What do you consider the "top schools" to be?

[JBaxter]

Ds3 will be a junior next year. His top pics are University of Florida University of Miami U Penn and Duke. Lol my pocketbook hopes it’s UF

[Globetrotter]

Fit is important. Around here, most kids go to the highest ranked college they get into, which imo makes no sense. Look at how colleges are ranked and you will understand.. things like reputation, which is self perpetuating; admission rate (lower the better, resulting in ridiculous recruitment schemes to get your kid to apply), and parent donations.
There is a whole other ranking for liberal arts colleges.
Your kid might even like one of the smaller engineering colleges, like Harvey Mudd (CA), Olin (MA), Colorado school of mines (CO ), and Ross Hulman (IN)). I’m familiar with the first two and know they are very competitive and highly regarded, on par with Caltech, Stanford, etc. but I bet you haven’t heard of them I don’t know much about the last two, other than they are not as competitive, but they ALL have a wonderful rep for teaching and focus exclusively on undergrads. I do believe the last two give merit aid. The downside is your kid has to be sure they want a STEM major.

Look at the Fiske Guide. I got an online subscription, which I prefer. College confidential is a bit whacko, but there are pages for different colleges. I have spent many hours on these forums lol

[essnce629]

Honestly, I would start with reading the "Colleges That Change Lives" book and forget about rankings and such. It really made me think differently about schools and how to research them.

https://www.amazon.com/Colleges-That...dp/0143122304#

Now that I have a rising senior and we've visited 10 schools in person, I've realized that what matters most to me/him is graduating debt free, from a school that is the best fit. And best fit means a lot of different things depending on who the student is. For my son that seems to be a small liberal arts college where the professors know your name and that has a great study abroad program that most take part in and an environment that allows for lots of outdoor recreation like rock climbing and kayaking. An Ivy League school would never be on our radar since they don't offer merit aid, we don't qualify for need based aid, and I don't think any undergraduate degree is worth $70,000 a year, no matter what the name or ranking. Other people may have different priorities and that's fine, but you need to figure out what's important to you and for us, financial fit is a big priority.

My DS is very much into computer science but has decided against it as his main area of study. I can see him choosing it as a minor instead, which is pretty easy to do at a liberal arts college.

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[klwa]

Totally depends on what major the student is going into and what they want to do with their degree.

[KrisM]

I keep talking to DS about this, in general terms. He has no ideas at all. Nothing. I ask about size, or weather, or whatever and so far, no real opinions.

I hope we'll get some tours in this summer. I know summer isn't ideal, but it might make it possible to start figuring out some of what he likes/dislikes. He'll probably do computer science, math, engineering, etc. Lots of great choices and they don't have to be in the top 25-50 to get a great job. A lot of automotive companies hire from very local engineering school as well as Michigan, etc. I don't think the name itself means too much. But I do want him where he will be happy and do well. I am sure there are a lot of schools that will fit that description.

[ezcc]

I went to a small liberal arts college, and that's what ds wants as well. He is a little caught up with the competitive aspect and will probably apply to some of the New England schools that are highly ranked (Middlebury, Amherst etc) but those are so hard to get into these days- he may end up at a slightly less competitive school like Kenyon or Gettysburg and that would be great too. Probably not ideal for engineering students though!

[NCGrandma]

I also think that a good fit is important. A caution, though, from a family member's experience: for a whole host of reasons, what appears to be a particularly good fit may turn out to be a mismatch. In their case, it was bad enough that they dropped out of school entirely for several years. When they were ready to go back (this time, to their state university), they were ready and motivated enough to finish college quickly and go on to get a PhD. Ironically, they’re now a senior administrator at an Ivy!


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[PunkyBoo]

I'm encouraging DS1 to find a school where he can be happy, and find "his people" and feel it's "his home". He's just finished 10th grade. I want him to think about climate, size of the school and classes, progressive/conservative, do they have the sports teams he's interested in, the options for learning, etc. He wants to get accepted at a certain school just to prove he could, but that doesn't mean he wants to go there. I don't care if he attends where DH and I both went, somewhere with a big name, or somewhere we've never heard of. I just want the college experience and education to help shape him into who he wants to be and provide him a life he's content to live.

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[gatorsmom]

This is all really great information. It’s so interesting to see the different avenues you are all considering! Even though I asked about what the top schools are, i had a feeling you all meant the Ivy’s. Dh and I went to good colleges, but nothing in the top 50. He went to Texas A&M, I went to Marquette University in Milwaukee. I doubt DS1 would like bring in a competitive college. None of my boys are competitive, really (although Dd definitely is). They are all extremely curious, they run at their own speed and don’t care what other kids are doing. Since DS1 is more of an introvert an he’s used to small schools, I definitely think a smaller college makes sense with a program that works with him, not against him. DS2, on the other hand, would flourish at an enormous school where he could spread his wings and get involved in a ton of stuff. He’ll be a 9th grader this year so he’s watching his older brother. He wants engineering and medical and it’s clear to us and his teachers he’d be great in both. I see him completely running this college decision thing by himself. At least for Ds1, who is a little more reserved and uncertain, we would like to set some ideas before him and see if any of them speak to him.

We have been concerned about the lack of career guidance his current high school gives him (you might remember some of my descriptions of their small school) so we are transferring him to a new high school in Milwaukee this fall. I know the principal and a couple of the teachers there. About half of their professors have PhDs. They are also a small classical high school but they will work hard with him to determine what college works best for him. They also offer some more electives than his current school. And because of his dyslexia, they are going to have the Physics professor tutor him. This will all be done remotely but they are confident it will work out well for him. He’s nervous about a new school but it will be good for him. And it’s remote learning, so he’s transferring but he’s still at home. New but not that hard.

Thanks for letting me think out loud. . As if planning for college isn’t hard enough, then COVID19 complicates it more.

[gatorsmom]

I'm encouraging DS1 to find a school where he can be happy, and find "his people" and feel it's "his home". He's just finished 10th grade. I want him to think about climate, size of the school and classes, progressive/conservative, do they have the sports teams he's interested in, the options for learning, etc. He wants to get accepted at a certain school just to prove he could, but that doesn't mean he wants to go there. I don't care if he attends where DH and I both went, somewhere with a big name, or somewhere we've never heard of. I just want the college experience and education to help shape him into who he wants to be and provide him a life he's content to live.

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Im curious, how are you encouraging him to find a good fit? I remember when I was in high school and trying to decide where to go, the only thing i knew is that I didn’t want a huge school that spread out over an entire city. But otherwise, I had no idea what I wanted. I ended up choosing a college not too far from home and one that a friend was going to. I didn’t think the tours I took gave me a very good sense of what college life would be like. It kind of felt like shopping for an apartment- it looks nice but what will life be like once I’m in it? Some stuff DS already has figured out-he leans very conservative so that narrows down the choices. He doesn’t care about sports (except his fanatical love of downhill skiing), but who knows? Maybe he’d love going to college games and watching sports with friends? That’s why it’s interesting to me how kids decide these things. My college experience was fine. I don’t know that I would have been happier anywhere else. But it didn’t make my heart sing, iykwim. How can a high school kid know what will? I think you gotta get lucky to find that truly great fit. Or, you make your own happiness wherever you end up.