yes, absolutely. I’ve seen that firsthand with my older son at Vanderbilt…it’s just reality that there are advantages to going to a school that has money to throw around, particularly as a low income kid. His brother is getting some really nice funding this year for summer music programs.
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Less weighty matter: just checked the mail, and his acceptance package from Hamilton is here…exactly one month after they mailed it priority mail 
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Those are seriously important pieces to consider.
I will say that at all three of my kids’ LACs (lower ranked than Amherst and St. Olaf) - all those same resources are readily available for students. I was both amazed and impressed by the depth and breadth resources when we visited many LACs around the country, at varying levels of selectivity and endowment.
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So I gather there is maybe a difference of opinion on how many points Amherst should have gotten for music in comparison to St Olaf? I think you can make your views known, but I also support the idea this can and should be the kid’s decision in the end.
I agree with this too, incidentally. In terms of numbers, St Olaf had an operating budget of about $140M for 3000 students in 2023, Amherst about $270M for about 1900 students. About $145M of that for Amherst was funded from their endowment, versus about $40M for St Olaf. In other words, a lot of the difference was due to Amherst being able to spin off so much more from their endowment for operations.
That said, I again don’t think this is the only thing that actually matters, and in fact I think among the things that matters is how that college is spending its money and whether that aligns with your own priorities.
But absolutely, one of the reasons the most popular colleges are so popular is they can afford to pay for things that a lot of students want. And there is nothing wrong with recognizing that.
So I guess this is another spreadsheet issue–are there missing categories or categories that you can suggest be remeasured that might reflect this issue better?
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What is also impressive though about the highly endowed schools is that they offer these things to all students regardless of financial status. As a full pay family my S will have opportunities to have grants for music programs and low paid internships that he might not be able to do if he had no pay or to pay. Even though we are willing to pay for school I am not willing to have him have no income during the summer
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We are full pay as well (went for those big merit packages) - those opportunities aren’t need based at my kids’ schools either.
Both D20 and D23 have taken advantage of those programs…and S24 was offered guaranteed summer funding in his merit package with his acceptance letter to school.
There is definitely a value to a big name school, primarily the name and the contacts associated with it.
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S24 committed to UMD College Park last night. He had made the decision couple of days ago but was still hesitant to click the button but yesterday he himself said lets do it.
He is still on a couple of waitlist and if he gets of one of them we may have to revisit. I told him we will plan for orientation in mid June and if the waitlist moves before that then we will discuss but after that we withdraw from the waitlists. I personally feel this is better fit than the wait list school but we are letting him decide.
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I don’t know whether to be envious or relieved that I don’t have a kid who feels they could fit in socially at multiple campuses! In a lot of ways, it would have been really exciting for my daughter to be able to consider seriously more of the offers that she got. But her desired social environment ended up being all-determining (I think we could say in the end that only two schools made it on the radar, and they were not the schools I would have predicted at the start of Fall). At least I have vicarious exciting times through you and the other parents on CC! 
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Yes, probably? It’s complicated, because honestly a lot of my worries have to do with him doing a BM at all. Or, more precisely, with him starting a BM and then feeling trapped in it if he changes his mind. A lot of St. Olaf’s musical advantages disappear if he’s not one of the top musicians there (like…only the higher level ensembles get to go on the fun international tours). Whereas Amherst looks a lot more scaleable…thanks to the open curriculum and the 5 college consortium, he really could do as much as he wants musically there…but he also can decide to focus academically on other things without making as many compromises. I really do think you should only do a music performance major if you can’t imagine doing anything else (that’s my older kid), and this kid has a lot of interests and it’s not at all clear which one will come out on top. This is not nearly as huge of a concern at St. Olaf as it would be at an actual conservatory…but I do think Amherst leaves all his options open musically AND it edges out St. Olaf for him in every category except musical ones. But, really, I think he certainly can thrive at either school and I very much like them both, so…it’s a great position to be in. Also I like the logo and colors better at Amherst, and I want a nice t-shirt.
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I relate to this so much. 
I’m also cheap so would prefer the lower price tag.
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So I completely get where you are coming from, but I also think St Olaf would be great even if music became irrelevant. The absolute best? Who knows. But still great.
So . . . easy for me to say as an outsider, but my feeling really is your kid can’t lose.
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Ha, I relate because the Vassar swag was so nice! I think everyone loaded up at the campus store precisely because at that point it was clear S24 was not coming, and everyone knew it was now or never.
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Right, I agree, which is why, while I have a preference, I’m not really worried no matter what he picks (well, out of those two anyway). But I still think I’m right about which one should win 
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Chiming in here for the first time and take this as just one random stranger’s opinion: the Amherst name and outsized resources will likely open more doors and offer its students more options.
My D18 came so very close to attending Amherst (and would have chosen it over my alma mater Williams). She was impressed by the whole package that Amherst offered–the quality of students, faculty, campus (that science center!) among other resources that enhance the student experience. The student centered vitality of the Pioneer Valley community with its over 40,000 students was another big draw. The new $200 million Student Union/Dining Commons to be ready for the fall 2026 will add even more to the student experience. Not many schools of any size have the wherewithal to pull off not one but two mammoth (pardon the pun) $200 million infrastructure projects in 8 years.
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That’s great! S24 also committed. It was always his first choice and he had a great time at Anchor Day.
Hard to believe it’s only like 2 and a 1/2 months away. Trying to keep him mildly focused through the end of the year. But he seems ready to be in Nashville now (maybe not academically).
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I knew due to older cousins that the Notre Dame network is strong. All have said they can get a response within 2 hours anywhere in the world.
Well, S24 started reaching out to Physicians in our area, 4 so far, and 2 responses within 10 minutes for shadowing! It’s so nice to see firsthand that it really isn’t a school for 4 years but a lifetime as they say! Very happy to see it in action before he even begins.
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Only two more weeks of school! How crazy is that! It will be so sad to say goodbye to my son’s high school! Truly the best memories, he had a great four years there. I can’t believe I will be a mom of a son attending college, this day seemed so far away 18 years ago but somehow the time went so fast that I would give anything to slow it down now.
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And there it is. In a somewhat surprising development, both droids have committed to UMich! What a long (and I mean long), strange journey this has been. So incredibly proud of them, the way they approached and handled themselves through this process of exploration and discovery, and the maturity with which they made their final decisions. In short, they chose happiness, about which I could not be happier!
Droid1: LSA Honors, intends to study linguistics and neuropsychology
Droid2: College of Engineering, majoring in CS with a side-helping (or double major) in CE
GO BLUE!
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Hail to the Victors! I bet they have a fantastic time, AND get a great education.
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In a world without ranking services, and where folks ignored rejection percentages, that sounds about right to me
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