Choosing a university in the USA

[BigV]

Well, you (your child) can't go to any school you can't afford. Clodfobble's story about getting a .5k token against a 30k expense is sad/funny. Ouch. Those folks who talk about the upper-mid range colleges/universities being roughly equal are right on target. It does make a difference at the level where the school is a "brand", but none of them were even a dream for me or for my children. If you're in a position to consider such schools seriously, that is super awesome.

For most folks though, cost is a/the major factor. Getting that degree (possibly the first in a series) with a minimum cost is HUGELY important. Young graduates with X tens of thousands of dollars in debt is like being born underwater. It's hard to catch your breath when you're at your weakest, professionally speaking. Reasonable people can disagree about the single factor/most important reason(s) for going to college, but all of them will agree that "to amass a large debt" is not one of them--avoid it, reduce it, finesse it the best you can, all the way through. Cost matters, **a lot**.

Beyond that, what does your student like? Not just academically, but athletically and socially and geographically, etc, etc. Those factors are just as real as the degree and the costs. I was one of the unusual students in that I picked my major, never changed it, graduated with a degree in that area (BS Computer Science) and then worked for decades in that field. Just lucky I guess .

What are your child's ideas about what school to choose?

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by BigV

Well, you (your child) can't go to any school you can't afford. Clodfobble's story about getting a .5k token against a 30k expense is sad/funny. Ouch.

Yeah, I got a $500 "scholarship" offer from Cornell. It wasn't quite enough to get me to brave their winters.

[Lamplighter]

The Student Loan still has some attractive features.
The first is that most families (individual students) will qualify for some level of a "grant".
This is not a "loan", and does not have to be paid back.

I think there are 6 school-years of grant support, and my G-kids have qualified
for enough $ to cover their books, supplies, and class fees. (~$5,000/yr)

Tuitions are usually beyond the level of these grants, so it is
family decision time about "loan debt" and family "resources"

IM, where are you... you are needed ASAP !

[orthodoc]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Yeah, I got a $500 "scholarship" offer from Cornell. It wasn't quite enough to get me to brave their winters.

Yeah ... I had that sort of 'scholarship' from Canadian universities, including my med school. Too bad the scholarship was about 1% of the tuition.

My third son just updated me on current college 'party culture', which is to drink to unconsciousness every Friday AND Saturday. He did not attend an official party school. He bowed out of the drinking culture for his own reasons but has many friends who participated.

I have a hard time relating to that. I went to 'college' (university, in Canada - college was something different) in an atmosphere where there certainly were bars and student drinking establishments, but the goal was to become pleasantly buzzed without actually impairing your ability to think. Most of the grad students indulged in a couple of beers and then went back to the lab. That was it. So my perception of 'college drinking culture' was very different from my children's experience.

After what was possibly the worst final exam of our lives (Thermodynamics, taught by a prof with zero teaching skillz), my then-current bf, current husband, and I repaired to the Grad Students' Bar, The Downstairs John, and each ordered a double Black Russian. The server squinted at us doubtfully and said, 'Are you sure? You want - a double? You're sure?' and went away shaking her head. There was no 'drink until you die' ethos going on there.

It's been an education, learning about the American college drinking culture. So strange. It's the best argument I can think of for lowering the legal drinking age.

[Aliantha]

Well, we are at the same point in the road here, and both our boys will probably go to Griffith uni which has a number of campuses, but they will most likely go to the one that's 20 mins drive from here so they can live here, focus on their study and avoid unnecessary financial challenges. Also, i think they like the food here.

[infinite monkey]

JBK...read your poem and commented in thread (it's awesome)

phone posts funny sI'll try a better reply re: college choices when I can.

[Gravdigr]

from YahooNews

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Princeton Review released its annual college rankings on Monday, including the 2014 edition of the Top 20 party schools in the nation.

1. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

2. University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Calif.

3. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Ill.

4. West Virginia University, Morgantown W. Va.

5. Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.

6. University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.

7. Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

8. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wis.

9. Penn State University, University Park, Pa.

10. Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa.

11. University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.

12. Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.

13. DePauw University, Greencastle, Ind.

14. University of Mississippi, University, Miss.

15. University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

16. Miami University of Ohio, Oxford, Ohio

17. University of Maryland, College Park, Md.

18. Tulane University, New Orleans, La.

19. University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt.

20. University of Oregon, Eugene, Ore.

I notice Marshall University is not on the list...I'm kinda shocked, they ain't called 'The Stumbling Herd' fer nuttin'. Their real team name is The Thundering Herd.

[Lamplighter]

Gsheesh, what happened to Hawaii and Colorado (Boulder).

Those were the party schools in my day.

[xoxoxoBruce]

That's bullshit, every school is a party school if you want it to be.

[Pete Zicato]

Monster - As you know we've just been through this with the Zings. Feel free to call me if you want some free advice. It's more than I feel like typing out.

[orthodoc]

To get back to the point, it depends on whether your child wants athletics or academics more, monster. I think there are relatively few kids who know what they want academically on high school graduation (although I was one, and I know there are more) - but if you can find a school that will let your child swim/do WP AND pursue some respectable academics, carry on.

My personal view is that universities are for academics, period. But I know that's not a popular stance in the US.

Just avoid the 'party schools' unless you know your child will avoid the parties. That's a road you don't want to go down, at least in my experience.

[Lamplighter]

After what was possibly the worst final exam of our lives
(Thermodynamics, taught by a prof with zero teaching skillz),...

I know that prof ! .... His initials were M.L., Jr.

He taught our course also, entitled "Physical Chemistry for Pre-Med and Pre-Dental Students".

At the mid-term, everyone in the class had a "D" or "F"
A group of us asked for an conference, where we complained (whined) about his lectures
which were almost purely the mathematical derivations of the equations of physical chemistry.
He tried to change his approach in the rest of the course, but it was still awful.
He ended up giving passing grades to everyone, but he and we all knew it was a farce and fiasco.

[Undertoad]

"It is very possible to get very good grades and be ambitious while get trashed three or four times a week."

~ that is to say ~

Some people are functional alcoholics in their youth.

[Griff]

Word. I was very skillful, got the grades, never missed a bender, and never really learned how to be. I learned late but at least I learned.

[glatt]

Can you be an alcoholic and then grow out of it? I'd get absolutely trashed 1-2 nights a week in college. Blackout trashed. Throwing up trashed.

I wasn't a stellar student. A bit too lazy. College was a lot of work and I only wanted to do enough work to get by. And I did.

Anyway, I haven't been trashed in 25 years or so. But I'll have a drink or maybe two pretty much every evening. Any more than that and I sleep poorly.