@itsgettingreal17 - not need to feel sad. I am very realistic and honest when I speak with my kids. My kids are usually praised for their maturity at work and their willingness to work harder than their colleagues. I have many years of life experience and I continue to see what excellent education could do for someone.
What some people do not want to admit is those rankings do mean something. You may not agree with every attributes they used to rank schools and whether one school should be ranked higher than another, but quality of education between a school that’s ranked 10 vs 100 is different and maybe not so much between 10 vs 20. My kids knew they could choose within a certain range of schools (didn’t push D2 to do SCEA at Yale when she wanted to ED Cornell), but it would have been a no if she had wanted to choose a school close to a beach because it would make her happier.
I was the one who agreed for D1 not to take the full tuition merit at a lower ranking school because I knew the kind of education she would be getting wouldn’t be the same and for her to get the job she wanted it was better for her to go to a higher ranking school. 6 years later her alumni connection is still important for her at work.
@itsgettingreal17 - we just have to agree to disagree.