<p>Our D has been accepted to a number of good colleges and has received generous financial aid everywhere we needed it. She has 1 admission decision left to go. Right now she is leaning toward the lowest "ranked" college on her list. My husband is really struggling with her continued interest in this college. It isn't really the ranking the he has problems with, it's that it is a very isolated school in Northern California with a very quirky personality. I was once quite familiar with this college as I have a close family member who attended and I think she may be romanticizing it quite a bit. But I believe this is her call to make. We allowed her to apply because it was a rock solid safety and has so programs which interest her. Any suggestions on helping my H more gracefully allow our D to make this very important choice?</p>
<p>I think just remind your husband that your D needs to feel she fits there. It may not mesh with either of you, or how you perceive your daughter, but something about it must be speaking to how she sees herself, or how she’d like to see herself. Maybe another visit to see if she is feeling the same vibe this time around as she did last time? </p>
<p>I had an issue with one school on D1’s list. Both she and H loved the school when they visited it. We visited the school again when D1 was accepted. We ate at the cafeteria and sat by the student union for a long time. I asked D1 if she could see herself walk up to any group of kids there to hang out. She said not too many. We also didn’t see a lot of students hanging out at their quad on a beautiful sunny day because it was around their midterm exams. D1 said the school just sounded so wonderful the first time they visited because of the tour guide.</p>
<p>I would suggest for you to visit the #1 choice again to see if your D still feel the same. She may change her mind after seeing it again. If not, and your H really doesn’t believe this school is worth the cost, then you’ll need to have a serious discussion with your D. I am not one of those parents who believe every college education is the same and 18 year olds are not always equipped to make the best choice. I was glad D1 made the “right choice,” so I didn’t need to pull the parent card.</p>
<p>You will get some parents to tell you “why did your H allow your D to apply if he didn’t want her to go.” We all need a range of schools to apply to. If the only choice for my kid was the school I wasn’t as keen on then it would have been the school, but when she had options of attending school A, B, C…then I would want her to go to one which would give her the best education possible.</p>
<p>We will return for admitted student event. I love your idea of asking her if there is any group of students she could see herself approaching. It will definitely be a question I ask her!!!</p>
<p>One exercise I found helpful was making my own list of pros and cons about each school that D1 was admitted to, that she was seriously considering, which made me realize that in fact there was no “perfect” choice. There were down sides to each one for D, even at the higher ranked schools. So it was in a way a relief to let D be the one to make the decision. Of course this assumes the schools in serious contention are all basically acceptable and affordable to you.</p>
<p>If you can, allow her to attend admitted students weekend at her top 3 choices. My D2 did that, and ended up picking the school that was #3 on her list going into the visits. 24 hours on campus is very eye opening. Your D may be right…this school she likes may be the best fit for her. The problem many parents have (sounds like your H may have this) is that the school that would be the best fit for the parent isn’t what is the best fit for the kid. And this is really about your kid… but it can be hard to step away from the place YOU wish you could have attended. We very much let D2 make the choice. You really have to let her choose – she may hold it against your H for the rest of her life if he forces her to attend his preference, especially if finances are equal.</p>
<p>My son ended up attending the school that my entire family attended, with the exception of me. He has always heard such great things about the school, it is a large public research university, but not highly ranked. Romanticized for sure, but still a great place for the boy and in a small town.</p>
<p>After visiting quite a few schools, some ranked much higher, he still liked it the best and is a very, very happy frosh there. My wife initially said that there was no,way he would attend that school. She changed her mind after 1 visit.</p>
<p>If finances are equal, let her choose. My daughter was accepted at a bunch of instate public schools, all same price, and I was really surprised at the one she chose, but she ended up being happy there and I would have felt terrible if I had insisted on her going to one that wasn’t her first choice and been unhappy there.</p>
<p>Re: the list of pros and cons, we did that, too. But we did it before acceptances, so D1 could be rational, whatever happened. </p>
<p>I agree with oldfort. get her back there- and to some others, if needed, for a fresh perspective. Make sure she peeks in on classes, etc. But don’t necessarily “show your cards.” </p>
<p>Bff’s son was dissuaded from an artsy, loosey-goosey college, went to a great regional school, great in so many respects. To be frank, we look at his satisfactions and dissatisfactions where he is- and it is clear the other would have been a better “fit” for the person it turns out he now is, the variety of interests and his real strengths.</p>
<p>“Rank” isn’t relevant to each kid’s needs. Look at the depts, profs, activities and opps to grow. I’ve said often, D1’s 2nd choice was somewhere in 50-100, but would have been a super match for her major/academic interests, a good place to grow her empowerment.</p>
<p>Rock solid safety? Isolated school in Northern California with a quirky personality? Let me guess, you’re referring to Humboldt State? </p>
<p>If so, have her look at the six year graduation rate (40%), which is awful, particularly for a Cal State with students whose incoming stats are higher than the national average and can afford to dorm. A family friend who used to be a professor there and now works at a much more esteemed UC, suggested that this was partially due to the generally unmotivated students and the area economy which is heavily concentrated on marijuana growth and transport (I was considering the school since UCSC was a reach for me, so my parents reached out to her). </p>
<p>Right you are when hen. She is interested in wildlife Bio. And UCSC is the last college she is waiting for. It looks like a match but these days who can tell. She’s smitten by the herd of elk, the whales off shore and the forest. Another visit and some discussion of the stats you mentioned may do the trick.</p>
<p>I liked Humboldt, but we didnt visit.
D ultimately decided on a similar yet a bit more substantive public U in our own state.</p>
<p>Could you let her stay for a few days or overnight during the week? Lots of schools have hosting programs, including overnight. Much better way to get a feel for the school. Maybe sit in on a few classes. </p>
<p>I absolutely believe a child should be able to choose the school they want to attend. I also believe the parents have an input, but only if the are paying. So, if the parent is paying and allowed the student to apply to a school, then they should allow the student to choose from the schools they have been accepted.</p>
<p>I would have choosen a different accepted School for S. Still regret, years after, that he did not choose this school. It is better known, even though the school he attended was equally, or more, selective and had an equal or better student profile. The school he did not select is a well known university. The school he attended is a well known liberal arts school.</p>
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<p>It is 14.1%, 33.0%, 42.0% graduation in 4, 5, 6 years.</p>
<p><a href=“Higher Education Research Institute”>http://www.heri.ucla.edu/GradRateCalculator.php</a> suggests that a school whose frosh class matches HSU’s profile should be expected to have 33.7%, 52.8%, 58.3% graduation in 4, 5, 6 years, so perhaps some investigation of HSU’s graduation underperformance relative to that expected for its frosh class may be in order.</p>
<p>The high percentage of students in the dorms may be due to the school’s location in an area of low population density, so there are not that many students who are within commuting range. This may (unlike at some other schools) reduce graduation rates by costing extra money to “local” students who may be at the limits of their budgets but cannot realistically commute from their parents’ houses because they are too far away.</p>
<p>My son is a graduate of Humboldt State.</p>
<p>He started at a different college – an east coast LAC – which did not turn out to be a good fit for him. Technically it took him 7 years to graduate, but that’s not Humboldt State’s fault – he entered Humboldt a few credits short of Junior standing and graduated in two years. Socially, Humboldt was a very good fit for him – I visited for the first time when I went up for his graduation, and certainly can see why he enjoyed living in the community – it’s a nice combination of a relaxed college community and an outdoorsy lifestyle. My son likes to walk and really enjoyed the serenity of being able to walk through the forest. My son also had the opportunity of a lifetime because he was at Humboldt – not something that every kid would get, but he benefitted from being in an environment where he could stand out. That’s not to say that he couldn’t be challenged there-- but certainly there was a process of looking for and making his own challenges. (Whenhen could be right about some students lacking motivation – but my son was definitely motivated and he seemed to find it easy to find like-minded friends.)</p>
<p>The college was experiencing a lot of serious financial problems while he was there and things got worse over time – profs being laid off, tuitions raised – but I think those issues have been reversed and the worst of the funding crisis is behind us. See: <a href=“http://www.calstate.edu/budget/fybudget/2014-2015/executive-summary/funding.shtml”>http://www.calstate.edu/budget/fybudget/2014-2015/executive-summary/funding.shtml</a></p>
<p>But those financial issues also probably have contributed to poor graduation rates – there are a high number of students relying on Pell grants and some may have been shut out along the way by rising tuitions. The current tuition is double what it was when my son was there. </p>
<p>I think Humboldt certainly would be a good place to study wildlife biology – certainly better than most of the urban or suburban campuses in California. Of course this discussion may well be moot if your daughter is accepted at UCSC. </p>
<p>I do feel that the funding cuts over the past decade caused some real problems for all the CSU’s, but to me, Humboldt seems like a hidden gem – my son had been accepted at Berkeley and UCSC out of high school, but he really wanted a smaller college environment – not a student body of 20,000 – so Humboldt is a nice alternative for someone who wants a mid-size residential college environment. </p>
<p>My friend’s nephew attends Humboldt State and loves it. He never felt part of things in high school. He has found his peeps, and he feels connected, energized, and interested in what he is learning. His parents can afford to send him to a more prestigious school, and he could have gotten into one … but this is what he wanted, and he is thriving. Our kids know themselves. And if they were wrong, they can always transfer.</p>
<p>What a terrific group of responses all of which I will share with H. I have always loved the north coast and see the attraction. But it has changed a lot since the days I spent time there. The school used to have a mountain man sort of rep. Not of course necessarily accurate but harmless. The focus now on it being pot central is also not necessarily accurate but seems a lot less benign. No one enjoys defending the place they graduate from repeatedly. Like it or not reputation matters. We will of course let her chose…we did let her apply. I think we can all live with it if she really can articulate the pros and cons and she gives the other colleges she has been accepted to a fair shake.</p>
<p>To be fair, UCSB’s statewide reputation is that of a massive party school with little attention placed on its academics. Yet in my field, Santa Barbara is extremely well respected. I suspect the same is true regarding HSU and wildlife biology.</p>
<p>My son has never complained about any problems or issues related to the Humboldt reputation. Yes, the area has something of a reputation for marijuana cultivation, but my son now lives in Washington state, which has legalized pot – so he’s probably hearing the same jokes about his current home town of Seattle. My son found a good job immediately after graduation, working with an environmental organization. He’s now in grad school – if your daughter is interested in pursuing a career in sciences, I think that grad school is in her future as well. If your daughter stays in state, then the Humboldt degree - or any CSU degree – is fine for admissions into UC grad program – so her credentials as a biologist might very well be established at UC Santa Cruz or UC Davis. </p>
<p>The only downside of Humboldt is that my son’s overall GPA wasn’t that good because of the transfer credits – he had nearly straight A’s at Humboldt but was transferring in weaker grades, so he graduated with about a 3.5. With a school with a weaker academic reputation and middling GPA, I felt he needed a strong GRE to get into a good grad program – but fortunately that wasn’t a problem for him, as he has always tested very well. </p>
<p>But again, for his area of focus, the opportunities that Humboldt created for him were huge resume builders and also probably helped with grad school admissions. </p>
<p>Don’t confuse jokes that people make with a school’s overall academic reputation. I still think that Humboldt is viewed as more of a “real” college than many of the CSU’s, which have reputations more as commuter schools. Whenhen has it right – Humboldt has a very strong reputation for many areas of study.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that if your daughter goes to Humboldt, even her introductory classes will be small – Humboldt doesn’t even have the facilities for large lecture classes. So she could go to Santa Cruz- with the better reputation – but find herself studying bio in a huge lecture hall with no direct contact with the prof – as opposed to much smaller classroom and more opportunities to engage with the teacher at Humboldt. Depending on learning style, a smaller college like Humboldt might provide a much stronger foundation. </p>
<p>Years ago I started at UC Davis as pre-vet, but I was done in by Chemistry 1A – the huge lecture hall coupled with the Chinese-speaking TA left me at sea – I had only the vaguest understanding of what was being taught. I managed to pull a B but felt overwhelmed, and abandoned attempts to study science altogether. I wonder, in hindsight, if my path would have been different if class size had been more manageable for me. One reason I switched to a social science major is simply that I did feel a lot more comfortable in small classes of 20-45 students. </p>