<p>Rockville Mom: Keep in mind that there are many cheap airfares to Florida (at least to Miami or Fort Lauderdale, don’t know for sure about Tampa). In fact, it can be cheaper to visit your son in Florida than some of the other cities you are thinking about.</p>
<p>Visited Tampa many years when my husband had a job interview. At the time, Tampa did not seem exciting, but maybe it has changed.</p>
<p>Error: Meant to say visited Tampa many years ago.</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: Keep watch on the Towson website and it will tell you when there is a special visitors day for juniors (or the day when there is an all day tour and you can see the dorm, get more info than just the shorter tour). Last spring it was on a Friday.</p>
<p>If you are too busy to go up to Towson, then just have your son apply and see it on accepted students day. Towson is your best in state safety, particularly with having the largest in state undergrad business school and a Hillel.</p>
<p>rockvillemom - Have you looked into Rollins College in Winter Park (next to Orlando)? I believe that they are strong in business and meet some of your criteria and definitely have a stronger Jewish presence than Eckerd.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.rollins.edu/[/url]”>http://www.rollins.edu/</a></p>
<p>Hi seiclan - I did look at Rollins. The problem that I have is that Rollins - like Dickinson - has an international business major - which includes a pretty rigorous foreign language requirement. S2 has had 3 years of Spanish and hates it. Rollins also has a 3/2 MBA program - which is an interesting possibility - but I just don’t know enough about it. If we do get to Florida at some point - we will probably visit Rollins as well.</p>
<p>Towson - I am hoping to visit at some point. Might skip the official info session/tour at this time and just drive out on a Sunday and have our family friend meet us there and show us around. He’s not Jewish, but he is a business major, so I’m sure he could give us plenty of info. He’s also in the Honors program I believe. Does Towson have any kind of sports though? Besides undergrad business and Hillel - sports are big on our list - both intermural and being a fan at a football or basketball game. I have to look into that.</p>
<p>mdcissp: From our experience with S1 I found that we like the apply and then visit and decide when accepted strategy. College visits before applying are really important to help figure out what you like and don’t like about schools and also about what they offer. But especially if applying to a broad geographical area its hard to visit every school. During our pre application campus visits S1 figured out if he liked large or small and some things in different schools such as advising and opportunities to know profs that were important to him. He ended up at a school he didn’t visit in advance and visited a couple he had not seen until accepted prior to making a decision. It is a lot easier to fall in love with a school and know that attendance is a real possibility rather than falling in love with a school in advance and then getting rejected or WL’d. Aside from the absence of heart break I think it may be easier for a student to see himself as part of the school when he knows he can actually go there. This worked well for S1 hopefully it will work as well for S2… One caveat though, really try and be very sure you understand what your child likes and doesn’t. In our case state flagship was S1’s safety. We measured all other aps against this one. If he didn’t prefer a school to the flagship he didn’t apply. Well, it wasn’t until acceptance time that I found out just how much S didn’t like the biggness of the state flagship and really didn’t want to go there. I wished he had picked another safety that was both affordable and an academic safety. That would have decreased some stress in April.</p>
<p>spectrum2 - I agree with most of what you said except for the issue of demonstrated interest. If the college is small/medium size - not visiting could hurt you in terms of admissions - particularly if the college is within driving distance. But I agree with you that if the school is not close geographically - it would probably be fine not to visit until accepted.</p>
<p>RM: I agree with what you are saying. We were lucky enough, or unlucky enough that the small school S1 wanted to go to was a several days drive away :). But we did visit most of the schools that were within driving distance. The main reason for not visiting some was the distance. We even visited one school within an hour drive from home just to get a feel for that type of school even though S1 didn’t want to go…largely because it was within an hour drive from home.</p>
<p>ShawSon, who has learning disabilities that meant he had an unusual schedule (e.g., no foreign language) but became an extremely strong student (one A- in HS) and an extremely strong test-taker (going from 40th percentiles in middle school to 99+ percentiles and even to no errors at all on Math SAT and Chem AP), applied to a bunch of the most competitive schools around and told me that he didn’t want to visit and fall in love with schools that had a 10% probability of admission. So he proposed applying to a few extra schools and visiting after he got accepted. It turned out he only was rejected from two (of the HYP) and interestingly enough, was waitlisted at Bates, which his GC had put down as a safety, and I think this is because he didn’t interview there or with alumni or visit. They just figured he’d get into a higher-ranked school and didn’t want to lower their selectivity score for a kid who clearly wasn’t going there. My conclusion was that showing interest for some of the smaller schools was likely to be very important, so our experience supports rockvillemom and spectrum2’s point.</p>
<p>With his his acceptances, he grouped schools into types and figured out which was the best of that type given his interests and needs and then we visited. It took two visits to make his choice.</p>
<p>However, with ShawD, she isn’t looking at the most competitive schools and I think we need to visit to help her get a feel for things. I picked out New College of Florida (lots of Jews, I think, but no business school) as a school that would feel comfortable to her (she goes to a hard to get into but artsy private HS that gives narratives as well as grades) and that would be a Likely for her so that she would have confidence that she could get in to a place she would like. It worked. She said, “I could see myself here” and you could see a sense of relief settle over her. She also visited Amherst College and said, “I don’t want to go here. There’s too much pressure.” Recently, she told me that she’s not sure about New College because it is too much like her HS and may be too small. So the visits for her are going to be important. We’ve got the Shawbridge et fille Canadian College Tour (with University of Rochester thrown in) coming up. A couple of her schools there are truly in the middle of no place and I want her to see how she feels about that. She’s going to a science summer program at one of them in August, which will, I hope, give her a sense of the isolation. I think isolation is positive for the undergraduate years as it causes bonding and strong friendships and attachment to the institution. I virtually never left my college campus and was at dinner at a friend who son goes to my alma mater and is loving it as much as I did. The son spent less than $200 for the year on incidental expenses (he has 3 older sisters who went to less isolated schools and spent a lot more and the dad kept asking his son, “Do you need money?” and the son would say, “I’ve got everything I need on campus. Why would I spend money?”). That’s how I was and that is how ShawSon is as well. But, it is not my choice and ShawD has to decided whether a more isolated location feels good to her.</p>
<p>
well yes, Bing is a quiet area; beautiful rolling mountains are exquisite but only for those who find that a source of strength. Bing is an economically depressed older city, with some shuttered-up factory neighborhoods as well as graceful older homes. The City of Binghamton, an older industrial city, does reflect the economic downturn in upstate NY, although the SUNY campus itself is not center-city. You can certainly find modern malls and such for B&N bookstores, Bed/Bath/Beyond type trips as well. A major interstate highway goes by Binghamton, so it’s a good crossroads with the economy of malls, highway-side hotels and such. </p>
<p>Not too far away from Bing is SUNY New Paltz with a much more upbeat feel, in terms of the progressive, lively, appealing small town of New Paltz. New Paltz is a very small college town, overtook acreage from an agricultural region to become a “college town.” New Paltz is so dominated by the college vibe, in terms of shops, cafes, art/craft galleries and bar/restaurants, that a walkthrough feels very upbeat, lighthearted and young.</p>
<p>
Great description of the value of having a good safety or two on the list (and for many on CC, also a “financial safety”). With that established in one’s mind, it’s not just magical thinking to add the matches and reaches to the list.</p>
<p>Often repeated on CC: Safety = “the most important college on your list” and often the hardest one to come to terms with.</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: Go to Towson.edu and at the top you will see written “Athletics”. Click on “Athletics”. There is plenty of Athletics going on at Towson which should meet your son’s needs. Let us know what you think.</p>
<p>mdcissp - yes - the sports looks better than I thought - I looked at the football schedule - they play Indiana, Delaware, James Madison, Villanova - so that looks fun. </p>
<p>I looked at the business major again - and I find that webpage very confusing - have you looked at it? It looks to me like there is a secondary admissions process - which I am trying to stay away from Here’s the link:</p>
<p>[Major</a> in Business Administration - College of Business and Economics - Towson University](<a href=“http://www.towson.edu/cbe/buad/buad_major.asp]Major”>http://www.towson.edu/cbe/buad/buad_major.asp)</p>
<p>Am I missing something or is this just like James Madison where you take classes freshman and sophomore years and then have to be admitted to the major?</p>
<p>I think JMU requires more courses than Towson. At Towson, sounds like you have to take 6 pre-requisites and pass a Computer proficiency test. Minimum GPA for those classes is 2.7.</p>
<p>The big question is this: If a Towson student takes the 6 pre-requisites, plus the computer test, has a minimum GPA of 2.7, is that a guarantee of admission? How many students apply and how many are admitted with the required courses and GPA?</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: Are you comfortable raising this question on the Towson thread like you did on the JMU thread? When I spoke to admissions, it sounded like if you took the required classes and had the 2.7 GPA, you were ok to get into Business school. However, I don’t have this in writing.</p>
<p>UT Dallas lets you start Business without extra applications. Don’t know why Maryland schools require the extra application. However, I think Towson’s extra work is easier than at JMU (fewer courses required) and UMCP.</p>
<p>I also recall Towson requiring one internship for the Business major and offering study abroad as well.</p>
<p>Rockville Mom and other parents: Is there anyone who can provide more info about the Business program at Towson? How competitive is entrance?</p>
<p>One additional nugget of info from James Madison - I was told that they take 750 students into the business school every year - and you are admitted in GPA order. So, if more than 750 apply - and your GPA is above the 2.8 cutoff, but below that of 750 other applicants - you are out of luck.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. Rockville Mom. We are not going to see JMU.</p>
<p>Our older son started Engineering day one and I think it is much better to start already admitted to the Business school. </p>
<p>I don’t know why these Maryland schools are more competitive for Business.</p>
<p>Ok - I’m warming up to the idea of Towson - at least as our in-state academic and financial safety school. It does seem to meet most of our requirements. The Hillel looks great - here’s the link:</p>
<p>[Towson</a> University Hillel](<a href=“http://www.towsonhillel.org/]Towson”>http://www.towsonhillel.org/)</p>
<p>Towson offers various business majors and he could also do a sports mgmt major with a business minor. We have not seen the campus yet - but I understand that the surrounding area is nice with shopping etc in Towson, and of course, just a short distance from Baltimore. And it goes without saying that this would be our lowest price option.</p>
<p>My concerns center around housing - there are some older threads on the Towson forum discussing forced triples and even the Towson housing webpage warns that this is a possibility. And then there is the issue of prestige, or lack thereof. How do people really view Towson? Would you be happy to say your son/daughter attends this school? How do you feel it compares in terms of reputation to James Madison? Or York College? Or University of Tampa? I know from reading CC how important it is to “love thy safety” and someone else wrote that picking your safety schools is the most important aspect of developing your list.</p>
<p>So, hoping to visit Towson soon - but if anyone has recent experience on the housing issue or can tell me more about how Towson is regarded - that would be very helpful. I have admitted previously that I did not hold Towson in very high regard - but maybe I am mistaken.</p>
<p>I think that Towson enjoys a very good reputation for business. I think that it is a pretty good deal for instate students. I would worry about being tripled though. I would definitely investigate housing.</p>
<p>while tripling is not an ideal situation by any means, it also isn’t unusual – happens at private as well as public schools. just be glad they are being honest about it. i once went on a college tour where the guide claimed there was no tripling issue – and i later learned from a friend’s kid who ended up at that school that tripling in fact was not uncommon.</p>
<p>In the northeast, I think Towson’s rep is equal to JMU and superior to York or Tampa.</p>
<p>I have not seen either, but as Towson and JMU are similar in size, offerings, prestige and sports programs, what does JMU have to offer that Towson does not? Is the campus better? Towson’s proximity to Baltimore would give it an edge in my book. JMU has the more fun reputation in NJ–perhaps more of a plus to kids than parents.</p>