<p>PANIC LAC OVER AN IVY??? :o</p>
<p>jk…relax just remember all the reasons you chose the LAC over the Ivy in the first place</p>
<p>WOW, Amherst is an amazing choice. I would forget about prestige issues, almost anyone who knows colleges is aware that Amherst is Ivy-caliber, and quite possibly might be one of the best college experiences in the country. If it helps I actually went to Columbia and transferred to Dartmouth. I think the lack of community in the city really got to me, I wanted a “real” college experience with a tightknit student body, great undergrad resources, etc and Dartmouth fit. Amherst will bring you much of the same benefits, and like Dartmouth the undergrad resources there are incredible. Plus, if you get bored with the student body size, you have the town of Amherst, Mass and students from all over the area. Seems like a win-win. Personally, I think you made a fantastic choice.</p>
<p>Bump. I’m a student facing a similar crisis but for different reasons and I guess I want to know if the advice would be the same. I am set to attend a top-twenty university in the fall on a full-tuition merit scholarship (I applied and received no need-based aid anywhere). The main basis for my decision was the difference in financial aid and sibling legacy–in other words it was best for my family. The decision was extremely difficult for me to make and I went back and forth multiple times because I was turning down several “Ivy-caliber” schools that I felt were better fits. However over the past few weeks it has become even more apparent that I made this decision purely for other people. My family and some friends (who’s opinions I value greatly) inadvertently pushed me to choose the financially-safe choice. Yet throughout the process my parents told me they would pay for me to go anywhere I wanted (even though it would be tough). It may have been that I didn’t believe them, but I chose the school that would be best for everyone despite passing on schools that academically and socially I adored. At this point however I am wishing I was going somewhere I truly wanted to be: for a variety of reasons. Should I look into a gap year or contact the “Ivy-caliber” schools (another issue is that there are multiple schools I’d rather be attending) or simply ‘suck it up’ and see how it goes?</p>
<p>Ah, memories. Well, this is how it’s turned out:</p>
<p><a href=“Transfer help needed! - Transfer Students - College Confidential Forums”>Transfer help needed! - Transfer Students - College Confidential Forums;
<p>NeverLetMeGo, happiness is important. It will motivate you to succeed academically and socially and help you mature into adulthood smoothly. You don’t need this baggage. In your case it sounds like we aren’t even discussing peer schools–if the T20 school were far above your other choices, the decision would be easier.</p>
<p>Have you considered discussing this with the people you’re making this sacrifice for, with your parents?</p>
<p>Just full tuition or full ride?</p>
<p>Even if it’s just tuition, we’re talking about at least a $120,000 difference between the schools. It would be nice if your parents were willing to pay, and I think they should, but it’s their money. If you’re thinking about borrowing in order to go to the no-aid school, IMHO that’s insanity. If you’re thinking about the possibliity of your parents paying, that has to be a discussion between you and them. Did they say that they would not pay, or just pressure you? Did they want you to say you chose the scholarship so they wouldn’t have to be the bad guys and say “we won’t pay”?</p>
<p>It is just a full-tuition scholarship. And my parents have paid/are paying for both my siblings to go to schools that cost the exact same as this T-20 school and the 'Ivy-caliber" schools. However they did not have the scholarship opportunities I was blessed with. However there have been other expenses that have happened since then that have made the circumstances unique Nevertheless colleges literally laughed at us when we requested financial aid. So in all honesty through talking with them I never got a true gauge on how hard it would be to pay everything. I just am unsure if I should even talk to them more if there are no real options. I just feel unhappy and jealous of students who are in love/in the process of falling in love with their designated school. (And I do realize that the school I’m set to attend is a wonderful university in general.)</p>
<p>@NeverLetMeGo: Is this T20 university Rice or Emory? If it is Rice, I am a current Rice student, and I was in a similar situation last year. I also know a lot about Emory (it was my top choice for a long time). Feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>“Slik Nik” I pm’d you. Sorry, I’m not quite ready to disclose the names of the schools I’m talking about, I’m just trying to remain as anonymous as possible until details become paramount. </p>
<p>Any other advice on what I can do at this stage in the game? I really appreciate the help.</p>
<p>You’ve been given a full scholarship to a top school and you have the audacity to complain? Think about the things that students rejected from that school would have done for that, rather then complaining that your siblings are better off.</p>
<p>I kinda agree. Instead of focusing on what you dislike about the school or what you feel you’ve been shortchanged of, focus instead on the wonderful opportunity you have, the great things about this school and how you are able to help your family. There was a similar thread about this topic not too long ago. If I can find it I’ll post a link. You can fall in love iwth your school if you’ll let got of the resentment. Really.</p>
<p>**** here’s that thread. Its a good read <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/938249-dont-understand-what-my-mom-thinking.html?[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/938249-dont-understand-what-my-mom-thinking.html?</a></p>
<p>I know how this seems but my motivation is truly not based in me being ungrateful or filled with resentment. I understand how this seems “Extemp” (is that a speech and debate reference btw?) and “jym626”. I fully understand how wonderful of an opportunity this is, especially because I look up to my siblings who did not receive the same chance. I’m asking this question simply because I don’t feel like I made the right decision. I’m not complaining or whining or pouting, I’m being honest with myself about my motivation for this decision. I chose a school that was not the best academic fit or social fit for me. There are schools ranked lower than the school I chose that I felt were better fits, so my mindset is not purely based on “rankings”. As someone who has dealt quite a bit with regret, I don’t want to regret not exploring my options, which is why I posted to ask advice. I know that if there aren’t other plausible options for my family, that I will take this scholarship humbly and gratefully and with the full intent to make the most of it. </p>
<p>I know of the principle “The school does not make the student, it’s what the student makes of the school”. But because of how convoluted this process became for me and my family, I’m just looking for an outside perspective (which “Extemp” and jym626" gave and I appreciate).</p>
<p>Our outside perspective is that you can really shift your thinking to the positive aspects of your opportunity, which is wonderful (congrats) and let go of the “what if’s”. </p>
<p>My older s attended a top 20 school, and the merit scholarship $ he got was modest. We paid a lot out of pocket. Younger s is at a good (top 50) school on a full tuition scholarship. He is happy there, and has $$ now for grad or professional school, should he choose to do that.</p>
<p>Understand that what happens seems unfair, but you have a wonderful opportunity and should be proud of your accomplishments.</p>
<p>hello1991, you chose to go to the single most incredible school in the world to attend for undergraduate school, particularly being in the ORFE program</p>
<p>you will not regret it</p>
<p>do us a favor and come back after the first semester and let us know how it is turning out.</p>
<p>congratulations!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>^ Well, Harvard and Princeton are peer schools, so the decision must not have been particularly agonizing.</p>
<p>Alright! Thanks so much for the advice jym626.</p>
<p>There are some good suggestions above. Here are a few more things to keep in mind.</p>
<p>First, you seem to be concerned about student fit. Emory, Rice, Wash U, Northwestern, and most others are all quite large. As a consequence, the student body is quite diverse at each of these schools. Go to the student organization pages at your school (its hard to find the one for Rice at the moment, but you can find a sampling of organizations for all the other schools Ive listed on college pr*wler). Northwestern, for example, has over 90 organizations listed. You should find several that interest you, and you will meet like-minded students in at least one of these clubs.</p>
<p>Second, you are to be congratulated for winning a merit scholarship at a top-20 institution. Merit scholarships often come with more than just money. Is there an advisor to the group of students who win these scholarships? Does the scholarship provide special opportunities? In any case, professors often seek these students out for early research opportunities.</p>
<p>Third, your parents are saving close to $40,000 per year. Many summer internships (even really good ones) do not pay participants much, if anything. If your parents pay tuition for you, they may want/need you to earn more money over the summer than you can in such an internship. If you pay your tuition (through the scholarship), they might be able to help you out during the summer. As a consequence, you will have more summer opportunities open to you. Thats certainly something to consider seriously. The same is true for some study abroad programs.</p>
<p>I never understand the CC queries that go like this, Should I take a full-merit scholarship at this top-20 institution, or should I pay $160000 to go to an institution of comparable quality with ivy on the walls? The schools in the 10 20 list are all wealthy institutions and they provide their students with wonderful opportunities.</p>
<p>
Rice, large? Its undergrad population is only about 3,300. Thats pretty small. Wash U’s and Emory’s undergrad population are about 7,000, and NU’s undergrad population is about 8,500. Thats considered midsize. That said, I totally agree. Most students can find their niche, their group of like-minded students at any college/university. You are right, profnomad, the list of clubs at Rice is currently hard to access, but they have more than 200 [Rice</a> University | Undergraduate Admission: Clubs and Organizations](<a href=“http://www.futureowls.rice.edu/futureowls/Clubs_and_Organizations.asp?SnID=2]Rice”>http://www.futureowls.rice.edu/futureowls/Clubs_and_Organizations.asp?SnID=2) And while some internships pay quite well ($8-10K for a summer), again, I agree with you that that doesn’t compensate for the $30-40K annual tuition costs.</p>
<p>Neverletmego- </p>
<p>Alright!! You are welcome. 
Come back in a year and tell us how you like the school</p>
<p>I agree with profnomad. Between us my husband and I have attended and taught at a four top 20 schools–two of them Ivies–two top LACs, and a top-ranked public flagship. The academic differences are minimal, especially on the undergrad level: they all recruit from the same pool of talented students, and they hire from the same pool of ambitious faculty (in my department at a public flagship, for instance, we’ve recently hired faculty away from Harvard and Princeton). All these schools offer tons of different social and extracurricular activities as well, and a degree from any one of them will set you up for the same postgraduate opportunities. So I think that too much fretting about “fit” is silly–you will find your place at any one of these excellent schools.</p>
<p>This will probably give away too much information, but I guess it’s somewhat important to the context. My other three large concerns were (that both have to do with “fit”):
- The head “mentor” of the scholarship program who recruited and has been the main communicator for the program is leaving the school. (Which students weren’t made aware of until several weeks ago.) Obviously I didn’t choose the program for him/her, but it didn’t make me feel more comfortable with my choice.
- The school I’m attending is overall a wonderful reputable institution. However many of my classmates chose the school because of how great they are in certain fields (notably hard sciences). Because I did not have a set major (and applied undecided everywhere I could) my parents and I decided that I shouldn’t pick a school for one specific department. However I very interested in the liberal arts (English, Literature, Drama, Communications) and social sciences (Anthro, Sociology, Psych) and some of the “Ivy-caliber” schools are not only bigger names but considered much stronger in these fields. Is this an foolish concern? I know some fields it does not matter where you went as long as your GPA was strong.
- The school I’m going to IS larger than I wanted. But I’m sure the scholarship program will make it feel smaller.</p>
<p>I appreciate all the responses and wonder if this impacts the advice at all…I truly appreciate all the responses and realize how blessed I am with this scholarship. I was able to do things in high school that somehow made me stand out and have been given multiple opportunities (with this scholarship and admittance to selective schools), and I don’t want to regret not asking for help.</p>
<p>As you can tell from th posts here, NLMG, there are posters here with a lot of knowledge. You are not comfortable sharing which schools you are talking about, so it id difficult to tell you what is known about the departments you mention.</p>