<p>Many parents cherish college memories and hope their progeny attend their alma mater, especially Ivy Leaguers. My aged parents attended an Ivy, are active in the alumni organization, and have named the institution in their will. I felt the same way about my school, but was forced to reexamine my blind devotion after visiting with my son, who was ultimately accepted but decided to attend another school. The student body composition had dramatically changed since my day, yet the dorms and many facilities had not. The town seemed smaller and more dreary than I recollected; there was so much less vibrancy than in the large city where I now reside and raised my children. I came away from my visit glad to have moved on despite fond memories, and <strong>gasp</strong> having some doubt that I would make the same choice again despite the fact that I might well never be accepted in this hypercompetitive era. Anyone with similar experiences?</p>
<p>To answer your question, No. It is (and probably was then) a third/fourth tier school, but had the program I wanted, which was very good. Today that program is even better. But watching the experiences my kids had in college, there is no way I would go there now. Plus I am directly connected to my former college so I have some intimate knowledge of things, and am very disappointed in it. The top administration is a joke and they are running it into the ground. I have no idea what the Board of Trustees is thinking but they don’t seem to do anything but pat themselves (and the administration) on the back. Someone I am close to took 3 summer courses there to make up some credits. The courses were on a ninth grade level, plus the one course cancelled 3 of the 8 classes and when they did meet (which was supposed to be 4 hours) the longest any of the classes was held was 1 3/4 hours. I can’t even recommend the school to anyone else. It’s a sad state of affairs. And they wonder why they are in financial trouble.</p>
<p>I would like to have had a choice in the first place. At my parents’ insistence, I went to college in my hometown and commuted for the first year and a half before moving into my sorority house. Just about everyone in my hometown went there, my dad wanted to save a buck and in fairness, my grades were not so hot. I feel like I missed out by staying home and it made it much harder to become independent as a young adult. All that said, my overall college experience was good, but I absolutely would have changed majors. I finally admitted to myself that I was in the wrong field, but by that time I was about to graduate and decided to make the best of it. My first job and my first 18 months out of college were a nightmare. So I guess my answer would be maybe, if I’d been allowed to look at other schools and make an informed choice.</p>
<p>I’d go back in a split second. My kid is there now and loves it. It’s better than it was when I went–I’m jealous (but wouldn’t want to have to study!).</p>
<p>Yes, large OOS public that I enjoyed very much.</p>
<p>None of my offspring has wanted to go there, but that’s ok, I didn’t choose where my parents went either even though I had to apply to their Alma mater as a safety. I wanted my own experience away from home. Everyone has to find their own fit. I’ll freely admit there are also positives about the schools my guys have chosen… differences from where I went (esp for the small LAC), but there are positives. I understand why my boys chose where they chose.</p>
<p>No way. I chose a school based on prestige and cost, and it was a poor fit. It’s a public flagship, but I was out-of-state, and did not live with freshman (dorms overcrowded), so had a tough time meeting people. I also had no idea what I wanted to do career-wise, so could have used better advising. There really wasn’t any. </p>
<p>I wish I had had access to all the info students these days can get so easily on the internet. I spent a lot of time helping my D choose her college last year, and the research paid off. I wish I’d known her school existed when I applied!</p>
<p>No way. My school was/is very well thought of and mentioned frequently here on CC. Although it was a great fit academically (great teachers, small classes and very close faculty-student relationships), it was a terrible fit socially - way too Greek and too clique-ish, and as a middle-class kid from the sticks I was way intimidiated by the displays of conspicuous consumption in my dorm from the significant number of more well-to-do kids. The kicker is, when I was there the school prided itself on being a “good bargain” for smart kids, but that “good bargain” part is no longer part of their marketing. Holy cow, it’s expensive.</p>
<p>I wish I had gone to the public flagship. (That’s another thing - this was a small research university that felt way too smothering by senior year.)</p>
<p>I transferred from a local cc to a mid sized private school in the midwest. Not a top 100 school, but highly ranked as a regional university. </p>
<p>In answer to the question, an unqualified yes! Loved it.</p>
<p>Sadly neither of my kids were/are interested in attending but S has a friend who is starting there this year.</p>
<p>I went to a state university center in NY and I was afraid to mention it to my daughter when we started talking about college, in sophomore year of high school, for fear that she would rule it out–eeew, that’s where my mom went! But she stayed in the dorms during a summer program there and fell in love with it. She gets no legacy preference and there’s no guarantee she’ll get in–it’s very selective, more than when I was there many years ago. I did insist that we look at a range of schools, and pointed out that services and class size are probably better at several of the privates. But my alma mater remains her first choice. (She’s a senior.)</p>
<p>Of course it’s just a superficial observation from when I was on campus, during the summer and once during the school year when we did a tour. But although the student body is larger and there are more buildings on campus, the campus atmosphere seems to be the same as it ever was, and I will be happy if my daughter attends.</p>
<p>I would attend in a heartbeat. None of my kids were interested- oh well, but I have been back a couple of times since for various events, plus to do the tours with my kids and it still gets my pulse racing.</p>
<p>The dorms are still a mess, by the way… so much money spent on capital improvements, most of which seems to have gone into science and lab facilities (which I don’t object to) but the genteel shabbiness of the living quarters helped create a pretty democratic feel, despite the presence of some uber rich kids who seemed to hide in the shadows for the most part. We didn’t have Google back then to check out family lineage!!!</p>
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<p>This. I grew up in a state with a fine public flagship that my grandfather, parents, and older sibling had attended. My dad informed me that if I didn’t get in there, I could apply other places. Of course I got in easily.</p>
<p>If I were going back to being 18 and going to college, I feel like an LAC would have been a better fit for me at that time. Partly because I had terrible study habits and no academic or career direction, and a large university doesn’t help much with those. I was smart enough to get through even without major adaption of my (bad) study habits. But I feel like a smaller college with close relationships with professors may have put me on a very different path in life (likely to a PhD and a life in academia myself). Or maybe someplace more focused on ‘life of the mind’ like U of Chicago might have been good.</p>
<p>But I will say that I like to go back and visit my college town. It is beautiful, and there is an intellectual vibe I notice even in transactions in coffee shops and bookstores around campus. I have considered going back for a second degree (from what I can tell on the website I could do this without re-applying!). I think as an adult, I would enjoy the town more, get a whole lot more out of it, and have MUCH better study habits! And I wouldn’t be afraid to go to office hours like I was as an introverted teenager. The only things stopping me are (1) pesky finances, and (2) the darned foreign language requirement – I can’t imaging I could get through 4 semesters of foreign language for the degree I would want to get…</p>
<p>Absolutely not, even though I had a great time and made fantastic, life long friends. Large OOS flagship where even in the 70’s it was virtually impossible to graduate in 4 years because of difficulty getting courses. Horrible advising, also. Only school I would have refused to let my kid even apply. Thankfully he had no interest in it at all. I wish I had gone to the small LAC where I was accepted.</p>
<p>I think exuberant allegiance to one’s alma mater, especially when it comes to their football team, shows an inability to deal with the adult world properly.</p>
<p>I liked it well enough, but academically I would probably have been better off at a different Ivy which actually had some architectural luminaries. And part of me will always wonder what would have happened if I’d just ignored those SAT scores and tried going to RISD and studied illustration.</p>
<p>I’d attend again in a second (LOVED my time there) and SecondToGo is also attending the same school. Full disclosure PS - I knew nothing about LACs when I applied to colleges … and they might have been pretty appealing if I had checked them out.</p>
<p>Mom3ToGo also would go back to her school in a second.</p>
<p>@beolein - or it could show an sense of fun and appreciation of what you gained from your college experience. Lots of people I know show “exuberant allegiance” to their alma maters (or is that almas mater?) and deal with the adult world just fine, thank you very much. To each his or her own.</p>
<p>I definitely would! I was a music major at “Midwestern Ivy” and felt I had great musical training as well as the Big 10 college experience. I was in a sorority (rare for music majors) and lived in the house for 3 years. Having attended a performing arts high school, I was used to being in an artsy environment but enjoyed hanging out with “normal people” as well.</p>
<p>I moved back to my hometown and found that having Midwestern Ivy on my resume gets some attention when most people have attended State Flagship or In-town Rival. I keep in touch with friends from the music school and the sorority, and have college friends all over the country. I think my S would love it there, he’s got the smarts but not the stats so it’s just as well that he considers it to be in a foreign country.</p>
<p>I would not, mostly because of location (although the Chicago area was pretty nice) and a a lack of majors that I have an interest in now (ag, environment, and/or design). I also think it is a bit too small at about 8,000 undergrads. I love big state U’s and the pacific NW so would choose between UW and Oregon State.</p>
<p>Yes…I went to Ohio University for undergrad and would definitely go there again. Actually, their facilities and courses in my field have improved considerably over the years. The speech pathology department is part of a huge allied health care complex.</p>
<p>I tried to talk my daughter into applying there…but it was too rural for her.</p>
<p>Nowadays, a lot of us would have a hard time just being admitted to our alma maters. Let alone paying for them.</p>