Ivy/Top 20 vs State Flagship Honors Program

3togo
Sun, 23 Dec 2012 09:15:54 +0000

Among the final choices for my second kid were Skidmore and UVM. When discussing these choices we discussed there were just as many smart people at UVM as Skidmore however the % of students who are really smart was very different. So for a self-motivated student who will identify and be motivated by other top students a state school can be a great option as they are likely to stand out at the state school and be given may opportunities as such. However, it is also true that the average student at the state school may be less academically inclined and study less … so if the applicant is likely to be drawn to average studying (and partying) behavior then a state school that could be a real negative. I believe either choice can be a great choice and for some students one option might be clearly better.

(PS - My son chose UVM as a non-honors college student and loved it academically but got unlucky with his housing assignment and had issues with dorm life (7 days a week of loud party-like behavior on his floor).