# Help Me Recommend Colleges for My Kids

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-recommend-colleges-for-my-kids/228528>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 10, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-recommend-colleges-for-my-kids/228528 "2004-02-10T22:37:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-recommend-colleges-for-my-kids/228528/21 "2004-02-12T01:09:59Z")

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I did the big, state school undergrad and went to a private grad school. There is no doubt in my mind that the undergrads at the private school, as a group, are smarter, more motivated, more driven, and have more concrete goals than did the students at my undergrad. And that fosters an environment where pursuing excellence is the norm. The state school didn’t have that. It had other, non-academic advantages, and the graduate schools there were excellent, but the undergraduate education, frankly, sucked. And this is reputed to be a top state school.

As to money: talk to the financial aid people. Private schools are more flexible than public, especially if the school is rich. If the offer they’ve made isn’t enough, ask for more (this can actually work; my fiancee was able to go to a top, top private undergrad only because she called them and said, “I can’t afford to come with what you’ve offered me”. They upped the offer (substantially), and off she went.)

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**Author:** ![Magickly\_Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magickly\_Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magickly_Delicious)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-recommend-colleges-for-my-kids/228528/22 "2004-02-12T01:10:59Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> did you mean the opposite of slu?

erm, yes :o

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**Author:** ![beckwall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@beckwall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckwall)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-recommend-colleges-for-my-kids/228528/23 "2004-02-12T02:01:05Z")

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I’m with **Nightsky** on this one. First two years (especially if they don’t have a major picked out), go the community college route, get a job and save lots of money. Then transfer out to a state or private college, depending on grades and desire.

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