<p>Religious life at Guilford - quite varied:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.guilford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/CampusReligiousLife2011_12web.pdf[/url]”>http://www.guilford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/CampusReligiousLife2011_12web.pdf</a></p>
<p>I think I was unclear:</p>
<p>What surprised me was not that Guilford assured parents that there was community support for students and you s or d would not be isolated. Every LAC I have visited has promised that. Most LACs have some kind of Freshman Experience.</p>
<p>What surprised me was the absolute emphasis on community. I’ve been to open houses at colleges where the emphasis was “excellence” or “achievement” or “paths to careers” or “undergrad research” or “preparing students for the next step in their lives.” None of that at Guilford. This emphasis on community felt really different. I think it was the Quaker committment to service and justice. The student who “fits” Guilford wants to change the world, working in community with others. That’s what appealed to my daughter. She wants to major in Tikkun Olam. </p>
<p>RVM: I think Elon has an Open House in a few weeks. Do you think my D would like Elon? It’s about 4 hours from us. Worth the trip?</p>
<p>Also: Guilford also has that schedule. At CofC, it’s “Maymester” (4-4-1) and you can opt to take that extra class or study abroad, in the spring. And I totally agree with you, great idea.</p>
<p>And thank you for that link about religious life. This place is so my daughter.</p>
<p>stillnadine, sounded like a great visit. i think you should visit elon. i am quite biased though because my S had that “fit” feeling. elon emphasizes engaged learning and a global community also. there are learning communities for living and learning. not sure why we didn’t look at guilford, must have been too small a jewish community for us. Elon’s hillel is very active and does a tikkun olam trip during spring break.</p>
<p>[Elon</a> Hillel](<a href=“Elon University / Elon Hillel”>Elon University / Elon Hillel)</p>
<p>the good news is now you know what a fit feels like and if you feel that again that gives D choices.</p>
<p>stillnadine - I agree with samtalya that you should visit Elon. If you love Guilford - you might find Elon too focused on careers - with emphasis on internships and undergrad research - but there is also a lot of priority placed on community service. I think it’s worth the trip - even if the conclusion is that Guilford is a better fit - sometimes visiting schools that aren’t quite the right fit is also beneficial.</p>
<p>Back to New College in Sarasota…think Oxford. Tutorials, very Socratic. If you aren’t disciplined, forget it. This school is no cake walk, with or w/o grades. </p>
<p>On a different note, D2 just asked if he could pull the trigger and go ED on the school he really loves. Serious cash and no FA. I’m thinking another job. Its a phenomenal fit and I will be thrilled if he gets in, but I’m still a bit jumpy at the cost. Nothing I can’t handle, as lord knows my ex put me through worse, but OY vey. I will be on the phone with admissions tomorrow. Who has the hair dye and chocolate?? Pass it here, please!</p>
<p>WE ED’d NYU. No hope of FA or merit aid. Bring on the chocolates, hair dye AND alcohol…</p>
<p>My son ED’d also, pass the chocolate, hair dye and and drinks! So many worries with ED. What if he dosen’t get in? What if he does!!!</p>
<p>I’ve got no hair dye but always have enough chocolate to spare. My advice is to horde the Halloween candy too…
In all seriousness, congrats on having made the commitment to ED. I wish all of your families a “one and done” experience. Financial aid can surprise you. Make sure to file the FAFSA even if you think you won’t qualify for aid. I recently saw a statistic that something like 63 million dollars goes unused because families who would be eligible simply didn’t file.
Take advantage of local scholarships. Use F a s t w e b.
Believe me, I know about sacrificing for college. We all manage, somehow.</p>
<p>Oh boy is Dec 1st gonna be fun around these parts…</p>
<p>On a completely different note, we are still without power; working with a generator for heat and Internet…they are saying maybe Wednesday…</p>
<p>So, I ask all you wise people…are the ED/EA deadlines for Tuesday going to be extended for those in the affected areas?
I was supposed to help two different students with their apps this weekend; didn’t happen and they don’t have power either…I guess I will be on my cell calling admissions in the morning…</p>
<p>Loved Puss In Boots…also, saw In Time ( thought that was a little dark)…</p>
<p>@rodney: I think you should get on the phone first thing tomorrow with the admissions offices, explain the situation and they will probably extend the deadline until you have power.
To those who have power but haven’t yet hit send, heed rockvillemom’s sage advice to resist waiting until the last minute. You never know what unexpected delay could create an impediment to submitting.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes! I read her advice and insisted that S finish with the Common App today rather than waiting till the very last minute for the 11/1 Early App deadline and am so very glad I did as we had a terrible time uploading his essay to the Common App. It kept coming up completely blank in the print preview. Finally I did a search in the help section and learned this is an issue uploading a document that was saved in the Mac version of Word. Finally had to email the document to myself, download it in a different program on a different computer, and then upload again. It took almost an hour to resolve and I would have been stressed out of my mind if this was happening at the last minute. So, thank you rockvillemom!</p>
<p>Simpkin: I’m glad that you got things worked out. It sounds pretty stressful.</p>
<p>Good luck to those of you whose kids applied ED. We had good luck with ED in our house, and both of my D’s are extremely happy with their schools. Hearing from your top choice in December really makes the rest of senior year more enjoyable.</p>
<p>We spent a nice weekend in Philly with D1 despite the miserable weather. We went to the Jewish Museum on Saturday. It’s worth a visit if you’re in Philly. There was a nice display on Jewish camps that made me think of you guys.</p>
<p>Rodney, I’m curious to hear what they adcoms tell you. I hope you get your power back soon.</p>
<p>simpkin - I have seen a lot of that issue. Kids trying to upload their essay from their Mac laptops and it would not work. Would have them forward their essay to a desktop PC and upload from there. Not sure why this was happening - but it seemed to be a fairly consistent problem and solution.</p>
<p>Will be very interesting to hear if any deadlines are extended as a result of the storm.</p>
<p>I’m in my office (we have power) so I haven’t called yet for any extensions…</p>
<p>I will later if my kids can’t get here…it’s really a mess around here</p>
<p>FL today: heavy rain and heavy sinus hell.
FL tomorrow: more of the same.</p>
<p>Why I do not wonder why youngest is hoping to be in Boston…</p>
<p>For those of you with seniors…heads up!!</p>
<p>Many, many schools have extended their EA/ED deadlines until next week…</p>
<p>Just in case difficulties arise…call the schools specifically to find out…</p>
<p>examples:
JMU: 11/8
UVM: 11/4
Elon ED: 11/7; gap semester program: 11/4</p>
<p>S2 participated in a Texas /Oklahoma NFTY event this past weekend. When I asked where his NFTY friends were applying to college he told me that UT Austin (no surprise), KU and IU were the most popular choices. I wish TAMU were a more popular choice but I’m not surprised that it isn’t. This doesn’t seem to bother S2 though.</p>
<p>Spectrum, Just out of curiosity, Did your son mention Georgia as a school for the texas kids. I am hearing it is popular amount that constituency?</p>
<p>I just asked him and he said that he did hear that a few kids were applying to Georgia.</p>
<p>Thought so . Thanks for confirming…</p>