<p>Student615, thanks for the vote for Claremont colleges. Looks like a great collection of colleges in a ‘best of both worlds’ kind of environment. </p>
<p>BTW, I also liked your community college student’s story. But it reminds me of a quote of Dave Thomas, the guy who started Wendy’s. He never went to college, and may have even been a high school dropout. He was once asked- wasn’t his life’s story evidence that college is not so important for success? His answer- No. He often wondered how much more he might have accomplished had he gone to college. So my question is what would that community college student have accomplished had he/she been given an opportunity to attend a more academic college (such as one of the Claremonts).</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that is the obvious question. She’ll be transferring to a state college (and is very excited about doing so), but has never totally warmed up to the hand she was dealt. Really, though, I and her other friends/family, seeing her drive and knowing her potential, probably wonder about this particular “What if…” more than she does. And I promise that as unideal of a situation as it may seem, there are lots of happier details :)</p>
<p>Good luck with the remainder of your own search!</p>
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<p>Another thing to note…even in the same university, at the undergrad level, different departments differ. My experience (at MIT) was that there were certain departments where the powers that be were willing to toss you to the side and let you sink, unless you were in the top quarter of their students, and other departments where, to quote a friend who was in one of those departments, “they love you like a fuzzy bunny.” Most (including my own) fell somewhere in the middle.</p>