Personally - and agree with this - but OP should also look at what they are studying.
Journalism - really no one better than ASU - in parallel with Northwestern, Syracuse - or right there.
Supply Chain - tops
Engineering / CS - look at the top employers - they’re the whos who of whatever.
Physics at U of A - top 5 in some studies.
Yes, if one wants selectivity - it’s not ASU or Kansas or Nebraska, etc.
For the most part (98% of time), a flagship is a flagship is a flagship. People choose them for different reasons - cost, weather, distance to home and more.
But the entire thread is silly in that - you apply to 5 schools or 8 schools or 20 schools, etc. You’re going to one.
You, the OP, erred choosing a school that doesn’t make you feel good - and it’s far from the only like this.
Simple solution - attend somewhere else.
Will your education, cost or outcome be better? Maybe, maybe not.
It’s still a college and those admitted with lesser stats, will take remedial work or struggle and perish. It’s not a cake walk.
Thanks. I appreciate the feedback. I feel EXACTLY like your husband felt when your D24 applied. So much pressure is placed on kids to take more challenging courses to compete and have been told that it’s better to get the B in an AP than an A in a CP. Really tough as applications are being sent to a very broad range of schools that weigh everything differently.
I agree with another response that use the word “prestigious.” Reputable wasn’t the best word for me to use.
The actual message in this respect is that it is better to earn an A in the harder course.
However, since Arizona State University automatically admits to most majors at a 3.0 GPA, some B grades in harder courses will not prevent admission, assuming other course grades are A grades.
Re: the 2 NM colleges that my kid applied to, I told my DH that given the overall level of academic achievement by HS students in New Mexico, UNM and NMSU’s GPA policies for admissions to their colleges in that state makes sense. There are a number of HS students in NM who might be lucky to have access to any AP class (lots of rural areas + Native American tribes/pueblos). And in general, usually the goal of an in-state public university is to primarily serve the students who reside in that state.
If a student chooses to just go with ‘regular’ classes or all college prep/honors courses instead of a bunch of AP/IB/DE (dual enrollment), whether or not that student then performs well in actual college classes once they get to college would be interesting to find out about.
For example, a student in that situation might need additional supports. Might need to be more proactive about seeking out help from the tutoring center or ‘student success center’ on campus. Might need some mentoring about organizational skills, time management, study skills, etc. In other words, “how to college.”
Add on top of that if the student is 1st gen, and then such a student should probably seek out a group on campus that’s geared toward 1st gen students. Some colleges are better at this than others.
I don’t regret my D24 taking a bunch of hard classes in HS and getting a mix of A’s and B’s and some C’s here and there. Those classes prepared her really well for college.
I tend to look at the whole thing from a perspective of “What place(s) will be the best fit for my child?” Nobody at our HS graduation last May had heard of the college D24 is attending. But guess what? She’s a pre-health kid and in the pre-med/pre-health arena in the state of TX (which is where the college is located), her college has a great reputation for preparing its students REALLY well for health professions grad schools. So the regional ‘reputable/prestige’ factor is notable, but outside of the area, nobody’s heard of it and nobody gives a care.
In theory, doing well in regular college prep courses should be sufficient to prepare the student for college. But is it the case that actual quality of such courses is highly variable and unreliable, so that this theoretical level of college preparation is not met by many high schools and their students in regular college prep courses? AP/IB theoretically has external standards of rigor, although some high schools may not meet them (e.g. where A students in AP courses routinely score 1 on AP tests). Actual college courses (at a college) may be the best predictor of how well a student will do in college.