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<p>Maybe it’s because, for many parents, it’s the last big step that we can influence directly. It’s sort of like deciding which boat your child will take on a lifelong journey. You can’t keep the boat from getting torpedoed after it launches, but at least you can pick one with a good captain and crew and no holes in the hull.</p>
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<p>So … is part of the problem just not knowing much about some of these schools, compared to others where there’s an instantaneous “ah, I know something about that school”? If so, can you please share some that you have come across that are intriguing and why?</p>
<p>I wonder this sometimes - do I have an ivory tower syndrome when it comes to college application when I’m actually not living in an ivory tower?</p>
<p>Am I not giving enough credit to some colleges, especially top LACs, where in reality my kids may not even have the slightest chance of getting admitted? Looking back I know it was true. Looking forward, I know it is still true for some schools. I guess it is hard for me to quickly change my mindset at my age even when given solid evidence to the contrary, no matter how I much would like to think otherwise. But, I would still tell people, I have an “open mind”.</p>
<p>I’d like to use Amherst as an example and hope that the alums there don’t blast me to smithereens. When my youngest brother was given full-ride to both JHU and Amherst, I quickly told him to pick JHU even though he was likely to major in English. I didn’t think Amherst was “up there” with JHU. Well, he ended up picking Amherst over JHU. My arguments for JHU must have influenced him somewhat, because one of his reasons was that he does not want to be in another “pressure cooker” and feeling second best. He came out of a top public school that produced more Nobel Laureates than most top colleges have on their staff. </p>
<p>The interesting part is that after a year at Amherst, he told me that the caliber of students there was clearly lower than Harvard, and his Harvard experience was only a writing class in the summer before college. What’s even more interesting is that it did not even compare favorably with his high school! Sure, he certainly talked about meeting a few super smart kids, but that’s to be expected almost everywhere. So my point is I’m still of the opinion that there is a visible gap in student caliber between the T20s and the top LACs.</p>
<p>Oh, really? I don’t think that at all. In my mind, the t20 unis and the t20 LAC’s (and again, don’t get hung up on the 20 per se) are all excellent, just different environments. I think the LAC’s are often less known among the general public, but I don’t GAS about the general public in this regard.</p>
<p>Yes, pizzamom-- I too am originally from the NE, and knew most of these schools, including some that are lesser known to some people in the NE, like for eg Harvey Mudd.</p>
<p>Where are you now?? I am in the S, and though most people I run across are familiar with the top U’s and the LACs, it still saddens me when I mention where my older s went and get the polite response (both down here and when I am back up north) that indicates they arent familiar with it. But they aren’t hiring him, so no matter, I guess.</p>
<p>I agree, pizzagirl, that the top LACs and top Us are probably equal in calibre.</p>
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<p>My complaint is with the idea that there are only a handful of truly “worthy” boats and that if your child doesn’t sail in that particular fleet you have somehow put them at risk.</p>
<p>^^^ Maybe they get the big cruiseliners while we remain a little dingy :)</p>
<p>Good one! :p</p>
<p>I agree that focusing only on the top-ranked schools is short-sighted, even if I am guilty of it sometimes myself.</p>
<p>R124687 (Can I call you R?) - Don’t sell you Ds achievements short. She has excellent SATs and really excellent SATIIs, a decent (for T20 schools) GPA and top 10%. Her dedication to music and drama IS an EC and it sounds like a good one at that. Almost all of my son’s ECs were music or theater related (and the subject of one of his essays). You may be surprised at the way Harvard looks at choir kids. And BTW - Single Mom, first generation is a hook (although perhaps a minor one).</p>
<p>Ability to pay full fare is going to be a bigger hook.</p>
<p>Reality check- there are kids at Wheaton, Lawrence, Deep Springs, U KY, Texas A&M, Siena, Providence, Farleigh Dickinson, Baruch, Wittenberg, Rollins, CW Post who TODAY are working harder, with more ambition and focus, than your child has shown in the last 4 years. They were vals and sals from HS who worked hard and dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s. Some of them are first generation Americans who ended up at the college down the street or accesible via bus. Some of them won merit awards and turned down much more “prestigious” schools to take the free ride. Some of them are here as political refugees and are so damned grateful to be living here and getting a college education that the median SAT score or whether their LAC is more or less prestigious as Williams or Amherst or JHU is of zero consequence to them whatsoever.</p>
<p>It is really obnoxious to assume that because of your child’s native intelligence and innate superiority (high SAT’s clearly correlating to future academic performance) that your kid needs to be in a more rarified environment (i.e. no holes in the hull of the boat for my child, no way) than all of these high achieving kids at all of these schools.</p>
<p>The premise of this thread has finally turned to absurdity. Reality check- there is a kid as smart as yours at a school you would LOVE to have your kid attend, who at this very moment is setting his organic chemistry textbook on fire with a flaming tequila shot.</p>
<p>Go decide which boat your little precious one “deserves” to take on his journey. Life is not determined by SAT scores; the median scores at the top schools are a very weak predictor of whether the school is right for your kid, especially a kid who has “phoned it in” for some of his or her high school career. So yeah, pick the good captain, crew, and sit back and congratulate yourself.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and have a plan B identified.</p>
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<p>I hate to be really blatant here. But what the heck. I don’t disagree that ability to pay full fare is or can be a hook. But how do you know where? How do you find that out?</p>
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You hanging out with my kid, Blossom?? I thought he said the orgo textbook would be blown up when he was drinking hand grenades… ;)</p>
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<p>I nominate this for the BEST post on CC this week. It’s the essence of what I’ve been trying to say in all of my posts. The rankings themselves do NOT make the schools. There are tons of wonderful schools that don’t have national name recognition where a student can have outrageous opportunities as a college student.</p>
<p>blossom, I can’t tell if your last post is supposed to be sarcastic, or venomous, or what. I don’t think there has been a single obnoxious post in this thread so far, except possibly yours, but I can’t tell.</p>
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<p>I would say yes. We are all influenced by what we hear and see with our limited exposure. I still remember, when asked why he chose our college, my classmate said his parents told him this is the only school they will pay for him to attend, and he didn’t know why they think this way. Clearly a demonstrated bias. DS1 recently told me and mom that our views on colleges really clouded his judgment. How would our beloved DS1 know much about a college that mom and I either never talked about or dismissed as a suitable school? From his friends who may be just as biased by their parents? From an overloaded GC? From the promos he received since the PSAT results came out? If he learns something different, it must have been a conscious effort on his part to discover unknown territories on his own.</p>
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<p>I think this will be different for different families. We all have different circumstances and goals. In my case, I started with colleges that are close to home. I re-discovered nearby schools that are quite good for what DS1 wants to do, and he agreed as well. We called these schools and went on their websites with to find out if their programs match what DS1 seeks. These schools, though close by, were never on my radar only a few months ago.</p>
<p>And what would be helpful, at least to me, is to hear what some of those schools are, and what about looking at those schools convinced you or helped you get to a realization that these were great places too even if they weren’t “brand name.”</p>
<p>I mentioned this thread to my H, who was a product of New England prep school. He said, “If they really think T20s or bust, then the best thing to do is to go to a top prep boarding for a year after high school, have an amazing year, then apply.”</p>
<p>It’s absurd to believe the vast majority of people will not always be swayed by brand name. It’s human nature. It’s actually a much more elite concept to believe in fit, and that the best possible education might be found at a small LAC 99.9% of people never heard of. That takes education, exposure, sophisticated research and analysis.</p>
<p>Oldfort, I think your husband’s thinking is dated. That sure would have worked 30 years ago, but today little chance it would.</p>