<p>*I would do it this way. Make sure an early application is in - EA, ED, SCEA. By Dec 15th, if the answer is yes. Then for get about the state school. If the answer is not. You should be very easy to convience your child then that a safety is needed. *</p>
<p>Uhhh…that can be too late in some cases. For Calif publics, waiting to apply until after ED/EA decisions come out will miss their app deadlines.</p>
<p>Also, for many schools that have scholarships, applying after Dec 1 is too late.</p>
<p>*I got nothing against any state schools. However, some kids just do not want to go there. *</p>
<p>and…when KIDS are paying, then they will have the luxury of living out their dreams of not going to a public U. </p>
<p>I’m curious…do you have the same opinion about affluent parents sending their kids to public K-12?</p>
<p>m2ck, you are right about the deadlines. I have totally forgot all about those.</p>
<p>As to the financial aspect, highly endowned private colleges actually could help handle parent’s financial setbacks much better. In many cases, it costs less to attend one of those schools that state public schools. I know at least two cases. :)</p>
<p>Don’t know any “affluent parents” so I have no opinion about them sending their kids to public K-12.</p>
<p>Easy solution–Wisconsin-Madison. Great campus in a great college town with a Vet school on campus, 35% OOS including many from NJ, reasonable OOS tuition and excellent academics–especially in life sciences, animal sciences major or top zoology dept which also is good prep for vet school. </p>
<p>I would not lose hope. Last year when my son was a junior we toured Rutgers and he hated it. He liked the idea of a large state school, just not his own state school. He applied (along with U Maryland, UDel, UConn and some other privates) and was shocked and flattered when he received the Presidential Scholarship. We went back for a presentation on the Honors program where he was able to speak to other Honors students and he was sold. He is so happy and excited about going to Rutgers I can’t believe it. He even walks around the house singing their theme song.</p>
This is insulting to state schools and to students on so many levels. There are many wonderful flagship state universities with wonderful programs that are extremely competitive and difficult to get into. I have a friend whose son turned down Harvard (yes Harvard) for a wonderful fellowshp at a flagship state school (not his state of residence). There are certainly some flagship U’s that are less challenging than others, and certainly within each state, the range of quality of state schools does vary, but to make a sweeping insulting overgeneralization that devalues all state schools is just rude. I doubt students at, for example, UVA, UNC-CH Hill, UW-Madison, UIUC, William and Mary, GA Tech, Michigan, U of Fla, UCLA or Berkeley feel that way. Good grief.</p>
<p>Thanks, jym. As the mother of two students who attended an excellent public university, I too found the original comment tactless. Dad II, although you gave a disclaimer about “the many wonderful state schools” and their “many students with excellent stats,” your concluding statement (“However, some kids just do not want to go to the same school with the kids who never finish one home work in HS”) was biased and unsupported by [what most folks would recognize as] reality. And it wouldn’t surprise me if, even at those fabled top 20 schools, students exist who didn’t do their homework in high school. :rolleyes: </p>
<p>And this statement -
is potentially harmful to families whose definition of “good stats” and “rich” may differ from yours.</p>
<p>I was just speaking to someone yesterday whose son turned down Harvard to go to our state flagship’s honors college. He loves it at the honors college. He gets all sorts of personalized attention and research opportunities he would never get at Harvard. The stats for the honors college are as high as any Ivy and many of the kids there got into HYP et al. There are good reasons for top students to choice a flagship, not the least is money.</p>
<p>I heard the Dean at that same honors college speak this weekend and he told of a student who turned down Harvard to attend the honors college. This boy is graduating next month and has been accepted to both Harvard Medical School and Stanford’s. Evidently, both these schools think that someone with a flagship UG education is worthy of admission to their esteemed medical schools.</p>
<p>momlive
The sudent I am referring to, who turned down Harvard for the Fellowship at a flagship U is also graduating this year. During one of his summers he interned for a senator. Barack Obama.</p>
<p>some kids just do not want to go to the same school with the kids who never finish one home work in HS.
*</p>
<p>This is insulting to state schools and to students on so many levels. *</p>
<p>I completely agree!!!</p>
<p>BTW…the kids who never did homework in high school, will likely flunk out quickly in college…so they’ll soon be gone. (BTW…it’s quite the statement of the quality of your kids’ high schools if such students graduate with grades good enough to get into a flagship…hmmmmm.)</p>
<p>I remember some of those uber smart kids who never seemed to do their homework, but somehow often set the curve on exams. If they are the ones who ended up at state flagships, maybe they are the smart ones in many ways ;)</p>
<p>NJ’s budget has been a mess for 15+ years and has been propped up with one-time cash infussion, including ‘selling’ part of the NJ Turnpike. Like many other governments & corporations, they promised juicy pension benefits to employees but failed to fund them. This was a ticking time bomb. The combination of the decline of the financial markets and current low interest rates has ignited this bomb.</p>
<p>My dad was a NJ state employee and I get quite queasy thinking about what would happen if the pension system implodes for my parents. My BIL is a fireman & Ds godfather is a trooper & though we’re out of state now, I’ve been trying to keep up with the news in those arenas too. They’re both close to retirement & it sounds like Christie wants to change the rules.</p>
<p>If I say that some kids just do not like eating meat. Is that insulting to those who eat meat? Or is that an insult to meat?</p>
<p>Other than handful of super public schools. Most of other state schools are not that selective. Is that a fact? SOME kid work their A** off to take AP classes and get good grade etc. SOME of them do not want to go to the same school where 1/2 of the class , figuretively speaking, is going. Why is that insulting to anyone? </p>
<p>In any case, I am presenting my point of view based on what I know. You are welcome to present your side too.</p>
<p>Surely you dont equate a neutral statement with a derogatory insult? Then again, maybe you do.</p>
<p>My kids didnt want to go to a large public U, and one of our flagship Us is occasionally (jokingly) referred to as “13th grade”. How often, really, does someone run into a handful of former classmates at a school of 30,000 students? But that is besides the point. Ths isnt what you said. If that was what you had said, that some kids hon’t want to go to a flagship U where they think they’ll run into many former classmates, posters wouldnt be reacting the way they are. The implication that the flagship U’s are for slackers who dont do their work is rude and insulting. Why dont you just apologize?</p>
<p>JYM, I know you just want to pick a fight. </p>
<p>So, had I put your list
in my disclaimer, you will be o.k.? I don’t recall seeing OP talking about any schools on your list.</p>
<p>I said very clearly that I got nothing againt any state schools in my disclaimer.
Did you see the first line there? </p>
<p>
that is not at all what I meant. You are putting words in my mouth. I did not insult any one so I got nothing to apologize for.</p>
<p>I have talked to HS seniors - some will pick state school over private and some do the other way. I am just presenting one side of the story per the dicussion of OP.</p>
<p>I remember some of those uber smart kids who never seemed to do their homework, but somehow often set the curve on exams. If they are the ones who ended up at state flagships, maybe they are the smart ones in many ways</p>
<p>Yes, I know the type, but I still think there’s something wrong with a grading system that allows such kids to still emerge with a GPA high enough for their flagship U. </p>
<p>My son had a classmate that was like this. Perfect SAT, very smart, refused to do homework. Thankfully, the school’s grading system was such that even if you got perfect test scores, if you didn’t do the homework, you couldn’t get higher than a C - because you had too many F’s in the grade book and homework was heavily weighted for grades. </p>
<p>There is something wrong with a school that allows students to ignore homework, but still emerge with GPAs good enough for flagships. That isn’t preparing them for real life. Imagine having a job where you still got the great pay, but you could ignore your daily work, and only do some required test every few weeks. Soon, all the employees would stop doing the daily work because the outcome (money) would be the same.</p>
<p>If I say that some kids just do not like eating meat. Is that insulting to those who eat meat? Or is that an insult to meat?</p>
<p>No, because those are neutral decisions. However, when you include choices that smack of elitism, snobbiness, and such, the impact changes.</p>
<p>If I say I prefer wearing red dresses over blue dresses, I’m not insulting those who prefer blue dresses. however, if I were to say that I only prefer dresses from Saks rather than - say - Penneys - because that where many of my classmates shop, that smacks of elitism.</p>
<p>Frazzled1 addressed your “disclaimer” dadII. I have no interest in “picking a fight”, so sorry to disappoint you, as you do not “know” that. Your comment was offensive to many posters. It would be so nice if you could consider that.</p>
<p>Maybe it is not what you meant, but it is what you said. Why do people think that when they say “I dont mean to offend anyone, but…” and then they say something offensive, that they think its ok to be offensive. You could simply say you were sorry if your comments offended anyone. I think many would appreciate that.</p>