<p>So the concept of "fit" is accepted only if it's a school that we, as a group, recognize as having no whiff of elitism, long history, east coast location or a certain price tag. </p>
<p>Got it.</p>
<p>Confused, but got it. </p>
<p>(For the record, have lived east, west and in between. In the east now, s. attended midwest c. Love the midwest c. and local, but confess am SICK and TIRED of connecting flights, delays and cancellations. And I'm just talking about the last 6 weeks. This morning I'd tell you anyone would be nuts to consider attending college more than a day's drive from home, wherever home happens to be.) </p>
<p>Recently spent time with group of California friends and college discussions came up (we're all of the age to have children in or about to go) and was surprised to witness the verbal thrashing of a girl known to them who chose to attend Harvard. Try as I might, I could not get anyone to tell me WHY it was such a reprehensible choice - she was simply labeled as an elitist who considered herself too good for the Cal state schools. This elitism/snobbery thing seems to have turned itself inside out.</p>
<p>Are you responding to me? I'm not saying east coast schools are worse, just that they're not inherently better. It is all about fit, imo, and that's different for every kid and every family. I just think it puts unnecessary pressure on everyone if only a handful of schools in only one part of the country are considered "good enough".</p>
<p>You will find many California kids at east coast schools, but not as many midwesterners.</p>
<p>Many east coast families do not see the need to incur the additional expense to send their kids to the midwest or west coast when there are so many fine choices right here. Why pay for airfare and shipping when you don't have to?</p>
<p>Of course there are also many east coast families that do not want to send their kids off to sunny California, for fear that they will never come back east!</p>
<p>it may also partly be a numbers game -- there are a gazillion colleges in the NE. Both of my kids wanted to go OOS to college, which means planes, trains and automobiles, missing most of fly-over country. Using the UCs as safeties, several colleges on their "lists" were in the NE region (not HYP). But the kids also targeted schools in the NW, midwest and SE, just not as many bcos their aren't as many that "fit". As a parent, I would have preferred that they at least look at that in-state school 'Down on the Farm'.</p>
<p>Always find these threads fascinating. I am from Texas, but have lived all over the world. Older S is at a well known military school in New York, so we have travelled there often. </p>
<p>I have the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys/ Love Story ... Fall leaves on the Ivy covered campus ingrained in me, even being from a small Texas town. </p>
<p>For younger son would love it if he wanted to go to a NE school, has the metrics to consider it, but is looking at Texas,A&M, Stanford, Rice, Ga Tech ... southern and western (and techie). </p>
<p>So for this ramble the one comment I wanted to make is that even with the sterotypes I have noted, the other college experience we have in our bones is the large State school football weekend, parties and fun. I realize that I want my son to have all the experiences he can ---just not enough time!</p>
<p>Also I agree with the regional thing- for shear networking/jobs a degree from Texas means much more than one from (Brown, Williams, Tufts, Penn) in the southwest</p>
<p>no, bethievt, I'm not responding to you - in fact, I know and love the same school you write about in other threads (s. just graduated). </p>
<p>I know I shouldn't step into a thread like this, but I don't see the point of beginning a thread with an inflammatory opinion. I guess it's bear baiting, and I've gone and acted like a bear and it's made me cross. For every statement a poster can throw out about someone saying "x" is great, someone else can say "y" is better. (I threw out my own little anecdote.) I don't think anything gets resolved and wonder why we all just can't play together. We all know people who -- fill in the blank -- hold opinions or positions that are different from or the same as our own. I guess the ensuing discussion can be pleasurable, but I do take issue with a jab at the east coast schools. Just because my s. chose a midwest LAC does not make him morally superior to the student who enrolls at Bowdoin or Harvard. Aren't we all entitled to our opinions (I'm trying to stress that these are opinions) and leave it at that? How could anyone on this board possibly explain how an unnamed, unknown group of people arrive at an opinion that east coast schools are better?</p>
<p>Funny thread -- having lived, worked, been educated in Boston, I can say that the east coast can be very provincial itself. In my area (the south), I can say that parents are talking about Duke, Vandy, Rice, & MIT, Harvard, Yale, Penn, Chicago as well as CalTech, Stanford and Pomona. In fact, Stanford had really big appeal at our school this year -- not sure why, maybe early action. Many kids seemed focused on Chicago, Yale, Stanford due to early action.</p>
<p>Well, life long NY'er here. I wanted to go to UChicago, but went public at parents' insistance (long story.) Then I wanted S to go to UChicago (he was accepted) but HE is a homebody and didn't want to leave region. He attends mini's alma mater and loves it, and doesn't care about name recognition.</p>
<p>I'm sure he'd love the school bethie's son attends just as much (they actually shound a bit similar even though I know that's not the common understanding) but he loves the east and wanted to be close to home. </p>
<p>D, well she's a Jewish, radical, clothes adoring, cafe hopping feminista and only wanted to be in NYC. She wants to stay there for law school, work, every meal, ha ha, I don't know.</p>
<p>I don't know if it's snobbery, provincialism, fear, elitism or a true and abiding love. She's a wonderful girl so I'd give her the benefit of the doubt.</p>
<p>I love northern CA, so my ideal scenario would have been to go to UChi undegrand, Berkeley grad and teach at a CSC. Life, had other plans.</p>
<p>All that said, I am happy both kids are close enough to see and return home in one day. It's a great luxury.</p>
<p>Well exactly mythmom, there are great schools all over the country. Our sons could probably be happy and successful at many, many places. And, I must say, as we were sitting in O'Hare last night waiting for a flight out, I was envying parents with closer-by kids!</p>
<p>How I think a thread like this can be helpful is that lots of parents (and therefore students) tend not to look outside their region for colleges. Since most schools are looking for geographic diversity--at least LAC's are-- the schools outside one's region can be admissions bargains.</p>
<p>Our sons could probably be happy and successful at many, many places.</p>
<p>ITA
And why I started this thread is because- since I have the viewpoint that there are many places to attend college- many opportunities to travel- not just during the 4 years of college & even many chances to study, that I was having trouble understanding the perspective of well traveled parents that only the schools in New England were worth focusing on.
Since I havent been east of the mississippi, I have trouble grasping what that region is like-and since my region has lesser known schools even to people that live here- but whose graduates manage to live happy productive lives anyway-
I was trying to get a handle on what the extra expense ( inc travel costs) is paying for.</p>
<p>Iam getting a picture now- it seems much different to attend a school in a city like Boston for example that has big universities and colleges even though Boston is often compared to Seattle for its involvement in school busing and home prices-.</p>
<p>"If you say, "I'm at Yale" (Bowdoin, Williams, whatever) it says ALOT to certain people. It also says to them that you're intelligent which, there, is worth its weight in gold. I'm not saying its all true, it just "is what it is" as H would say. If you want to stay in the East and go to one of those places, many think you'll have a leg up when the job hunt starts because of instant name recognition."</p>
<p>I can tell you with absolute certainty that the name recognition of #1 LAC helped me not one whit in finding a job in Philadelphia - in fact, I didn't find even one potential employer who had even heard of it (the closest was a single "Oh, William and Mary. My wife and I once took a trip to Williamsburg.") For the last two jobs I sat on the hiring committee for in my state, we rejected one Princeton and one Dartmouth for graduates from Evergreen State College and Western Washington U. The Ivy imprint got less than 20 seconds of attention before we got around to, "well, what can they do for us?"</p>
<p>I will never forget the first post I read by mini --- didnt know his background thought he was some far out eccentric .... I now look forward to his comments!</p>
<p>I wonder if at one point in American History an Ivy league education was a golden ticket to a life of riches and leisure. Possibly because most of them were starting with families of that background.</p>
<p>My observation is that in todays world, you are always going to be proving yourself, and a degree is just one small piece of the puzzle. Certainly those at 'elite' schools probably self-select to more income, education background etc. Possibly another case of ' Correlation doesnt equal causation."</p>
<p>I just popped over to the College Search site and there is a thread about elite schools and students are telling each other that graduation from an elite school is basically a guaranteed ticket to paradise. I don't know if it's sad or scary.</p>
So the concept of "fit" is accepted only if it's a school that we, as a group, recognize as having no whiff of elitism, long history, east coast location or a certain price tag.
[/quote]
Well, this is parent forum. I think if you ask kids, they might have totally different idea of the 'fit'. </p>
<p>My kid grown up shares our view about ivies. Was inspired to be able to attend the elite ivy some day. But since last year, especially this couple of monthes in college application process, he had time to think through about who he is, what kind of people he wants to be with in college and what he really wanted in his life. He became a quite independant thinker (not to say he was lacking this before, he has been quite independant since HS). He chose schools having top ranks in his chosen field (east, mid-west, west) kind forced to add couple we liked(ivies, you may guess :P)....a few days ago we had a talk, he said to me "mom, the schools I really love and see I can quite fit in are those where I can meet mind like people every where in campus. However, in ivy like schools, I got feeling that I need to go out of my way to find mind like people. If the choices come down that I have to give up the school I truly love for ivy just for the sake of elist, it would be pretty sad for me." </p>
<p>I live in east coast as my screen name shows. Honestly before this year, all I know/heard are the local state universities and Ivies. It was mails and after I visit this board that I know there are so many good colleges out there all over the country. I guess I own a huge THANKS to the CC board, I was told by my kid just couple of days ago, he started visit here since last year. I think he gets a lot free 'College Consultant' service from here.</p>
<p>You sound so open-minded. I think your son will find a great match-- or maybe several. You might even save money while your son finds a better fit. Good luck!</p>
<p>And I think so much has to do with karma, which in my strange experience, seems already written. We don't so much "choose it" as arrive at it.</p>
<p>And there are so many wonderful scenarios: the kid who goes across the country to discover his tribe and the kid who stays close to home and discovers hers. The kid who breathes a sigh of relief at being admiitted to the flagship public and being able to pay for it and the kid who never thought she'd be admitted to Harvard and she was. (I know I am writing in fragments -- just feel like it.)</p>
<p>And these karmic journeys are varied too: the focused go-getter with AP credits who gets out in three years, and the confused explorer who takes five years to get the appropriate degree.</p>
<p>It's wonderful to be reminded that this is a big country and the education throughout the country is pretty stellar at the college level and there are wonderful choices in Portland, Houston, Memphis, as well as little towns in Ohio, Iowa and Minnesota.</p>
<p>I think many come east because there are so many schools here, but it's an adventure for eastern kids to brave the frontier. They are also more welcome than at some schools close to home. LIers are at a disadvantage in the east because we overwhelm many adcoms. Chicago was excited to hear from my kid.</p>
<p>As an aside, my American Studies D tells me that all the romantic tales about the frontier were written by easterners looking out at the romance of the West.</p>
<p>bethievt- My husband and I both graduated from "elite schools". We have a lot of kids that we really like and that's "paradise" but I don't think in the way those CC kids are thinking!!!! We have friends in our community from elite schools and from state schools and I have no idea which ones have their ticket to paradise...</p>
<p>You sound so open-minded. I think your son will find a great match-- or maybe several. You might even save money while your son finds a better fit. Good luck!
[/quote]
Hardly. I try hard to see his point of view and understand him. Bisides someone has to be in middle ground in a family of three. :P</p>