College suggestions for Baitboy
 

Looking at colleges for Baitboy, can't believe he is 17. I am very proud of him, his grades and SAT scores are good enough for any Ivy League but it is so competitive now it is like hitting the lottery if you get in. This is our first child going off to college, if anyone has any recent experience with this and could suggest a good school that he should maybe look into, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :uhuh:

That's a pretty open ended question, what does he want to study?

-spence

We have a grandson at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and realize that this place is a sleeper school.
I'm hearing stories of starting well over 100,000 out of school.
There are a lot of college grads out there without jobs.

Sorry about that Spence. He is a true Liberal Arts kid, he got a perfect 800 score on the English portion of the SAT and another 800 on the Literature SAT subject test.

He loves to read, write fiction and history but realizes he might have to go in another direction to make a living. He does fine in Math with SATs in the 700s but writing is his passion.

This is a very good point and it has him in a dilemma, because he doesn't want to be one of the many liberal arts kids working at Starbucks.

Mass Maritime has always been a great school with big money jobs right out of college. Even back in my day I had friends who made huge pay checks right after graduation.

Too many good schools to make a specific suggestion. Your son is obviously a good student, so maybe it's time to narrow the field with all the quantitative considerations - type of school, distance from home, urban or suburban, large or small enrollment, types of programs, reputation, school's endowment for scholorship possibilities, private or public - anything that narrows the field. Guidance departments can help considerably.

Unless money is not an issue for your family, my opinion would be to go ivy league or state. The in-between schools cost a ton more, and I don't see the added value. Ivy leagues will certainly get you some more opportunities, and only your family can weigh the cost vs. opportunity options. I got into some of the bigger schools and couldn't see the point in paying 40k a year for a very similar education. I've worked along side some of these kids and certainly didn't see a difference in the level of education. Graduating with little to no debt can set you up for success. Some people are graduating with 250k of student debt and no job prospects.

Hillsdale College
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Why not poly sci with an end game of law school. His passion for writing would well-serve in this field.
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Thanks everyone, this is all great advice. It is crunch time now but I am lucky he has a really good attitude about the whole thing.

Wheaton College in Norton, MA is a highly reputable liberal arts school.

State college....why pay more to learn the same thing.

U say good in math....CPA.....average age of a cpa is mid 50's

Mass Maritetime...3 of my friends kids R doing very well...most get jobs.

Last resort find a good college with excellent keg parties....LOL

Try St. Anslems in New Hampshire. The curriculum is base on teaching a student how to think. They have one day a week devoted to pure learning, a speaker is brought in to discuss a certain topic with the student body. Think of it as a college level TED conference. The school will help your son explore his world. Good Luck and with those scores he is well on his way. Nice job.

One thing I will suggest is if you are going for financial aid it's worth hiring one of those companies that knows all the ins and outs and every single scholarship, grant, etc

I did it when I went to college think it cost me $500 and they got me over 10k worth of free money

They also submit all the paperwork and will keep up on it for you.

My young cousins just did it and it was a huge help as must people don't know where to start or look, lots of free money out there and with his grades and sat scores you should be able to find a lot.
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We're in the same boat looking for colleges. Our daughter is an average to above average senior, but lazy. I put some pressure on her in looking for colleges, by making her do some of the legwork. It's not whether the college or university is a good fit for you, but for your child. Same goes for career choices. They certainly don't have to be held to anything, but have a few ideas in mind. The cost, size of a school, how far away it is, geographic location, does it offer scholarships and the types of programs your child expresses a possible interest in pursuing, etc., I think that's the sort of thing to be considering. I could offer some suggestions, but they'd be my personal preferences and based on the area where I visited and ultimately went to school, like Bucknell, Lehigh, #^&#^&#^&#^&enson, SUNY Stonybrook, I've only visited briefly, but heard good things about URI, too. Good luck.

When my daughter was planning on her college education we picked up this book: Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges

http://www.amazon.com/Colleges-That-.../dp/0143122304

We visited a few schools from the book and are glad we did.

Pick it up and have parents and son read it.

Good luck to him in pursuing his passion.

DZ

A little insite of Mass Maritime.

- It is allot different now than when I graduated 24 years ago. Back then only 2 majors. Now about 6 or 7.

- If you go to MMA with the intention of taking on of those 2 original majors.....deck or engine....know what your getting into. I still go to sea 24 years later. Is the money good just out of school.....its ok, every ship contract is a bit different but make no mistake about it the money in the 70's comparably was way more back then. Be prepared to have a failing marriage or 2 or 3. Be prepared to miss out on allot of holidays and peak fishing seasons every other year. Be prepared to have challenges raising kids when you only see them 6 months a year at the most.

- Now the plus side is when your not on a ship well you can fish allot.

It is all a catch 22.

If I could do it all over again would I..............I'd have to think about that.

This is such great info - Thanks!!!

biggest regret I have is not going to a big D1 football school. i would have loved to have the experience of those saturdays tailgating, and living a dying by your schools team. did you see the scene at the big house last saturday. how could someone not want to experience that, and get an education.

There's a group of colleges out in California called the Claremont Colleges. There are 5 of them and they are often called the Ivy League of the west coast. They aren't really well known around here, but they are excellent schools. My sister was 2nd in her HS graduating class and was looking for a really good liberal arts school. She ended up deciding to go to Pomona College right outside of L.A. and loved it. It's a small school with a very low faculty to student ratio. The campus is nice and it's warm year yound. My sister didn't qualify for financial aid but she got money to go there because they were looking to get diversity and didn't have many students from the northeast.

The other schools in that group are Havey Mudd, Pitzer, Claremont McKenna and Scripps.

Depending on if he wants to be far from home or not, it may be worth checking out.

http://www.claremont.edu/

One of my son's best friends also went to Pomona and he is now in Med school at Tufts. He wanted to go to Stanford but ended up loving Pomona and the smaller classes. It is a fantastic school.

Whatever school, just make sure tuition is within your means.

Nothing worse than graduating completely full of debt. I didn't understand the repercussions at 18. I would have been paying off student loans till my mid-40's if there hadn't been a death in the family.

While I'm appreciative of my education and the times I had, if I could do it all over again, I'd probably go to a school in state... Or at the very least take core curriculum classes at a community college to cut down on the cost.

Any AP credits?

He took AP World History and AP US History where he got 5 out of 5 on both exams. He is now working on 3 more for his senior year - Litrature, European History, and Statistics,

Anything that can reduce unnecessary course loads (which can mean graduating earlier) is worth it!

Claremont colleges on the left coast, NESCACs on the East coast come to mind first. Colgate too. The seven sister schools are mostly co-ed now as well. My wife works with Trinity, Wesleyan and Conn College if you want some inside contacts at any of those just PM me. Good luck with things.

this is one of my regrets as well....

My twin sons are juniors and we started looking at schools last month, we were at the Coast Guard Academy yesterday.

Sounds like your son has some serious academic credentials; my boys are no where near that stratosphere so we are taking a realistic approach.

I'm a UMass Amherst grad and I agree with the comment above about going to an Ivy if you can get in, otherwise UMass Amherst would get the nod. Unless you are looking for a specific academic or technical discipline, I don't see a lot of value add for the cost of all of the colleges and universities in between. Places like Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Tufts, etc. are all wonderful schools but they don't have the cachet or alumni connctions of the Ivys, so if it's going to cost you a lot to go there, it's a tough sell in my book. The Commonwealth Honors College at UMass would probably suit your son well.

Congrats. Your son is wicked smart. My older sister is a dartmouth grad. She is a genius. My wife and i r dartmouth (....umass). Grads. My old man is a Northeastern alum. Mom is an rn My advice when it comes to selecting where to go to school is more than just the in class education aspect. There is very very little i ever learned in 5 yrs at umd that i have ever used in real life. Everything that mattered about goin to college was learned outside of the classroom. How to survive on your own without parental supervison. How to manage your time How to interact with other people. How to make friends and not get your azz kicked. How to deal with authority to get out of sticky situations
My older sister was valadictorian and got accepted to dartmouth college on a chemistry scholarship her junior year in high school. Half way thru she decided she didnt like it and wanted to teach kimdergarten. Couldnt change her major or would loose scholarship. Ended up with degree in chem and double minor in child ed and child psych. Graduated with honors and was also a sport athlete. All in 4 yrs. never could get a teachin job. Too smart. Makes #^&#^&#^&#^& money in south bend in doin taxes. A watse of talent
I played 4 yrs of lacrosse, started a fraternity, drank and partied my azz off, went thru 4 majors and somehow got a useless degree in sociology. Made a #^&#^&#^&#^& ton of money in variuos sales fields till i "retired" to be a stay at home dad. All from skills i learned outside college classroom
The thing about college is that it is what u nake of it. Dont know what your kid wants to do for the long haul in life but makin money to afford a good life style is what it is all about.
2 of my best friends did textile engineering. We used to make fun of them. They both make 6 figures makin sneakers for nike and reebok. A couple of others were in computer information sytems and make bucket loads of cash. I was originally civil engineering. My friends that survived that most quit that field and r teachers now one of my fraternity brothers was an art major and now makes a pile of money doin chainsaw carvin. Even had a tv show on ngc
My little sister is a nichols grad with a business degree. She works in a tee shirt printing shop now. Waste of my parents money.
A lot of rambling. But my advice to u is have a heart to heart talk with him about what he wants in a school. A fast paced demanding curriculm? Social aspect (parties, activities,). Sports, close to home to be able to commute? What may want to study and fall back options if change mind Cost. Living conditions/ options on and off campus. Amount of school spirit. Do people attend school sponsered sports/ activities. Go on tours. Eat in the res caf to see if the food is eatable. ( i lived off lucky charms cause our res caf sucked). Dont be shy and stop students and ask them what they think of where they r, if they have regrets about their choice.
Watch the movie P.C.U and see what he thinks he wants to do based on that
He can always transfer
Good luck and have fun goin thru it with him
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I gotta agree with Greg on the ivy league comments, it just opens so many doors that if he has the credentials to get in, he should really give it a shot. Of course, the comments about the right fit and what he wants to do with his life are valid, but in a lot of places, the name of the school on your resume is really a huge part of getting your foot in the door.
Now the difference is if he wants to go right to law school or medical school after undergrad, then I think you could be a superstar at Umass and get in to any other law/med school you wanted and then get the name recognition that way.

Like it or not, that's the society we live in so if he has the tools to get those names on his resume, he should go for it.

If he is considering medicine i highly recommend to explore becomin a nurse practioner or pyhsicians assistant ( basically same thing). U do everything a doctor does including writing scripts without all the med school / residency bs, less student loans, less headaches, and less insurance expenses. Wife is a NP and makes six figures. When it boils down she makes almost as much as the doctors cause she isnt payin exorbiant malpractice insurance premiums.
She has bs in bio from umd then did a 3 yr accelerated program at regis college in westin 2 for bachelors nursing and 1 for masters nurse practioner. Boston college and mass general also have excellent programs
And there are a lot of male NPs at her work. More than plenty of jobs available everywhere and easy to break into
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