<p>“But the problem is that the LAC environment that was ideal for the 18 year old high school grad was not at all a good place for the 20 year old he became. LAC’s can be constraining-- especially if it is smaller, standalone school (as opposed to a LAC that is part of a consortium or has ties to a larger, nearby university.”</p>
<p>My son (a junior in high school) had thought a large research U was the best option for him, until he visited Grinnell. Would love any advice on considerations to think through as he decides on where to apply.</p>
<p>I will address this from your retirement statement.</p>
<p>I don’t believe many jobs right now are 100% secure. Worst case scenarios. One of you gets sick. One of you loses your job. Health care premiums continue to cost more. Some large companies are doing away with health care of retires. </p>
<p>Really look hard at your finances for the future. If you are already frugal there is probably not much you can cut out. </p>
<p>I am certainly pessimistic but it seems as if many companies are slimming down their costs right now . Older age workers and benefits are taking a hit. Can you survive this?</p>
<p>On the “okay for 18 but not 20” topic. Kids do a huge amount of growing from 18 to 20 emotionally. They need to go someplace to stretch their wings. For some that may be safe environment, small classes of an LAC. For others they’ll do better in an environment that lets them try lots of experiences/has more academic offerings as far away from the high school experience as they can get. As one grows emotionally, the small community of an LAC may seem limiting rather than nurturing. Each to his own. I for one always loved a large campus with the opportunities it afforded.
If my D said she wanted a big campus and Berkeley, I’d believe her and quit worrying about whether that was her " true" feeling. She’s happy to go.Don’t go putting words in her mouth based on YOUR feelings. I’ve known people who have been pushed into big campuses when they wanted something smaller–it wasn’t hard to tell that they were unhappy. From the post it sounds like parents like the LACs because it seems safer to them. OP–don’t go worrying about this so much that your D decides on a LAC for YOU rather than what she actually wants. </p>
<p>CalMom–As for not liking Grinnell–your son may still be very right about wanting a large research university. Just not Grinnell…even large campuses have very different personalities.</p>
<p>Wow. People are really misreading things if they think I might be forcing my kid to go for either option. If you go back and read more closely I think you can see that’s not the case. But thanks anyway. </p>
<p>I am with those who say let your D choose. You are in the enviable position of being willing and able to pay for any of her choices. If she decides that she chose wrong, you will still be able to pay for a transfer school. Don’t worry so much … I am sure it will all work out just fine. Sometimes we parents worry too much come spring of senior year! </p>
<p>My view of LAC is it is often great for the first 2 years and many student out grow it after few years. Many top tier (well funded) LACs provide research opportunities for their students, but other LACs may not offer as many options. A lot of students probably do not want to go to their in state public, but in OP’s case, I think Berkeley is probably the best option. If it’s my D, that’s what I would advise her.</p>
<p>I have to I agree, especially if grad school is in the mix.
Thats without knowing your daughter however, my daughter loved Reed and after she saw it, didn’t seriously consider anywhere else. But its that sort of school. If you don’t feel compelled to attend after visiting, it may not be the right choice.
It sounds like besides the Gpa, that there are other requirement for a MLK scholar at NYU. Both my kids are in the sciences, and unless you are going to pay for a 5th year, your course schedule at (Im guessing) most schools starts out with heavy emphasis on science and math and may not leave a lot of room for social justice work and travel.
Its interesting that she earned such a big scholarship from NYU, yet nothing from Smith. Unless she didn’t put much effort into her application, which might give a clue as to her feelings.</p>
<p>NYU is an expensive school because it is in NYC. If she likes LAC then I don’t know why she would like NYU. It doesn’t have a traditional college campus feeling, one wouldn’t even know where is the campus. Both of my kids have friends who are going to NYU, not all of them are really happy.</p>
<p>I suspect anyone could find ASPECTS of most colleges to enjoy. People are pretty complex and one facet of their personality and strengths would be find one campus attractive while another aspect would find another more compelling, even when the places are VERY different. Which one ultimately wins out is a judgment call.</p>
<p>This really depends on the individual student and could go the other way. I knew many classmates who transferred in from Top 30 universities because they felt they outgrew the weaker academic offerings of their former respective colleges in our academic area of interests. </p>
<p>Incidentally, this was also another factor why I turned down NYU other than finances. My LAC had far stronger offerings for my academic interests than NYU did back then. </p>
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<p>It’s also an expensive school because it has been expending prodigious amounts of money over the last 2-3 decades promoting itself and raising its academic profile from being a commuter school for well-off students with average-above average GPAs(Former at CAS and Steinhardt/Latter at Stern) to being a university with the cachet comparable with the elite universities. </p>
<p>Not to mention having an abysmally low endowment per student which is one key factor behind their high tuition and abysmal FA/scholarship packages with the exception of the few who are eligible for full-rides for having high Ivy-level stats*. </p>
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<li>Most classmates who got such scholarships ended up going to the Ivies/equivalent elite colleges anyways because they had equivalent/better FA/scholarship offers and the latter were stronger for their academic field of interest/overall.<br></li>
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<p>@MidwestSalmon – each kid is different. My son ended up feeling constrained and isolated at his small LAC, which didn’t happen to give much of an outlet for his developing interests. Partly it was the particular culture of his LAC – he probably would have done better if he had opted for a different LAC where students were more outwardly and politically engaged – but he wasn’t engaged that way in high school, so it isn’t something that we would have predicted. There were other issues as well – but the point is college is also a time for growth.</p>
<p>I do know many students who have done very well at Grinnell! </p>
<p>As your son is only in the application stage – I think you should encourage him to apply to both types of schools – LAC’s AND large research Universities. The applying part is very different from making a final choice, and there is also a lot of growth that occurs between fall and spring of senior year, so I think it’s good to keep many options open. </p>
<p>In some ways, he sounds like someone who’d enjoy Oberlin as it certainly was full of outwardly and politically engaged students when I was there. </p>
<p>Then again, depending on his comfort level and politics…he have have also found it to be too much of a good thing after a while. </p>
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