Girlie AGDee's College Search Thread

[AGDee]

My brother called tonight. He wanted to know the latest on hypo's college admission decisions. My brother graduated from Michigan and is the biggest Michigan fan I know. I told him the expected differences in financial aid packages and how much hypo will be in debt when she graduates from each. My brother, the biggest proponent of Michigan that I've ever known, said he was looking at the Barnard web site and think that the connections she could make there and the opportunities afforded her at Barnard can't be matched by Michigan. I was floored to hear him say that.

I spoke to a sorority sister who went to undergrad in Texas, grad school at Michigan (and worked there too), finished her master's in Florida and is now working on her PhD at Oregon (and working there). Her dean went to Barnard for undergrad and was telling her that the networking opportunities there are incredible. Other students there will know important people (senators children, etc.) that could also be very helpful to hypo in the future, not to mention the internship possibilities that hypo would have in comparison to what is available here. One of hypo's concerns was that the girls there might be snobby toward her because she will be a "poor kid" compared to many of them. My sister said that her dean said that in her experience, the students there don't tend to be snobby regarding social stature, but are intellectually snobby. I told hypo that and she said "So they're like me?" and laughed. She gets very frustrated with students in her high school who don't know about world events, don't care about learning, etc. Her main goal is to be with people who are passionate for learning, just for the sake of learning.

And, my father, who I thought would say go with the lesser expensive option, was also in favor of Barnard over Michigan for similar reasons. Opportunities, connections, etc.
She has this fantasy that it will come in requiring no loans. I don't think that's going to happen.

[HQWest]

Originally Posted by AGDee

My brother called tonight. He wanted to know the latest on hypo's college admission decisions. My brother graduated from Michigan and is the biggest Michigan fan I know. I told him the expected differences in financial aid packages and how much hypo will be in debt when she graduates from each. My brother, the biggest proponent of Michigan that I've ever known, said he was looking at the Barnard web site and think that the connections she could make there and the opportunities afforded her at Barnard can't be matched by Michigan. I was floored to hear him say that.

I spoke to a sorority sister who went to undergrad in Texas, grad school at Michigan (and worked there too), finished her master's in Florida and is now working on her PhD at Oregon (and working there). Her dean went to Barnard for undergrad and was telling her that the networking opportunities there are incredible. Other students there will know important people (senators children, etc.) that could also be very helpful to hypo in the future, not to mention the internship possibilities that hypo would have in comparison to what is available here. One of hypo's concerns was that the girls there might be snobby toward her because she will be a "poor kid" compared to many of them. My sister said that her dean said that in her experience, the students there don't tend to be snobby regarding social stature, but are intellectually snobby. I told hypo that and she said "So they're like me?" and laughed. She gets very frustrated with students in her high school who don't know about world events, don't care about learning, etc. Her main goal is to be with people who are passionate for learning, just for the sake of learning.

And, my father, who I thought would say go with the lesser expensive option, was also in favor of Barnard over Michigan for similar reasons. Opportunities, connections, etc.
She has this fantasy that it will come in requiring no loans. I don't think that's going to happen.

I can say the connections at a private school like Barnard can really help in networking for some careers but it is specific to some areas .My lawyer friends have all agreed that the connections at the smaller school were well worth it. Some areas it doesn't matter. Since I went away, I always missed being able to go home for just a weekend. I also have noticed that if you want to have a huge wedding with a gazillion sorority sisters to show up you need to stay in state. Likewise if you go off to school (even Harvard) you need to keep an open mind about where you are going to graduate school or where you are going to get a job when you graduate.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I spoke to a sorority sister who went to undergrad in Texas, grad school at Michigan (and worked there too), finished her master's in Florida and is now working on her PhD at Oregon (and working there). Her dean went to Barnard for undergrad and was telling her that the networking opportunities there are incredible. Other students there will know important people (senators children, etc.) that could also be very helpful to hypo in the future, not to mention the internship possibilities that hypo would have in comparison to what is available here. One of hypo's concerns was that the girls there might be snobby toward her because she will be a "poor kid" compared to many of them. My sister said that her dean said that in her experience, the students there don't tend to be snobby regarding social stature, but are intellectually snobby. I told hypo that and she said "So they're like me?" and laughed. She gets very frustrated with students in her high school who don't know about world events, don't care about learning, etc. Her main goal is to be with people who are passionate for learning, just for the sake of learning.

My experience was that the super-wealthy (children of celebrities, foreign heads of state, random wealthy people) were a world onto themselves and, as such, most middle and upper-middle class students didn't interact with them so much outside of class. There wasn't any snobbishness behind it, so much as familiarity. A lot of them have known each other for a long time, or travel in the same circles, so when they end up at college together it's like Rich Kid Grade 13. Vanity Fair wrote an article about this phenomenon at my undergrad right before I started college.

I've heard that the difference between "haves" and "have-nots" is starker and more visible at state schools than it is private schools. For us, freshmen weren't allowed to have cars on campus and everyone has to live on campus the first three years. That's a real equalizer, as opposed to a place where off-campus housing can range from ratty apartments to luxury condos and some kids might come to college in a brand new car and some might not be able to afford a car at all.