<p>I’m getting ready to attend my first and probably only college reunion (25th) and it feels a little odd because I don’t think I made the best choice when I was 17. It was the best choice of the 5 schools I visited but none of them were good fits. I wish I felt more connection to my school. Does anyone else feel this way?</p>
<p>I made a choice that I wouldn’t make again, if that’s what you mean. I’d make very different applications from the ones I did then. I’ve never been to a college reunion, and only this year (my 40th) did I report anything to the alumni magazine. </p>
<p>I also got a great education. But it’s not a choice I’d make knowing what I do now.</p>
<p>I attended my alma mater because it was the best school I could afford. I had a wonderful education and a great time. I met my my husband and my best friends. If I could have afforded any school, I would have gone elsewhere … but then I would have missed out on this wonderful life.</p>
<p>So, no.</p>
<p>^^^This. Except I’ll limit it to I met my DH ;)</p>
<p>I definitely made the wrong choice right out of HS: I wasn’t allowed to go away to school & my mom decided I was “too smart” to go to a state school, so she had me apply to two schools that were very well regarded amongst the families she nannied for when she first arrived. I wanted to go to CA. Bad fit all around in the two I applied to: way too conservative, well off student body driving brand new graduation present cars while I was driving a 73 Cutlass. Conservative leaning apathetic campus and I was marching with Abbie Hoffmann ;)</p>
<p>I transferred after 2 years to a state directional, got a much better education with more involved faculty & a better fit in terms of my peers. And I found DH.</p>
<p>But knowing what I know now, I could have done a lot better than I did from an education standpoint.</p>
<p>I pick door ( or post ) #3 for the win…could be my life story</p>
<p>I went to a big ten school, honors division, rather than a 7 sister’s school. Always regretted it. Got out in 2 1/2 years. Much later, worked at that college. There were so many wonderful options, but I had so little knowledge. I would never think to go to a reunion. </p>
<p>Because of my experience, I wanted my son to go to a college with a good fit, even if it meant financial strain. I am sure the worm would have been okay at several colleges, but this one allowed him to explore options, supported him thru a term of all “incompletes”, created a job for him when he hated his first job, and set him up to gain 100 acceptances for grad school.</p>
<p>In all fairness, I have had jobs I disliked, and I have stuck with them until I could find a better position. Discomfort is temporary. To me, college was just one bad situation, and I got in and out ASAP .</p>
<p>Followed a boyfriend to college then he promptly broke up with me before first semester finals. Might have applied to other schools if not for the bf.
Luckily, I liked my school and have great memories of my time there.</p>
<p>Loved my school … it certainly is possible I would have enjoyed being at a LAC even more</p>
<p>Choices were very limited back in my day. Finances played a huge role in applications, regardless of academic excellence.</p>
<p>No “need blind” admissions to elite private schools (and there’s no way I would have settled for Radcliffe instead of Harvard!), which barely were admitting women anyhow and even with a full scholarship I couldn’t have gone home or had the clothes or money for expenses common to the rich. Put a different OOS public U down for my National Merit choice because they gave a lot of NMS’s but ended up at my better flagship across town. Was very lucky and loved my school. Thank goodness no reciprocity or I would have ended up at the other school with lesser Chemistry facilities back then (know this when a college friend did grad work there). Had not wanted to go there since it was local, but it was a world apart.</p>
<p>No, can’t imagine a better liberal research science school for the intensely academic but economically hard up student. Some other state flagships would have worked if I had been from the other state.</p>
<p>Private schools would have been out of the question due to cost, but the possibility never even came up. Virtually every student in my class who went to college went to one of Washington’s five public universities. I did zero research; I wanted to be in Seattle so that settled me on UW, although I also applied to WSU as a safety. Loved every minute of my four years as a Husky.</p>
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<p>Meaning that the mistake was in making up your application list?</p>
<p>Of course, the resources available in choosing a college decades ago were much more limited. Back then, you bought a huge printed book and hoped that the information was not out of date. You did not have the internet to browse colleges’ course and major offerings, net price calculators, application requirements, and other useful information. You did not have forums like this one to ask “what is it like at _____?”. On the plus side, costs of attendance in CPI-adjusted dollars were much less.</p>
<p>Most students going to four year colleges went to state universities, with a strong local bias for those going to the less selective ones (which were less selective than they are now, as was the flagship).</p>
<p>Lasma,
Nobody went to TESC? 
I went to BCC for a couple qtrs, but after a good friend and carpool buddy drowned in Lake Sammamish, I couldn’t bring myself to continue.
It’s possible I would have had a better experience, if I could have lived closer to campus & didnt have to work, but What’s past is prologue.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who doesn’t regret my choice?</p>
<p>I was a first-generation college student who didn’t know what I was doing. But I was a high school valedictorian and NMSF, and my family was in a good financial situation at the time when I went to college, so I had lots of choices.</p>
<p>I went to Cornell. </p>
<p>I applied to Cornell simply because several older kids from my high school had good experiences there. It wasn’t my first choice (my first choice was an LAC that waitlisted me), and it wasn’t even my first choice among the places that accepted me (I was equally fond of Tufts, but Cornell’s financial aid turned out to be better).</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Cornell turned out fine, and I have never regretted it.</p>
<p>I definitely wonder if I went to the right school. I loved it, and I am the person I am because of it, but I wonder if I might have developed differently at a bigger school, or a co-ed school. </p>
<p>I have never gone to a reunion. For the 10th, I felt like I wasn’t successful enough, then later, as I read the alumni quarterly notes from my class, I couldn’t recognize a single name. I’m sure I would meet people I knew then if I went, or meet new people, but somehow, I can’t get psyched to spend a precious free weekend back there. </p>
<p>I think too being on CC with all the research people do and all the talk about “fit” we realize now how much we missed by not having the internet or the whole cottage industry that has grown up around the college search.</p>
<p>I had a fine time at college, by chance. >30 years ago.</p>
<p>NO research went into my applications at all. State university and small private that offered me a large scholarship. For my family, it was all about the money. I was the first to go to college. </p>
<p>I would have been fine at State U I bet but I’m happy I was able to attend small college instead. My profs actually knew me my name and the campus and proximity to beach were highlights of my four years.</p>
<p>I do wonder if my life would have zagged differently had I gone to an Ivy or 1st tier school. But I wasn’t even aware of those possibilities, honestly.<br>
So, maybe I just avoided the heartbreak of rejection at those schools!</p>
<p>I had very high test scores and grades. Today, I would have cast a wider net. Back then? Well, “no loan” schools weren’t an option because I’m not sure they existed. My recently unemployed father (Thank you, President Reagan - jerk.) had no money to send me anywhere without a bucket of debt, even the state schools, and then this private school, with a free app (only reason why I applied) threw a whole bunch of money at me. </p>
<p>Between Pell, SEOG, State Grant, Merit, and work study, I got through school without debt. Yes, I definitely went to the right school because selecting it allowed me to continue and finish. I had a great time. I met my Dh. I got a good education and had no trouble with grad school admissions once I was ready. My roommate lives in a nieghboring community and we still get together regularly. </p>
<p>I don’t feel that connected with the school anymore. It was, after all, just a school and only 4 years of a what I hope is a very long life, but it was the right choice at the time and I’m not sorry I made it.</p>
<p>I went to a great big mediocre state U and got a so-so education, virtually no advising and little to no help in the job search. OTOH, met my dear DH and we look back on that time in our lives as idyllic. So I would make the same choice again.</p>
<p>Sometimes I feel sad at how we fetishize the college choice for our kids. I think we over-think it and perhaps expect too much from the whole thing.</p>
<p>Only “visited” colleges because I was on the debate team, and tournaments were held on college campuses. Parents sat me down and told me my choice was private with mega scholarship or state U. Got the scholarships to small private. It was really a blissfully stress-free process. Got a great education and met my husband, so how could I regret anything?</p>
<p>I also chose wrong. I went to big OOS U (see Sewhappy’s description) instead of small LAC. I didn’t even meet my husband there (but I have many college friends who I am still very close to after 34 years.)</p>
<p>Applied to one college, site unseen. Graduated in four years. Got a job 900 miles away. Met hubby. Life is good 29 years later.</p>
<p>I probably would have worked a little harder at school and a little less at dating if I had to do it over again. However, a good time was had by all.</p>