The Rise Of The Vibe School In College Admissions

[LevelUP]

The Rise Of The Vibe School In College Admissions
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizdoestone...dmissions/

Would "vibe" influence your college choice?

[ReyMysterioso]

Not mine but my traditional college age stepdaughter cares solely about vibes and nothing else. She resented that we insisted she do a full year of community college locally as a cost saver, and complained endlessly "I can't do well here. Everyone here puts out a losery vibe."
I offered a free full ride online at ASU courtesy of my Uber perks. Earn a degree with zero debt. What could be better. She literally turned her nose up and swore she can't learn in an online modality because the physical environment is high importance.
Eventually enrolled at Really Big State U.with the full on athletics culture, parties, full smorgasbord of activities and clubs and bells and whistles.
"I can't do well here. Everyone is elitist. I can't make any friends."Started tanking grades and lost her scholarship.
This fall she's transferring to Medium State Tech. I told her don't you dare say a single complaint to me about this third school. And due to eligibility changes, I lost the ASU free backup plan.

You've got a goldilocks complex. You're looking for this thing you've heard all about called an ocean, and when I tell you you're in it, you say "This? Maaaaann this is just a bunch of water."

So now she'll have to accrue debt to finish. All this drama over chasing "vibes."

[soba]

A feeling of belonging is incredibly important for student success.

[daydream]

I can't say affluence or selectivity is a selling point for me, but some of the points here resonated with me. Diversity in terms of student body makes a huge difference. One of the things that I liked about community college was the number of international and adult students. I knew plenty of single parents, dual-enrolled, and first-generation students as well. Last thing I'd want from a school is being surrounded by cookie-cutter 18-22 year old WASPs with no real hobbies, opinions, or character of their own. Granted, the type of school described in this article is considerably different than my own ideals.

I think some people can go too far when it comes to prioritizing "sense of belonging". Sure, it's important to an extent. However, getting to know others with contrasting stories and points of view is equally important. As virtually everyone beyond their twenties knows, young people tend to be very labile and latch on to things in an effort to find themselves. There's a lot more to who people are than their alma mater, but there's a fair number out there who hold beliefs to the contrary. Even moreso now with increased dependency on technology and how many desire to fit into a one-dimensional "aesthetic".

Not mine but my traditional college age stepdaughter cares solely about vibes and nothing else. She resented that we insisted she do a full year of community college locally as a cost saver, and complained endlessly "I can't do well here. Everyone here puts out a losery vibe."
I offered a free full ride online at ASU courtesy of my Uber perks. Earn a degree with zero debt. What could be better. She literally turned her nose up and swore she can't learn in an online modality because the physical environment is high importance.

Bless her heart. Reminds me of my second cousin. Ended up with a significant amount of debt thanks to an out-of-state public school. As long as you're not footing the bill, she is ultimately responsible for her own choices.

[ReyMysterioso]

I can't say affluence or selectivity is a selling point for me, but some of the points here resonated with me. Diversity in terms of student body makes a huge difference. One of the things that I liked about community college was the number of international and adult students. I knew plenty of single parents, dual-enrolled, and first-generation students as well. Last thing I'd want from a school is being surrounded by cookie-cutter 18-22 year old WASPs with no real hobbies, opinions, or character of their own. Granted, the type of school described in this article is considerably different than my own ideals.

I think some people can go too far when it comes to prioritizing "sense of belonging". Sure, it's important to an extent. However, getting to know others with contrasting stories and points of view is equally important. As virtually everyone beyond their twenties knows, young people tend to be very labile and latch on to things in an effort to find themselves. There's a lot more to who people are than their alma mater, but there's a fair number out there who hold beliefs to the contrary. Even moreso now with increased dependency on technology and how many desire to fit into a one-dimensional "aesthetic".

Not mine but my traditional college age stepdaughter cares solely about vibes and nothing else. She resented that we insisted she do a full year of community college locally as a cost saver, and complained endlessly "I can't do well here. Everyone here puts out a losery vibe."
I offered a free full ride online at ASU courtesy of my Uber perks. Earn a degree with zero debt. What could be better. She literally turned her nose up and swore she can't learn in an online modality because the physical environment is high importance.

Bless her heart. Reminds me of my second cousin. Ended up with a significant amount of debt thanks to an out-of-state public school. As long as you're not footing the bill, she is ultimately responsible for her own choices.

I managed to squirrel away $12k in a 529 account. It's all gone now after a single year at university and she's only got 70 credits, despite that i made her do ASU Universal learner and AP classes in HS to give her a debt-free 27 credit head start before she even got to community college. 

Hopefully someone can learn from her mistakes. She waited until the literal day of deadline to even apply despite my begging, pleading and imploring her to apply early. She missed an orientation window which prevented enrollment because she just thought they'd email all information to her personal email despite me telling her over and over you HAVE to check your STUDENT email every single day. By the time she listened, she had to take a secondary orientation much later; So once she could FINALLY select classes, everything was full.
She dragged her feet filling out FAFSA despite me imploring her REPEATEDLY to do so. Finally did. Then with only a week before classes started and no financial aid, I demanded to look at her FAFSA to make sure she really completed it and found she selected the WRONG university. 

Second semester, she took a four credit latin class. "Why the hell would you take a dead language instead of Spanish which you took in high school?" “The Spanish classes that werent during hours i need free for my job were all full.” “Why didnt you register the second it unlocked?” “I didnt think everything would fill up.” “Despite that you saw everything fill up last semester? Why dont you just not take a language this semester rather than attempting Latin?” “I dunno.” “You plan on changing schools. Do you even know if the new program even requires foreign language at all?” “Wont it just have the same requirements?” “NO!” “Oh.” “Did you check if the next school even offers Latin before enrolling? Because if not, where were you planning to get Latin II?” “I dunno.” “You KNOW build degree plans as a hobby. Why dont you call me to help you plan before the registration window closes?” “I dunno.”

Failed Latin and took a W - but like an idiot waited until after the drop deadline for partial refund. Since she has gone out of her way to undermine and unwittingly sabotage everything ive ever tried to do to set her up for college success, i have decided im not helping her anymore. Since she is hellbent on the school of hard knocks, she’ll just have to learn everything the hard way.

[SteveFoerster]

“You KNOW build degree plans as a hobby. Why dont you call me to help you plan before the registration window closes?” “I dunno.”

Everything else you listed I can excuse with that we don't know what we don't know. But yeah, when one is navigating a complex situation there's no excuse for not consulting trusted friends and relatives who are literally experts about it.

[daydream]

I can't say affluence or selectivity is a selling point for me, but some of the points here resonated with me. Diversity in terms of student body makes a huge difference. One of the things that I liked about community college was the number of international and adult students. I knew plenty of single parents, dual-enrolled, and first-generation students as well. Last thing I'd want from a school is being surrounded by cookie-cutter 18-22 year old WASPs with no real hobbies, opinions, or character of their own. Granted, the type of school described in this article is considerably different than my own ideals.

I think some people can go too far when it comes to prioritizing "sense of belonging". Sure, it's important to an extent. However, getting to know others with contrasting stories and points of view is equally important. As virtually everyone beyond their twenties knows, young people tend to be very labile and latch on to things in an effort to find themselves. There's a lot more to who people are than their alma mater, but there's a fair number out there who hold beliefs to the contrary. Even moreso now with increased dependency on technology and how many desire to fit into a one-dimensional "aesthetic".

Not mine but my traditional college age stepdaughter cares solely about vibes and nothing else. She resented that we insisted she do a full year of community college locally as a cost saver, and complained endlessly "I can't do well here. Everyone here puts out a losery vibe."
I offered a free full ride online at ASU courtesy of my Uber perks. Earn a degree with zero debt. What could be better. She literally turned her nose up and swore she can't learn in an online modality because the physical environment is high importance.

Bless her heart. Reminds me of my second cousin. Ended up with a significant amount of debt thanks to an out-of-state public school. As long as you're not footing the bill, she is ultimately responsible for her own choices.

I managed to squirrel away $12k in a 529 account. It's all gone now after a single year at university and she's only got 70 credits, despite that i made her do ASU Universal learner and AP classes in HS to give her a debt-free 27 credit head start before she even got to community college. 

Hopefully someone can learn from her mistakes. She waited until the literal day of deadline to even apply despite my begging, pleading and imploring her to apply early. She missed an orientation window which prevented enrollment because she just thought they'd email all information to her personal email despite me telling her over and over you HAVE to check your STUDENT email every single day. By the time she listened, she had to take a secondary orientation much later; So once she could FINALLY select classes, everything was full.
She dragged her feet filling out FAFSA despite me imploring her REPEATEDLY to do so. Finally did. Then with only a week before classes started and no financial aid, I demanded to look at her FAFSA to make sure she really completed it and found she selected the WRONG university. 

Second semester, she took a four credit latin class. "Why the hell would you take a dead language instead of Spanish which you took in high school?" “The Spanish classes that werent during hours i need free for my job were all full.” “Why didnt you register the second it unlocked?” “I didnt think everything would fill up.” “Despite that you saw everything fill up last semester? Why dont you just not take a language this semester rather than attempting Latin?” “I dunno.” “You plan on changing schools. Do you even know if the new program even requires foreign language at all?” “Wont it just have the same requirements?” “NO!” “Oh.” “Did you check if the next school even offers Latin before enrolling? Because if not, where were you planning to get Latin II?” “I dunno.” “You KNOW build degree plans as a hobby. Why dont you call me to help you plan before the registration window closes?” “I dunno.”

Failed Latin and took a W - but like an idiot waited until after the drop deadline for partial refund. Since she has gone out of her way to undermine and unwittingly sabotage everything ive ever tried to do to set her up for college success, i have decided im not helping her anymore. Since she is hellbent on the school of hard knocks, she’ll just have to learn everything the hard way.

Your step-daughter is very fortunate to have someone as knowledgeable as you on this topic. You made a good call not funding her academic pursuits any further. My cousin found herself in a much worse situation. Her mother did not assist her with funding her education, but encouraged her to take out loans at 18 and did not warn her of its financial burden. Now my cousin has a massive amount of debt from a gender studies degree. 

I think it's very unfortunate that so many young people are unwilling to place a price tag on "experience". I get that experience is a form of social currency, but the ends do not justify the financial means. Overpaying for university is akin to staying at the Ritz-Carlton instead of a reasonable hostel. There is no rationale in opting for the former when one does not have the financial means to do so. Yet, in respect to education, that is the narrative that my generation has been consistently told. Both have the same basic amenities - that being a place to sleep and bathe away from home. School is not so different.

Latin can be incredibly useful for Catholic genealogy work, but I wouldn't advise people to take it unless they are personally interested in it. On a random note, there's been an uptick in demand for Latin translators. Some people, like myself, have found themselves combing through old church records in pursuit of Canadian citizenship. For any documents that are not in English or French, the IRCC requires applicants to hire a professional translator.

[lickington]

Hopefully someone can learn from her mistakes. She waited until the literal day of deadline to even apply despite my begging, pleading and imploring her to apply early. She missed an orientation window which prevented enrollment because she just thought they'd email all information to her personal email despite me telling her over and over you HAVE to check your STUDENT email every single day. By the time she listened, she had to take a secondary orientation much later; So once she could FINALLY select classes, everything was full.
She dragged her feet filling out FAFSA despite me imploring her REPEATEDLY to do so. Finally did. Then with only a week before classes started and no financial aid, I demanded to look at her FAFSA to make sure she really completed it and found she selected the WRONG university. 

Second semester, she took a four credit latin class. "Why the hell would you take a dead language instead of Spanish which you took in high school?" “The Spanish classes that werent during hours i need free for my job were all full.” “Why didnt you register the second it unlocked?” “I didnt think everything would fill up.” “Despite that you saw everything fill up last semester? Why dont you just not take a language this semester rather than attempting Latin?” “I dunno.” “You plan on changing schools. Do you even know if the new program even requires foreign language at all?” “Wont it just have the same requirements?” “NO!” “Oh.” “Did you check if the next school even offers Latin before enrolling? Because if not, where were you planning to get Latin II?” “I dunno.” “You KNOW build degree plans as a hobby. Why dont you call me to help you plan before the registration window closes?” “I dunno.”

Failed Latin and took a W - but like an idiot waited until after the drop deadline for partial refund. Since she has gone out of her way to undermine and unwittingly sabotage everything ive ever tried to do to set her up for college success, i have decided im not helping her anymore. Since she is hellbent on the school of hard knocks, she’ll just have to learn everything the hard way.

*squinting* Just pointing something out...
One thing I don't see here is whether or not you gave your stepdaughter an agreement of what conditions she will need to fulfill in order to receive help. If I was in your shoes, I would have clearly stated conditions before I decided to help her, wrote them down (in your case, sign up early, choose the right classes, etc.), and had her sign an agreement. Then I would make sure she is actually fulfilling those conditions! If she fails to fulfill them, I stop helping her. I bet your boots that if you did have your stepdaughter sign an agreement, a lot of this mess could have been avoided. Just curious, but did you do this?

-- @lickington