<p>I’m casting my vote for your paternal intuition too though I think that you really have to tread lightly and refrain from making any decisions for him. I don’t really think the issue is that his brother has had a bad experience because, really, that could have happened anywhere. If your younger son has been away and doing well at prep school he can likely navigate a larger school without too much trouble. Temptation will be present no matter where he goes and I think you know that. Fwiw, our experience is that it’s actually easier to avoid an unwanted party scene at larger (20K+) schools simply because there’s more to do on campus and kids aren’t as likely to be bored to tears. Ditto for making friends/finding opportunities…a bigger pool has been the silver lining for my kid at “mega U”. I think your concern about his ability to handle large sections is valid. He’s had experience with both types of academic environments and has performed better in a smaller setting. I would use that as an entry point for a conversation about which type of school will be the right academic fit and will best serve his long term goals (and that may be the time to let him know what your gpa expectations are)…once there’s consensus on that point, he may very well take Clemson off the table since he likes the other schools equally well.</p>