<h2>“I also hear that Architecture, Medical, Chem Engineering, Fashion Design, Physics are some other examples of where you have to go to highest level schools to be able to have a shot at either getting a good entry level positon or as a springboard to going to doing your Graduate work.”</h2>
<p>I think UT-Austin is one school that kills this ‘solid state school won’t cut it’ argument for Architecture and Chemical (or any) Engineering. Hard to beat UNC-CH for pre-med and public health fields. Shoot…my husband graduated from Colorado School of Mines, which is a state school, and he and most every petroleum engineer, geological engineer and chemical engineer he graduated with has at least made VP, with many at the Sr. VP, Principal/President/CEO level. (Of course, he is ‘old’ and he and his compadres have put the time in… )</p>
<h2>“The exact same scenario held true for my friend’s son, who also attended a no-name state school, yet he was accepted into a top Ivy League law school. That student was destined for success no matter where he got his undergraduate degree, because of his personal characteristics.”</h2>
<p>So true! My brother-in-law parlayed an undergraduate degree from Colorado State into JD from Stanford.</p>
<p>No, I don’t think I’m too involved. But the key point is, is that my son doesn’t think I am too involved either. </p>
<p>And occaisionally, I do a sense check with him relative to the amount of input he gets, or desires.</p>
<p>Agreed, different kids need different levels of attention.</p>
<p>And as far as what you kids posting here consider, your mind will be totally different by the time you have your own kids who begin this stage of life. </p>
<p>I am chuckling to myself. I can’t wait…You’ll see.</p>
<p>If the child has the dream and interest then a parent should be there to help support and guide. For many it is also important to set the bar high high with the goal of helping a child reach his/her potential. It does seem that if the child chooses to go the multi-school admissions route that the number of hoops to jump through is much greater than in the past and assistance to help the child --again if it is the child’s goal- is often warranted. Hey, you start with the FAFSA and just that gets you deep into the process. I think the bigger issue is letting go when the child is off to school. The helicoptering there is not good. Student calling a parent from the cell phone while meeting with their advisor and asking the parent what course he/she should take etc does not let the student become an adult and learn to make decisions. But given the nature of our competitive times it is understandable for caring parents to want to do what they can to help their child reach his/her dreams and then to get involved with the chaos of the apps process.</p>
<p>Ray111: In response to your comment that most of your recruits came from MIT, Stanford, RPI, etc…Please think about this: Lets say that the top 5 management people at your engineering firm were graduates of Berkeley, Illinois, Michigan, Purdue and Georgia Tech respectively. Do you think the makeup of your recruits might show a better representation of state universities than those of your engineering firm? </p>
<p>I’m not questioning the colleges that your firm chooses to recruit from, because all of the schools you mentioned are great. But, I can assure you that all of the schools I mentioned have graduates who have qualifications equal to those individuals you get from MIT, RPI, etc.
It simply comes down to the philosophy and recruiting practices of each individual firm.</p>
<p>I believe that it’s important for me to point this out, so our current high school students don’t develop the mode of thinking that private colleges are the only way to go if you want to me successful. This is especially important to those students who can’t afford to go to a private college.</p>
<p>Old Old: Great words of wisdom! I particularly like the following:
* If the CHILD has the dream (goals are the STUDENT’S!)
* Parent should be there to SUPPORT and GUIDE) (not control!)
* SET THE BAR HIGH (Student must be challengeD, but goals must
be REASONABLE and ACHIEVABLE)</p>
<p>How much a parent is involved with the apps process certainly depends on the particluar situation. D knew the size, type, and, even geographical parameters that fit her quite early on. She went ED to a school, got in, and tore up the rest herr partially competed apps. I do not think I even saw any parts of the application. Just paid the fee.
S took a different approach, one that mom, dad, and sister questioned, which was to look at several schools. We cautioned him against it based on the work and his exisiting workload. We let him do it but we did limit the number, if for nothing else the cost, and challenged him to outline a reasonable scenario under which he would attend any of those he applied to. We have been involved more, if for nothing else, than trying to make sure he got sleep while doing the apps and trying to meet his other commitments. Also, we tried to help him design and use a file system to deal with the reams of paper and then to make sure things were actually in the correct envelopes! He now says he would never recommend anybody apply to more than 3-4 schools. Not sure he would admit it to big sister though. (Also, I have been the official trip coordinator to free him from time searching for good fares etc. and allowing him time to do his school work)</p>
<p>In my town- a middle class Masachusetts town. Many parents found out that they had not been involved enough. They are sort of Rip Van Winkles when it comes to the latest strategies and facets to the college admissions game. They copy the same process they employed when they applied to colleges back in the 1970’s and 1980’s. I told all of them to read the posts on CC- I had few takers. I suspect that where you find a successful college campaign you will also find that the parents and the students are on the same page and work as a team to accomplish the student’s goals.</p>
<p>I do feel that husband, son and I have been a team. I helped son identify a bunch of compatible-sounding schools, but he picked which to visit. I did the trip arrangements and my husband did most of the driving but it was our son who had to present himself well at interviews and decide which schools to apply to. I studied the application process and read about what constitutes a good essay, but he did the apps and wrote the essays. I mailed them, if needed (though most went out online). My husband pays for stuff and I do the important job of worrying, while our son finishes his senior year courses and ECs. When the acceptances are in, it is our son who will chose his college. We’ll drive him there, but it’s up to him to pick his courses, deal with his roommate(s) and make the most of his college experience. I’m so excited for him and proud of him and grateful that he is letting us share this wonderful transition with him. If that’s over-involved, so be it.</p>
<p>songman: Oh, how right you are about the game changing. I must admit I kind of miss those simple days of yesteryear. Darn, I just dropped my slide rule.</p>
<p>We are following the same path as Bethievt. What I’ve tried to do is teach him HOW to go about researching schools, making contacts, crafting essays, etc. He has learned to complete mailing forms, print, check and package materials, and to think through what one is going to say before one calls/emails a school. These are good lifetime skills that will also apply to grad school, job searches, etc.</p>
<p>There has been a surprising amount of resume-writing, scholarship apps and internship applications to complete this semester (as a junior!), so this has been a fertile training ground. He’s now planning his senior year schedule and is getting a sense of how much time it will take to do this job well when it counts.</p>
<p>We had several snow days last week and they were a blessing from heaven – he was able to get a lot of apps/competitions completed so that now they’re back at school, he doesn’t have (as much) stuff hanging over his head.</p>
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