A key element would be the difference between her stats and those of the “typical” student - for instance, if the average ACT score is 20 and she has 24, she’ll be okay, but she likely won’t if she has a 30 or 32.
I don’t agree. My kids have all gone to schools where their stats have been significantly higher than the avg admit. They have all excelled and thrived. They work with their professors. They are recognized as top students and they are mentored as such.
They have chosen self-selecting majors, though. ChemE, physics/math/EE, and Allied Health. Probably most of the students in those majors have higher stats than the avg admit. When you are talking about large publics, thousands of kids make up the avg stats. A given dept may have 30 students/yr in a specific major.
My husband was one of 15 chemE students graduating when he earned his degree. ~4000 students graduated. What was going on the chemE dept did not match the sociology dept. That is going to be true at the majority of schools.
^ true selective majors will have high stat students. You could ask for stats by major perhaps.
However, if a strongly academic student is interested in sociology, s/he may not be very satisfied at a school where sociology is seen as a “gut” major that attracts weaker students who are otherwise in danger of not meeting GPA requirements for sports, fraternities/sororities, etc…
@ucbalumnus I agree. It is why I qualified my post by saying that my kids have self-selected majors that tend to have stronger students in general.
Our D has been accepted at a competitive private school and the top state school in her particular health sciences program. The problem for us is that the private school has left a huge gap between the cost of attendance and our EFC. Attending the private school would mean either her or us taking out tens of thousands in additional loans. I’m not pushing her but I am showing her the difference in what her monthly loan payments could be. She’s pretty level-headed and I’m confident that she will make a smart choice.
If the choice involves debt above the federal limit, then it’s not a real choice. The top state school, if affordable, is the only reasonable choice.
(Here, OP could afford the private college by sacrificing, but without loans).