<p>My D was a top student in high school (top 2% in large public). When she made her college choice, she opted for a lower ranked school where she received the top scholarship.</p>
<p>She is like you Myarmin. Works very very hard. She was accepted to reachy/match schools (ie Emory, Vanderbilt) but the money offered was less.
She tends to be very critical of herself and to be honest, we were a little worried about her attending a highly competitive school. Not because she wouldn’t do well–she’ll work herself to death. But because, for her personality type and self-image, we wondered if she might not be better off in a place where she was well regarded going in, by virtue of the awesome scholarship program she was part of.</p>
<p>She took a very competitive major and 3 minors (pre-meds/sciences) but did very well. Just graduated magna cum laude and is attending a top graduate school in the fall. We’ll never know how the environment of the other two top choices would have turned out. But for her, the reassurances of being “top dog” for awhile seems to have boosted her overall confidence.</p>
<p>That, along with the maturity of aging, has put her in a very good place now mentally. We’re not worried anymore.</p>
<p>I think it is important to evaluate the choices not just on the rigor of the school (as many have pointed out, lower ranked schools can be every bit as tough), but to also consider the personality of the student. </p>
<p>Kind of goes back to cc’s age old wisdom of the importance of “fit”.</p>