Need help with colleges for my junior liberal daughter (rich, education)

[GigiTer]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

I find it ironic that students would apply to a school before they have never even set foot on the campus.

Unfortunately for many in the class of 2021 that was their reality. So many campuses across the US only offered virtual tours so students never visited! Even now we are finding official tours, admissions talks, in limited supply.

Even before the pandemic we knew quite a few who applied to colleges without seeing them and then would make the visit after being accepted. Time is an issue for so many families that they can only visit a few but kid applies to quite a few!

[hbdwihdh378y9]

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

Hi all,

I like to post here as it's more anonymous than Facebook. :-). We have just relocated to the area from Atlanta, GA. My daughter is a junior and a liberal- hard to be in North Texas (at least where we live)- I didn't think it could be more religious than Georgia, but it is. Anyway, I am trying to find some good public universities that aren't too far- out of state is ok but we really need to be a car ride away (dealing with some depression issues that are getting better but don't think it's good for her to be a plane ride away from us).

Of course, she would love to go to UT Austin but I don't think she will get in. I don't know her class rank yet but I doubt it's top 6% maybe top 10% but really have no idea until end of this semester. We just moved here mid-March. Her ACT and SAT scores miss the mark for UT Austin so unless she gets auto admit, she likely won't get in and you know what? If she doesn't, it's probably not the place for her. I don't want her to struggle in college.

I want her to feel like she fits in wherever she goes and I keep trying to tell her that she will find her people no matter where as well but I don't think she would want to be somewhere like TCU f you know what I mean.

So, I'm looking for advice. She wants a larger school. Wants to go pre-med and will end up doing something in that field- whether doctor, PA, NP something in that realm. She's not into sports really- well she is a dancer so would like to be on the schools dance team if they have one- but the big football school doesn't matter though it's not a negative. We will go visit Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Is A&M conservative? Texas Tech? It seems like College STation is a small and safe town which I love but she might not. How is Lubbock? I looked into University of Houston as she would love to be in a big city but that's like 85% commuter school so probably not a great option. Any other Texas public universities I'm missing that would fit the bill?

Are schools like Arkansas and U of Oklahoma very conservative? LSU sounds like a diverse school that she would likely love but I'm worried about how safe it is there.

I have googled and searched every which way but I'm looking for personal experience either as an alum or a parent of a recent student at these schools. I would like her to be at a school which accepts all people. I'm not looking for a totally liberal college for her either but don't want her to attend a very conservative school and feel like she is a minority like she does at her high school. Someone called her a "lib****" at school yesterday. I just want her to be happy with her choice and want to help guide where she should look and go visit.

Thanks for any help.

Every college is much more liberal than the general population.

[f4shionablecha0s]

Originally Posted by hbdwihdh378y9

Every college is much more liberal than the general population.

The more education you have, the more liberal you are. So yeah. Colleges... liberal. Monster truck rallies... conservative.

[DFWGuy422]

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

Hi all,


Of course, she would love to go to UT Austin but I don't think she will get in. I don't know her class rank yet but I doubt it's top 6% maybe top 10% but really have no idea until end of this semester. We just moved here mid-March. Her ACT and SAT scores miss the mark for UT Austin so unless she gets auto admit, she likely won't get in and you know what? If she doesn't, it's probably not the place for her. I don't want her to struggle in college.

So, I'm looking for advice. She wants a larger school. Wants to go pre-med and will end up doing something in that field- whether doctor, PA, NP something in that realm. She's not into sports really- well she is a dancer so would like to be on the schools dance team if they have one- but the big football school doesn't matter though it's not a negative. We will go visit Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Is A&M conservative? Texas Tech? It seems like College STation is a small and safe town which I love but she might not. How is Lubbock? I looked into University of Houston as she would love to be in a big city but that's like 85% commuter school so probably not a great option. Any other Texas public universities I'm missing that would fit the bill?

Are schools like Arkansas and U of Oklahoma very conservative? LSU sounds like a diverse school that she would likely love but I'm worried about how safe it is there.


Thanks for any help.

Texas A&M is quite conservative. However, with 50,000 kids, there are plenty of more liberal students despite them not being the majority. History, tradition, and school spirit are integral parts of Texas A&M's culture, which I would definitely take into consideration. Texas A&M is a very strong school, with this strength driven by a few outstanding programs: anything STEM-related, political science and government, and business. It's consistently a bit below UT in the rankings, but the two compete for students quite a bit and there is a massive cultural rivalry. If UT isn't on the table, I would be a bit cautious about admittance to A&M unless her scores just barely miss the mark for UT.

Arkansas and OU are probably a bit more conservative than most colleges, but not nearly to the degree of A&M. They are definitely a step below UT and A&M academically, but both do have strong programs in specific areas. OU has a great nursing program and I think that Arkansas has a very strong business program as well. I know a few people who picked these schools not for lack of better options and loved it, but most students there won't be as strong as UT/A&M which might be worth taking into account. If she's a candidate for regular admissions at UT/A&M, she will likely have a great chance at partial to full scholarship at OU/Arkansas. The school cultures here are definitely more party-oriented.

Texas Tech is pretty much a safety school for people looking at A&M and UT. It might even be the same for OU/Arkansas hopefuls as well. There is tons of partying there and seemingly not much studying. I would say that it's fairly conservative, though again not nearly to the degree that A&M is. From the way that you've described your situation, I would use Tech as a safety school.

UNT might be worth looking at as well. It's in Denton, which is close by and somewhat similar to Austin. Can't speak about any programs for specific areas there; I think it might be a bit stronger than TTU but not sure. Same with Texas State, which I know is strong in creative arts and such.

I would also heavily consider UTD. It's a consistently underrated school with very strong STEM programs. It gets scoffed at more than it deserves because it's seen as a commuter/safety school, but it's actually quite a bit stronger than all of the other schools listed save UT and A&M.

Hope this helps.

[ChristieP]

It's a shame that she dismissed UT Arlington since they have an extremely strong nursing program that actually goes all the way up to a doctorate.
UT Dallas does not offer nursing, so it should likely be removed from consideration.

[4Movingeast]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

It's a shame that she dismissed UT Arlington since they have an extremely strong nursing program that actually goes all the way up to a doctorate.
UT Dallas does not offer nursing, so it should likely be removed from consideration.

Agree!
TCU's program is strong as well. I don't know that the student body is "liberal," but the school is trending that way.

[Grainraiser]

Why did she dismiss UofH and Tech from her list. UofH has around 5K kids who live on campus and that many more who live in apartments nearby. She would also have the whole city to explore with your friends. Most of the kids who like A&M also like Tech. Lubbock might be isolated but the campus does give you the true college experience. Not much difference between Lubbock and College Station when it comes to college experience. I can understand to wanting to go with UNT, UTA and UTD do to closeness to home. They are all good schools but many kids scratch them off the list because they don't want to be that close to home. They are local so I would still visit them just to make sure. Best of luck.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Nurses are commodities in terms of getting a job. An MBA from Harvard is worth more than an MBA from a local state school. But a BSN from the two schools is pretty much of equal value. My wife is a nurse, two sisters are nurses, mother in law is a nurse and about ten friends are nurses. I know an insane number of nurses. A few observations:

1. The prestige of the school doesn't matter. Don't spend extra for a premium degree because you won't make any more than the person who went to UTA. Rather, pick the program based on fit and likelihood to graduate and pass the NCLEX. Nursing school is pretty intense, so going to a place one will do well is useful.

2. 75% of the nurses I know hate it. Make sure your kid actually wants to be a nurse because there isn't a whole lot one can do with an RN that doesn't involve nursing. The same things parents love about nursing (It's a guaranteed job! You can get hired doing this anywhere!) work against you if you want to do something else.

3. The first job out of nursing school is the hardest to get, but once that is under your belt, you can start to pick where you want to be. Getting into a good hospital system first and then getting onto your preferred floor second is probably the right order to do things in. Crappy hospitals are constantly pushing more patients at fewer nurses, which creates a self-feeding cycle of understaffing making the job worse and a worse job making staffing levels drop. This is endemic to healthcare these days, but many good systems are better at managing this.

4. Ignore outliers about someone who has a friend who is making $135k as an RN-BSN. Those stories are out there, and an experienced nurse may be able to eventually land such a job. But the devil is in the details, and many times that person isn't actually making $65/hour. Most nurses make 30-something an hour, or about $70k per year.

[4Movingeast]

My friends that are nurse managers/admin make around 100K. The value for those who aren't managers is being able to work 3- 12 hr shifts and get good overtime on one of those (being weekend or holiday), and being able to mimic a partial SAHM schedule. Some would work nights to avoid childcare costs. My situation was similar as a dental hygienist. I ended my career making 60K working 2.5 days/week, and was able to do many of the "mom" things I wanted to do. The trade off was zero flexibility. I could not leave patients in the chair or take days off without weeks of planning in advance.

Much like my field, the practical knowledge is strong in the community college programs, but most hospital systems want all of their nurses to be BSN now. ADN come out of school strong but will need to do a completion program to satisfy their employer. Dentistry isn't there and due to the dental lobby being so against any expanded duties for hygienists will likely never be. You make zero dollars more in clinical practice with a bachelor's degree in dental hygiene (BSRDH), but it's a good idea to do it bc it gives you more flexibility in career options.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by 4Movingeast

Agree!
TCU's program is strong as well. I don't know that the student body is "liberal," but the school is trending that way.

TCU’s nursing program is good, but it is crazy expensive compared with any state school. As Wittgenstein’s Ghost says, the prestige of a nursing school really doesn’t matter, so the cost-benefit analysis of spending double to get a BSN from there doesn’t add up.

I agree that the first job is key. Many hospitals are now doing “nurse residency” programs which we highly competitive, but very well worth the effort to get a position.