from one kid to the next.
Update #2. Perfect GPA for Fall Semester. Ironic that buyer’s remorse now might be partly related to football and basketball.
Nice. Perfect GPA is quite an accomplishment.
@Consolation whoa-- what’s wrong with GVSU? Yikes
Horrified is a rather extreme reaction about choosing between MSU and Northwestern…
@toommanyteens, this conversation is so old that I have no idea what you are referring to.
ETA: searched through the posts that are almost 2 years old at this point.
What is wrong with GVSU? Well, maybe nothing if your goal is vocational. My young relatives who are going there were rejected from Michigan State, which was the comparison I was making. Maybe you should ask THEM why they thought MSU was a better school.
The one person I know who actually went there back in the day thought the place was lousy . I think the state has invested a lot in it since then and it has significantly improved.