The two initial favorites are less $ than the two reaches, which are known for not giving a lot of $. But we can afford the more $ if there were a reason to pay it. He is accepted for political science and one of the initial ones has one that is more focused on law which is his ultimate goal, so I def feel like this one school has a bit of a niche program, compared to the others. But if he went to any of the others, political science is pretty similar at all three. Interestingly the two reaches are much easier to get to for us. I am sure you saw my post upthread asking about things to do in Tuscaloosa- Bama is one of the ones he is considering and has been at the top along with Auburn. That is where they Are spending the second half of this week. Tuscaloosa and Auburn are def a longer trip coming from the NE.
I hope you are able to go see all - and maybe one will stand out. Or several will be āehhhhā. Itās easiest.
My daughter is at #16 rankwise of #17 she got into. Fit does matter. Sheās interned for the state last summer and a prominent think tank in fall (at the DC semester).
Congrats to him - and ps - I guess your rating system wasnāt good 
Thatās a good thing.
PPS - maybe some of the lesser ranked offer him extra opportunities - if he āstands outā on campus, etc. She does get extra enrichment on her campus - but at the flagships (higher ranked) she likely wouldnāt haveā¦at least to this level.
The good thing is heās wanted - and has options. The bad thing is - he has options - and you can only choose one!!!
The best thing to do (I think) - is visit all four - and then start by - not looking at all four - but taking two head to head.
Sometimes itās easier to do that way - and eliminate one at a time. It helped us get from 16 down to 5 or 6.
Best of luck in the search. There may truly be no wrong answer - itās not as if thereās just one school out there where he can succeed.
No matter which school your child chooses to attend, there will be other students there who turned down more highly ranked schools, for a range of good reasons. I would still visit all 4 schools just so that your child can feel like they made an informed decision.
And yes, they might hear āare you nuts?ā a few times ā¦ but only for the next few months. Once they are in college, the high school status-system of college admissions will definitely start to fade away, and people will instead focus on what your child is doing and achieving.
And really, there are thousands and thousands of students who will make the same choice this spring (choosing a lower ārankedā school because it fits them better).
If at all possible, he should go see both reaches again, and meet students and faculty (ideally), before making a decision. He should pick based on fit of course, but donāt count out alumni connections and student funding for internships and research at the bigger-endowment schools(I do not know what schools came out on Friday so I am not sure what the reaches, so it may not apply to him).
He also may want to consider the malcolm gladwell effect: does he want a better chance of being a star or at least a well above average student? Or does he do his best and grow the most when pushed with a majority of his classmates likely to have similar to stronger academics going in? It is hard to know that peer-fit and personality /self esteem component of success.
I donāt know his stats and you could mean he got into reach-for-everyone schools but they are not actually academic reaches for him.
He applied to them for a reason, and now he is ināseems appropriate to put in some time making the decision. Luckily he has plenty! Best of luck.
From a location standpoint, canāt beat access to DC for political science, all else being equal.
Is it political science at all? Can you say which schools beyond Bama and Auburn?
wow - you all know more than me. I just heard four schools. I didnāt know there were names attached
Iād schedule visits to all the schools still in play. Doesnāt mean he has to attend them, but if you get them booked with refundable hotels, I think that will take off a lot of immediate pressure. We joined the wyndham rewards and all their reservations can be cancelled with something like 2 days notice. Not always the best hotels, but quite convenient for plans that change.
It isnāt even February yet, and he has a lot of time to decide. Sure, it would be nice to put down the deposit and be done with it, but heās not ready yet.
Get refundable visits scheduled. Take a beat. Let it marinate. Let the big feelings settle.
If you need to put in an early housing deposit somewhere to secure housing, go ahead and do it. Most are refundable. If theyāre not, itās a small price to pay (for those who can afford it) for peace of mind.
If his decision isnāt clear by mid-late April, you can sit down together and make a pros and cons list, talk things through, and help him figure out what his gut is saying. Thereās no rush. Congrats to your son on all his acceptances!
University of Maryland College Park and NC State
UMD- Admitted to Government and Politics
NCSU- Political Science
Alabama- Political Science
Auburn- Law and Justice (in their political science department)
Wants to go to law school
Ok, with law school as the goal I would strongly urge a no-debt undergrad choice. However that works for yāall.
Great list. Congrats.
UMD - near DC - I wouldnāt necessarily say DC is the best place to study government. It certainly could be but there are state and local governments, etc.
NC State - state capital and poli sci will be on main campus (as opposed to engineering)
Alabama - county seat
Auburn - city government
If law school is the answer - then the where matters not at all.
So what matters to the family?
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Weather - if warm - the two Alabama schools win
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Sports ? Bama, then Auburn will win but all four have big time sports
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Campus - only you can define. Bama, to me, is nicest of the four followed by Auburn - but NC State likely offers the most compactness - if that matters.
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These four arenāt that far apart - I mean, thereās distance 4.5 hours UMD to NC State and less than three Bama to Auburn. Hopefully you can visit all - and really get a sense.
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Cost - I donāt know what kind of merit you got. Bama Iāll assume auto merit.
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Extra enrichment - are you in Honors at any or other programs that interest - like Randall Rsearch/Blount at Bama, Honors or Scholars at UMD, etc. that matter to the student. Iām assuming all four have opportunities but doesnāt mean the student is interested.
I donāt know if any of those things or some matter - but in regards to law school, I donāt think any of the four stand out vs. another.
Obviously if one wants to be in DC - which is awesome - UMD isnāt but itās close and accessible.
It seems (i could be wrong) that NC State, Auburn, and Bama run a summer session through American U - but I donāt see an academic semester there if thatās of interest. They may have. You can ask. For example, my daughter just did a fall semester through her school. Internships were plentiful - she had 7 offers but all full time. Most students - if want during the school year - likely want part time.
Anyway, four great choices - but what matter to the student and family?
Law school will or will not happen based on GPA and LSAT - and today more work after school then go right in. But I donāt see an inherent advantage in any of the four - unless they have specific desires that one school can meet than another canāt via enrichment or specific institutions they want to be a part of (like federal or state government).
But another thing to look at - what if he doesnāt go to law school? He decides itās not right for him - which is likely most kids - then what?
PS - one last thing - the major at Auburn stood out (vs. the others)- so I looked it up. I would not āsingleā major in this. Not saying itās a bad major but if I did this and thereās a lot of great things for the law school kid, Iād make sure I had a double.
Auburn Universityās Bachelor of Arts in Law and Justice is the first degree of its kind in the state and one of only a handful in the country. Our curriculum is designed to better prepare you for law school by using an interdisciplinary approach. In our program, youāll:
- Learn from practitioners in the field
- Gain knowledge about legal doctrines and concepts
- Develop skills that will help you succeed in law school
- Conduct extensive research using legal databases
- Participate in a law-based internship
Good luck.
If you havenāt done so you should read the thread ālaw school discussion from the HS class of 2024 groupā
First, congrats to your son, how wonderful to have so many choices! For political science, I donāt think there is much of a prestige difference among these schools (but there is for some STEM and business majors if you think he might switch). Iāād pick based on cost and vibe. As others have said, for law school, having a high gpa will matter more than where he goes, at least among this list.
That question will come up no matter whether someone goes to Harvard or to East Podunk Community College.
Trying to make decisions based on that is a path to madness, so please stop it right now.
I acknowledge that Iām kind of an extremist, in that I hold that the final decision should be made based on precisely two things.* (And this does not include āfitā. Yes, I recognize that many would argue for its primacy, but I argue that āfitā is so ill-defined that itās meaningless.)
- First, a binary one: Can your kid get a good education there? (Hint: For any of the, say, top 1,000ānot a typo, might well be higherāfour-year colleges and universities in the country, plus most of the community colleges, the answer is yes.)**
- Next, a purely quantitative one: Which of the options for which the answer to (1) was yes is most affordable?
Oh, and you mentioned professional school as a possibility? Yeah, (2) is huge. Seriously, as little undergrad outlay as possible, no matter what.
Congratulations, decisions have been made.
*Acknowledging that health issues can override all of theseāif your kid is highly allergic to red cedar pollen youāre going to be looking only at western North America, and if there are mobility concerns youāre probably going to want places where icy sidewalks arenāt the norm.
**As always, for very specific fieldsānot specifically calling out investment banking here, but that oneāthe answer is much more restrictive, but even there the barriers seems to be softening recently. Also, if the kid is interested in professionally accredited fields like, say, engineering, the number of possibilities is lower because things like ABET or AACSB or whatever applicable group accreditation is valuable.
Taking that further - the CC is a tuned into ranking website.
Most in society will see zero difference between the four mentioned.
Even when high fallutin schools are in the mix, most in society may not be aware of them and wouldnāt know.
In fact, Iād surmise most base their 'school perceptions" on sports more than anything else.
Lawyer here.
I agree with @tsbna44 that the major at Auburn is less desirable. Best to major in something like Poli-Sci, English, Philosophy over something like āPre-Lawā or āLegal Studiesā.
If law school is on the horizon and budget a concern, go where cheapest. Otherwise, look closely at each program and the various opportunities at each school.
Last year our daughter, who also intends to pursue a graduate degree in her field, was accepted into her reach (UC Berkeley) and also a small liberal arts (CTCL) college that is so small it is rarely ever mentioned on CC* on a full tuition scholarship.
Guess which she picked? (spoiler alert - sheās not a bear!). How is she now? She just made Deanās list, will be traveling internationally to compete for her school, and her faculty advisor has already contacted her about research opportunities starting this summer. She has made a ton of friends and will graduate debt free. Her grad school prospects are likely to be abundant given the strong education and experiences she has been and will be receiving.
Was it the best choice for her in terms of cost, fit, and goals? Absolutely. Was it tough to tell people that she would NOT be attending one of the top public universities in the world? You bet it was. Did people look at her like she was crazy? Umm, yes, yes they did. Does anyone care now, one year later? Not really.
Honestly, it is a great test of ego (for both student and parent) to take the road less traveled.
All things being equal - as many have mentioned, if there is more school ahead to pay for, and the quality of the education is comparable, and your kid will be happy, my advice is to take the path of least financial resistance and remember āthis too shall passā when people make their predicable and unfortunate remarks.
We get pretty caught up in all of this stuff, but in the long run, itās not really what matters.
*if itās never mentioned does it really even existā¦??? 
This.
@AnonMomof2 Just checking in to see how everything is going. Thinking of you both. 