<p>We toured Colby last week with son #2 and my husband says that Colby was a school he was strongly encouraged to attend when he was young, but he woefully declined to consider it. We both really loved Colby and the kids we encounted. My husband said if he had a "do-over" Colby would have been IT. On the way home we stopped at Middlebury only because it is MY "do-over" school and I wanted to see if I was still "in love" with it 30 years later...I was. Gosh it's fun to do these college tours. I'm glad I have one more son to do it with. Too bad we can't go back and "do it again" compared to life...college was easy peasy.</p>
<p>I never applied to Princeton because I thought it would be full of rich, super-smart kids and I wouldn’t fit in. I never even went to look and see if my pre-conceived ideas were correct. They even called me and asked me to apply! Of course this was way back in the day, before 10% admission rates… I loved my school, but I’ll always wonder if I could have gotten into Princeton and what my life would be like if I had gone there.</p>
<p>So I guess Princeton would be my do-over.</p>
<p>You know, after all the colleges we visited with my daughter, I still like my alma mater the best. I cannot imagine anywhere else would have been better. “Do over” husbands? Well, that’s a different story! Just kidding, dear.</p>
<p>William and Mary would be my “do-over” school.</p>
<p>When I toured William and Mary with my daughter, I fell in love with it. She didn’t – and she was right not to; it would have been the wrong school for her. But it was exactly what I was looking for and didn’t find thirtysomething years ago. At the college I did attend (Cornell), I always felt that I was a little out of my league, both socially and academically. I was a bit too nerdy and unsophisticated for that campus, and I was hardworking rather than brilliant. At William and Mary, I would have fit in much better than I did at Cornell.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, in those days I lived in Connecticut, and Virginia schools just weren’t on my radar screen.</p>
<p>I never even considered UW, because I graduated in the deep recession in Seattle in the 70’s, and my parents would have urged me to live at home.<br>
Wait, that’s not a better scenerio - no do-overs for me!</p>
<p>I can’t really complain about my complacency in choosing a school, because I’ve met many wonderful people taking “the road MORE traveled.” And if I’d known what I was doing back then I’d have looked at far more schools than I did. That said, among the schools that were on my radar “way back then” I’d have to say that Stevens Institute of Technology would be my do-over school. It was a far more prominent engineering school back then, and I’m sure my life would have been TOTALLY different had I attended there — not better necessarily, but very very different for sure.</p>
<p>I loved W&M and it was perfect for me but I have been to Pomona/Claremont McKenna and it looked like one of the best places to go to school. No complaints but I think I would have loved Pomona too.</p>
<p>If I had a do-over , I wish I had been coherent for some extended period of time between 1972 and 1979 (last two years of high school-college-lawschool).</p>
<p>lol curm, you must have been somewhat coherent - you got through whatever you were enrolled you were in…</p>
<p>My do-over is a variant of Curm’s. I loved my college. If I could do it over I would approach it so incredibly differently. As with many, my college years took place far too early and I was way too immature to appreciate them.</p>
<p>Laflum, my H regrets not applying to Princeton too. In his day, he was considered unusual in that he applied to more than 3 schools. So was I. Most of the kids applied one school, in fact. I applied to 6/7. I wish I had applied to LACs, particularly some of the women’s schools. I think they would have been a much better fit for me. But you could not have told me that then.</p>
<p>I went to a giant university undergrad and a very small law school. The small experience was better. If I had a do over, I would have gone to a small college or medium sized university…a woman’s college like Bryn Mawr, or Pomona or Rice, perhaps. </p>
<p>I had a chance to go to a smaller college, but chickened out and went to the local giant university and lived at home. I sometimes wonder how my life would have been different had I gone away to college…but then I really like how my life has turned out–can’t imagine giving up any of it (except the excess weight).</p>
<p>OP, Great topic! As with others on this thread, I loved my undergrad experience (Syracuse) and would not want to change it. However, if I had to do it over again, I would consider schools in warmer climates (read: University of Hawaii at Hilo). I must say that during college visits with DD, I really liked the feel of the Stanford Campus, and as we walked around campus, it did cross my mind that I would have loved it there.</p>
<p>Oh a do-over!</p>
<p>I would go to Cornell. In a heartbeat. Of course, if it had been possible financially my parents would have beamed me right up there. So the do-over has to include being able to re-do the finances – and it also has to include having a clue at 15 that top notch grades might make a real difference.</p>
<p>As to other do-overs – I’ll just say that if I’d had the wisdom (and I suppose the fore-knowledge) at 20 and 25 that I do now – there’s a lot of things that would be different. I bet a lot of us can say that!</p>
<p>I was given the choice of 2 schools: Stanford or Berkeley. But my parents said that they would only pay for Berkeley. That was back in the day when you could apply to only 1 school If I had a “do-over” I would consider any other colleges. I would do better research and not let my parents dictate where I went. I sure wouldn’t go to Berkeley.</p>
<p>I would definitely take a “do-over”. Being one of the early women at ND was not always ideal and I always regretted not attending a college in a more urban area. Sometimes I wonder if I should have attended UMich with the other 80% of my HS graduating class. So far in the college search with my kids I have not yet stumbled upon a “dream school”, but I’m sure it’s out there. Disregarding my undergraduate major (which is not offered at many schools) Yale comes the closest; and I did like Brown…</p>
<p>I did not make the right college choice, although I have good memories of IU and don’t complain (I graduated in 3 years), but I think I would have found more intellectual challenge at a LAC or more selective university. I started as a music performance major (that didn’t last long) which was why I chose IU. Not sure I could have gotten in, but Rice (D’s alma mater) sure appeals to me as does Williams.</p>
<p>Would not change anything. When I went to Wisconsin it was at the center of student based political movements, had a great film and live music scene, top notch faculty, and a very free and open attitude about all things. Add a very amazing campus and great night life for a college town and it was perfect. Few schools could compare back then.</p>
<p>Harvard grad here. I loved Harvard and loved everything about it. I also loved the fact that it was 20 minutes from home. If I had a do-over, I might have considered Rice. S is a student at Rice, and I love the campus, the surrounding area, the mild climate. Back in the 70’s, I didn’t have the nerve to travel so far from home. </p>
<p>Since then, I’ve come to love Rice as a kinder, gentler Harvard. It’s every bit as challenging academically, but a little more nurturing.</p>
<p>My do over would have been Harvard or Yale. Don’t get me wrong–I love my college days. They were transformative. However, I think I sold my self short by not stretching to go Ivy. It was a money thing too. I remember looking at the Harvard tuition and being too embarrassed to ask my parents to cough up that kind of money. In the end I chose a school that was only slight less expensive so even that was not a true barrier. Who knows I think I was just a big chicken who would not risk the rejection so I didn’t apply.</p>