<p>:( Kathiep - I don’t like craps! Blackjack, a little, because I have some control :)</p>
<p>Elon seems to accept a large number of kids from our high school in Maryland, and at least a few attend each year. We don’t have naviance, so I don’t know the stats, but it seems like the kids accepted are A-/B+ students who take honors courses as opposed to AP courses. We’ve also sent some athletes there to play football and girl’s basketball. Most of the kids who attend love the school.</p>
<p>My wife and I are back from our first Family Weekend at Susquehanna and I have to confess that we probably need to buy pom-poms, because we will seem like cheerleaders to our cyber and real world friends.</p>
<p>Our son, who is very shy around new kids, could not be happier with the kids there. He has a large, coed group of friends and the half dozen we met could not have been more friendly or less full of themsleves. He mentioned that his team of friends lost their intramural flag football game to a team of seniors, who came over after the game and told them not to feel bad, because they would dominate the league in a couple of years. He checked out the frat party scene and felt it was not for him, but was surprised how welcoming the frat guys were. The kids who party harder than he does are not a nuisance.</p>
<p>The work load is quite strenuous, but the classes are small and the professors friendly. He and his friends like the food a lot. As Rockville noted, Princeton Review ranked the campus as the 20th most beautiful in the country and the easiest to get around. He seems so much more mature and independent so fast!</p>
<p>There are obviously some clear campus groups–the music, theater and creative writing programs are all popular, and those kids dress a little funkier, but everyone seems friendly. I saw some freshman girls wearing skirts on Saturday to greet their parents, but no preppy outfits, makeup, jewelry or labels. The Sunday look was sweats, shorts, jeans, no time spent on hair.</p>
<p>The sukkah is right next to the Student Center and the Hillel is a nice building near the frat houses, but our son has not gotten involved–he found a lot of friendly kids very fast and did not go looking for more. </p>
<p>Parents are given a lot of information and asked for a lot of feedback. The placement people seem very on the ball–they give lessons on how to prepare for telephone and Skype job interviews, as well as in person ones. Students’ practice interviews are filmed, so they can see their reviewed. Parents volunteer to perform practice telephone interviews for their industries.</p>
<p>So far, so good. I hope the grades come in ok.</p>
<p>HURRAY!!! What a journey you have taken over the past few years! I am so thrilled to hear such a wonderful report. It sounds like all you could ever ask for.</p>
<p>Yabeyabe - all I can say is wow! That sounds so wonderful. We had such a great experience on our visit and I think you just described the vibe very well - friendly and laidback - with a lot of personal attention from the faculty and staff. We are keeping it on our list and looking forward to attending a program in the fall. It’s really a shame Susquehanna does not have more name recognition in our area because it is such a great school. Luckily for us - you brought SU to my attention.</p>
<p>yabeyabe2-so glad to hear that you had a nice visit and your son is doing so well! Wish I could convince my D that the gingko trees are only a problem for a couple of weeks, ha ha!!!</p>
<p>York College was mentioned on this thread. Should we be considering this school? Anyone know about York College? Hillel available? Business school? Thanks.</p>
<p>Sussquehanna was definitely my favorite college visit…can’t say enough about the school, people, environment.
I thought I brought Susquehanna to your attention RM!!!</p>
<p>Yabeyabe: I’m glad that your son is doing so well. Usually when kids have a good first adjustment, things just keep getting better. SU sounds like a very nice choice. I’ve known a few kids who went there, and they all seemed very happy. It wouldn’t have been on my daughter’s radar because she really wants an uban setting.</p>
<p>Mdcissp: York College might be worth a look. They do have a business school. I’m not sure about Hillel. The price is reasonable for a private school.</p>
<p>And the score is…a 27. As expected. Pretty good. Looking at our hs Naviance - he looks good at Towson, Susquehanna, College of Charleston and James Madison. Elon, Muhlenberg and Delaware - reasonably ok - would look better with a 28. Plan now is to have him take it again in April. The reading section is what is killing him - only a 24. Had 28-9 on the other sections. So, we will focus our practice efforts on that section - but I know he is a slow reader. So, I’m not jumping up and down, but I am relieved.</p>
<p>York - I did contact them a few months back. Small Hillel - not terribly active - about 100 Jewish kids on campus. I think it is a lot like Salisbury - safety school for a B student - both have business majors, relatively inexpensive, attractive campus - but not much of a Jewish population. I had them on S2’s list at various times as safety schools, but at this point, I don’t think he needs them - I would rather go with Towson as his main safety school.</p>
<p>
Elon has gotten much more selective over the past few years. My daughter applied for 2008 admission and was waitlisted much to the shock and dismay of her guidance counselor. She had a 3.4 ish gpa and 1920 SAT’s. Visited etc. - have been told admission is easier for boys than girls.</p>
<p>York College - very low tuition rate for a private school. My kid has a couple friends there (not Jewish) who like it. It’s similar in size to Stevenson. Biggest problem with York is the surrounding area is ‘not so nice’. The campus is lovely though.</p>
<p>Susquehanna - lovely school. Again I know a couple of kids there (not Jewish) who love, love, love it.<br>
yabeyabe2 - did you get to see their production of “Diary of Anne Frank”?</p>
<p>RM: Congrats on your son’s ACT score. That’s a great first score. It will probably go up a point or 2 in the spring. You should be very proud of him for doing independent prep this summer. A lot of kids don’t follow through. It might help his reading score if he reads for pleasure. Since he likes sports, encourage him to read the sports page and sports magazines.</p>
<p>My daughter had a very productive weekend working on her applications. She completed the common ap, the Pitt app and wrote 3 essays! She turns 17 on Thursday, and I’m really proud of how much she has matured in the past year.</p>
<p>Well, ShawD did well enough on her first ACT, even though she/we were a little bit confused about how they would handle extended time. She got a 31, though we’re waiting for the writing score. I suspect she could move it to 32 or 33, but I don’t know if it matters. She’s made the decision to only apply to Canadian schools and has picked out two. One is larger and has a substantial Jewish population and active Hillel. The other is smaller (2400 kids) and has a small Jewish population (Jewish Students Association but not Hillel). She attended a summer science program at the smaller school and it has love-bombed her. Due to a connection of mine, the president met with her while she was there and invited her to an alumni/fund-raising speech he gave when visiting Boston (we went but she was too busy with dance and homework). Lots of contact. Two kids from the program are going to stay with us next weekend and one and perhaps both will go. The first school requires the ACTs and has a minimum of 26. The second doesn’t require it but likes it. Admission for the second is virtually in the bag (the admissions person told her she’d get in) and quite likely for the second, but higher ACTs might influence the merit aid. Given the low cost of Canadian schools for us (total room, board, tuition and fees of $14K to $15K), I’m not worried about the scholarships but they are how her Canadian peers seem to keep score. So, I need to decide whether to have her take the test again to increase the score.</p>
<p>momjr - thanks for the idea - I think I will try getting him to read a little more - it is far from his favorite thing. He read one book over the summer - The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom and loved it! That’s a rare experience. The sports page is a good idea. </p>
<p>college4three - thanks for also suggesting Susquehanna!!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts!</p>
<p>We intended to see the Anne Frank play, but the performance we chose was sold out.</p>
<p>A parent said yesterday that they found that Gettysburg talked about personal attention, but did not deliver it as SU has–exactly what RM suspects. Speaking of personal attention, when a friend of my son had an ankle injury, a nurse came to examine him in his dorm on a Saturday, then followed up on Monday. </p>
<p>But will the reputation catch up to the reality? I am not sure–outside the South (Elon, Richmond, etc), I can’t recall of a school whose academic rep has risen significantly in the past 20 years unless its sports teams lead to a flood of applicints (VIilanova, UConn). It make sme wonder how many other schools are not on the radar of GCs and parents, such as small LACs in the Midwest.</p>
<p>And can anyone think of a school which was highly selective 30 years ago and has dropped significantly, except perhaps for some women-only schools? It seems that once you become highly selective, you will never drop, even though I assume some of those schools have not been perfect through the decades.</p>
<p>Rockvillemom- congrats on the ACT score! I also second trying to get your son to read more. My D reads like crazy and I think that is helping her with the SAT. She hasn’t had to spend any time memorizing vocab words, etc. I wish she would practice a little bit for the math section! </p>
<p>Shawbridge - great score for your D on the ACT, I am sure you are all pleased.</p>
<p>Re: Washington and Lee (in Virginia) == vigorous recent recruitment of Jewish students discussed in light of opening of new Hillel House, in an article from The Roanoke Times. </p>
<p>[W&L</a> trying to attract more Jewish students - Roanoke.com](<a href=“http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/261744]W&L”>http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/261744)</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: WOW and lots of MAZAL TOV to you on your son’s great score. You should be very proud of him. I would just focus now on looking at which schools provide good merit scholarshps–did you consider U. of Alabama?</p>
<p>YORK College: Thanks for the feedback and responses. We will pass. My son wants to apply to Binghamton. I think he should apply to one more school but not sure what to add to the list (Towson, Salisbury, and UT Dallas). </p>
<p>My son is now expressing interest in working on the Options Exchange–anyone know of any good programs in Chicago with Business school for B plus student?</p>
<p>YabeYabe- lots of schools move up and down in academic reputation although it’s a much slower movement than the magazines and hype would lead you to believe.</p>
<p>Boston College- 20 years ago it was for Catholic jocks who couldn’t get into Notre Dame or Georgetown (both considered more intellectual and had much more national profiles). I think its reputation has risen enormously.</p>
<p>NYU- it was once a commuter school for kids on Long Island who wanted to balance work and academics.</p>
<p>U Texas at Austin- it was the flagship of the Texas system but that wasn’t saying much. It is now head and shoulders above any public U in the region.</p>
<p>And since MD mentioned Binghamton- for sure its reputation is much higher than it was even a decade ago. And I’ll add Stonybrook in the Sciences, and Purchase in the performing arts.</p>
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