<p>I’m sitting here scratching my head thinking about 4 pages of posts re: your d not getting into a top school; then she is accepted to UCD and UCSB and you seem to still have doubts about the quality of education she can get there and the peers she’ll meet. These are top-notch schools, well-respected nationally and tremendous opportunities. Yes, the CSU’s are not as prestigious, etc, but many great kids go to them, do well and become wonderful people contributing to society. Perhaps there is a bias in your d’s school re: in-state options, but I frankly think you need to re-evaluate how you’re approaching your d’s educational options. Perhaps if we all knew what the options were at the beginning of this thread the conversation would have taken a different turn; for some reason nobody mentions schools in the discussion.</p>
<p>crzymom, i hope i don’t sound that i doubt about UC. D could have high quality education in a UC, if she makes the effort. Still even at a UC or any other top college, D needs to work hard. Regarding the students, I believe that at any school, you can meet the super motivated student or the ones who just want to party and make minimal effort. In summary, I’m more than happy that my D was accepted at a UC.</p>
<p>Sorry if I sounded a little harsh (I probably did). You’re right; when the opportunities are there the students still need to reach out for them. UCD and UCSB are very different schools as well as UCB. She has at least 2 great choices and maybe more!</p>
<p>I ready my previous post and I see how crzymom would think I doubt UC or the students there. Maybe I should work on my writing skills :/</p>
<p>S2 and I recently visited a group of colleges in which he had/has some interest. These included the Claremont Colleges, UCLA, UCSD, USC, UCSB, and Occidental. Of all of those schools the students we ran into at UCSB were the most articulate, academically focused, and helpful in understanding the nuances of the campus of any of the colleges. Claremont McKenna was next, followed by USC and Oxy. We had the preconceived notions about UCSB, but came away much more inclined toward the positive than when we started out. UCSB will definitely be in the application mix along with CMC. Though S2 has the grades, test scores, and ECs to have a shot at many top schools. He will be applying next year to a wide range of schools throughout the nation. As of now, it looks like he will not be applying to any Ivies, he simply doesn’t care for any of them at this point, and that is okay with me. He wants to visit Duke, Tulane, Rice, Emory, Vassar, and a few others (UChicago is already on the list) in the south and east. Though some may think these might be a better match for him, I would be very comfortable with a decision to attend UCSB (and with OOS cost, it is no cheaper than a private).</p>
<p>I had the same problem before I transferred to Cornell. I attended a college whose campus culture was downright hostile to intellectual life. My peers were provincial and uncouth. I managed to stay sane by taking a significant overload each semester; I’d be taking 21 credits of bio, chem, history, philosophy, art, etc. Take a wide swath of liberal arts classes and fashion a homemade set of core classes. In addition, read prolifically and discuss what you’ve read with your professors.</p>
<p>Last year, I would also make it a point to look through our faculty listing and purposely select professors who had earned their Ph.D.s from prestigious institutions (European History prof. from UChicago, Philosophy prof. from Harvard, Calculus prof. from UIUC, etc.)–I can’t emphasize this point enough. In a fourth tier college with an average ACT of 20, there is a marked difference between the way a UChicago-educated Professor teaches her class and the way in which a 28-year-old, Eastern Illinois-educated Adjunct teaches her class. </p>
<p>Even in a “not-so-good” college, the formally trained professors will teach you in the manner that they themselves were taugh–that means you will read and analyze classic works of canon, you will get harder problem sets, and you will be pushed more. Plus the dumb kids will avoid these professors.</p>
<p>I tend to agree about looking at the background of the prof. Though there is by no means a 1:1 correlation between that and how well the class will be taught, I have found that what Caillebotte said has generally been the case. There are many of them out there as well. The faculty job market is such that one is likely to find very well trained and successful (from a publication and research point of view) individuals in surprising places. Often, a family gets settled in, kids go to school, relationships made, and it becomes hard to move to the higher ranked schools even if it is possible to do so. This has happened to a number of friends who elected to stay at their 3rd tier school even though they were recruited by top tier schools. These professors love to have bright, motivated students, who are not afraid of research and inquiry. Often, catching their eye can provide a bigger boost in landing a choice grad program than can attending a top school and remaining a anonymous.</p>
<p>Due to the competitiveness of entry into UCLA, my friend’s daughter who did NOT get in to UCLA after graduating HS in '08, opted to first attend the local CC with the intention to transfer after two years. There were others from her high school (all are bright kids who went through ‘gifted’ magnets) who are doing the same thing. Perhaps three or four years ago these students would have been admitted to UCLA (or comparable school) right from high school…but due to the current competitiveness/quirkiness of college admission they opted for the CC/then transfer route. </p>
<p>One other point about CC’s is that they also have a number of returning students who have been out in the work force for a few (or many) years. When they finally do go to school they are motivated, first rate students. My sister did this, and was a straight A student in the CC and also after subsequent transfer to a 4-year. There are lots of good motivated students in every environment.</p>
<p>Get A’s and get into a great graduate program. I went to a so-so liberal arts college, got near a 4.0, and am in a Tier 1 grad school now.</p>
<p>One point about many CCs though is that you will not get a grad student teaching your lower level courses the way that you will in many research universities. My daughter did high school/cc dual enrollment during high school and enjoyed small cc classes with professors, not 200 kids being taught by a grad assistant. This is also true at many small liberal arts colleges.</p>