Is there a nuance to studying colleges that your kid can't quite grasp?

Parents Forum
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<p>One subtle thing I’ve noticed is that the drawbacks people see in colleges can be divided into two categories: those that might turn out to have a silver lining, and those that almost certainly won’t have a silver lining.</p>

<p>Drawbacks with possible silver lining:</p>

<p>Academics aren’t rigorous enough; silver lining is you’ll probably get great grades, and will stand out from the other students, meaning the professors will be more likely to like you.</p>

<p>College is in a city and you wanted one outside of a city; silver lining is you will have access to lots of interesting urban things even if that isn’t your preferred setting.</p>

<p>College doesn’t have a male:female ratio that pleases you. If you’re a guy who likes females, and end up at a college with 60% guys, you’ll probably find that the females who are there tend to like intense male companionship more than the females who would pick a school that’s 60% female.</p>

<p>The college is too close to home; silver lining is transportation will be easier, you’ll be able to go home easier than if you were far away.</p>

<p>College is in the north, and you don’t like cold weather; silver linings are you will get to see beautiful changes of the season and with weather you don’t like, you’ll find it easier to focus on your studies because you won’t like being outside most of the school year.</p>

<p>College has extensive core requirements, and you don’t want a core curriculum; Silver lining is maybe it’s not what you’d prefer, but there’s no doubt extensive core requirements will ensure you’re exposed to some areas of study that you knew nothing about.</p>

<p>Examples of drawbacks with NO apparent silver lining:</p>

<p>The college’s financial aid is bad.</p>

<p>The college has a name which is easily confused with other schools.</p>

<p>College doesn’t attract employment recruiters.</p>

<p>There’s a major road running through campus.</p>

<p>Dorms are shabby.</p>

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<p>Dorms are shabby - silver lining is the kid will make sure they graduate in 4 years instead of sticking around!</p>

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<p>dorms are shabby silver lining ii: you’ll be much better prepared for living in the standard grad student apartment (for those heading that way)</p>

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<p>The college has a name which is easily confused with other schools: silver lining- when you tell people you go to Haverford, they’ll be instantly impressed and ask about life in Cambridge.</p>

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<p>IF the kid is happy overall at college, lots of friends, in the groove with classes, just really likes it there, staying out of trouble, it’ll work where ever he may go. In fact, you don’t even need all of those factors or any, but it makes things a lot sweeter.</p>

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<p>Some of you are really stretching it…I’m waiting for someone to say the silver lining of bad financial aid is kids won’t have enough money to buy drugs. Or the silver lining to campus being in crappy neighborhood is that by being chased down the street by people who mean to harm them, DS will have to learn first aid and martial arts, and DD will forestall freshman 15 and resolve any issues she might have about not being attractive enough to attract suitors. Or one man’s crappy dorm is another man’s freelance entomology internship.</p>

<p>I should have known it was pointless to try to make a serious thread. Moderators: could you change the name of this thread to “Bending Over Backwards to Find Silver Linings”?</p>

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<p>LOL!!!</p>

<p>thank you. needed a good chuckle today. still laughing. :-)</p>

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<p>“College doesn’t attract employment recruiters.”</p>

<p>Silver lining – work is highly overrated and maybe you can land back at home for free after college. Or stay at college a 5th year.</p>

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<p>Silver lining to “major road going through campus”…maybe this will also line up with great public transportation…think Commonwealth Ave and Boston University…and the T.</p>

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<p>Also, avoiding speeding cars while crossing main road might prepare junior for career as an NFL running back, or prepare him for dodging thrown plates if he marries an Italian girl.</p>

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<p>Drawback: You attend a safety school.
Silver lining: People confuse it with an Ivy League school.</p>

<p>(Happened today. Daughter at Pitt. Next line out of person’s mouth was about Penn.)</p>

<p>Drawback: You attend a small school and have dated everyone interesting by the end of sophomore year.
Silver lining: You can buckle down and focus on school.</p>

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<p>“The college has a name which is easily confused with other schools.”</p>

<p>That school could be more impressive. </p>

<p>“College has extensive core requirements, and you don’t want a core curriculum; Silver lining is maybe it’s not what you’d prefer, but there’s no doubt extensive core requirements will ensure you’re exposed to some areas of study that you knew nothing about.”</p>

<p>No, this is always lame. For every class you take as part of the core curriculum that’s one class you don’t take learning about something new that you were actually interested in learning.</p>

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<p>No, this is always lame. For every class you take as part of the core curriculum that’s one class you don’t take learning about something new that you were actually interested in learning. </p>

<p>I’d agree with you if high school kids routinely got exposed to most of the subjects taught in college. But they don’t. Most kids coming out of high school haven’t had classes in philosophy, psychology, economics, sociology, business, the more obscure foreign languages, education, engineering, etc. And once they get to college, they tend to stick to their comfort zone and take classes in things they already know about. If you talk to highly educated Brits, you’ll see what problems can result. They rarely study anything outside their major field, so they are often embarrassingly ignorant about things close to, but not IN their major…like Ph.D.s in English who’ve never taken a philosophy course.</p>

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<p>

Hey. They are both named after a dude named “Bill”. Close enough. ;)</p>

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<p>Veyr funny thread!</p>

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<p>^ sure is haha</p>

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<p>There are two Cornells, two Wheatons, and both the University of Miami and Miami University.
How about these:

  • Indiana University
  • IUP Indiana University of Pennsylvania
  • IUPUI Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis</p>

<p>As Charlie Brown would say, “AAUGH!!!”</p>

<p>People complain about George Washington University and “Washington University in St. Louis” too.</p>

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<p>Here in CA we have Cal State Pomona College and Pomona College. Pomona College has a national reputation as an LAC, but locally when you tell people your kid goes to Pomona, they assume it’s Cal State Pomona and many have never heard of Pomona.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I haven’t even started at Pomona, and have been Cal Poly-ed to death already. But I disagree with what people have been generally saying. I think it is better to go to a good school and have it confused with a lesser school than the other way around. That way when people learn the truth, they are wowed instead of disappointed.</p>

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<p>“Indiana University of Pennsylvania”</p>

<p>And then there’s California University of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania likes to make things difficult.</p>

<p>"People complain about George Washington University and “Washington University in St. Louis” too. "</p>

<p>Not to mention the University of Washington! There are also many institutions with “Columbia” in the name.</p>

<p>William & Mary, Washington & Lee, and Franklin & Marshall get mixed up, too.</p>