<p>^
BBD- Ironically D attends a private, OOS school. We have also often been asked why she does not attend a state school. In this case it is also because of a specific situation.</p>
<p>I think that going through the Honors College at one of your state’s flagship universities is probably the best educational value available today. Even so, I still don’t think it is the same quality of experience that one can get a a small LAC. The business model of state universities is such that there are ways in which they are forced to economize (TAs, Adjunct Instructors with brutal teaching loads, etc.). These forces are doubly pronounced in the current economic climate. I believe that state U’s have a hard time really teaching the students how to write at an advanced level because that takes such personalized mentoring. So slightly above mediocre papers get As & Bs because the instructor can’t give everyone Cs or lower (or doesn’t even assign much writing.)</p>
<p>What you get out of college–any college–is a function of what you put into it. I have seen bright ambitious students make the most of a 2nd tier state school and use it to springboard into an exciting life. I have also seen passive students at a top LAC use it as little more than an extended, and expensive, summer camp.</p>
<p>DD wanted a smallish school. Given her personality, past social issues, we agreed. W&M would have been a good choice except she wanted architecture. She ended up not even applying to any state schools. She got into RPI (as well as some other OOS privates) and got a good FA package, and we think RPI will be great for her. Fingers crossed.</p>
<p>“And because of the all the drinking, drugging and tom foolery that naturally ensues at State U’s.”</p>
<p>Sorry to break it to you–all that stuff goes on at small LACs as well–even the most selective small LACs.</p>
<p>“And because of the all the drinking, drugging and tom foolery that naturally ensues at State U’s.”</p>
<p>I think if you put 500 18 year old kids together, living away from home for the first time, whether they are in the top 5% or 50% academically, at any public or private, there will be some type of party.</p>
<p>I have a bias against the universities in my state for two main reasons. One is the locations which are mostly rural. The second is that they don’t have as large a population of out-of-state or internationals as most of the private schools my kids were looking at. They also weren’t that strong for what my kids were looking for - top of the line computer science for one and international relations for the other.</p>
<p>My older son looked into some of the UCs (which are great buys in state, not so much out of state) and my younger son looked at William and Mary.</p>
<p>i think the UC system is a great one, yet here in california u have folks who act as though if u aren’t attending berkeley, los angeles or san diego, you’re at an ‘inferior’ institution. it’s ridiculous, but i think that there’s something in human nature that makes us feel a need to stratify and create false hierarchies…constant one-upping…asinine divisions… </p>
<p>just learn to “dust the dirt off your shoulders”… and like one commenter said, “smile and nod”. it’s not worth the energy to let it upset you. and no, i didn’t find your original comment rude.</p>
<p>best of luck to you!</p>
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<p>Such people are stupid, though. Why does the opinion of stupid people matter?</p>
<p>One possible difference, my son has started screeening candidates to apply to next year, the public universities within driving range of us and with student stats closest to his report fewer small classes than the privates do. At the publics, the proportion of classes with 20 students or fewer ranged from 29% to 49%. Whereas this proportion was reported to be at least 60% at the privates on his screening list.</p>
<p>However these aggregate numbers do not acount for separate colleges within a university, Honors colleges, bozos flunking out after freshman year leaving smarter students on average thereafter, a whole host of factors that might make the public u actually more appealing in some cases, if an accurate comparison could be made.</p>
<p>pizzagirl, you’re right and i agree: the opinions of “stupid” people don’t matter. </p>
<p>that’s the overall point i was trying to convey to the original poster.</p>
<p>My son is going to William & Mary as an OOS in the fall, he has always attended private school, UVA and W&M just didn’t feel “public” to him. He wasn’t interested in any of the NJ public universities mainly because he wanted to go further away. I wish W&M had a larger endowment and less money woes but I am fairly sure his education is going to be world class. Hey and it’s slightly less exspensive then his BS!</p>
<p>Did the privates have the range and depth of classes that the publics have? Very few privates offer the range and number of classes of the top publics. Very very few annd they are highly selective and highly expensive.</p>
<p>““And because of the all the drinking, drugging and tom foolery that naturally ensues at State U’s.””</p>
<p>The same happens at LACs including at well regarded ones.</p>
<p>There are partiers and nonpartiers at virtually all schools.</p>
<p>The state public that my daughter will attend in the fall is only allowing top scholars into the honors dorm she will be living in. (~350 students) All of her neighbors will have had a high GPA and a SAT of at least 1440. I think she will be surrounded by high achieving students.</p>
<p>I went to a public university. My husband went to a public university. My son is going to a public university. We are big proponents of public education. But we have friends and our son have friends that are only into “name brand” universities. Maybe they look down on us for shopping at Target and Walmart also. We are happy with our choices and how we live our lives.</p>
<p>“Did the privates have the range and depth of classes that the publics have? Very few privates offer the range and number of classes of the top publics. Very very few annd they are highly selective and highly expensive.”</p>
<p>From what I see with younger S, who’s at a second tier private LAC, while he didn’t have as many courses as I had to choose from at Harvard or that he would have had at the state u he was accepted to, he explored more fields in depth than I did at Harvard. There are advantages to both situations.</p>
<p>There is absolutely nothing wrong with state universities. My son could have gone just about anywhere he wanted to and he chose Berkeley. This was his first choice. Don’t listen to anyone about this… Life lesson #1 - do what you think is best and forget about the rest.</p>
<p>My son went to the University of Maryland at College Park as an undergraduate and is now a graduate student at the University of California at San Diego.</p>
<p>He obviously has nothing against state schools. </p>
<p>I think that those who do have negative feelings about state schools mostly come from the northeast, where there is a particularly strong tradition of private colleges and a very large number of them to choose from. People in New England, New York, and New Jersey don’t seem to have the same strong positive feelings about their state universities that those from many other states do. </p>
<p>I come from the northeast (Connecticut originally, and later New Jersey), and when I moved to Maryland I was very surprised by how enthusiastic people are about the University of Maryland – and not just because of its sports but because of its academic reputation, too. That kind of feeling about a state university wasn’t part of my northeastern background.</p>
<p>So to some extent it’s a regional thing.</p>
<p>Agree nothing wrong with state colleges at all. Many are far, far better and far, far less expensive than some of the mediocre privates (of which there are many.) The vast majority of the parents do not generally frown upon state schools and the few that do are generally first generation or immigrant and are not as knowledgeable about the educational landscape. Finally the vast majority of young people have no idea where they will “land” 1-5 years out of college and a college that includes a state name, even if it’s north, south east or west has more name recognition than many of the small regionally located privates. And that’s just one more thing in a long list of what’s to like about the public college/university system in the US. Converesly, some kids will do better in a smaller environment that is not as challenging and having a non well known name college diploma will always open a conversation when interviewing while having an extremely well known name private brings expectations that the person with the diploma may never live up to. So in the long run picking a college or uni is just one decision in a long line of life decisions and like most decisions there will be different people with different opinions but generally the only unwise decision is to not finish the degree in my opinion or to finish but so far into debt the next twenty years of life are pure chaos.</p>
<p>Totally agree with Marian. I live in an area that is super snooty about state schools…even our flagship. Many don’t even visit because they assume it’s too big and too “pedestrian”. It’s annoying. But if I drive out even 15 miles, it’s different. Anyway, we did the “smile and nod” routine a LOT - to some amazingly rude comments. So, son just graduated with distinction and honors from our state flagship (including doing a thesis…cool). With a cushion of $ from one of his saved scholarships. And he’s doing just great. So there…:)</p>