My daughter just finished her 1st year at UGA and is Jewish, She goes to Chabad Friday nights and it’s fun and welcoming. Hillel has it;s own Friday night thing. there are 2 Jewish frats and 1 sorority- she opted for a different sorority but there are Jewish girls in many of them. her social life is Greek-heavy and mostly with those Jewish fraternities. It’s a very social environment…I wouldn’t say UGA is known for its huge Jewish community like say UF or UMD, but it’s growing and has been more than adequate.
there is a climbing club that does trips, a 43 ft indoor climbing wall, and some kind of 15 ft outdoor bouldering area. I done;t know enough about the sport to say if this is good or not but I’m just saying UGA might be worth a look.
Mountaineering (treking long distances to reach high-elevation mountain peaks) and rock climbing (using hands and feet to scale vertical rock walls (or climbing walls) usually attached to a rope) are very different sports. Some people might happen to do both, but they are entirely different disciplines and usually attract different people.
A good rock climbing location for a college has 1) at least one good competitive climbing gym nearby (college “climbing walls” are really just for fun for non-serious climbers) and 2) nearby access to outdoor rock climbing. The UofU is perhaps one of the best in the country on both accounts.
I would put it slightly differently in that some of today’s sport (and particularly competitive) climbing is nothing like the climbing of yesteryear (the mid 20th century). Back then you’d typically practice in the gym and on small crags in order to go to big, hard mountains (where the challenge was a combination of endurance and technical climbing). Sometimes (but not always) those big mountains had ice and snow involved, sometimes they involved walking a long way first, but they were still climbing up vertical walls attached to a rope, with substantial danger involved (especially with trad gear). Mt Huntington in Alaska (the mountain David Roberts climbed with HMC) is a very challenging technical climb.
HMC was founded well before anyone had thought of sport or competitive climbing. Sport climbing as a standalone activity was just getting started when I was in college in the 1980s and early 1990s. Prior to that pretty much all the famous climbers went to the Alps or Himalayas or Alaska to test themselves. My idol as a teenager was the guy who owned the local climbing shop who’d famously climbed Everest “the hard way”.
Nowadays you can just do sport climbing in a gym or on boulders, and never do a big wall. Or do outdoor sport climbing on bolts with a very low probability of coming to harm. Competitive climbing is a very safe activity. That certainly attracts a different type of person, especially if the objective is simply to prove you can do the most difficult specific route (set of moves) or complete it in the fastest time.
But there are plenty of climbers who still want to climb in Alaska or the Himalayas as well. And some who like the inherent risk of trad gear or even soloing. You probably won’t find those people on a competitive climbing team.
So just know if you go this route of even letting her apply, you’ve already said:
“OK probably would not want to spend $90k a year” - and non resident is already at/near $80K - and by the time you’re done so do you even apply to a UC in that sense vs. a CPSLO or SDSU - much less.
and I get her desire for the name - but just last year and I’m not saying it’s common but likely moreso than we think - there was a kid in at UCB but rejected at SDSU.
There’s greatness all over - and applying to / attending a UC is great - but just reminding you of what you had said earlier because if there’s a hard maximum, then it’s better to handle it up front vs. letting them apply but saying later, I know I said you could apply - but I never intended to spend that much so even though you got in, you can’t go.
Others on the list - like a Wake Forest - are similarly already at the $80K without much chance of merit.
When your daughter goes, the prices will be higher and increase at many schools each year.
Not that it makes a huge difference, but I misspoke about her ACT Superstore - she got a 32, not a 31. Anyway I appreciate all the insight. Here is list she is researching now:
Likely:
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Oregon
University of Arizona
Arizone State University
Cal Poly
San Diego State
University of Wisconsin
Reach:
Emory
Boston University
UNC Chapel Hill
UC Santa Barbara
University of Georgia
University of Michigan
Tulane
UT Austin
Far Stretch:
Vanderbilt
Duke
Stanford (restrictive early action)
UC Berkeley
UVA
I went on ahead and made my guesses as to what I think your D’s chances might be at these colleges. I’m not sure how applicants for undecided majors are selected at the California publics. Perhaps @gumbymom or @ucbalumnus might have some insight with respect to the chancing for those schools on the list? And maybe @prezbucky wants to weigh in on Wisconsin?
I like it. We can quibble over classifications - like Wisconsin not a likely IMHO where an IU would be a safety and Ohio State and UMN likely - but you have multiple assured or near assured acceptance as the list is - especially the top four on your list. And schools with strong or at least solid Jewish life.
Wisconsin has become a tough admit for OOS applicants – we’ll wait for this year’s stats to come out, but in the past, stats needed to be a fair bit higher for OOS applicants than for in-state kids, especially those indicating a desire for CS, Engineering, or Business.
I might call it a low reach or high match – so, about a 20-40% chance. It may actually be a toss-up as @AustenNut says, but I’d rather underestimate chances a bit to temper expectations.
Normally I’m a fan of taking your shot at #1 so Stanford makes sense. But I think it’s off the charts a no. Like no chance. Just my opinion.
Are you ok applying binding ? What does she think of BU? Does she love it ? Or Tulane? Or Emory ? And by love I mean other than Stanford it’s where I want to be ?
If so, she might be better off using ED 1/2 at those ? Or she can do Stanford and ED2.
But if she doesn’t love them or you want to be able to compare offers because you have varying price points and can get merit at AZ, ASU, and UGA, then it’s a no go.
I just think at schools like Tulane and BU that ED is not critical but it’s a big enhancer.
Just a thought, but when searching for schools in the eastern US, have you considered screening by proximity to the key sport climbing areas (within say 4-5 hours for weekend trips) like Red River Gorge, KY, New River Gorge, WV and White Mountains, NH? For example tOSU (not on your list) is closer than UGA.
For at least Syracuse and Tulane your students stats qualify for admission but both look for HEAVY demonstrated interest. Even if you can’t visit the schools for tours make sure she gets engaged with them (online tours/information sessions, contact the admissions counselor that services your area, open any emails sent and click links, etc). Even with good stats if the first/only time they hear from her is her application it can dramatically lessen chances.
She will apply EA where possible but is not doing any ED. She is a true undecided in terms of her major so she will apply to either liberal arts or to interdisciplinary if it’s offered. If she is forced to name a major in her apps, my guess is she will list something like psychology
I will call @gumbymom to talk about this wrt to CPSLO, UCD, UCSB and UCB. Make sure she understands what her major options are on her app, the acceptance rates of those majors (if knowable), and how likely it is she can transfer to a popular major such as psych. The UCs and Cal Poly aren’t the best schools for undecided students IMO.
This list is top heavy, especially if she’s applying TO (at the non-UCs). At which schools is she applying with test scores and which is she going TO?
It seems like she’s not too keen on going to Boulder, I would encourage her to add another safety/highly likely school. I also thought she didn’t want ‘horrible winters’? Syracuse and Michigan seem to not fit that requirement (but of course horrible winters is subjective!)
She is softening a bit on the winters front saying as long as there are true 4 seasons she will be ok. I think we will have to visit any of those schools while it is still winter for her to get a sense.
I agree she needs at least one more safety/likely. She was considering U of Oregon but we understand there is not much going on outside of campus nearby and that was dissuading her. We are open to suggestions!
There have been many safety/highly likely schools mentioned in this thread…it would be helpful to know why they were all eliminated?
Because many majors are impacted, so it can be difficult to change majors. I am not sure when starting out undecided in those schools what the requirements for admission to a given major are…your D has to look into that before applying IMO. Hopefully gumbymom and other UC/CSU experts will weigh in as well.
I get that she wants to leave CO/not attend Boulder, but I’m not sure why someone would pay for UCD over Boulder (that’s just me, and I understand you and others might weigh certain factors differently!)
