Madoug- I will say Arkansas has an excellent interior design program (unsure of graphic design), but it's west of the Mississippi.

Back on topic-

Since I'm not sure I would have joined a sorority at a very Greek university, I probably wouldn't choose to send my future daughter to a very old, Southern school. I'd probably head in a more liberal arts direction- maybe some place with old, established locals like Otterbein or Cornell College. That would be neat to see their culture.

:D @ the bolded!

If my (never going to happen) children went to my alma mater (Otterbein!) I would love it if she went Greek. I'd be absolutely over the moon. Plus, I hope it would still have a community feel. That's what made me go there. I went on this massive college tour with my mom where we drove to Ball State in Indiana and I had a terrible visit. We stopped at Otterbein on the way home and it immediately felt like putting on a pair of slippers, like I had always BEEN there. And it still feels like that today. I can't wait to visit next weekend and to spend time with my Tau Delta sisters :). Yes, I'm getting a little misty!

Where my brother went, Bethany (West Virginia), I'd be happy because it is a really small school that gives individual attention, and it is a really safe environment, and that kid would be a third gen Bethany kid (grandfather went there, and my bro and sister-in-law). While there are only three sororities (Alpha Xi, ZTA and Phi Mu), there's a very strong Greek Tradition amongst the women AND the men. Plus my brother and SIL were both Greek.

Other schools I'd like them to consider: Smith (if they were women), Carnegie Mellon, Kenyon, Dennison, etc. But I'd hope that wherever they decide to go, they're HAPPY.

Also, I'd encourage them to look to Britain as well. I'm a University of Glasgow alum, and the curriculum is extremely rigorous, there's lots of tradition, and a very international student body. No Greek life, but lots of activities.

My (imaginary) children must all go to Penn State. Must. All. Go. !!!

Just kidding. I would want my kids to go wherever they felt the most comfortable and had the best program for their major. I am a little too far away from parenthood to know whether I'd want them close or far from me, it would also depend greatly on their personalities/interests/how freaking expensive college will be by the time it's time for me to send my own kids off there. But I would love it if they went Greek at Penn State. They would be 4th generation Penn Staters (my grandmother went there) but it's up to them. To me, they should go where they'll grow best, and if that's at State, then excellent, if not, then I wouldn't want them there.

no plans for kids but playing the what if game-they must go to A&M :) must keep the cult alive :p

Made me laugh so hard.

I would hope my imaginary daughter would attend a school that is very challenging and liberal like Oberlin, Vassar or Brown. I would also encourage her to go somewhere far away, which is something my mother did not want.

I wouldn't be upset if she went to my alma mater, but I would want her to have her own individual experience.

Loved this - it's THE reason I didn't go to PSU!

I would want my daughter to go to a school that she would enjoy, really learn a career, and have a shot at greek life. My first choice would be William and Mary (since I blew off my own scholarship there), but it would depend on her interests.

I never thought my alma mater would be a good fit for my daughter. She wanted to study some sort of gov't related field and there are many schools with better programs than mine or her dad's. Almost everyone in our family studied math/science/engineering and went to schools in the northeast that were strong in those disciplines.

D went to a nationally-ranked southern LAC and majored in Politics. She did 2 different intercollegiate sports all 4 years, became a Pi Phi, lived in the dorms and the house, and in short, enjoyed her 4 years there Her school is rampant with legacies. Lots of current students there have relatives who are alums. It will be interesting to see if her kiddos (none yet!) will end up following in their mother's footsteps. My brother and father graduated from MIT but I think my brother's choice was based on the reputation of the school rather than the lure of going where Dad went.

Based on her intended major at the time, I think either Georgetown or George Washington would have been a good fit as well. If GW had been higher in the rankings or if G'town had had Greek Life, they would have been serious contenders for her.

The younger one is entering his last years of high school. He wants to major in cs and business but doesn't want to go up North to college. Ironically, he has become enamored with a tiny LAC as well despite their emphasis on liberal arts majors vs tech ones.

Carnegie Mellon. Greek life is not a must there, but is strong. Graphic design program is very challenging.

It might be too urban (depending on what madoug means by that).

madoug - if your alma mater is the best match, please don't shoot it down just because YOUR chapter is gone. Your daughter can still participate in Greek life there, and it may be less stressful for the both of you to not worry if her legacy chapter is truly the best fit.

Thank you DGTess, Carnegie Mellon is now on the visit list.

33girl, Greek Life at Cincy is only 7% of FT Undergraduates which is probably more of a draw back than my chapter being closed. However, my niece is a sophomore in ChemEng, a CHI-O (which would make hearing my recruitment story interesting) and it is a perfect match for her.
I advise at Miami and wish it was a good match for one of my three kids, but so far it has not been. Second Son is starting at Syracuse this fall.

Lol. I seriously think all Penn Staters think like this at some point or another. It is the most awesome experience. Although I might need to start saving now for that....

That said, I would want my (imaginary) daughter, if she couldn't/didn't want to (shh) go to Penn State, to go somewhere that has a great program for her major. My major at Penn State is one of the top in the country and I have found that to be nothing but beneficial.
It also should be a good name school with a good alumni network. I would prefer that people recognize her school. (AKA...PENN STATE)

But, I would love for her to check out Vanderbilt, any large SEC school, or UNC. Definitely east coast & southern unless she goes to Penn State.... but really I would want her to be happy.

I do NOT want her to go to a school with no greek life, no real "college town" environment, bad reputation, or anything that is closer to home than 2 hrs. College is a time to branch out and grow up away from your parents.

I realize I'll be branded for life on GC for writing this, but I would love for my daughter to consider Hillsdale College in Michigan. I don't think it will be her cup of tea as she is more of the artsy, dreamer type. But she would get a great education there.

I did the Big Ten thing and loved it. I was so ready to get onto a large campus and carve my own niche after being in a smaller high school. However, I do find the smaller liberal arts colleges really intriguing and would want her to explore both options. Big schools and smaller schools both have a lot to offer. It just depends on what you want.

She's an only child so I would really like to see her find a sorority home and sisters through that experience. Unfortunately there is only one Tri Delta chapter in our state and the university falls into the "over my dead body" category. I've already resigned myself to the fact that it's pretty unlikely she will be a Tri Delta someday. :(

I was going to recommend Iowa State, but it's *just* west of the Mississippi. Otherwise, it has all the other requirements: student body is around 25,000 (but feels smaller), the campus is beautiful, it has a great Greek community with lovely chapter houses, and its Graphic Design program is very well regarded.

As far as my own kids go, I'm already working on guiding them towards Iowa State. :D My son seems very interested in engineering (like my husband) and loves going to visit campus. I would also be okay with them going to my husband's alma mater (Rose Hulman Institute of Technology) even though I'd probably have to start selling off major organs in order to afford the tuition by the time he gets to college.

Colleges -- Miami of Ohio or Ohio University, Monmouth (IL) (Pi Phi was founded there), Marquette (WI)

Universities -- UTexas- Austin, UWisconsin-Madison.

If I had a daughter, those would be my choices. But if you actually have a child, you have to consider what is best for your child and I feel that every child needs to make his or her own decision on where to go to college. My niece wants to go to Duke (she is obviously influenced by my one brother) and my nephew's dream school is Notre Dame. Another consideration of course, is economics, so they may end up going to a state college. Gulp- even Illinois.:)