Help Me!!!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>As evidenced by my high post count in just a few days on these forums, I have been working overtime for the past month or so researching colleges and putting together a master list of 25ish colleges I would like to visit, to be pared down to eight-ten or so to apply to.</p>

<p>The list was awesome. All were in the northeast/great lakes regions, all were good schools (to varying degrees) with a solid economics program. Other than that, there was great diversity. I had some big schools in there, some small...some reaches, matches, and some safeties...some rural and some urban...some leftist and some more conservative. Great.</p>

<p>Now my mom is telling me to forget about all the work I've done!!! She claims that I need to attend a school with "name recognition" to get myself a good job right out of college. This means that Macalester, Oberlin, Denison, Kenyon, and Carleton are out of the picture...these are all LAC's that I "discovered" and was excited about visiting and seeing what a small school is like!</p>

<p>What's most ridiculous is that while the above are no good, Colby and Bowdoin are fine because they have "name recognition"! This is ridiculous because they are just as acclaimed as Carleton, Oberlin, etc. but my mom in particular has just happened to have heard about these schools beforehand. She's letting her preconceived notions get in the way!</p>

<p>Additionally, she won't let me apply to schools that I consider "safeties" and she considers "worthless": Syracuse, Rochester, Boston U., American, etc. I think she's overestimating my talent (Quote: "I'm not paying X dollars to send you to (condescendingly) AMERICAN...")</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins and Chicago are no good because she's paranoid and has heard some things about the neighborhoods...I have learned it's not that bad and you never know until you at least visit. I did visit GW, in a fantastic area of DC, and she said THAT neighborhood was sketchy. Brown to her is a "party school" so she won't let me check that out either.</p>

<p>This leaves me with essentially Ivy League (minus Brown and "too snooty" Harvard :( )/Near-Ivy Equivalent (NWestern, Carnegie Mellon) or bust, aka Rutgers...a school I desperately want to avoid.</p>

<p>How do I convince her:
-That LAC's have their advantages
-Name recognition is not that important when you're going to grad school afterwards (or is it?)
-To have an open mind when visiting schools
-To give her son a safety net he'd be willing to fall into</p>

2

<p>Buy Yale's Insider's Guide to Colleges and Fiske's Guide to Colleges and have her read up on the small LACs you mentioned. Also, Loren Pope's Looking Beyond the Ivy League. These books will all sing accolades about the small LACs you mentioned, and for those who matter they know these schools and you can go far with a degree from any one. Oberlin, Kenyon, and Carleton are all as "well-known" in my book as Colby and right up there w/ Bowdoin (but man does Bowdoin have great food...).
1. LACs are great b/c you get personalized att'n
Have her talk to soneone who knows, like a grad school admin person at a grad school that impresses her.
2. Grad schools know them well as any admin person you talk to would attest
3. Take her to Denison and she'll be impressed just by the beauty of the campus
4 Apply to some on your own w/o her knowledge, using either your chking acct or dad's credit card.</p>

3

<p>I can understand your mom's feelings on the LAC part, but don't let her discourage your from JHU, Chicago, Brown, and Harvard.</p>

4

<p>this sounds EXACTLY like my mom... after months of fighting over the exact same things she finally gave up and told me to apply to wherever I want but to not bother her with college anymore.... works for me... we never did get around to visiting any schools though... </p>

<p>My advice is hang tough, and to apply to wherever you want. Like Charlie's World said, borrow your dad's credit card or pay with your own money... once you get into your schools the argument becomes much more one sided in your favor. Good luck</p>

5

<p>You might try showing her the US News & World Report rankings. Also, somewhere on these boards someone has tables showing PhD production rates - Carleton is near the top, and I think Oberlin and Kenyon are equally impressive.</p>

<p>I'm a Carleton parent (quickly approaching troll status), and my D chose Carleton over several northeast LACs.</p>

6

<p>Try to work out a compromise with your mom - you'll apply to two schools for her, but she has to let you apply to the others that you want. Be strong - if you hold strong to your position, you can wear down her opposition to a state of indifference, which is all you need to apply. You won't get her to change her mind until you actually attend one of those LACs and make a success of it.</p>

7

<p>Thanks guys. I appreciate it.</p>

<p>I've got my work cut out for me. I've always been more type-B than type-A and she's a lawyer...</p>

8

<p>Macalester and Kenyon were named in Newsweek's 25 New Ivies. If that does not impress your "brand conscious" mother, I do not know what else will. I agree with the suggestions by Charlie's World. </p>

<p>I can attest that Kenyon is absolutely amazing. I was there for Kenyon Review's Young Writer's program. It is beautiful. I was very impressed after the two weeks of living there. I really wish the best of luck to you! If she is not convinced about Kenyon, it is a free app, just do not tell her!</p>