Thanks for sharing the link to the thread @AppleNotFar . Choosing the right home is how my DD is approaching the process. That is why she checks out the bathrooms, the dorm, study spaces, gym, the wifi & hotspot situation, the potential “family” she will be living with, and how happy the students & teachers appear to be at the school. We also look ahead a few years - is this where you can grow? Can you see yourself here at 17 or 18 years old? Will you have the opportunities for travel, community service, connections for summer internships, and research opportunities? Does the school see itself as a home to students?
People on CC often write about AC’s building a class – I think this is difficult to accomplish unless you are really building a class on stats. Many BS view books will write that the schools wants students who have strong leadership, moral strength, pass ui for learning, ( you fill in the blank…). On a side note, do you notice how so many of the BS admissions videos look the same, have similar scripts, and music ? Our kids BS two thousand miles away looks the same as one for a NE school! Do they all hire the same company? ;). I. Waiting for some creative BS student to make a fake admissions video and post it on YouTube . Please post the thread if it’s been done.
Remember , the BS works for you too! Those are 50-60 Grover Clevelands they are holding. So do look at the BS “class” of AC & faculty. We read the bio’s on the faculty and review the school’s stats on their faculty. Where did faculty go to school? How long have they been at the school? Good faculty retention? Who is on the Board? We view the process from both sides. We are interviewing the school, also. We want to know their philosophy on nurturing a healthy environment at school, not only education and college placement. My DD didn’t even mention college hopes in her interview – she knows that her BS experience will be more “collegiate” than the experience she sees her friends & cousins getting now in college.
We want to know who will be, in large part, raising our children for the next 4 years-- and which school appears open in working in partnership with us parents. Some do, some don’t. I think the thread posted above provides many insights and experiences that prove helpful, as well as validating for