<p>PAMOM,
Loyola MD and American tend to attract very different kids–Loyola’s overlaps tend to be St Joe and Fairfield; not surprisingly, since it is Catholic, it draws many more Catholic kids while AU has a large Jewish population. AU has more kids from NY suburbs and more government-oriented kids.
As UMW is a state school, I suspect its OOS population is smaller (and its price tag much gentler).</p>
<p>Re middle of nowhere schools, one underappreciated plus is that, for shyer kids, having the social scene centered on campus is a plus, vs. needing to connect quickly with kids headed to city clubs leaving the campus empty. </p>
<p>Washington College is another long-established small school in that area</p>
<p>mdmomfromli, there may be a subject test or two your younger daughter wants to take sophomore year, while the information is still fresh in her mind.</p>
<p>It is best to take a Subject Test after completing course work for
a subject, however foreign languages, math and literature should
be taken after two or more years of studying the subject. See the
recommended preparation for each subject in this booklet or
online."</p>
<p>A couple of advantages. Taking a subject test or two sophomore year helps lessen the burden junior year and also familiarizes the student with the formal testing atmosphere before the, um, horrendous longer test – the SAT.</p>
<p>Deborah T - D2 is a freshman now, but I will look into the subject tests for her sophomore year. Great idea if it works with any of her classes.</p>
<p>Please keep in mind that very few schools require SAT IIs - also known as subject tests. And for the “B” student - really none that I can think of. Very elite colleges - Ivy League schools, Georgetown and so forth - need SAT IIs. The UCs used to - but have eliminated them going forward. </p>
<p>If a student is taking honors chem or honors physics and wants to take the corresponding SAT II at the end of the year - be it the end of 10th grade or 11th - than that would make sense - if they are applying to that level of school. But again - not generally on the horizon of the typical B student.</p>
<p>pamom - for JMU - we just did a day trip - and did the standard info session and tour. So - I don’t have much to say on where to stay or eat. I understand the downtown area is nice - but we did not see it on that trip. The group tour stayed on the main, older side of campus. On our own - we walked under rt 81 - there is a very short pedestrian tunnel - and saw the rec center and some newer bldgs on the other side - which I recommend. My son was not bothered by this layout at all - but I would really look at it carefully. It is a sprawling campus. If you look at threads on the JMU forum - they talk a lot about dorm locations - some have AC and some don’t - and where is the best place to be relative to your major and where most of your classes will be located.</p>
<p>American - we saw and did not care for. Lots of pros - beautiful campus - very suburban with lush landscaping - yet also great proximity to DC. Nice sized Jewish population. This is one where it is hard to explain - too close to home - too expensive - but beyond that - the fit/vibe was just off for our son. </p>
<p>Delaware - we saw with S1 - S2 is not interested. I think he sees things in categories - and we already have Towson and JMU in the larger category - and he felt that was sufficient. I think Delaware is a little pricey - but would have kept it on the list if he was interested. Great Jewish life - nice campus - I really don’t know it well enough to have anything more to say.</p>
<p>I agree with Deborah T about considering taking subject tests after sophomore year. Students who are advanced in math should take the Math II test after pre-calc. Our HS basically ignores the test, and seniors have to scramble to take them in the fall. Many schools will take the ACT in place of the SAT and SAT subject tests, which is another reason to have your kid try the ACT. As RVM said, only the most selective schools require the subject tests.</p>
<p>Pamom: We visited some of the schools you are considering. I really liked Delaware. It has a very pretty campus, friendly students, and a nice college town setting. My friend’s daughter attends and love it. It does seem pretty similar to JMU, but the mix of kids is more mid-atlantic/New York. A lot of kids from our HS apply to both of these schools. My daughter thought the setting was too rural. We also visited American, which RVM and Yabe have described pretty well. My daughter liked it but didn’t love it. </p>
<p>My neice graduated from Goucher a few years ago and loved it. She got a lot of personal attention from professors and was able to do three short study abroad programs. The campus is beautiful, and it’s in a nice location in Suburban Baltimore. It’s probably worth a look if you’re visiting Towson, which is about 5 minutes away.</p>
<p>My daughter has a friend who attends MWU and really likes it. He was probably a “B-” student in HS, and has stuggled a bit academically, but seems to be hanging in.</p>
<p>pamom: My D is at UDel – it was down to UDel and American at the end (she got Freshman Connection for UMDCP - her other top choice - and was not interested). In the end, she picked UDel because (a) it was a much better fit and (b) less $$ than American. She is sooooo happy at UDel, especially since she is finally back there after the long break (and has on her to-do list finishing study abroad app for next January). I don’t know where to start with UDel. Do you have specific questions? It seemed like the best school for her and, after one semester, we are still happy with the decision. Some of the things she likes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Beautiful campus</li>
<li>Good percentage of Jews (>10%) with lots of activities, should she want them (she’s done a couple of Hillel activities so far, not too much though)</li>
<li>Fun football games (UD got to the FCS championship game this year)</li>
<li>Great Main St.</li>
<li>Kids who are just like her - same academic level, very friendly (she applied with a 26 ACT and 3.6 WGPA, many honors classes, 4 APs, no SATIIs)</li>
<li>Easy access to home (Amtrak, bus) and only 3.5 hours home by car (could be more, could be less depending on the Jersey Turnpike, Staten Island and Belt Parkway!!!)</li>
<li>Variety of majors - she is now an English major, with a concentration in professional writing, with a Jewish studies minor, but was originally attracted to their art history, art conservation and archaeology majors (those are now out the window!)</li>
</ul>
<p>She has a single in a large freshman residence hall complex - she would have liked a roommate but this is working out so well for her. Most of her dorm is singles. She’s been back two days and keeps calling me to tell me how great her classes are. Sorority rush starts tomorrow night and that will be fun too. What else could I ask for?</p>
<p>If you have any specific quesitons about UDel, ask away!</p>
<p>(As background, other colleges she got admitted to, besides Amer and UDel: URI, UConn, Towson, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Albany. Waitlisted at SUNY Bing, Deferred/FC at UMDCP. So you see, on the East Coast, we all have many overlaps.)</p>
<p>Our experience w/ SAT II tests…my S1 was going to take Chem and MathII at the end of Jr. year. He was taking Honors Chem and Pre-Cal that year. I brought home a review book for Chem from the library, and when he started to take the diagnostic test to see how much prep he would have to put in, he was disappointed to see that there would be a lot of new material to learn. Since the test was the weekend before finals, he didn’t want to have to learn a lot of new material in addition to studying for his exams. He decided not to take it (and since he wasn’t taking one, didn’t bother w/ the math either since schools which will require one, will require two). What that meant for him was that he couldn’t apply to Carnegie Mellon or Northwestern, but ended up getting into his first choice school anyway…no regrets. My point is, I guess, see how much extra work they’re going to require, and if your child isn’t going to apply to a school that requires them (as most B students won’t), it’s probably not worth the effort.</p>
<p>umich8790, ShawSon found that AP Chemistry was perfect prep for the Chem SAT II but that the preceding year’s Honors Chemistry was insufficient. This is consistent with your son’s observation.</p>
<p>re: SAT II’s for the “B” student; only school I can think of is Boston U that requires (except for school of general studies)…</p>
<p>JMU: we didn’t visit school but stopped in Harrisonburg on the way home from Elon; Panera right off of 81 in a shopping mall…other places to eat right there…usual fare; Applebees etc…</p>
<p>LINMOM- thanks for the U Del info. U Del is much closer for us, only 1 hour away, which makes it much closer than our instate schools PSU and Pitt. My D has seen both these schools and likes them as they are not filled with what she calls “stuck up” people which is what she felt at some of the small LACs we looked at (eg Dickinson). I think of U Del as kind of like a smaller version of Penn State where she hopefully would be less likely to get lost in the shuffle.</p>
<p>I’m not convinced she should not go to a smaller school though. She currently attends a small private school and I feel that she really does her best when teachers take an interest in her. At a small school, she has also had an opportunity to grow in confidence by being involved in sports and other activities where at a larger school she probably would not have been good enough to make the team or felt too intimidated to get involved. </p>
<p>Academically, she is an A/A- student in science, math and language but she studies hard to get those A’s… B/B+ student in lit/history and hates to read. First try at SAT 1200 CR/M. She will not take SAT II’s. No idea what she wants to study, maybe psychology,biology, languages?</p>
<p>BTW I should admit that we are not Jewish so the Jewish culture issue isn’t as important for her. However, I would hope for her to go to a school with a diverse student body and would not want her to go to a school where Jews felt at all uncomfortable or out of place. Her current school has a significant percentage of Jewish kids.</p>
<p>Do you see U Del as a good fit for a quiet kid? Any thoughts or advice appreciated!</p>
<p>momjr: really?? for some reason I thought that a couple of the schools there at BU still wanted the SAT II’s even with the ACT…must have changed since I looked (my younger one ended up not applying)</p>
<p>pamom: UDel is a GREAT school for both quiet and outgoing kids…</p>
<p>pamom, we visited JMU for an overnight a few weekends ago when my D had her aud. We ate at a really good mexican restaurant that was highly recommended called Dona Rosa’s. There seemed to be some very good restaurants in the area. I was quite surprised. We stay at the Marriott Courtyard and they had a bunch of choices for dining. Apparently the East Campus Dining hall is suppose to have amazing food. We got there right as they were closing for lunch so unfortunately didn’t get to try it. I do feel the campus is quite large and housing is an issue if you are on the wrong side of campus. Very pretty area though. My D said she wouldn’t attend JMU though unless she got in to the BA Theatre program. Didn’t love it but I think there is a lot to offer and the price is right!</p>
<p>Rodney: I just checked the BU website to verify. The only programs that require SAT IIs are the 6 year combined med and dental programs. Some of the Arts programs recommend SAT IIs. For all other programs, you can submit an ACT score in place of SAT + SAT IIs. My daughter originally took the ACT for BU. She ended up doing better than on the SAT, so we switched gears and only sent the ACT scores to the schools she applied to.</p>
<p>Did I stir up a hornet’s nest or what, lol? That was not my intention. I was trying to provide mdmom with some information she might find helpful. Well, who knows, maybe this discussion put the subject tests or idea of ACT as an alternative to SAT + subject tests on the radar screen for someone who will need to know about it. :-)</p>