An older cousin had a similar experience except it was because his father perceived the NE state flagship/directionals as being better than a respectable/elite private U(Think somewhere along the lines of Haverford, Bowdoin, Tufts) from where he received a full-ride FA package in the late '70s because he never heard of them before*. And instead of the GC at his suburban public HS, it was a few relatives who worked in academia or who were much more aware of the US college landscape who stepped in to convince him otherwise.
He was also one of those folks who used to believe all colleges are exactly the same academically so why pay extra to attend a private...even a respectable/elite one. After his son's experience at that private and noticing the differences in the educations he received versus siblings who attended the state directional he no longer uncritically believes that.
Community college would have been a non-starter for HS classmates who exhausted all the academic offerings…especially in math and science course offerings at my HS as they’d be ready to take the most advanced undergrad/lower-level graduate courses which aren’t available in the local community colleges or even to undergraduates at many lower-tiered 4-year local public/private colleges.
One older HS friend who was a strong math student was seriously considering attending a local 4-year public college which prompted one of our teachers to spend nearly an hour after school to convince him why that was a bad idea not only on academic grounds(“will hold you back too much”)…but also cause him to come into contact with some of the less motivated students* who haven’t outgrown the inclination to bully highly academically engaged students like him. In any event, said classmate ended up attending an HYP and is now a STEM Prof at an academically elite Midwest U.
This was during the period when CUNY/CCNY still practiced open admissions and directly admitted remedial students to the 4-year colleges.
What happened to NPRfan, the OP Lights up the room and then leaves. I think he/she only has 2 total posts on here.
It’s good, though, at least for me, because I learned some things. It’s like having to write a paper on some completely fictitious topic, that’s vague on the details. It forces you to form arguments based on what you do know, and to inject your point of view.
Do they make you write those kinds of papers at those crummy little Directional U’s in the Midwest I know they do at the fancy colleges over here in Eliteland
Southern Connecticut - funny, I hadn’t heard that name for a while. It’s where my best friend from law school went for her undergrad. Cornell Law School. Guess it didn’t hold her back too much.
For the record, and in case anyone took my joke for being a snob, my kids won’t be touching any of the top schools over here in Eliteland. We make too much to get Financial Aid, and we don’t have the money to pay sticker price at the elite schools.
If we look at privates, we’ll be looking way down the rankings from the elites, at schools that might give us merit aid.
Why wouldn’t this girl at least apply to a school like Alabama or Ole Miss, both of which give great merit aid for high ACT or SAT scores. At Alabama a score in the 99th percentile and a 3.5 gpa would qualify her for free tuition, so she would only have to pay room and board. At Ole Miss a score of 33 and a mere 3.0 qualifies an out of state student for $20,500 per year, with additional scholarships stackable. Both of these schools have fine honors colleges.
There are some other schools like these. The important thing is to find a public flagship with a good honors program and good financial aid. They are out there.
@EarlVanDorn Maybe she doesn’t want to. Everyone on this thread is assuming that she hasn’t investigated all her options. There is not enough info to determine her or her family’s thought process or motivation. Not for us to speculate. The important thing is for the student to be comfortable and happy with her decision .
@earlvandorn It may be that they do not offer her major. They do not offer what my dd wants to major in, so they have been eliminated from her list of options. (I wish they did. It would make her decision a lot easier. She would love to go to Bama. )
I haven’t read this whole thread (sorry) but I’ll respond to EVD at anyone with a similar thought process:
For many, it’s not all about the prestige or the money or (insert other factors here). Period. End of story.
Who knows why this student didn’t choose to go to a top uni? Maybe there are health issues with her parents and she wants to stay close to help them out (one of the reasons I stayed close when picking a school). Maybe there are health (mental or physical) with the student that no one knows about.
It’s really no one’s business other than the student and (maybe) her family.
I know an immigrant family with a LOT of kids. More than 7. All bright, motivated and hard working. Their plan is that the entire family pulls together to provide higher education as the kids graduate. Going into debt for school just wasn’t something they do.
The first few went into careers requiring less time in school in order to get to a higher earning job more quickly in order to support the next ones. As an example, that would be x-ray tech and electrician.
Then, there was nursing and civil engineering requiring just a four year degree. The final ones get the full meal deal like electrical engineering, law school and medical school. All of them had the chops to go all the way, but they willingly took less to make the system work. I was a bit surprised, because it seemed like the first ones got short-changed, but it didn’t appear to bother them one bit.
I’m a big supporter of the so called directional schools. Many are smaller and offer small class size, which is always so important to CCers, Many offer good departments or specialties. Many are in safer areas or towns than the big flagships. However, there is a big difference in directionals too. Some are equal to the big flagships (the UC’s, Central Florida, Michigan state) if you are of the opinion that a state can only have one flagship. Some are in urban areas, some in the boonies. If a student wants to go to a state school but doesn’t like the flagship for some reason, the directional might be a better choice.
At my daughters’ school, I know many of the top 20 kids went to UF, FSU, or UCF. Among the students and parents, some think only UF is worthy, but others prefer FSU. Personally, I don’t know why anyone would go to UCF because it is in Orlando and I don’t like Orlando and because it is so HUGE, but many do. Others prefer the smaller state universities like FIU or even West Florida. These schools aren’t as highly ranked, but so what? Closer to the beach!
I guess you can say that I attend a directional school. School of about 15,000 total students. 71% 6-year grad rate, 86% retention rate. Being one of <20% OOS students, I am blessed enough to say that I go to school where most people vacation. I wouldn’t be happy anywhere else.
@twoinanddone funny that you mention FSU - I was about to send them my SAT scores before realizing that my school was a better fit, and ended up not applying. UNCW and FSU are academic equals, FWIW.
You may find they are academic equals for you. I don’t think many of the ranking boards or the people on CC would agree with you. Average people, including those who hire, in the west have never heard of UNCW.
Actually, my own kid has so far only applied to “directional” or regional schools, i.e., state schools that are not the flagship. She liked their size - not too big, not too small - and that there are mostly undergrads, and the focus is on them
I got her to finally agree to apply to a couple of small LACs I like for her, but she’ll likely end up at one of these state schools - one she really has taken a liking to, and she’s already talking about being there.
The other nice thing about the directional schools is they are usually more affordable than any other 4-year university. They seem to be more generous with merit scholarships, too, than the flagship schools.
This is very true. I love that about the smaller state schools. I also agree with people who said that there could be specific programs that draw you to a directional school. I don’t know if SUNY Oswego would fit the definition of a directional, but I like their CS department a lot. It’s the only CS department in the SUNY system that offers a Software Engineering major, and I like the courses they offer.
Do companies recruit heavily there for CS majors? I have no idea. Do they respect the program? Again, no idea. I would want to know the answers to those questions before sending my kids there. On paper it’s great, but if I think it’s great, and companies don’t, I’d be doing my kids a disservice by sending them there.
Lights up the room and then leaves. I think he/she only has 2 total posts on here.