@JBSeattle Congratulations! I’ve been following your saga with interest - many years ago, when I was in my early twenties, I had a dream of moving to Bellingham and completing my education at WWU. (I had dropped out of college after two years and had been working for a few years trying to figure out what to do next.) In the end, I never got there and my life took me down a different path, but I still remember vividly how WWU “felt” to me (a New Yorker) based on everything I learned about it back then. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize paradise when it’s just down the road.
Our S will hopefully push the button today. We live in Asia and he’s never lived in the US before, so we haven’t had to deal with the close-to-home/far-away dilemma - everyplace is far away! It seems he will end up in the Midwest, which feels very far away to me personally as I grew up on the East Coast and California is the only other place I’ve lived in the US.
Well, D19 has made her decision: she will be attending the College of Wooster! The decision was a long time coming but now that she’s made it, she is very happy and excited.
@JBSeattle my D was in a similar position as yours–going away from home to a NYC area school (Drew University) or staying in state for school (Wooster). We had visited Drew at the end of March, she loved it and was ready to commit. We submitted a financial appeal and the school brought the COA to within $1000 of Wooster so it was pretty even. She loved the idea of being able to intern in and visit Manhattan frequently, especially since she’ll be studying theater, and also loved the idea of going away to school. We told her to give it a little time to think through her choices and literally her mind would change from day to day, though she was still leaning toward Drew. Finally, she decided to do one last visit to Wooster, an admitted students’ overnight, just to make sure she was certain Drew was the right choice. All during that week before that visit, however, she just kept finding more reasons to reconsider Wooster–so much so that two days before the actual visit, she said to go ahead and submit the deposit for Wooster!
What changed her mind was realistically thinking about what it would actually be like to be 8 hours from home and not being able to come back if she just up and felt like it. She also began to think about the real costs of travelling to and spending time in the city. She recognized that all of that (travel home, spending time in NYC, etc) would add a significant extra expense to her college costs. But what finally convinced her to stay closer to home was the realization that she could still do internships or a semester in NYC from Wooster as well. She also hopes to study abroad as well. Once she realized that she could find ways to not spend all of her four years in rural Ohio, she felt much better about choosing the closer-to-home option. Luckily, the overnight visit only confirmed her decision and she is now truly excited about her choice.
Her dad and I are also pleased with her decision since Wooster had given her very generous merit aid (including an auditioned talent scholarship) and Drew’s financials, while generous, was 100% financial aid, which could fluctuate from year to year, playing havoc with our budgeting.
So it is finally done. Dealing with prom, finals, graduation now!
@JBSeattle, I’ll simply say—and this will come as no surprise to anyone who’s read pretty much anything I’ve ever posted on this site—that I think your child made the right choice.
But even if I’m wrong and it wasn’t, it’s a choice, and in the days leading up to the 1st of May? That’s golden.
I will also add that at D’s school–where usually more than half the students go out of state, many to schools with a significant “wow” factor (she’s at a private college prep schoo)–a surprising number of students are staying in state this year and some of the top students have chosen the public flagship university. I’m thinking that the costs of going out of state are also not adding up for a lot of people.
@augie696
Congrats! I would have loved for my daughter to have attended Ohio Wesleyan! The price and school were right but my daughter just didn’t like the location. While on a tour we met another girl from Seattle who was also considering Wooster. She was excited about it and seemed like a neat place!
My daughter just officially pushed the button and $280 registration went out of my bank account. ?
@JBSeattle
Congratualtions!! I think your daughter made a good choice! I’m betting she will reallly appreciate the financial benefits of her choice as time goes on.
I can certainly understand how Delaware, OH was not an appealing choice for your D (although nearby Columbus is a growing and dynamic city with a significant younger population with plenty of intership opportunities). My D wasn’t interested in Ohio Weslyan either.
@JBSeattle congrats to your daughter. Yes, NYC is glamorous, but you can’t beat an affordable college education. If she really really doesn’t like it she can always transfer, but a lot of people bloom where they’re planted. I know so many kids who are barely scraping by paying off their loans from attending college in NYC. I know others who just had to live in NYC who can’t afford to travel elsewhere because it’s so expensive to live there and they work 2 or 3 jobs just to pay the rent…
A debt free college education can make it possible to live in or travel to NYC after college!
My D lives in Reno, not super glamorous. but she has money to travel every so often and can put money in savings…
My niece lived at home for part of college. Her parents were able to help pay for a lavish wedding. My other niece went to a more expensive college and she had to have a smaller wedding. She also had to take the boring but high paying job…
Kids don’t always realize the tradeoffs…
Another thing that’s hard is that kids really do care about what other people think. Oh I’m the valedictorian, everyone expects me to go here and not here, etc. You need to do what’s best FOR YOU! Everyone is different. Just because your friends all go back East doesn’t mean YOU need to. Everyone’s situation is different. Some people are wealthy and can afford to go anywhere for college, most people aren’t in that situation.
One also has to realize trade-offs are different for everyone, too. (Some people just don’t want big lavish weddings and will happily trade that off for what they consider a better college experience.) Again, it’s all about what works for each individual kid… finances permitting.
Congrats on all the recent decisions! @augie696 , a family friend graduated from Wooster about 5 years ago. Loved his time there.
@tkoparent Congrats on your son’s decision! Denison is a great school! Also, the campus is lovely and Granville is just impossibly charming. Loved our visit there with D19.
@augie696 Thanks for your reassuring comments! We visited last month on a cold and rainy day, so I am looking forward to seeing it sometime when the sun is out. I agree with you regarding Granville. Despite the weather, we stopped by Whit’s for frozen custard, and that alone is something that would keep me coming back! This will be my expat son’s first real introduction to American life, and it seems like a very good place for that.
@JBSeattle. Congrats to your daughter (and you and your wife) on making a decision!!! She can always come out to NYC for her MBA, lots of great choices in and around the city.
We are still frozen deciding between Manhattan and St Joe’s. Thought she was all set to make a decision last night, sat down and went over everything she liked about each school and she is still torn. I think she sufffers from my “analysis paralysis” She decided to sleep on it and see if she has some clarity today. Wish us luck!!! tic toc
@SJ2727 very true. I just used that example because it’s the only one I know about. But there are a lot of trade offs. Expensive wedding vs expensive college, means you’re pretty lucky. For some people there is no trade off…you don’t get the money, you go to the cheaper school
Anyone have a kid at Whittier? We’ve toured with both our kids, we have talked to one of my co workers who was actually one of my students when I first started teaching back in the day (i no longer teach, I work in admin at the school), went to Whittier and I know she enjoyed her time there. She was there in the early 2000’s. But I’d like to talk to someone who has been there recently…