Advice Needed

[Clark]

aim high.



the Air Force Academy

Hmmm. Where have I heard this before....

[CloneAggie]

Kind of like homeboy's kids test scores? If they're as good as he's pimping them out to be, his kid can go anywhere he wants. Ivy League, Notre Dame, Northwestern, any of the service academies...etc..

Did you just throw Notre Dame in with the Ivy League and Northwestern? Good school, but not really in the same class, IMO.

[mustangcy]

He only mentioned how old one of his kids was and at that age he doesn't even know what kind of school is in the kids range or what the kid is interested in. Some people are better off going to two year schools or soem sort of training program. Maybe they'll want to join the military. Who knows. Basically, its about what's best for them and what will help them achieve their goals. It's not about where you think they would like to be.

Doesn't make a bit of difference how old his kids are or what they eventually do. My point is that every parent should care where their kids go. They should at the very least take an active role in helping their children choose wisely. I mean how smart were you when you were 17? I was an idiot. I just lucked out around 20 and made it to ISU.

[TarHeelHawk]

Did you just throw Notre Dame in with the Ivy League and Northwestern? Good school, but not really in the same class, IMO.

It's my understanding that Notre Dame has some of the stricter admissions standards in the country, and that's kind of what I was getting at. Northwestern has the toughest standards in the Big 10, etc..

[ericlambi]

To me it depends, what sort of degree program is he looking into, and who's funding the education. Each of Iowa, UNI, and ISU have strengths. If I had a kid who could go to any of the 3 schools for a low cost, I would encourage them to do so, instead of going to some "elite" school where he'll be borrowing 30k-40k a year.

I think whether it is worth paying for an elite school really depends on the specific career goals. In a lot of instances it is probably best to go to state school for undergrad and go to an elite school for graduate school, but there are no hard and fast rules. A lot of the 40k/year schools pay back plenty in terms of the opportunities they offer. Most of them don't though.

[Clark]

Doesn't make a bit of difference how old his kids are or what they eventually do. My point is that every parent should care where their kids go. They should at the very least take an active role in helping their children choose wisely. I mean how smart were you when you were 17? I was an idiot. I just lucked out around 20 and made it to ISU.

Apparently smart enough to know what i wanted to do and where I was going to school.

Anyway, I wasn't trying to say that parents shouldn't have an active role in the decision. My two points are that the parents should be realistic with their expectations (don't expect a c student to get into harvard) and that parents should never under any reasonable circumstances eliminate any school from consideration. That's the students job. In the end, its him/her that will be spending the next 4-5(or more possibly) years at that school.

[Clark]

I think whether it is worth paying for an elite school really depends on the specific career goals. In a lot of instances it is probably best to go to state school for undergrad and go to an elite school for graduate school, but there are no hard and fast rules. A lot of the 40k/year schools pay back plenty in terms of the opportunities they offer. Most of them don't though.

Good point. For example, if you want to be president some day, an Ivy league education really helps.

[capitalcityguy]

I think whether it is worth paying for an elite school really depends on the specific career goals. In a lot of instances it is probably best to go to state school for undergrad and go to an elite school for graduate school, but there are no hard and fast rules. A lot of the 40k/year schools pay back plenty in terms of the opportunities they offer. Most of them don't though.

Can you confirm this? Link?

[egami]

Apparently smart enough to know what i wanted to do and where I was going to school.

Yeah, same here, I had enough credits to graduate as a Junior, moved prior to my Senior to establish residency for where I wanted to go to college and started taking college credits that entire year. Lived by myself my Senior year, played sports, worked at top end restaurant.

[swarthmoreCY]

Yeah, same here, I had enough credits to graduate as a Junior, moved prior to my Senior to establish residency for where I wanted to go to college and started taking college credits that entire year. Lived by myself my Senior year, played sports, worked at top end restaurant.

If you do not mind, was that the University of Michigan, and if so, how long ago? I know a couple of people that contemplated similar means, but believed they could not get classified as an in-state applicant.
Residency - Office of the Registrar

[Stumpy]

You said in your first post that his test scores were high enough that he could go anywhere he wanted. If they're that high, he's aiming pretty low if he's only looking at Iowa and Iowa State.

I had good enough test scores that I essentially had my pick of institutions: Northwestern, Columbia, Rice, Yale, etc. Ultimately I chose the institution with the best fit and the best scholarship offer; somewhere that had a great sense of community, lots of opportunities, and a solid program. I'm a very proud alumnus of Iowa State. Does that mean I set my bar low?

People get too hung up on this perception of prestige. After working at four vastly different institutions and visiting many more, I've learned that each offers a very unique character and culture that will appeal to certain students. All of them offer educational programs, all of them provide student services, all of them have opportunities for involvement, and at their heart they aren't all that different.

Students looking for a college need to do their best to remove any preconceptions they have, and go to each campus with an open-mind and an eagerness to experience the environment. Even if it's Iowa.

[Tornado man]

It's my understanding that Notre Dame has some of the stricter admissions standards in the country, and that's kind of what I was getting at. Northwestern has the toughest standards in the Big 10, etc..

I see US News has Northwestern ranked 12th and Notre Dame 18th.
FWIW, my favorite barista (really smart) at my local Starbucks applied to Northwestern, Rice, and Notre Dame, among others. Of those three, only Notre Dame accepted her.

[egami]

If you do not mind, was that the University of Michigan, and if so, how long ago? I know a couple of people that contemplated similar means, but believed they could not get classified as an in-state applicant.
Residency - Office of the Registrar

No, I graduated from HS in Washington State, actually, and I was originally going to go to U-Dub. Long story after that...

Also, I wasn't able to JUST take college courses, in Washington State you have to take Washington State History to graduate.

[mustangcy]

Apparently smart enough to know what i wanted to do and where I was going to school.

Anyway, I wasn't trying to say that parents shouldn't have an active role in the decision. My two points are that the parents should be realistic with their expectations (don't expect a c student to get into harvard) and that parents should never under any reasonable circumstances eliminate any school from consideration. That's the students job. In the end, its him/her that will be spending the next 4-5(or more possibly) years at that school.

I can promise you that you are in the minority there. Most kids do not eventually do what they think they'll do at 17. Most don't even finish in the the school they start out at.

[Clark]

Most don't even finish in the the school they start out at.

Maybe that's because their parents selected the school for them

kidding of course