<p>I was trying to find a college in Virginia that had SATs of 1000 at the 25th percentile–almost all the ones I could think of were higher than that, including some that I think would be a pretty far drop for somebody who has been accepted to U.Va.</p>
<p>For my son NO.<br>
He is smart, easily frustrated by peers and easily motivated by peers. He also lacks some maturity (as most teen boys do). I think it would be a disaster for him. HOWEVER, if he were more self motivated it would be very tempting. </p>
<p>Consider a few more items:</p>
<p>Is there vast study abroad? Does the free ride cover study abroad?</p>
<p>Could she graduate in 3 years? Get AP credits? </p>
<p>Is research/extensive internships part of the program?</p>
<p>Not from a $ stand-point, but if she were bored academically, these items could inject some academic opportunities.</p>
<p>FWIW - My niece came from a low performing high school. She has little parental financial support. She turned down a lower tier school full ride for a #75-85 US News ranked school. Her final decision was based on 2 things – selection of courses & fear of being with the same type of lack-luster students in high school. She is very happy with the academic load at the #75-85 school – some classes are difficult, others are easy for her. Her friends are all serious students. Not all her classmates are as serious as she wished. Overall, a nice balance. It has been worth the financial struggles for her.</p>
<p>Put it this way—this particular school has “stats” lower than Alabama, which several people here have kids with offers from for full ride National Merit qualifications. The OP’s DD has “similar” stats to a NMS. The “high” end range for the school the OP is talking about is the “low” end range for Alabama.</p>
<p>^ That’s an interesting point. Did the OP’s DD apply to Bama? If not because the drop off was considered too great from UVA then why is it a question now?</p>
<p>It’s interesting that you bring up 'Bama. DW spent a semester there (left for money reasons for an ISS) and has relatives in T’loosa, and always wanted a kid to go there but D wouldn’t apply. I think it was partly because of its perceived weakness and partly because she was afraid DW would make her live with her Aunts. </p>
<p>The only reason it is coming up now is because DW thinks we could save the prepaid tuition for our next D and not have to raid most of our retirement money. To get daughter to even consider it would probably require not only pointing out the size and location benefits, but bribing her as well (new car maybe?). That of course eats into any savings, but would still leave us well ahead if D2 has her tuition covered because D1 gave up her plan.</p>
<p>What school is this?</p>
<p>This is a huge game changing switcheroo to pull on your daughter because your wife is now getting cold feet. The time to have thought this through was before all the apps went out.</p>
<p>Seriously, bribing with a car to not go to UVA? My high school friends parents bribed her to go to cc instead of a 4 year school with a car. She never ended up graduating and needed a new car anyway several years down the road.</p>
<p>DO NOT USE YOUR RETIREMENT MONEY TO PAY FOR COLLEGE–first if you pull money out of your retirement accounts, that looks like extra income on your taxes and will mess up any aid you my get down the road. Second, you can take loans for schooling, you can NOT take loans for retirement. BAD idea any way you look at it. Third, have you gotten aid packages from other schools yet? If not, wait to see what they offer, it might be better than you think. Fourth-bribes never work.</p>
<p>As for the Alabama offer–I just use that for a reference point for test scores, etc. and that people have been offered a full ride there because they are trying to attract top students so the situation is similar. I don’t know if the OP’s DD applied there or not.</p>
<p>There could be the possibility that neither of the next 2 kids who could use the prepaid tuition ends up being admitted to UVa (or William and Mary or Virginia Tech or JMU,etc.) . More and more kids all the time are applying to our schools,many from out of state. UVa has MANY more OOS applicants than instate every year.
I don’t believe the OP’s daughter applied to Alabama and the scholarship deadlines have passed anyway.</p>
<p>Won’t a new car cost more than what you would have paid? I think your DW has different value system than your D, at least in terms of education.
Cars depreciate immediately, but education is an investment. You only get one chance at an undergraduate education.</p>
<p>You only get to do undergrad once. Doing it at what appears not tobe a 2nd Tier but more like low 3rd to 4th tier school is a waste of some valuable years. Life is too short to waste.
Uva would be a great experience with a lifetime of memories and alumni events plus sports.</p>
<p>To swer the OP’s question: of course . . . the problem with broad classifications for schools is that individual student needs are usually not general … they are specific to the student, so that “best fit” schools for a student may not be what the general population would classify as Top Tier</p>
<p>The joking example is Turf Management: if alll your kid wanted to do was become the best possible golf course architect in the world The Ohio State University - not a Top Tier school - would be Top Tier For That Kid.</p>
<p>Same with Lehigh for aeronautical engineering, Cal Poly SLO for engineering, UCSC for marine biology, etc etc etc</p>
<p>Other factors include whether the kid is one who thrives being in the top 10-20% of students or not (as cream of the crop at a school one can take advantage of all the co-curricular activities it offers), how they respond to pressures of Top Tiers, etc</p>
<p>Ironic, isn’t it, that answering the general question posed by the OP doesn’t get at the OP’s real issues . . . kinda like what is a best fit school, no?</p>
<p>To the OP, while I wish it were not the case, I think the following adages became adages because they’re more or less true: “Go to the best school you can afford,” and “Talented people surround themselves with talented people.”</p>
<p>A motivated student can do well anywhere to some degree. But students learn AS MUCH from the other students in their environment as the profs in many ways; and more importantly, college is where they NETWORK with future peers.</p>
<p>My son had a similar offer from a well-respected “regional” university (much much higher SATS) but was fortunate enough to receive a full tuition scholarship at a very rigorous “top” or “state flagship” school that was in actual fact his first choice anyway.</p>
<p>Sure, we could have saved the $12K + a year by having him go to the regional U. But really, it would have been foolish to do so when for all intents and purposes he “earned” his share via scholarship to his favorite and most rigorous choice.
He is a junior there now, and has enjoyed every minute of the challenge and made fabulous connections with other people working at his level. To my mind, wholly worth it.</p>
<p>I am worried that your D. may feel like she “has” to accept the lower cost option or that your DW could inadvertently make her feel pressured (eg. arguments like 'then we’d have money for your sister…etc.) I think the fair compromise would be to have her take out staffords to pay for some of the cost and have some skin in the game and make her feel otherwise welcome to attend her first choice.</p>
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<p>That is quite low. The pace will be slow because professors can’t teach faster than the bulk of the students will go. High-stat kids at places like this will be bored and unchallenged. I know this because, while the college I work at has a somewhat higher average than this, I see the brighter kids who are there for (primarily financial) reasons struggling with a less capable peer group. They can’t find their tribe and it’s painful to watch.</p>
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<p>I don’t understand what your friends mean: that the school doesn’t matter, only its quality? Or that the name of the school doesn’t matter? </p>
<p>I do think the U/G school matters for admissions to MA and other graduate programs that are actually going to lead somewhere. You would need to find out what kind of programs (if any) graduates of this college get into. Are they getting into competitive ranked programs with good job placement, or unranked hobby programs? Every “university” in the land offers MA programs into which acceptance is extremely easy and guarantees nothing. If your D wants to go to a decent grad school, she’ll have to go to a decently competitive undergrad. It doesn’t have to be HYPS but it ought to be a flagship or a nationally ranked LAC or uni where the professors publish in their fields and can write recommendation letters that mean something to a professional audience.</p>
<p>Agree with the above that the thread title is misleading. My first thought was "Are we having this 1st Tier/2nd Tier argument again? But those SAT scores are too low for “2nd tier” (not that there is a hard & fast definition for any tier listing.)</p>
<p>Depends on how good the school is in your D’s intended major. (It’s <em>possible</em> that it is excellent in some area, but those low SATs…)</p>
<p>And if she didn’t even apply, but they FOUND her, it doesn’t seem she is invested in it at all.</p>
<p>I tend to be in the “you can get a good education anywhere” camp. It appears there’s a limit to my open-mindedness! To my mind, if the top quartile starts at 1000/1600 on SAT and the OP’s D is at 14XX/1600, this would not be a good intellectual community for her. Even if there is an honors program, with an average M/CR combo of 900, it seems likely this young woman’s intellectual peer group would be a tiny sliver of the whole. I absolutely understand how the OP’s W would want to investigate this option for financial reasons. I respect that. And if, as others have said, there were something else about the school that made it attractive, maybe I’d look harder at it. The quality of teaching is another thing to consider; if that is somehow tops and if the best students are specially advised and mentored, also maybe … But the teachers would have to be superb and the opportunities for individual attention would have to be plentiful. Those would still be weak “maybes,” especially if there are affordable (though not nearly-full-ride affordable) options that offer an objectively better educational experience.</p>
<p>Kei-o-lei-I know you were semi-joking but the golf course superintendent at the course we play most of the time started at $90,000/year. We have a friend from our old town that is a turf management expert and consults on most of the professional fields around the country. He makes more than the doctors in town make…there is a lot more to it than cutting the grass. If the OP’s DD wanted to major in that and this was THE school to attend for that, who cares with the test scores are for the rest of the students, but I agree, for what the OP’s DD is looking at doing, not the place for her.</p>
<p>I feel sorry for the second child who clearly will be told to use the prepaid tuition or else. Your wife needs to chill, and you just need to hand your daughter the packet and say nothing more than this came for you and let her throw it in the trash. Her decision. Stop opening her mail!</p>
<p>My son #3 receives 50% merit aid .He is a Senior in Mech . Eng .and has had a great experience . He is one of the top students in his class ,and the school has done a lot for him . It can be the right choice .</p>
<p>MomfromKC, I believe the OP has said he can get the money back he paid into the prepaid tuition plan if his kids do not end up at an instate school. I just don’t think the interest is good but not sure of the details.</p>