<p>Susy- I don’t know if they have honors but I believe they do.</p>
<p>WordWorld- I agree that doesn’t even sound 2nd tier to me but a couple of entries I found with a quick google search called it “2nd tier” so I went with that. </p>
<p>Ordinary- She didn’t apply. They sent us a packet out of the clear blue yesterday.</p>
<p>Kat- It is tuition and 1/3 room and board but mentions applying for the full ride w/ a 6k overseas travel stipend if someone has over a 3.5 and 1200 SAT. My D is WAY above that (see subsequent paragraphs). Also, yes she is in at UVA and no this isn’t Clemson. We are still waiting to see if they up the award over the initial 16k/yr or whatever it was.</p>
<p>Frazzled and Oldfort- The 50% range is from 800-1000 which makes D’s 1430/2150 seem Einstein-like. I agree with you two and don’t even want to consider it, but DW feels strongly that we should. D was sleeping when I got home from work so I don’t know what she thinks. </p>
<p>To those who asked about grad school- The answer is we don’t know. Right now she is intending on majoring in psych (maybe pre-med) but that could easily change so who knows.</p>
<p>UCB- it is a very small private college (3k maybe of the top of my head). I didn’t want to name it in case they see the thread and get mad that I called them 2nd (or worse) tier.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus is right. Some 2nd tier schools are known to have competitive specialty areas, others are in areas where there are not a lot of other college options and thus take a wider swatch of students, but may still provide a rigorous education. </p>
<p>We need more info - is this school in city where there are a lot of other higher stat options? Is it known for specialty in D’s area of interest? How likely is it that D will change majors? How large is the student body? </p>
<p>We are currently compiling a list for sylvanD, and I have tentatively set the bar at 1200 for the 75th percentile SAT scores. It has amazed me how much difference even 50 or 60 points can make in the quality of a school’s education and reputation.</p>
<p>I would think a middle SAT range of 900 to 1000 would be classified as a tier 4 imo. I would have to think long and hard to go that low with a 1400 plus SAT kid. The cut off for me would be no lower than 1200 average SAT.</p>
<p>30 years ago, I got into a very good LAC with a lot of FA and ISS with a free ride. My mother said I should go to ISS, but my dad put his foot down (he rarely went against my mom) to send me to the LAC. I am very grateful to my dad for having made that decision. </p>
<p>If your daughter got into UVA and has SAT score of 1430, I think she would be wasting 4 years of her life there. The school is paying for your daughter´s academic achievement, the question is if it´s worth it to you.</p>
<p>TV4caster, My son who went to UVa had scores higher than your daughters. If we had gotten something like that unsolicited, we would have ignored it. He did get lots of info from other schools but we always were prepared to pay instate tuition rather than have him go a lower tier school(If we had not had the money,that would have been another story and may have looked at places like Alabama,etc. that seem to give lots of aid). You have said you have a prepaid tuition plan which would pay for any instate school. It seems like you have enough choices/decisions to make already(UVa, Clemson,etc.) without adding another much lower tier unsolicited school into the mix at the last minute. But it’s your money! Good luck!</p>
<p>In my humble opinion the ONLY ranking that matters is the one your college bound student gives the program. If she ranks it at the top, then so be it.</p>
<p>Your info about her “just getting a packet” makes me think you should think twice. Your daughter didn’t choose this school at all…they found her.</p>
<p>It sounds like she has other affordable choices that are on HER radar screen that better meet her criteria.</p>
<p>Five years ago, a friend of one of my kids turned down a top-tier school to accept a full-ride merit scholarship to a less prestigious university. She wanted to become a doctor, and her parents had agreed to let her use the money they would not have to spend on her undergraduate education for her future medical school costs. </p>
<p>For her, it worked. She graduated from the lesser university and is now a medical student, with her expenses paid for by her family. Mission accomplished. </p>
<p>But the lesser school was not anywhere near as low on the academic pecking order as what you’re talking about. The university this young woman attended was our state flagship, which has an SAT average (CR+M) of about 1300 and a highly regarded honors program, in which she participated. </p>
<p>Could this young woman have accomplished the same thing at a school with an SAT average of 800-1000? I’m not sure. That seems awfully low.</p>
<p>thumper, The thing is that it sounds like the OP doesn’t know yet what the daughter even thinks about it (it is unclear if she even know about it as OP says she was sleeping when he got back from work). It seems to be the DW who is saying they should consider it because of the money. It just sounds like it could be an unnecessary last minute distraction(to have to consider a random last minute school that she didn’t even apply to) for the daughter in an already stressful situation. Of course, I could be wrong and every kid and family is different.</p>
<p>I have not read the whole thread but I have been checking some of the 2nd tier colleges as safeties for D2 because she would go there free. I don’t think there is a problem with acceptance to top tier MS/MA program. My boss went to one of these 2nd tier undergraduate and I’m very impressed with his leadership. He had no problem getting into to top tier MS and Phd program in Engineering like U of Michigan.
With the exception of investment banking where the college one graduates from might make a difference(especially in the beginning), I might be willing to look at second tier if it’s nearly free.</p>
<p>There is no “second tier”. For that matter US News no longer identifies schools as 3rd or 4th tier. And even if it did, I doubt a school whose freshman class scored an average of 900 on the SAT would be ranked in the “second tier.”</p>
<p>Some things about schools can be compared at the macro level - the campus, the housing options, the surrounding community, the sports environment, etc. But for academics, you have to look at the “micro-climate” the student will be in. As some have pointed out, an honors program and/or honors dorm can make a difference.</p>
<p>It’s not uncommon for a particular school to have very different levels of accomplishment in individual programs. I’m familiar with a big public university that was fairly average overall but had a few programs that were nationally recognized and which drew applicants from all over the country. Another school I know is a regional campus of a state U that attracts mostly local/regional students but has one program that is quite literally one of the best in the world in its field; it was so competitive that few, if any, in-state students were ever admitted.</p>
<p>What IS true, though, is that even if your student is in a more elite grouping, there will be lots of interaction with the rest of the student body. There’s nothing wrong with this, unless you think your student is susceptible to adopting the values of those around her. It’s fair to say that with the stats described, the majority of students won’t be academic overachievers and that there won’t be a pervasive ethos of high academic achievement.</p>
<p>Some highly accomplished students might slack off in such an environment, while others might be even more motivated by having the potential to be an academic star.</p>
<p>I would see if you could find out, do they have a pre-med advisor, how many kids go to med school from the school. Are they able to prepare kids for med school? Even if they only send a few, my guess is she would be one of few. My guess is she willl get the grades she needs for med school there, but will she be prepared for med school/mcats. I realize her plans may change, but I would want to know this.</p>
<p>In addition to talking to DD, I think you also need to talk to DW and find out her logic. Is she scared you guys will be broke in retirement? Other kids? Doesnt think DD is serious student (hard to buy, but OK)? Are there issues between DW and DD?</p>
<p>I have to admit that if my child got a full-ride package out of the blue from a school she hadn’t even applied to, I would be VERY, VERY, VERY skeptical. </p>
<p>Your D has some very good options (UVa, Clemson) and unless you are broke and can’t manage a way to send her to either of those without threatening your retirement or putting food on the table, I would probably toss the package in the garbage and proceed directly to Charlottesville or Clemson.</p>
<p>Can someone post a link to a credible “tier” system? </p>
<p>OP, like others, without knowing the school, I can’t comment on if it is a good idea or not. If you feel comfortable, please PM me with that so I can comment (in the PM).</p>
<p>A couple of people have also commented that since this was an unsolicited offer it makes a difference. How so? Better or worse, because she has also had unsolicited offers from schools like Tulane and Drexel among numerous others.</p>
<p>TV4caster: 1000 SAT does sounds like a much lower tier school. Unless you are considering it for financial reason, I would not go. A friend’s daughter went to a lower tier school just for the merit scholarship and ended up very disappointed. Instead of engaging her classmates, she ended up helping or leading them. She did a semester aboard and graduated in 3 years just to leave the school early. Many of her classmate are just not as motivated. Also dragged down her grades on group projects.</p>
<p>Congrats to your D being accepted to UVA. My kids gave up full/~full scholarships at other schools to attend UVA. (Drexel was one of them. He applied because there was no aplication fee).</p>
<p>To the question: Would I send my kid to a 2 nd tier school? Depends what you are comparing to. We did not feel an undergraduate degree at an ivy is worth $150,000 more in debt, but will pay if they decide to go there for graduate school. S1 looked at Cornell and UPenn and was overly impressed. Went ED to UVA. S2 currently in UVA did not apply to any ivies. Nephew went to Penn State over Cornell.</p>
<p>Call me crazy, but has anyone suggested flat out asking your D what she wants out of her UG experience? Not every UG experience is the same . . . can this “2nd tier,” school offer the same “life experiences,” that the more rigourous/expensive schools on her list can? Perhaps she doesn’t want to hop onto the “assembly line to the GNP,” just yet.</p>
<p>I would never make light of having an “endgame stratedgy,” for your D but she’s only going to be 18-22 once and the facilities, connections and cultural experiences that a top school can offer might be worth the extra, “skin,” so-to-speak. Anyway, good luck!</p>
<p>Don’t want to rain on a parade, but the time to talk money was before apps were sent out. How much of a gift are parents willing and able to give? What is student’s expected contribution? Who pays the difference? All that should have already been answered before fin aid offers came in. </p>
<p>item 2- let’s remember “tier 2” is an artificial designation popularized by magazines in the business of selling rankings. The real world doesn’t see things quite this way. I don’t believe HR managers toss away a resume, and say- “Ewww, second tier.”
While Harvard might be the best known U.S. school, more successful, happy people didn’t graduate there than those who did.</p>
<p>Lastly, realize that not all students go on to grad school, despite the expectations. Heck, not all college students graduate from undergrad. Money parents keep now, could be applied to grad school later, or given to student later as a gift. Money spent now is gone.</p>
<p>This is a double-edged sword. While going into the workforce immediately after receiving a bachelor’s degree means saving money on educational costs, it also means that the undergraduate school is the only school that appears on the person’s resume and that on-campus recruiting from the undergraduate school is of huge importance. Both are factors worth considering. (Vast numbers of employers recruit at UVa, and I suspect the same is true of Clemson. Does anyone recruit at this other school?)</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that some types of graduate school (especially Ph.D. programs, but sometimes, some master’s programs as well) don’t have to be paid for. The students are supported by teaching or research assistantships or, less often, by fellowships. Much depends on the type of graduate school that might be of interest to an individual.</p>