<p>^^I wouldn’t worry too much about that. WVU’s acceptance rate is 85 percent according to Collegeboard.com, and out of 16,079 applicants, 13,713 were admitted and 4,913 enrolled. He’s not keeping anything from anybody. </p>
<p>You have kind of set up a disaster here. Comparing WVU and Bloomsburg really isn’t fair. One is a comparatively rich, popular, state flagship with professional-quality athletics, and a ton of resources. The other is a no-frills, underfunded former teacher’s college in the middle of nowhere. (Not that Morgantown is the middle of somewhere, exactly, but there’s a big difference between being a 40-minute drive from Pittsburgh and being a 40-minute drive from Wilkes-Barre.) West Virginia is a college people aspire to; no one grows up dreaming of maybe going to Bloomsburg one day. People go there for a reason – they can afford it, they live in the area and don’t want to leave, there’s something specific there for them, they weren’t accepted anyplace else.</p>
<p>You have communicated pretty effectively to us why your son is going to Bloomsburg, so I bet he has gotten the message, too: He’s not good enough to deserve West Virginia. Unlike his brother. He COULD go there, but he doesn’t have his stuff together enough to invest that much money on his education.</p>
<p>That’s not a really positive story.</p>
<p>It sounds like he buys into it, too. He clearly wishes he could go to West Virginia, but it sounds like he may not want the pressure of having to justify the expense, or to suffer the consequences of failure.</p>
<p>You, of course, feel guilty about that because . . . well, you should. There’s no shame, none at all, in sending him to Bloomsburg if that’s all the family can afford, and if he has a solid plan for success there, an idea of how it leads to a great future. But neither of those elements seems to be true here. At the same time, I have to credit (as your son seems to) your intuition that, in fact, he is likely to founder some and to waste time in college, which will be easier to take if he does it at Bloomsburg. You are making a judgment about him, and it’s a harsh judgment, so you feel bad about it.</p>
<p>What should you do? This really isn’t a college question. You can guilt-trip yourself into sending him to West Virginia, but that could blow up in everyone’s face as much as the current option if your son, as everyone seems to expect, has trouble getting traction, and suffers from the pressure of knowing that he’s letting everyone down and wasting money. You can stay the course with Bloomsburg and guarantee some therapist somewhere a college education for HIS kid.</p>
<p>More than anything else, I think you and your son need some kind of vision or narrative of how he is going to be successful at the place you (all) decide he should go. You probably ought to find a way to send him positive messages that, frankly, I am missing here, and to help him develop a plan for becoming the kind of person he wants to be. He can have that plan at Bloomsburg, and he can have it – maybe a different “it” – at West Virginia. But if he doesn’t have it, neither place is going to make him, or you, happy.</p>
<p>You say you are having “last minute doubts” but your post sounds like you had doubts all along.</p>
<p>Why did your son choose Bloomsburg over WVU?</p>
<p>Bloomsburg isn’t a BAD school but it’s not outstanding either. Quite a few of my friends and co-workers went there and they all know one another and have all remained friends over many years. A lot of students interested in Education as a major go there and I have had a few graduate assistants/interns in my office that came from Bloom. It does have a party school rep, and probably the thing they are most known for is Block Party. Google search it. It’s notorious. </p>
<p>Time for a heart to heart with your son and make a decision! I hope you figure things out and he ends up where he is happy! </p>
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<p>WVU is popular, I’ll grant you. But seriously, in what universe is it, or anything else even remotely connected with West Virginia, comparatively rich? Besides Jay Rockefeller? And the football team’s professional quality was definitely called into question last season. </p>
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<p>In my experience, very few people outside of those from this area, many of whom have never been exposed to anything else, aspire to go to West Virginia University. All the things you wrote about Bloomsburg, I could have written about WVU. </p>
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<p>Another thing I could have written about WVU. One can get a decent education there, but there’s really nothing special about it.</p>
<p>It seems to me that YOU, the parent are the one driving all of this. Student has no clue, doesn’t really care. You aren’t just getting last minute doubts either, from what you’ve said in your original post as Thumper points out and you know the score as well as anyone, in fact better than most people, about WVU. That you’ve double deposited, indicates to me that you’ve been having this as a running argument in your own mind for a while now, and you went along with Bloomsburg because it cost less and your student had no strong opinion. probably still doesn’t. </p>
<p>So, you are running the show here, so do as you please. I don’t think your student cares. As someone else here posted, the two schools are quite different categorically, so comparing is difficult. I know some folks who did very well coming from PA directional state colleges, Slippery Rock, Clarion, and some others. In fact if you want to be a teacher in PA, that’s probably the way to go. But if it bothers you so much, and your kid doesn’t care, make the change.</p>
<p>Op,
JHS eloquently said what I was thinking.
I presume the your son has no scholarships or financial aid at either college. I also presume that the tuition is lower at bloomsburg. Maybe to smaller amount of funds is what makes bloomsburg seem rather disorganized?</p>
<p>I understand the guilt thing of wanting your DS attend WVU like his sib, but if he has not “earned it” with hard work, he really may have some difficulties there. It’s not only getting admitted but also graduating. If he does well at bloomsburg then he can always transfer. Kids mature at different ages. Or you can just spend the extra money on WVu and be guilt free. It seems like you, op, prefer WVU, so you could just spend the money to make yourself feel better. But you need to make sure that you are not enabling any lazy behavior. And he will need a support system for him. </p>
<p>Maybe a reward system (start at bloomburg and if gpa is above a certain threshold, he can transfer to WVu) would be a good idea?</p>
<p>Is the waffling because your kid’s father? Or based on older sib’s experience at WVU?</p>
<p>Regardless, It’s definitely a tough decision. </p>
<p>Op, why have you kept the WVU option opened ?</p>
<p>I am not sure I see that OP deserves all the blame being heaped on her. She articulated quite well in the original post why she was second guessing Bloomsburg, and just asked for others who might have experience with the school to comment. Her S really doesn’t seem to care so what is she supposed to do? </p>
<p>I think parents with children that are either unmotivated or won’t drive the college application process are in a very tough position. Their adult experience gives them the knowledge that college choice can be critical to a child’s success at a school, but they have a child that doesn’t fully grasp that and is taking a “back seat” in the whole process. I have a relative in the same situation and I can tell you they are frustrated beyond belief. The OP is essentially a “bubble in a briar patch” here. </p>
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<p>Why would you let him attend a school you dislike so much?</p>
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<p>Since your son seems to prefer WVU and you dislike Bloomsburg so much, why not let him attend WVU? You put a deposit down, so I gather it’s affordable. Did I read correctly that you have another son already attending WVU? If so, not allowing this child to go there may cause problems between them later on. Even if that’s not the case, it’s unfair to your son to let him apply to a school you can afford, get accepted, send a deposit even, then force him to go to a less expensive school that, according to you, has nothing good to recommend it except its cost.</p>
<p>Very well put.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that Bloomsburg is a state college, and will not give you the same impression as a private university or a large university. It’s not an elite university by any stretch of the imagination, but does have a good reputation. When you compare it to WVU and Jacksonville, you are comparing apples and oranges. That being said, I would not hesitate to send my child to Bloomsburg. You will get a lot of bang for your buck.</p>
<p>It’s a bit baffling reading some of the posts here. I am currently an undergrad at Bloomsburg and it does have a great reputation among employers…well at least the business school does. I am going to be a junior and recently interned for a fortune 100 tech company and now have a job lined up after graduation. That said, there is not a single intern at this massive company that is from WVU. Sure WVU is massive, but hell, I think it goes without saying that it’s reputation is not the best in the business community. </p>
<p>I’m satisfied with my education at Bloom and my employer was too. But let your son decide where he wants to go…It’s his life and future. </p>