I’m not going to potentially violate her or her family’s privacy naming the relatively unknown school. I assure you it has zero national name recognition. I will say it actually lacks the directional component in its name, the average ACT is 22, average incoming gpa is 3.2, and I’d characterize it as a largely remedial ethos. Also, it is in no way small, as in smaller than a scary flagship—it has over 20,000 students.
Rock star kids can and do take different paths to that mowed lawn.
The red carpet leading to the doors which continue to swing open for them as they make their way to career and family choices can look like that of a young starlet on a whirlwind journey. We’ve seen them give the valedictory address, go to college and do exceptionally well, become Rhodes Scholars and study abroad with the prestige that brings, become key assistants to the attorneys general and governors young, get shortlisted for major awards and sometimes win, take professorships at major universities, and continue to get the write-up in the alumni journals for the new turn in their lives and the level of sponsorship they hold for the high school or college.
Those things, in combination of two, three or whatever cement that the rock star high school kid stays a rock star for awhile. That is going places.
Making choices typical for a life as one grows, matures, and reaches milestones and goals, rock star students, do, yes, make normative choices for their lives as well. But their path to normal may likely have a little bit more lustre to it.
With over 20,000 students and an avg ACT of 22 and a 3.2 GPA, it is very doubtful the school is largely remedial. Students on a campus that size are going to cross the spectrum of abilities-- superstar to remedial.
Fwiw, it sounds similar to VCU in admission stats (and someone half way between Richmond and Charlottesville would be about 30 mins in either direction, I would assume kids in that region face a similar choice.). VCU has a broad range of students and is hardly the dredges of academia.
If this isn’t flirting with the “dredges” of 4-year public universities, what is the dredges of 4-year public universities? It is in the bottom half of the state’s public university system.
Of course there are successful grads from any college, especially colleges with tens of thousands of students. She isn’t doomed, but there is no denying her growth will be stunted there. There is a reason they’re paying her to attend, it’s not a free lunch.
A little perspective- if every single one of the “rock star kids” we all know in HS turned out to be truly rock stars- well, our society would be in a much different spot right now.
Sometimes the “most likely to succeed” kid gets derailed by substance abuse, mental health issues, an eating disorder. Sometimes a promising young intellectual marries very young and gets derailed by family responsibilities during the formative career-building years. Sometimes these kids end up taking care of an ill parent or sibling and their “high performing 20’s” are spent at doctors appointments and arguing with insurance companies.
Nobody can predict the future. The guy at my Fed-Ex/Kinko’s has a PhD from the top school in his field. He is also bipolar and needs a steady job with low stimulus and zero competition in order to stay on his meds and stay on track. The smartest person from my HS class (graduated number one- over 950 kids in the class), Radcliffe, Harvard Law, works as a library aid in the town we grew up in (everyone assumed she’d be presiding at the Hague or at least a Federal Judge by now).
There are thousands of rock stars in every town in America. It is too simplistic to assume that the choice of college is either going to determine or prevent real life from unfolding.
For the vast majority of high school students with excellent stats, the reward of a college education will come attached with EITHER prestige OR a full tuition/full ride scholarship.
Rarely does that reward contain both.
This student has chosen the full ride scholarship over prestige.
In doing so, she will reap additional rewards -
She will graduate debt-free and will have saved her parents and family tons of money.
She will get to be a “big fish in a small pond” and her professors will notice her. she is in a very good situation to get great letter of recommendation, references, and excellent grades - very advantageous for grad school.
She will be in the Honors College - enabling her to have both the classroom experience of a small college, but the social atmosphere of a bigger state school. Win/win.
So, no need for anyone else’s hand-wringing over her decision. I’m sure she’s grinning all the way to the bank, and to her seat at the top of the class. If not, she should be. Starting out at the top, and for free? Sounds like an accomplishment to me.
I’d be very proud of this young lady if she were my daughter.
A university ranked in the top 200 universities in the country when there are over 2000 4 yr univerisities is hardly even close to being discussed in terms of dredges.
Fwiw, I am the parent of some very gifted students who go to schools which “pay them to attend.” Believe it or not, their growth has not been stunted. They have made the absolute most of the opportunities they have on campus; professors respect and mentor them; they have amazing research experiences, etc. They have also found peers on their respective campuses. Obviously, there are lots of other top kids attending on merit $$.
Wow. Looks good to me. I’m adding it to my D list.
My adult son’s best friend from high school went to Shippensburg University (a PA “directional”). He wasn’t a “rock star” in high school, just a good solid student whose family couldn’t afford to send him to the good private school he preferred. He worked hard, made the best of his opportunities, won the admiration of his professors, and went on to a PhD in Chemistry at Princeton. He is now a university professor in California. My son, salutatorian of his class, National Merit Finalist, i.e., much more a high school “rock star”, who graduated from an elite LAC, has struggled due to a disastrous marriage and divorce, and has had a much less illustrious life and career. So I agree with the others who say that this girl may do just fine and surpass peers who attend much more prestigious schools.
Here’s a list of some of the notable alumni from University of Arizona:
http://arizonaalumni.com/notablewildcats
-Several astronauts, including Donald Pettit
-Jerry Bruckheimer
-Nobel prize winner, Brian Schmidt
-“faculty including Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, world experts, and support staff who truly care about the experience of each student.”
Not bad for a school that is ranked 121, has a 77% acceptance rate, 21/27 composite SAT, 483 25th percentile CR SAT, and 500 math SAT.
This is just one example obviously. There are many seemingly average schools that produce quality graduates.
In my great majesty, I sometimes apply my own brilliant judgment to the decisions of others, and in some cases, I issue a decree (entirely private of course) that the other person has made a mistake. It is possible that in some of these cases, I myself have erred, because I might lack some vital piece of information that could show that the decision was a good one. That possibility doesn’t stop me from thinking about what I observe, though.
Look, most of us will have opinions about whether some kid would be better off at College A or College B. We can often talk about it without all this drama. If only gets fraught when somebody asserts the opinion that some kid would be better off at a “better” college than the one he chose. But it’s probably true, more or less, a lot of the time. The reasons might be strong–finances for example–but absent that financial necessity, the kid probably would be better off at the “better” school.
Let me put it this way: if a kid is making a chart comparing pros and cons of two colleges, it is entirely possible that one of the pros for one of the college would be “demonstrably superior education in my intended field of study.” Many of us think that should be a pretty important factor, especially if other factors aren’t that different, or aren’t that important to the student.
I, personally, care a lot about national name recognition and a national student body. But everyone’s not me. I have to accept that a lot of people are content to stay in their region, won’t ever think of living / moving elsewhere, and from that standpoint it doesn’t really matter if there is no national name recognition.
Why do you care so much?
Seriously?
This is the first time I’ve seen a 3.2 as being “remedial” and students at a school where that is the average are considered the “dregs” of society, by at least one person…
My D (a “rock star” at her HS) is applying to several schools where she will not only be a “big fish”, but which will hopefully pay her to attend. That’s a key part of her plan since undergrad is just the beginning of her long-range goals. Instead of turning up her nose at those "dregs’ she will most likely do there what she’s done at every school she’s attended since preschool-help them reach higher than they think they can. One of her good friends in HS started an internship yesterday at a prestigious cancer research institute. He got the position after writing an essay that he didn’t want to do because my D insisted that he write it, because she thought the internship would be a good fit for him. Rock stars influence people around them in so many ways, no matter where they are.
Your hubris is blinding you to the possibilities the girl in your OP will have no matter where she goes, NPR.
First of all, what makes you think that if a student attends a non-elite school that he or she will not want to move/live elsewhere? This is just silly…
Second, you are right that we all have different priorities. If that’s true though, then is college A really “better” than college B? If you hate sushi, but the best restaurant in town is a sushi restaurant, does it really matter if it’s the best restaurant in town?
Given that you previously said that she and her family broadcast the decision all over social media (reply #162), is that really the concern? It is not like she would be unique in being a top-end student attending that >20,000 student school anyway.
In the initial post of this thread, you said that she got a full ride at this school, and that the family could not afford to pay for her to attend the flagship.
What’s the point of naming the specific schools? Even if one is the University of Michigan and the other is Joe’s Local Skool for Dummies, will that change the arguments that (a) it’s not OP’s business; (b) there are probably good reasons for the decision; and © even a graduate of Joe’s can do great things?
^^ So we can gossip, obviously
OP cares so much because their own daughter is being compared to the girl in question. This was stated earlier, in fact - that OP held the girl up for their own younger daughter as an exemplary role model - but now, the girl has not fulfilled OP’s fantasy of ending up in a place of prestige.
Now, OP’s daughter has learned - sometimes, you work hard and you still do not end up with prestige (but you may end up with a free education.)
“Now, OP’s daughter has learned - sometimes, you work hard and you still do not end up with prestige (but you may end up with a free education.)”
Though I suspect that such a choice would never fly in the OP’s house.