Hmmm... that's an interesting perspective.
I guess no one in our family ever contemplates the possibility of failure in academic endeavors.
Well, two good schools that would be academically challenging, that would give pretty good amounts of aid, but that wouldn't be as high-pressure as an Ivy or Hopkins, would be Notre Dame and Catholic in DC.
We have friends whose daughter is at Notre Dame. Very large, mostly-devout Catholic student body (we won't talk about the folks who run the place). She really loves the school. She's in the honors program, so her curriculum is a bear. But the regular curriculum, though still challenging, isn't too terribly tough, especially for a bright young man.
In fact, our friends’ daughter jokes, “Notre Dame is a good place for smart young Catholics to come who don't want to work too hard in college.”
The young lady's father teaches at Catholic, and her sister is currently at Catholic. Pretty good programs, but not too overly-demanding. Pretty laid-back environment. Lots of opportunity to be a devout, faithful Catholic without getting put down or insulted.
And not too far from North Carolina.
But, I now many of my older son's buddies are looking at state schools. If you like your family, it's nice to be near them through college. I lived at home and commuted to Catholic. I know our son's first pick is Hopkins, which is less than an hour away.
sitetest
It’s not a question of academic failure so much as the whole situation of resident university’s being too much for the student’s present maturity level. Some students are ready, in every way, for the college they choose at 18 or 19, but the graduation-rate statistics indicate that a lot more aren’t ready, in one way or another.
I wish Bill would pursue ROTC or a military enlistment. With his athletic background, the physical requirements would be easy, and I think the structure would benefit him greatly, just as it did my father, my brother and Anoreth. However, he can’t bear the thought of sacrificing his perfect rock-star hair ...