<p>Kajon, didn’t mean to give you a hard time. There are lots of good reasons not to be interested in the Ivy’s and many, many other fine schools out there - I just don’t think that a lack of willingness to consider a variety of viewpoints characterizes the students of most Ivy’s. Our S is at one and has high school friends at several other Ivy’s and they represent a wide range of political and financial philosophies, many not particularly liberal. </p>
<p>Sounds like you’re doing a great job of teaching tolerance and openness to different ideas and I’m sure your S will absorb those lessons. Good luck to both of you in the college search!</p>
<p>MomofWildChild, Not sure how long ago you attended IU, but the atmosphere at Miami versus IU is pretty strongly different.</p>
<p>My daughter left IU about 2 years ago, now. She grew up in a structured and disciplined household where we work hard M-F and lighten up only on the weekends. When she hit Bloomington, nobody slept and the dorms were chaos, starting about Wednesday night. Different floors and dorms were different, depending on the dorm, of course, but if you had a weak RA, the floor was insanity and administration really just lets whatever happens happen. My daughter may have had a particularly bad floor, but it was pretty appalling. My son observed this and made a firm note in his mind that that was NOT the school for him. He will spend more time there through the academy of finance at his school, and maybe that will change his mind, but IU did not earn their number one party reputation for nothing. I have never seem a place quite like it. Miami looks very tame by comparison. IU will likely cost us significantly less, yes, but Miami still fits in the budget with their current merit offerings. The Chinese business program at Miami is also very interesting. He would take two years of Mandarin Chinese and then spend 6 months interning in China. Miami has also just built some pretty awesome new facilities. Lastly, Miami is almost entirely an undergrad institution. As a result, faculty there give undergrads a lot more research opportunity than at IU. We have visited both places. I think his general impression of IU was, “I don’t want to go there.” I’m also an IU grad. It’s a fine school. But he does not have good impressions of it.</p>
<p>Well then, IU is off the list for your son. But I think you have some blinders on when it comes to Miami. It’s a fine school, but it IS a public state university with all that goes along with that. They have had significant alcohol issues in the past (again-not unique to Miami, but don’t pretend you are going to a small, studious LAC).</p>
<p>I know that your son is young, but if should at least see if he can get scholarship offers from other schools because they won’t be available to him as a transfer student when he’s older. He can always transfer to an instate school later, but he can’t get the $$ to go elsewhere later.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that he will be about 18 months older than he is now when he starts college. That’s a big deal at this age. My older son “seemed” young during his high school years, that I wondered how he’d manage living away from home (he’s almost 21, but he still looks about 16!)…but he’s done well…straight As, Phi Beta Kappa, etc. My younger son, has always seemed older for his age, so no concerns there. We told our older son that if he wanted to “go away,” he needed to work on a few areas. :)</p>
<p>So, if you have some concerns about his age/maturity level, this is the time to have a frank talk with him. If he’s fine with staying in-state, then great. If he wants to go OOS with scholarships and he has some “growing up to do,” then tell him what areas he needs to work on during the 6-12 months. If he doesn’t get himself up in the morning, that could be the first goal. If he doesn’t keep track of his things or his schedule, that can be the second goal, and so forth.</p>
<p>You might take another look at DePauw, even though there’s not a ‘b-school’ per se-- look at the Management Fellows program. DPU grads are tremendously over-represented (with respect to the number of people who attend) in business. I’m currently a senior, and while I’m not presently pursuing a career in business, I have more than a few friends and acquaintances who are walking into excellent jobs in business. </p>