Turning a table on top ranked colleges, I thought it would be instructive to talk about situations where your kid was accepted to a high ranked school but rejected it for another substantially lower ranked or lower brand name college. I am not talking about rejecting UC Berkeley to attend UCLA because UCLA itself is a high ranked college; I am talking about rejecting Harvard or Georgetown to attend a community college, Virginia Tech or even UC Irvine. What were the schools, majors and the reasons? Any regrets or satisfaction over the decision? The process of convincing your kid or alternatively, your kid convincing you the parent to attend the lower brand school and reactions from people you know.
Why do you assume that in such situations, the parent would have convinced the child to attend the lower-ranked college?
It could just as easily be the other way around.
For example, I know of a situation (not in my own family) where a student chose to attend a lower-ranked college closer to home rather than a higher-ranked college on the other side of the country because of the distance. Although the student had thought that he would feel comfortable going to college 3000 miles from home, when it came down to the final decision, he decided that going so far away was not for him. The decision was entirely the student’s.
@Marian You are right. I thought of it and in fact added the reverse scenario before reading your post.
Our kid had to decide between a college ranked tops in the nation vs. one tops in his major. He agonized for all of April, but chose tops in his major. We didn’t have NPCs back then, but I suspect the lower ranked college actually cost more. In any event he graduated three years ago, did not change his major, is in his dream job. No regrets. We parents were willing to support whatever decision he made.
Both my kids chose colleges that were not the highest ranked schools they got into. It isn’t that uncommon. Higher ranking does not = better fit.
I consider no difference between schools like Harvard or Georgetown, but I would think not going to HYPSM but to Kansas State is still uncommon. One example: I know someone who wanted to go to a college that had a top program in plant science, so she chose Cornell over Harvard, but there is really not much difference between the two. I also know someone who went to Cornell over Harvard because she liked its campus more. Lol
I know a number of kids who have chosen Alabama and Oklahoma over top 20 schools because of the awesome money offered to National Merit Finalists.
My D1 academic superstar was admitted to her top two choices. One of them was a clear prize at the time and the other wasn’t even in the top 10. Parents were congratulating ME (very odd). Anyway, she revisited each school on a due diligence visit to figure out what she wanted, and made the conscious choice to attend the lower ranked school. Well the funny thing was that by the time she was a sophomore, that lower ranked school was now ranked higher than the “prize”. Parents asked me how she knew. I can assure you that the ranking had nothing to do with it, and she learned a lot about herself in making such a difficult decision. She’s had no regrets. She is now a PhD student hoping for an academic life.
A lot depends on ultimate goals. I know a student who chose USF (U South Florida) because he could be in the direct path to getting an MD instead of going to Harvard then applying to medical schools. He is saving money and has the assurance of going to medical school.
My son is . awaiting decisions, but back in the day I went to Rutgers even though I was accepted to Princeton. It was purely for financial reasons. I got a full scholarship to Rutgers and would of had to take out loans for Princeton. I graduated debt free and still got a great education. I did not regret it.
A friend’s son was admitted to Cornell on an athletic scholarship (wrestling). He declined it to stay in-state and attend Kansas State University. He was not recruited by D1 schools in football, but it was his dream to play in college. He tried out as a walk-on, made the team, and his been playing well ever since. He is majoring in mechanical engineering.
In HS he was an excellent student, played football (all state), wrestling (national champion), weight-lifting (state champion), baseball, track & field, etc.
I was shocked when he turned down Cornell, but I guess it’s worked out okay for him. His family is able to attend most of his games.
Way back in the day I was admitted to three Ivy League colleges and attended a SUNY instead. That decision was driven by money rather than choice but I suspect that’s a pretty common reason for rejecting higher ranked schools. It was not the right decision for me but I made the best of it. I was able to study abroad for a full year and my education was free.
Would not be surprised if many of these choices were due to (a) significant differences in net price, or (b) student’s interests have changed since applying that make the higher ranked college a significantly worse fit (academically and/or non-academically).
In my opinion, there is no correlation between the ranking of the school and how good of a fit it will be for the student/ It is still very important to understand how they will function in the environment, if they have friends there, how they can perform. Students will also encounter less stress in situations where they are not always surrounded by other extremely intelligent students. However, some students thrive in those sorts of environments. It is all very subjective 
This thread addressed students who chose to be the “big fish in a small pond”. There are definitely students who have the choice, can afford either, and elect this option.
My daughter selected a much lower (hundred+ ranking points lower) engineering school over Smith. She just didn’t like Smith enough even with a lot of pressure from relatives to pick it (none from me). The rankings meant nothing to her.
My nephew chose UF over Harvard, Brown, NYU, Cornell and others. He really wanted Stanford, didn’t get in, so went where he liked the most.
I know a kid who chose UNC over Northwestern. Weather had something to do with it. And know another who chose Wake over G’town
Got into Univ of Michigan, chose Michigan State.
My parents didn’t influence me. If anything, they’re preferred me going to U of M.
I had similar aid at both schools but felt much more at home at MSU.
I’m now a PhD student at U of M and don’t regret either of my choices- going to MSU for undergrad or U of M for grad
Unless, of course, the student’s definition of “fit” is based on prestige rankings (or related factors like admission selectivity), an all-too-common occurrence on these forums. These students are often the ones who cannot find safeties, since anything that can be a safety is “beneath” them.
UNC over Northwestern or Wake Forest over Georgetown wouldn’t surprise me.