This is all very well said and I agree with all of it. One thing about big schools is that often they are as large as you want them to be. If you want a small community in a large school you can usually find it. Some large schools are also trying to offer smaller programs within the larger school to give you the best of both worlds. One of the main reason I went to Michigan State for undergrad was that I got into the Lyman Briggs program for pre-science majors. Everyone lived in the same dorm and had the same classes/majors and about 75% of freshman year classes were in the building you lived in. Studying in groups was a breeze and during major exams the floors were pretty silent. So even if you want a small school sometimes you can get a similar experience in a larger university.
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I live in Indiana. Both my kids attended Iowa State. We found that out of state tuition at Iowa State after scholarships was equal to in state tuition at IU or Purdue. IU and Purdue were less giving of scholarships to in state students. Ultimately my kids felt most comfortable at ISU. Sounds like you are on the right track. Apply lots of places and visit as many as you can. Some schools are over priced, but I do think some schools like ND can justify the added expense. Good luck.
CycloneErik
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We'll try to get some done during high school, which might be DMACC or another community college as well. No reason to break the bank.
At least your daughters made the right decision
. My 3 kids ended up in medical fields and went to Iowa. I'm a total failure as a dad....
My kids each had 20-25 credits when they hit college. Daughters boyfriend had 40some. Told my youngest that I would rather he took a couple extra college classes in HS even if that means he loses out on a scholarship or two to the math for every day student
I think the Big10 model do exists - I was told by a friend that U of Minnesota usually don’t give scholarship to in state kids (unless they are really excellent) because they give them to OOS students to attract them coming to the U of MN.
Heard from another friend that their friend’s daughter in IL ended up in Georgia Tech for compsci because she couldn’t get in U of Illionis Urbana Champaign…..
And I do agree with the fit factor. I think the kid has to be able to think “I can see myself here for 4 years” instead if “I can transfer if I don’t like it” although sometimes this situation happened unexpectedly. Our friends’ son transferred after one semester at ISU (got a nice scholarship at U of MN but loved ISU - called his parents after 3 weeks telling them he made a mistake, ended up at St Thomas). A friend of my colleague got a call after 3 weeks from her daughter in Madison that she made a mistake and the bf promptly picked her up the same evening and now she sacrificed one semester….
There are differences between campus visit and living on campus, so that’s why we would make a final call between “the finalists”. It’s like visiting Vegas / Hawaii: you will enjoy visiting this places but if you have to work there, you might change your minds.
So the education value of having a kid go to two years of community college and then graduation from a larger state school will be no different but the connections made will take a massive hit. Most college students do their networking the first couple years of college. If they had a friend going to one of those schools they could join their junior year it could work but otherwise a lot of those friend/networking groups are decided by junior year.
My son is 8. I'm 13 years out of college. I'm pretty concerned that my "advice" to him in 9 or 10 years is going to be
All those 19 year olds making lasting business partnerships at FAC
All those 19 year olds making lasting business partnerships at FAC
Different experiences I guess. Most people live in the dorms freshman year, then move out with the friends they made sophomore year or junior. Coming in with no people you know junior year is an impediment to networking in my opinion but again just an opinion based on my experience.
That's absolutely right, I think so too, a lot depends on the circumstances.
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I agree and hadn't thought about that.
I would still advise some kids to stay home and go to CC depending on the kid. I had a tough time adjusting to college life even though I was 2 years out of HS and did go all 4 years (actually 4 plus 2 summer sessions and 1 extra quarter) at ISU. If the kid is not emotionally ready to be away from home CC is a great option.
I worked full time for 2 years before I decided I should go to college. It worked out for me. Money in the bank for tuition etc.
CC can be a good option as long as you make sure it all transfers. You miss out on a lot of the networking/bonding opportunities but you save money and it might make sense to some kids. It largely depends on what you want to do post undergrad. If you plan on going to grad school or something then it’s not a huge deal. If you’re stopping after undergrad it may not be worth it.
Just make sure that you take classes that you need to transfer otherwise, your plan might be in jeopardy. My wife's niece and nephew started at Diablo Valley CC and ended up transferring to UCLA and Berkeley, respectively.
I wouldnt trade those first 2 years in the dorm for anything.
Ok I think I misinterpreted your point. You were talking about social networking, building new friendships, etc. I thought by "networking" you were talking about professional connections for after college. My bad. Yes, definitely the first few years is the time for that. My daughter is going into her final semester at ISU and the 9 or 10 close friends she made in her first year or two in her sorority are going to be her friends for life, no doubt. I
Yes, there's a lot of pieces of the puzzle here and it's not always the highest rank and/or the most expensive schools. That's why I think this is an extensive process. We started after he got his test scores just to see how competitive he can be based on his scores.
Then it's about geography (we know that he wouldn't like Texas, Arizona and Florida - he doesn't like heat) then type of school (big or small). Then the campus visits (we didn't visit a lot of schools, due to Covid schools didn't allow visitors until Sept / Oct 2021 - some did earlier but only for seniors and/or admitted students and then of course, airfare was expensive).
Campus visits were important because you could at least feel the vibe (there were couple of schools where we visited during the break so it wasn't a complete experience) and hopefully you can separate the "noise" from the "message". When we went to one school, he didn't feel great because something was bugging his stomach and he thought that the student guide was probably the worst but she did an excellent job explaining that most students got 2 internships during their time and were able to graduate in 4 years because the school worked with so many companies and was able to integrate internship into their curriculum. That really sold him.
On the other hand, we heard from couple of friends (one had 3 kids, one had 1) visiting a top notch Liberal Arts College and all of them came unimpressed with the students' attitude (2 with strong words and one using the word "insincere") that they ended up not applying there but we had another friend whose daughter ended up going to school there, so just to show how fit is different for everyone.
Location can be interesting too because at the end of the day it depends what you want to do (I had TONS of fun in Ames going to the Trice and hanging out with friends while busting my backside off studying). Some kids might want to study in Chicago, NY, Boston etc but in reality, if you go to certain schools, you might not have time to go out every weekend because you will be really busy studying.
I did the first two years in the dorm as well and I couldn’t agree more. Best time I ever had in undergrad
Have a family member who is a PA and made right decision. Cyclone undergrad, then Des Moines UniversityAt least your daughters made the right decision