I would go to the same Jesuit school. It has served me very well. However I would have dropped the HS boyfriend sooner and had more of a social life on campus. I was so focused on getting my degree that the social part of college was not a priority for me. Those social skills would have served me well when I entered the working world.
I would attend the same local college as I have attended and try again, make my employers to pay for my education.
Just a clarification: UVa’s Echols program has never been an honors college. For decades, it has continued to offer flexibility in some general ed requirements and some preference in registering for classes, among other benefits, but it does not offer any separate classes.
Any of the 4 I applied to / got into would have been just fine and I’m sure I would have enjoyed them all. They would have set me on different paths, that’s all. (The 4 were Penn, Georgetown, NU and WashU.) I didn’t look at colleges in Boston, though, and I probably should have.
If cost had not been an issue, I would have likely attended Earlham College in Indiana.
I never even applied, because I knew I could not afford both private school and living away from home, even with financial and merit aid… It was the school I really wanted though, and I probably would have been admitted.
However - I ended up at both University of Evansville (another LAC and I commuted from home); then transferred to Indiana U.
I really loved IU, and made lifelong friends there. I doubt I would have ended up in Chicago and met my husband if I’d gone to Earlham. So I don’t regret at all the path I ended up taking.