<p>The diff. in cost was not big, since private school gave D. more money. She was accepted to selective program at state school, and was not accepted to similar program at private school, despite of huge Merit scholarship that she got there. She went to state school and happy with her choice.</p>
<p>Frazzled’s post is on the mark, from my experience.</p>
<p>Being in Honors dept of a flagship offered close contact with professors, a mentor relationship with thesis adviser, and a chance to attend top grad schools. The disadvantage was trying to find quiet places to study and sleep. My HS crowd was more interesting than my college peers. What saved me was b/f and his housemates, and graduating early. I didn’t find myself more nor less prepared than others in graduate school, regardless of their background.</p>
<p>My education cost a lot less than my other choices, but I don’t look back fondly on the experience. When my son was 5, I began to put $$ into a college plan. I’ve lived frugally, as I wanted him to have more options than I did. It was his choice how to use the $$. (Before I get flamed, his choice was not to go somewhere to surf.)</p>
<p>PS–My state U was HUGE, and other than engineering, no specialized programs. Currently, there are various state schools with programs in OT, PT, performing arts, etc. Honors housing at flagship is a separate dorm.</p>
<p>
In many cases with private schools, no. You don’t get your financial aid scholarship & grant figures until the student applies and is accepted. Which is why, as counter-intuitive as it seems, for some students the cost of attendance (COA) for the $$$ private school can wind up being less than the $ state school. In our case, it wasn’t less but it was within shooting range; point was moot, D didn’t apply to state schools for several reasons.</p>
<p>How about peer pressure on the parents? In my home town in Alabama, parents of kids bound for the Ivies and other schools outside of the South (esp. Northeast and CA) receive flack from relatives, friends, and acquaintances. I have lost count of the number of times over the years that I have had to justify my undergraduate Ivy over UAlabama choice to perfect strangers in Alabama. My uncle and cousins tried to recruit my daughter for Alabama despite the fact that she lives in CA. It’s not a school, it’s a religion :).</p>
<p>Igloo: It would have cost my D more to attend her public choices.</p>
<p>'I don’t think I’d give up Harvard for anything either."</p>
<p>I would give it up if it meant 6 figures of personal student debt. There’s almost no limit to what I would pay if I had the money, but a very tight limit on what I, as a 20-year-old, would borrow. This despite the fact that I feel about Harvard the way the Alabama fans feel about Alabama. :)</p>
<p>^D. did not want to apply to Ivy or any other elite UG, still have the same position in regard to Harvard, John Hopkins,… for Grad. school. She is going to be college senior and continue having straight "A"s.</p>
<p>One of my best friends turned down Harvey Mudd for UCSD. She was a finalist for one of the HM scholarships so I doubt cost was the issue. She’s a pretty practical person and her reasoning went off of this basis:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Though both schools had her specific major, she felt UCSD could offer her more opportunities.</p></li>
<li><p>Socially, she found that UCSD would be a better choice (most people don’t hear that too often). She felt that UCSD would offer her more of an experience in terms of diversity.</p></li>
<li><p>The location was perfect for her. (Beaches, nature, etc.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
</p>
<p>High-quality discussion, in my view, is an essential feature of a good liberal arts education in many humanities and social science fields. Maybe the single most important one. If you aren’t getting it, then your viewpoints and ability to present them probably are not being thoroughly challenged.</p>
<p>Small classes (<20 or so) are a necessary but not sufficient criterion of high-quality discussion. The caliber of the students is important. However, even at the most selective schools, many students are unprepared for Socratic discussion. So, the instructor needs to be effective at mentoring students who are shy, arrogant, off-topic, lazy, biased, or rude. The material should be based on challenging primary sources (not textbooks). Round tables work better than rank-and-file chairs facing a lectern.</p>
<p>I doubt that very many schools (probably <50) manage this kind of discussion consistently well. Most of them are expensive private schools (or honors colleges within state universities). So if you don’t believe this kind of discussion-based learning is very important, then it may not make much sense to spend more to attend these schools, because this is one of the important features that sets them apart.</p>
<p>“High-quality discussion, in my view, is an essential feature of a good liberal arts education in many humanities and social science fields”</p>
<p>-This supports my opinion that choosing college very much depends on future major. For somebody who clearly not interested and actually avoid taking humanities and social science classes in college, going to state school and do their best academically and with EC’s… etc. with the least UG expenses might prepare them the best for Grad. school.
While others’ goal might be accomplished by attending the most elite colleges for the best outcome (including quality of discussion, building network,…etc.).</p>
<p>I’m bumping this thread since many seniors have decided where to go for the next four years.</p>
<p>From MiamiDAP “For somebody who clearly not interested and actually avoid taking humanities and social science classes in college, going to state school and do their best academically and with EC’s… etc. with the least UG expenses might prepare them the best for Grad. school.”</p>
<p>My comment as a research scientist and tenured prof: to develop essential critical thinking skills required to successful in science careers and to get into the top science grad schools also requires extensive experience in small group critical discussion groups- no matter where you get it-
in lab internships, LAC or honor college small classrooms.</p>
<p>Its a general feature of quality education required for most fields (not just humanities!).</p>
<p>ParAlum - I agree except that I would imagine it’s easier to have a focused quality discussion in sciences is easier than in humanities.</p>
<p>You would think so, but I think people are people-so in any discipline they will always disagree on what is relevant to the topic at hand (scope, impact, range of consideration, application)! </p>
<p>I actually think too many individuals in the sciences get into details without consideration of the problem at hand or the relevance of those details.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how differently they rank, but I turned down Tufts for McGill, in Montreal, largely because of location. Its hard to compare Medford, MA and Montreal.</p>
<p>^I’d argue that Tufts is hardly in Medford being only a 10 min. walk to Davis Square. :)</p>
<p>My kid decided on Cal Berkeley over Columbia. Biggest reason was not wanting to be so far from our LA home.</p>
<p>I swear to you Im not Kidding. A girl in my highschool turned down a FULL RIDE to Yale, she had some outside scholarship, to attend a small college in Montana!!! Reason: The school in Montana would let her keep her horse on campus. Btw she told me her school had a 60% graduation rate, he college that it!</p>
<p>Good for her. She went to the school that made the most sense for her and in the end, that’s what matters :)</p>
<p>Heck, a college that lets you keep horses sounds like a really cool college, perfect for someone who enjoys the outdoors.</p>
<p>A 60% graduation rate sounds like a four-year graduation rate. Maybe lots of people double-major, or take time off for study-abroad, internships, that sort of thing. Plowing through college in 8 semesters isn’t for everyone.</p>
<p>@tofquinlan: What’s the name of the college in Montana? It might be something my son should look at. PM me if you feel more comfortable. Thanks</p>