Where DO you want your kid to go to college?
- For learning issues, you need a university with a good disability office and support services. Frankly, some larger universities are better than smaller ones...of course the opposite is true. Keep in mind, college is way different than high school with regard to support. Students need to seek this out themselves even IF they have a plan with a disability office. There is no case manager to chase your kid down to remind him. This can be a problem or not at large or small colleges.
- You mention fires, hurricanes etc. if you start including weather and natural disasters in your college hunt, there won’t be any colleges from which to choose.
- My kid went to a Jesuit school. She was an engineering major, like your son supposedly plans to be. She had to take three religion courses and she really really liked those courses a lot. She does not practice any religion, but said these courses were a very nice change from all the math and science she was taking. She really enjoyed them.
- Distance...one of my kids went to college 3000 miles from home. The other went to college 120 miles from home. We saw the 3000 mile away kid more days per year than the one closer to home. In some ways, it was way easier to get the 3000 mile away kid home than the 120 miles way kid home. The 3000 mile kid got on a plane, and five hours later we picked her up at the airport. The 120 mile away kid was a 2hr 20 minute drive each way. If he took the train or bus, we had to add the hour round trip drive to pick him up at the station.
I think you need to listen to your kid at least some. Remember, he is the one going to college, not you. While you may think some things are important, those things may not matter at all to your kid.
I understand that in these Covid times, parents are concerned about the possibility of needing to get their kids home. The colleges are concerned with that too. They aren’t going to leave you hanging. The key is…have your kid pack light. And have an emergency plan. Thousands upon thousands of kids are attending college very far from home and some of these campuses are already having in person classes at least in part.
I hear you…you are worried, and want your kid to succeed. But please, part of this process is listening to your almost college student. Listen to their needs and desires, and try to be flexible and reach a compromise.
I didn’t hear you say anything about cost, but you so need to have a money talk with this college bound kid so he knows your annual college budget. That is important.