<p>UW Madison IS an excellent school. However, my boys have grown up here. We live aboput 2 miles from campus. They attended summer classes there. Two of the 3 played in the youth orchestra for 5 years which met in the music building on campus. </p>
<p>When my youngest graduated from UW, 17 of his classmates all lived in the same dorm. He probably could have attended UW with a very nice scholarship. But he never applied. All 3 of my sons wanted to experience life outside of Madison and we encouraged this. People have described students from Madison high schools who attend UW as actually going to 13th grade in high school. Son did get a very nice scholarship from Oberlin but it is definitely more expensive for him to attend Oberlin. </p>
<p>Also, hubby and I both attended an LAC. We loved the small school experience and wanted that for our sons if that is what they had wanted. All of them attended small schools. Even if they had wanted the big school experience, we would have probably encouraged another state school. </p>
<p>Finally, Oberlin is a great fit for son #3. He has been able to spread his wings in many ways. I think that if he had stayed in town, he would have spent too much time with old high school friends rather than discovering new things. But that is just the nature of the boy.</p>