<p>Late to the party, but here’s another sample size of 1 …</p>
<p>My son started attending a small (~225-student) New England boarding school last year, and threatens to graduate this year. He’s got respectable test scores (79th-99th percentile) but a <3.0 GPA. The discrepancy prompted us to have him attend boarding school for the latter high school years.</p>
<p>His mom & I think that a(n) LAC would be the best place for him to continue his studies, and have toured over 15 schools with him, all being 1900-2400 student LACs, except for two public in-state universities with 7,500 & 20K+ students</p>
<p>A months or two ago, he asked me about larger colleges. I said if he wants that, it’s fine, but suggested that at the undergraduate level, at any reasonably selective large school to which he could realistically expect admission, the education received would be fundamentally the same, and suggested that, for the money, it didn’t make sense to pay more than in-state or Canadian rates (he’s got dual citizenship). He agreed. His application pool will likely include 3-4 large universities and 8-10 LACs. (Yes, that’s a large list, but his ‘colorful’ academic background precludes many admission assumptions, upward trend notwithstanding.)</p>
<p>All that said, he’s going to have several good options (3 LAC acceptances thus far, both in the U.S. and Canada), but he’s not pursued the ‘large-school initiative’ further.</p>