D22 attends Fitchburg. While her grades were good in high school, she just never wanted to apply herself to academics if she wasn’t interested in the subject. Luckily, her high school had a career pathway (education) that she really enjoyed and Fitchburg has a great education program. While I really wanted her to look at other schools (Endicott, Lesley, UMASS) she insisted on only applying to Fitchburg.
While it’s not the experience I pictured for her, she is thriving and says she made the right choice and can’t picture herself anywhere else. The smaller class size and more personal attention are just what she needed. She loves her teachers and her classes. She is so much more invested than she was in high school and has made Dean’s List every semester. The on-campus experience is totally lacking (it’s much better at UML) but she’s still managed to make a lot of friends. She is moving out of the dorms to commute next year (because she thinks the dorms are really gross). When I brought up the social aspect she said that almost all of her friends are commuters anyway. |
This is a kid I always pictured at UDel or UMD, but she did it her way. (And I saved a lot of money). She will be just as employable coming out of Fitchburg as any other school in MA, just as your son will be with UML. Don’t discount the smaller state schools. They have a lot to offer.