<p>Linymom: If you take your son to visit Brandeis, you should check out BU and Northeastern. Both schools have ice hockey teams, but no football. They both give merit money to “A” students with high test scores. Pitt is another good school that gives merit money to “A” students. It does have football, however.</p>
<p>I understand about the football. I tease my daughter about how she managed to come up with a list full of colleges without football teams. Unlike the rest of our family,she’s not a big football fan, and I think she prefers a school where the focus is not on football.</p>
<p>Linymom: Sorry about calling UD rural. I think it is a very appealing setting. My daughter wants to be in New York, Boston or DC, so it wasn’t a fit for her. She wants a break from the suburbs.</p>
<p>I think BU will definitely get a look. He liked Penn, so he may be open to a city school. We go to Boston often (going there in early Dec for family Chanukah party this year) – going to see one school that weekend. I know BU and Northeastern have tours on the morning we can do it; don’t see it on the other admissions calendars. My D wants to spend that day with friends at Brandeis (flying up for the weekend) so it would be great to do the tour there that day. If that doesn’t work out, we’ll probably do the BU tour/info session. Pittsburgh… hmmm. Not sure that’s a drive from where I am…will check it out.</p>
<p>momjr: LOL. No problem. It is total suburb. Just not rural. Definitely not for a student who wants to be in a city! Went through a lot of quarters in the meters this weekend, but nothing like what it would cost to park in NYC or DC!</p>
<p>Never heard of Mitch Hedberg. We’ve heard of Tosh O. He did a show for the freshmen at UD the night of move-in! (of course, we were not there.) Will give S the recommendations!</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, BU and Northeastern are basically right across the street from each other! Any way you can schedule a tour for one of those in the morning and cross the street for an afternoon tour at the other one? It would be a shame to drive all the way there and not tour both, if you think your S might like one or the other…</p>
<p>We’re only going to do one school that day. S is only a sophomore and we really have to spend a good part of the day with family (that’s what we are going for). Since he has a lot of camp friends in the Boston suburbs (and my college roommate and my brother live there), we will likely be there several times over the next couple of years (and S won’t balk about going back).</p>
<p>BTW - Seth Myers was really funny too… especially the jokes he said did not get past the SNL censors. Loved his story about his favorite memory of college (since he went to the same school I did); it did not involve a class :)</p>
<p>Lindymom: S has a friend whose first choice was Brandeis but ended up at George Washington (much better merit aid) and loves it! I know they have a very different campus feel and I’m not sure exactly how you define driving distance from NY but since this young man who is doing pre-med is so happy at GW and is really enjoying Hillel I thought I’d mention it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the correction, Momjr. I wasn’t quite sure…I guess at the time we visited it seemed like it was directly across the street! I must have not been paying attention enough.</p>
<p>Spectrum: Is GW directly in the city? Or is there a campus too?</p>
<p>I advise checking out UMass Amherst. It has a great Hillel with separate services for different worship styles.</p>
<p>A Judaic studies major. </p>
<p>A design-your-own major program that has drawn some fine Jewish students who maybe didnt have stellar GPA but have creative ideas and projects they wish to focus on. See designmymajor.com for more info.</p>
<p>I haven’t been reading the thread carefully since S is now a freshman! (OMG, where did the time go?) But, he was a B student, albeit with pretty high SATs and good extracurriculars. In the end, he ended up at the University of Maryland is one of the LEP programs, and has been able to find a mix of really bright, motivated students and “regular kids” so to speak who aren’t too tense about their studies. He absolutely loves it there. </p>
<p>Just to give an update on some of his B counterparts (I know this is anecdotal) and what they are thinking of their schools: Kid at Boston College (reach for a B but kid had legacy) loves it, but says that it is very preppy so you have to be like that, and it really helps to have money to fit in. (This kid is very well off and preppy, so he fits in.) Kid at Tulane hates it, too “spoiled country club” and the kids aren’t as serious as he thought they would be. (We now have two kids from our town at Tulane, they aren’t friends with each other but my S knows both, and the other kid feels the name way and is in the process of transferring. Early on, my S was interested in going there and he is now very happy he didn’t. So am I!) Two kids at Muhlenberg, one loves it, the other thinks it’s too small and doesn’t have enough school spirit and is looking to transfer to a bigger school. Several kids at Syracuse, all seem to love it so far. A few kids at Penn State main campus and all seem to be enjoying it except for one who is worried that it’s taking too long to get to know people there. (they all come from a small graduating class of 200.) One at Wheaton in Mass who fits in well there…very bright but didn’t do well at all in high school except for stellar SATs…very into philosophy. We had several acceptances to Pitt but no one chose to go there; I have heard good things about it but of course one hears good things about every school! Two kids I know of who were more in the C plus/B minus range: One kid at Adelphi who says it is a big “suitcase school” and one kid at Iona who hates it and is already looking into transferring (no details…mom just says it’s too small).</p>
<p>Again, I know this is all anecdotal but I hope it helps in some way. In the end, it’s all about fit. My kid would never fit in Boston College, for example…not even counting the fact that we are Jewish which I do think is still a factor there…it’s just too upper crust for him. But his friend, who is from an upper crust, waspish family, loves it there. So it’s hard to judge anything unless you know the kid and know you are like that kid and then their opinion of a school can help you. </p>
<p>Choc, GW is right in the city–much more so than American, which is technically in the city but has a suburban look.</p>
<p>RTR, glad to hear about your son. Thanks for the anecdotes–it is interesting to see certain fears of parents and kids play out (“too big”; “too small”; “too party oriented”; “too preppy”; “suitcase”)–and the overall satisfaction level seems pretty low.</p>
<p>chocchip: We did a tour a couple of years ago. There is a small area that you might call the campus but mostly the GW buildings are within walking distance integrated with the city. (At least that was my impression from the tour.) I have never been to Brandeis but the kid I know who goes to GW loved the closed campus of Brandeis. In that way GW seems opposite, but the same kid is going to GW and he loves it. He loves being in DC and the easy access to mass transit. He has also been active in the Hillel program. He doesn’t seem to miss the campus at all, even though at application time that is what he thought he wanted. It seems like he thinks of the city as his campus.</p>
<p>RTR: Thanks for the information. I’m glad that your son is doing so well. We are instate for Maryland, and most of the kids we know who attend love it also. My daughter is still trying to decide whether to send in an application. She prefers an urban setting, and isn’t a big sports fan, so Maryland is at the bottom of her list. I keep thinking she should apply just in case her other choices don’t work out.</p>
<p>It was helpful to hear how your son’s friends are doing at their schools. As usual, it seems like it’s all about the fit for each kid.</p>
<p>We visited GW twice. They actually have 2 campuses. The main Foggy Bottom campus is very urban. There is one small grassy quad. It is a compact city campus in a nice area of DC. Kids who want an urban campus will probably like it. They have a metro stop on campus, so students have great access to internships, restaurants and shopping. GW has a second campus in the Mount Vernon area about 15 minutes away, near AU. This campus is a more traditional campus with grass, trees and playing fields. There are dorms and some academic buildings on this campus. They run shuttles betweent the 2 campuses. I imagine that the trip takes closer to 30 minutes during rush hour.</p>
<p>Yabe, I wouldn’t necessarily say that the satisfaction level seems low; it’s just that I don’t really know how every kid is doing and the ones who are the unhappiest are the ones who I’m hearing about from S, which then leads me to ask about other kids at that particular school. I’m sure there are plenty of schools I’ve left out. If someone mentions one it may trigger something I’ve forgotten about. (I only know so much about Syracuse because so many kids in our town end up there.)</p>
<p>I do know there is a very bright kid (like one of those “super kids” who has a great GPA and was also super involved at school) who ended up at GW with a big scholarship and is loving it (know this because she is a friend of S’s), but there are a couple of others at GW and I have no idea how they are doing.</p>