<p>On the one hand, I don’t think I chose particularly well either of the colleges that I attended - midwestern state flagship U for undergrad, very prestigious northeastern U for grad school, both for EE. State flagship was too big, I could probably gotten into a better school with merit money if I had selected the schools I applied to better. I did get accepted to better schools, but couldn’t afford to attend them. I ended up with very good grades, but wasn’t well prepared for a difficult grad program. For grad school, I was overly swayed by the big name school, and didn’t consider that the department’s theoretical focus was not a good academic match for my more practical engineering interests, plus my undergrad background was not on par with those of classmates and I really struggled. I dropped out of the PhD program with a Master’s degree. If I had chosen a less theoretical and not quite as academically tough grad program, I’m pretty confident I would have ended up with a PhD. </p>
<p>However, I’ve had a great, successful career so far, as an engineer and engineering manager, doing work that I really enjoy, and the big-name U on my MSEE degree has opened doors. Plus I met my husband at the big state flagship undergrad, and we just celebrated our 25 year anniversary. So, on balance, I wouldn’t change anything.</p>
<p>The today me would probably not have chosen the college route I took but I also would not have ended up with my first job at such an amazing hospital if I had not. Working there is what formed the way I practice in my field today. Sometimes a circuitous path get you directly where you would want to be even though you had no idea it would at time.</p>
<p>I would, but I wish I knew then what I know now (but could still play piano as well as I did then). I would have created my own opportunities for chamber music, for example. That was reserved for the best & brightest, when it should have been the right of ALL students. If we’re not going to be brilliant concert pianists, at least we should be able to have enjoyment with others for the rest of our lives, right? </p>
<p>So I would have fought to change some things or worked around them. What did I know then? :(</p>
<p>Edit: Glad I went to a top-notch conservatory, though. I wouldn’t change my education for anything!</p>
<p>No, I most definitely would not. I attended a school that almost all people of my religion attended, which made it extremely lacking in diversity. It was considered a great school by the people in my religious community, and to be truthful, it’s not a bad school. It’s extremely affordable, and that’s the basis of it’s appeal. We sent two out of our three kids to this school based on the affordability, and they both have gone on to very competitive grad schools. But none of our family liked the lack of diversity, and after a few years of experience checking out other colleges, I have learned that if a school is too big (this one had 35,000 students) many students never get the opportunity to form a relationship with a professor that is necessary for good recommendations to grad school. Our last kid will be going to a small LAC, and I’m fairly sure his experience will be much better at a small school than mine was at a big university.</p>
<p>It’s only been two or three years for me and I still don’t think I’d go again. I loved umich and it was the right choice at the time, but I’ve since realized there might have been places I’d have liked even more!</p>
<p>No, I would not. Like others have commented, I didn’t have a whole lot of choice since my parents restricted me to schools located no more than a half hour driving distance away–I pushed that limit to 45 minutes. While I did not have a bad experience there and feel I received a very good education, the school was not a great social fit. It was and seeming still is too Greek-focused for a teetotaler like me. Secondly, despite the fact it still attracts top students, I feel its reputation has lagged behind its former peer schools. The college is located close to where I currently live, yet it never seems to be on the application lists of any good students from our town. In contrast, my college’s rival school is definitely on people’s radar. And finally, the career advising and services were abysmal then. I think they have improved quite a bit, but still work best for the STEM students, which I wasn’t then and wouldn’t be now.</p>
<p>another absolutely not. I went to a large public U and it wasn’t the right choice for me. I could have used more guidance in terms of finding a career since I didn’t really know what I wanted to do or how to find out. And hopefully that guidance would have included advice on the importance of internships and career-related jobs before you graduate. Classes were large and impersonal because I chose a popular major, several hundred students in most classes in my major lower-division and still over a hundred upper-division. I never got to know any profs because I didn’t know that you could get to know them; I was doing well enough in class and didn’t see any reason to go to office hours since I figured I was understanding the material. As a college set in a large city, many students lived at home so it was not easy to get together with others to study or just hang out. </p>
<p>When I graduated and learned of the experience some other people had in college, I felt that I missed out.</p>
<p>But do parents that attended graduate school in some capacity (be it an academic or professional graduate program) cherish graduate school memories more than they would undergraduate memories?</p>
<p>Hmm … I’ve had the opposite reaction … with 3000 schools out there I’m surprised by how many people would repeat their choice. Although on further thought it might be evidence that most students do fine where ever they land … and that the abstract experience of attending college tends to be a pretty rewarding transformational time for most students. Said another way … I’ve visit over 40 schools with my two oldest kids and the overall themes of the visits are how I’ve liked virtually every school we’ve visited and can imagine the school being fine for the right student and how most students at each school are very enthusiastic about their school.</p>
<p>I would most definitely go back to the OOS public I graduated from. Loved it there. The only thing I would have done differently is gone there to start with instead of spending 2 years at our state flagship before transferring out. We took D13 and S16 to tour our alma mater (dh went there too and loved it) a couple of years ago. D liked it a lot, but didn’t want to go to school in the north, or where we went. S is currently planning on going there in 3 more years.</p>
<p>I went to large urban private school. I did 6 months school and 6 months co-op and I felt like I missed some of the the “college experience.” And even though I came out with work experience and landed a good job, I would choose a different school if I had t to do over.</p>
<p>I went to a top private university. I loved my college experience and would attend again - if I could be admitted (which is questionable). Since I graduated, the school has undergone an enormous growth spurt - new research buildings, dorms, events pavillion and student gym facilities. I am fortunate to live nearby and I visit campus for cultural events and occasional sporting events. I am feeling increasingly out-of-place in the student center as my middle-aged self comes to the realization that my college days are long gone <sigh></sigh></p>
<p>I loved my alma mater as I think it is one of the best places in the world to get an undergraduate education. I attended three of HYPMS and my sense is that my alma mater was and remains the best of the three for undergraduates. I would attend again in a heartbeat. It was perfect for me. We go every 5 years for reunions and ShawSon really wanted to go there. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, I recommended that ShawSon not attend my alma mater. The reason: Although he is intellectually quite gifted, he is also severely dyslexic and he wouldn’t be able avoid courses with 400 pages of reading per week at my alma mater – the distribution requirements really bind. He wouldn’t have had any conceptual problems with the material, but would have had a hard time on I/O. </p>
<p>Instead, he went to a school with no distribution requirements and had a great experience. Instead of fighting with courses that were painful to him, he was able to design a schedule that worked for him. He loved his academic experience and the faculty quickly grew to see how intellectually capable he was. Warning: Proud dad brag alert coming up, sorry. He had a triple major in subjects that interested him, was awarded was awarded summa cum laude honors because of a combination of his interdisciplinary honors thesis and his grades, was Phi Beta Kappa, had more A+'s in his transcript than A-'s, and received several awards for academic achievement. ShawSon and I are both glad he didn’t attended my alma mater.</p>
<p>I love my alma mater, but I applied back in the days when you chose one reach, one match, and one safety, and that was that! Because my parents had gone to college in their home country, they weren’t acquainted with the college admissions process, so I was left on my own to research schools. As a result, I looked only within Massachusetts (actually Greater Boston).</p>
<p>Like some of the other posters, I loved visiting other schools with my kids, and had I known then what I know now, may have applied to some of them. Our S and D didn’t apply to our alma mater (H’s didn’t have the program of interest to our S and my alma mater was a single-sex school and too close to home), but I wasn’t disappointed. Both ended up at great schools that were excellent fits for them. After all, they need to lead their own lives, not relive their parents’. (Of course, D is now going to grad school at H’s alma mater making her the third generation to attend since my father went there also for grad school.)</p>
<p>I loved my alma mater and if I had to do it over, at the same time with my 18 year old self, then yes - I would. It was the right place for me at the time.</p>
<p>But it wasn’t the right choice for either of my children. There are things about it still that would have been good for either of them, but other things that didn’t work.</p>
<p>I would absolutely attend my alma mater if I had to do it again. I am the person I am because of my college experience, which included a cooperative education component that was critical to my personal growth. The school part was demanding and comprehensive, the social part was perfect for me. I came away with wonderful memories, lifelong friends, and my H of 30 years. </p>
<p>It was not the right place for either of my kids, though.</p>
<p>Absolutely! Go Ducks! I loved that school but my kids would have none of it, and it would not have been a good fit for either of them.
At the time I really did not know other schools, I only applied to that one,but it was a good fit for sure.</p>
<p>My grad school, yes, I would do that again too.</p>
<p>I don’t. I did two outstanding graduate programs at two of HYPS, each the very top in its discipline at the time. I learned a lot, grew a lot intellectually, honed skills that launched me into a successful academic career, about which I couldn’t be happier. But neither could match my undergraduate experience at Michigan which was much more transformational and . . . well, just more fun.</p>
<p>IMO, grad school tends to be a lonelier quest. And it occurs at a later point in life, when you better know who you are, but also have already made many choices that narrow your range of options. So it’s more of a solitary slog to get to the finish line that enables you to advance to the next level. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong: I appreciate what I got out out of my graduate education, and I remain fiercely loyal to the programs that got me where I am today. But “cherished memories”? Not so much. Certainly not relative to my undergraduate years.</p>