@beth’s mom: I am so glad your daughter has been happy with her research experiences and education, that’s all we want for them.
I agree it can be the right school for the right student.
Not being a scientist, I have no clue what supplemental REU work is or means.
But it was not talking to solely one science program, we talked to profs from two different science disciplines. I’ve only been sharing about one prof so far to not belabor my point. There were six conversations with a variety of people and they were fruitless and deflating. It was a three night, two day stay, an expensive trip for us, so we packed in as much as we could. The point of my original post was to simply relay a few details about our experience to prompt others to ask questions before accepting free.
Free is alluring given college tuition price points these days at many schools, we’re all on budgets. Many top students from around the country accept free at UA, which deepened my curiosity. I also think families need to ask just as many questions if they’re taking on six figures in student loans…or looking at their community college with an eye towards transferring, what will the value of that education ultimately be?
At UA, these were interesting people, with interesting research/projects, they were clearly passionate about the school. The first few conversations on the agenda lasted less than 15 minutes… I began to worry. I joined all but one more. After around a 30-45 minute discussion about them, their work, the programs, one would think they would want to know why this young person was sitting there. When she asked a question about a specific science major, one listed on the website, the prof couldn’t/wouldn’t discuss it, saying most students don’t avail themselves of that major and she should change. Please put yourself in my shoes for a second. I’m sitting next to her, she’s studied this subject for years and loves it, and this man told her to walk away and do something else. She had already taken a course in this subject at the college level, it’s what she wants to do. It was beyond dismissive of him, so as her parent that was an eye-opener/red flag. The only reason I didn’t end the conversation then was because I didn’t want to influence her decision. She pressed and he produced the sheet of paper describing the major he thought she should do - without even asking her one question about herself. When you couple that with the limp back and forth about REU’s, and that she could wash dishes for a semester (she’s washed plenty of dishes in a lab, and mopped the floors and cleaned/dusted, and has been trusted with expensive equipment for years), the conversation came to a natural and polite stopping point. I could share why other conversations were fruitless and deflating for us, suffice to say you have a clear example here of our experience.
Free school is great for some, and free is a head turner for many I’m sure, but parents and students need to ask and understand what they’re getting for free. If that equation works for you, and you want what they’re offering, that’s wonderful. As I wrote earlier, for some students this would be a very good value. We were very hopeful that free would work for us, it’s why I spent the money to visit. I’m glad we asked many questions because it was clear, in the end, that free would not work for our family. Asking questions doesn’t have to cost anything and I’m sharing our experience to encourage families to ask questions before accepting free at face value.