<p>stayathome - so I guess those Maryland decisions are finally up! I would not do Freshman Connection - to me - it’s like you are a second class citizen - taking classes at off peak hours and either commuting or living off campus. I think Pitt and Penn State are both wonderful options - and I would focus on the city (Pitt) or rural (Penn State) locations - as they are very different - and see what best suits your son. Congratulations on having those 2 fine choices.</p>
<p>I suppose he can stay on the waitlist for the fall and see what happens - but personally - I think it is better to commit to a school that wants you - and become emotionally invested in that school. I realize the in-state price tag is also a consideration, however. </p>
<p>Let us know the final outcome.</p>
<p>P.S. I was just looking at the Maryland thread and saw you posted there as well and mentioned your son was also accepted to JMU. But that is no longer under consideration? Do you mind if I ask why?</p>
<p>mdcissp - I think momjr made a very valuable point in favor of Towson as to how much easier it will be for your son to come home on weekends if he needs a quiet break. I know sometimes an upperclass dorm will be all singles and fairly quiet - but generally - a single that a freshman can get will be in a dorm that has freshmen in doubles as well and will be a noisy floor/dorm - even if he himself has a single. For this reason, I think being closer to home is key.</p>
<p>Stayathomemom: My D1 has some friends who did the Freshman Connection Program at Maryland and they don’t regret it. They lived in apartments with other freshmen in one of the high rise apartment buildings adjacent to the campus. I think it’s worth it for a kid who really wants to go to Maryland. Luckily, your son has other good choices, so I can see why he might prefer to choose one of those schools instead.</p>
<p>I’ve been away and also ill for a while, so I have alot of reading to do before I comment on anything, but did want to report that my D too got an e-mail today saying that she had been admitted to UMd for the Spring Semester. The e-mail didn’t say she had to do Freshman Connection, but a link offered it as one of several options along with transferring credits in from elsewhere, going to London and a few others. We will have to read up and look into all of them. Her first semester grades will be out in a couple of days, so she will still be waiting for a decision on UDel and to see if she gets in for RD at Elon. </p>
<p>Stayathome mom, I may contact you off line, but congratulations. My D didn’t even expect to get in, so whatever she does this seems like a plus for her. BTW, I vaguely seem to recall a discussion on the UMd thread a while ago on Freshman Connection, which i only skimmed at the time but will go back now and look for.</p>
<p>Congrats to all the students and parents getting happy admissions news!</p>
<p>Brief digression from the “B student” side of things just because I thought this was a neat “Jewish Student” thing. There’s an ad up on the “TuftsLife” website about a class on Jewish thought that meets once a week, no homework, AND you get paid $400 to take the class, PLUS there is an all expenses paid trip to NYC. This one is through an organization in Boston called Meor. Possibly it’s some sort of Jewish inreach?</p>
<p>I’d be willing to bet that these types of programs can be found at other schools, so keep an eye out to pass the word on to your kiddos.</p>
<p>^^we know a number of kids who have done freshman connection over the years; if Maryland is “your school” and you really want to be there, it’s not the best, but it’s fine…the kids we know had UMD-Cp as their #1 choice so anything would have worked for them…</p>
<p>there are tons of threads on freshman connection from the past few years with lots of info…</p>
<p>D has done Meor at NYU. It is a national program available on some campuses. In lieu of the $400 you can take a 3-week trip to Israel all expenses paid. If you do Birthright first, you can do both. There is a learning component to the Israel trip, though. D really loved the weekly classes and said it appeal to a wide spectrum of Jews. I think the trip to Israel might lean more to observant conservative/modern orhtodox. But, I would definitely look into it!</p>
<p>mdcissp…I am on of the non-jewish posters on this thread! But if we were Jewish that would be a great idea! He has really been leaning towards PITT for a while now, we have accepted students’ day at both school in the next few weeks. Although the instate tuition would be ideal, I am not thrilled with College Park (I went there). I was in a sorority which was a lot of fun, but I saw many kids from my high school and the neighboring schools and S1 really wants to go out of state. We are very fortunate; kids have an educational trust fund set up when they were babies.
Mdcissp regarding Towson, I went there my freshman year and transferred to MD because Towson did not have my major. I really enjoyed Towson. It is a really nice school with Baltimore nearby. I highly recommend this school for a in-state safety/match.</p>
<p>levirm…thanks for your sentiments on the transitions we are all facing. I’ve been dreading (is that too strong a word) and excited for my S, both at the same time, as I think about him going away to school in the fall. He is so excited and ready, and would leave today if he could. I feel so grateful that he’s only going to be about 45 minutes away, and I told him when we were talking this weekend that I expect him to stay on campus on the weekends…I’d rather visit him for lunch or dinner once in a while. An exciting time in our lives, but it’s going to be a big adjustment for me. I don’t know how my mom did it w/out showing us her emotional side :)</p>
<p>Slithey, both of my sons participated in the classes offered by Meor and enjoyed them. One then became a recruiter for them and a leader for an Israel trip, and the other went on their Israel trip. It has a connection with Chabad - perhaps it is the educational arm. But, big reassurances that they support the students at whatever level of observance they are.</p>
<p>stayathome, congratulations to your son and does he son know what he wants to study? This may factor into the Pitt/Penn State decision. </p>
<p>mdcissp, it sounds like you are getting good advice here. Will your son require any special services at college that would impact this decision? </p>
<p>mhc, I hope that you are feeling better! Congratulations on the MD admission.</p>
<p>RockvilleMOM - S1 liked JMU a lot but he really fell in love w/ PITT and Penn…funny because they are so different! We may still go back to JMU - he hasn’t totally ruled it out yet. A stupid way for a teenage boy to pick a school but S1 is totally impressed with PITT basketball and Penn State football (sports fanatic, he was the senior sports editor for his large high school paper). (He also wants a school with good academics) He wants the all-around college experience - sports, academics and school spirit. So far, accepted to all safety/matchy schools (Indiana as well); rejected at all reach schools - Wisconsin and UNC/Chapel Hill and deferred at Tulane. </p>
<p>MHC - Congratulations to your D. It is getting harder and harder for good in-state students to get in. Both our kids should be proud. Back when I was in high school, MD was considered a safety school if you had decent grades. He’s been waitlisted for fall but he won’t find out until June 1st…the other schools want to know by May 1st so I don’t know how that works? </p>
<p>I don’t like the idea of a freshmen living off campus…I think it’s a little too much freedom.</p>
<p>Slithey Tove, I believe my son did that or a very similar program at UMich last year. He was ill at the end and so missed one or two classes and didn’t get the full $400, but he really enjoyed the program (he also said there were some really good looking girls in the class, which couldn’t have hurt.) He didn’t get a trip out of Ann Arbor, but I believe his participation somehow helped in him getting into the Birthright trip in the Spring.</p>
<p>Stayathome, we’re not instate, but getting in to a school like UMD with more name recognition in NY than JMU, CofC, Elon and partly Miami Ohio was a bit of a boost to her ego after denial at Wisc and deferral at Tulane. I wouldn’t overlook the importance of big time sports to your student’s time in school or for that matter jobs later on. It boosts name recognition and brings in $$ and other academic benefits too. That’s why the schools pursue it.</p>
<p>I also wouldn’t worry about the June 1 deposit at other schools. You can withdraw it and usually get it back if your child was waitlisted.</p>
<p>Son is more the humanities type but wants a large school atmosphere. His high school is very large so he did not want to go the LAC route and he wanted a big school atmosphere.
He was accepted to all three liberal arts college and he selected English as his major. He’s really not sure though… may switch that to philosophy (PITT is ranked very high), history or political science. He’s taking AP Comparative Government and is really enjoying this class. He wants to go to law school eventually.</p>
<p>mhc48 - Maryland is a very popular school for NJ and NY kids, making it very competitive to get into MD. Many of my close friends and sorority sisters were from that area. That’s funny that your D also applied to Wisconsin and Tulane. S1 denied at Wisc. and deferred at Tulane too! He also though about applying to Miami of Ohio. We visited and really liked the campus and the academics but S1 thought it was too preppy and really in the middle of nowhere so he didn’t apply. We may do that with MD…who knows, maybe at the last minute, he’ll want to stay close to home.</p>
<p>I’m not a parent, so I’m sorry if I’m not supposed to be butting in here, but I’m Jewish and I got into my top choice (Elizabethtown College) with the top scholarship. The campus is gorgeous, it has a variety of majors and minors, and is a very small school. I highly recommend it!</p>
<p>^^PG: please, butt in…and welcome!! How did you find the Jewish life at Elizabethtown and are you a “B” student? we are always looking for additional schools to add to the list for the kids on here…</p>
<p>rodney-my d also was admitted to Elizabethtown. From what I can see there is a very small Jewish population at the school. (but as I have stated before, D does not care).</p>
<p>stayathomemom, it’s interesting that you found MU preppy. I had heard and read that a number of places and it was one of my major concerns before visiting (knowing that it would probably turn my D off). But we didn’t see that at all. The kids looked pretty much the same as students at any other place we visited. I agree it’s off (okay, way off) the beaten path, but that never bothered my other D who went to an even more remote school (Colgate) and Oxford seemed like a perfect size college town, even bigger and more choices than the similarly sized campus of U Del. Neither prep nor remoteness bothered my D at all.</p>
<p>mhc48 - I also didn’t notice the preppiness (I really like preppy btw) but S1 noticed…he would have applied but I really wanted him to narrow down his list and in the end, Miami didn’t make his list of schools (He chose Indiana over Miami.) Miami does have a cute little college town and I read somewhere that their undergraduate program is excellent. I really thought is was a beautiful campus and a really great match school for the B to B+ student.</p>