<p>Rockvillemom - Good point about IU. I guess it all depends on whether it would be on our way or not. Unfortunately, Pitt doesn’t have the program that my D wants. Also, even though the schools are basically next door to eachother, very different campuses. Pitt is more of a true urban campus and that doesn’t appeal to her. Younger D lilked it though, so maybe in a few more years we can consider it for her.</p>
<p>After today, mdmom, obviously I’d have to concur with rockvillemom about Indiana.</p>
<p>CMU-The vibe I have of CMU is that this is an easier school to get in ED, but that comes with a cost of greater difficulty getting meritl aid. If you are looking for lots of merit $$, not sure CMU is the best place to get it unless your D has exceptional talent and you have real demonstrated need. </p>
<p>I sense that CMU is a great school for kids who are looking for the exact fit of specific program that the school offers. </p>
<p>Saw one of the CMU dorms–it was a standard 2 people dorm room on the modern side (probably was built anytime from the 50’s to the 70’s.</p>
<p>I don’t think CMU is for the B plus student–thought it was more for the A plus student.</p>
<p>Just got back from Lehigh. Loved it. (And S asked that we stop in the bookstore for a t-shirt before we headed home.) Even thought it’s early for us (S is a soph), it was really worth the trip. Now he understands why we look at these schools early and when we have time. For example, he was much more comfortable with Lehigh than UPenn, so we can now cross off visits to any city schools (and I thought he’d want to look at GW and BU).</p>
<p>We didn’t check out the Jewish life - I do know they are at about 20%. We have time for that. He’s got all the paperwork from admissions, but I recall that the lower end of the middle 50% of SATs was in the 1200’s. About 95% are in the top 10% of their class. “Showing the love” as they say (campus visit, expressing interest) was listed just under essay in the list of what they look at for admissions (transcript was #1 and test scores are #2 - why does this feel like Family Feud?). Oh, and they are about 55-45% male/female.</p>
<p>My point being that this could be a good reach school for B+ student, especially a female with high SATs. The campus is beautiful and easily accessible from NYC and Phil.</p>
<p>Why did your S love Lehigh?</p>
<p>
</p>
<ul>
<li><p>They really focused on job placement after college - the % was very impressive. As was the list of employers that interview on campus.</p></li>
<li><p>S was very intrigued by the Honors IBE program (integrated business and engineering) - our tour guide was in that program and provided his email address. I’m going to suggest to S that he email him to find out more.</p></li>
<li><p>Great academic school but also big on sports. Our tour guide said he played Club Tennis and S was very happy about how that fits in with school (50 on the team, they travel to matches, not only local schools but also to Pitt, MD, etc.). I loved this bc S has been focused on “playing tennis at college” and this tour guide repeatedly said how academics is first, but you can still play club and find it very satisfying (rather than playing D1 tennis, which Lehigh is). They practice 2x a week, not 2-3 hours a day - leaves more time for studying!</p></li>
</ul>
<p>-Beautiful campus - very hilly (which reminded S of his sumer camp) and not in the city (which he realizes he prefers).</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The right size for him (D is at UDel which is way too big for S); faculty to student ratio is 10-1 plus they emphasize how professors (not TAs) teach all new material.</p></li>
<li><p>Bonus: no foreign language requirement (when the admissions officer mentioned this in the presentation, S’s eyes lit up, even though he finds language easy, he’d rather not have to do it)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This will stay on the list and help me (and hopefully S) as we research more schools. As an aside, even with some traffic, it’s only a 3 hour ride (and taking 78 was much better than the NJ Turnpike - which I take to UDel!).</p>
<p>P.S. He also loved the food and the view in the Rathbone Dining Hall (and he is completely NOT a foodie!).</p>
<p>linymom: I’m glad you had such a sucessful visit to Leheigh. It sounds like a great fit for your son. Club sports present a great option for kids to continute a sport while still allowing time for other interests. My older daughter is on a club gymnastics team at her school. They practice 3 times a week and compete in several inter-collegiate meets a year. Last year, they traveled to Texas for Nationals. She still loves gymnastics, but also has time for a soriority, community service and some leadership opportunities.</p>
<p>^^don’t let the class rank number fool you LINYmom…what % of students even report class rank there?
Most of the kids I know there were not top 10%…more like 15-20%…and the others were not ranked…</p>
<p>The only issue I’ve heard with Lehigh is lack of merit $$ and weak FA…</p>
<p>Your son already has the demonstrated interest box checked!..(if you know what I mean>>>)</p>
<p>Wow, looks like mdmomfromli had a great tour at CMU and linymom had a great tour at Lehigh!</p>
<p>CMU is also on my S’s list if he doesn’t get into ED choice. Mdmom…did you have any time to visit the hillel building? It was across the street from CMU, a bit further down toward UPitt…it’s a combined hillel building for both colleges…it was really a very nice building with lots of activities going on there. The surrounding neighborhood of Squirrel Hill has lots of Jewish families and synagogues, so lots of choices if your D wants to go there for holidays or even to maybe work pt!</p>
<p>We have a cousin at CMU now, who loves it, but says they do work you hard academically! They have an amazing reputation and do place students easily into work programs or internships.</p>
<p>I am really shocked to see CMU on a B student thread! I would put this as a super reach!! The Naviance at our school shows only our top students got in, and this is a high school where an unweighted 3.5 is top 10%. Good luck to you, though.</p>
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<p>SDonCC: you read my mind…this thread is transforming…Lehigh, as well, is not for a true “B” student; reachy even for ED…</p>
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<p>mdmomfromil: I concur on Indiana. All three of my kids applied to it early and were accepted within 2 weeks. Easy application, and in all three cases good merit money was offered. As to Wash. U, we live in Kansas City and two of my children visited the school. My daughter was being recruited to play for their tennis team and when she visited she stayed with a member of the team. She felt that the kids were really intensely into academics and was not thrilled by the make-up of the kids on the tennis team. This is funny, since she is very Type AAA, but she wanted a place that would provide a balance rather than have kids just like her everywhere. Son visited the campus last spring and asked to visit with an Econ professor and they immediately set it up. He liked the conversation with the professor, but also did not get a great social vibe from the place. The school is definitely for A+ type students. The dorms are AMAZINGLY big and the campus has a lovely Gothic aesthetic. It is right in the middle of the city with access to some fun areas of St. Louis. </p>
<p>On the tennis theme. Daughter #2 chose not to attend any of the D3 schools that were recruiting her because she wasn’t sure that playing tennis and a pre-med track was going to work. She ended up at Michigan (where 3 of her old tennis partners play for the varsity team) and is now playing club tennis which keeps her in practice. Unfortunately, practices at Michigan start on Mondays at 10:00 PM, after varsity is done with the courts, so she has missed quite a few practices in order to study for exams. She also did not compete much, because again, she could not afford to give up a whole weekend of studying to travel. The Club team is very social and often meets up to go bar hopping or to the movies. She is already in a sorority and did not really hang out with the team all that much, but they wanted to keep her on the team nonetheless because of her skills. Intramural tennis is also fun and doesn’t require traveling, but the competition is pretty mediocre, so if your son is any good at tennis I suggest he try out for club. Most of the kids in D’s club team were varsity or state champions in high school, but Michigan is a big school, and I imagine a smaller college would not be as competitive.</p>
<p>I would say this thread has for the most part stayed true to it’s original intention, which was to explore colleges for the B Jewish student. However, at times, it has strayed into other topics of interest to the same audience…some posters have children that could be looking at B schools and/or A schools…like me, for instance. I have S1 who is a straight A student, Jewish, and then I have S2, who is only a freshman, but with A’s and B’s. This thread relates to me for both my children in different ways.</p>
<p>It is an evolving thread that naturally goes off course a bit.</p>
<p>Echoing NEM’s suggestion that s or d (but not parent) call or e-mail the admissions office if others are receiving acceptances and your s/d has not heard yet. This is especially important is you have a flaky, overworked or less than reliable (or human) guidance counselor. In my s’s case, his GC neglected to send his transcripts to two schools and he only caught the mistakes when he realized that others had been accepted. He called the admissions offices himself to ask about the delay and was told that they had yet to receive them. (Accepted at both schools soon after the transcripts were sent.)</p>
<p>In my son’s situation, his guidance counselor was really only comfortable working with in-state schools. I did get involved with prodding on the high school side of things but left dealing with the colleges to my son.</p>
<p>Rockvillemom - Glad to hear that your son liked Elon. It is also on my son’s list. Was wondering if he had an interview while he was there? Do you know if an interview is strongly recommended?</p>
<p>Mom2009: I’ll respond; Elon does not do interviews…the students who have met with their respective state admissions reps have done so on their own with the understanding that it is not an evaulative meeting…</p>
<p>Agreeing with Rodney - Elon does not require/recommend an interview. However, they assign a counselor to each region - and if the counselor for your area visits your hs - good to have student meet them. If you visit Elon at a time when your counselor is in the office - make the effort to meet them. This is more of a 5 minute handshake and hello than an interview.</p>
<p>When we visited, the info session person told us that their admissions decision is 75% transcript/test scores and 25% essay, ECs and guidance counselor rec. They do not require letters of rec from teachers - but you can send if you want. I think they do put a fair amount of emphasis on the essay question - they do tend to change it yearly and design it to correspond to their core values and the type of student they want. So, there is no option to write on any topic you choose.</p>
<p>I second what RM said about having your student meet the Elon rep when they visit the HS. My daughter attended the Elon visit at her school, and was surprised that the rep mentioned previous graduates now attending Elon by name. Of course, she decided that that meant the school was too small, but she’s just contrary.</p>
<p>“Of course, she decided that that meant the school was too small, but she’s just contrary.”</p>
<p>made me laugh…so you have one of those too??? in my house, thank goodness, it’s not the one that is currently going through the process…</p>
<p>edit: one other thought momjr…Elon does seem like the kind of place where staff/professors are going to “know your name”; if your daughter wants anonymity, may not be the right fit…</p>
<p>I love the way our thread has evolved and grown - exponentially beyond what I imagined - and I think it’s fine if sometimes we talk about schools that are very reachy for a “B” students. Some are really B+ and if they have an unusual EC or great test scores - some of these “A” student schools might be within reach. There is also the scenario where a “B” student applies ED and manages to get in that way. I’d prefer to stay away from Ivy League schools, Stanford, and that sort of school that is impossible for pretty much everyone and where discussion of said schools seems to attract the uber-competitive parents that I could easily live without. </p>
<p>I just like the idea that we can be proud of our “B” students and realize that there are plenty of great schools out there for them. I like the sense of community we have created and it’s just more fun to go through this process with other like-minded people. </p>
<p>So, keep reading and posting - and don’t worry if sometimes a school comes up that might be a stretch for a “B” student.</p>