<p>Is it gsmomma? We’re old pals! We’ve been pm’ing with each other for the last year or so. My S2 did a summer program at WPI for 3 weeks last summer and that seemed to “seal the deal.” I know her D seems quite happy there!</p>
<p>We may look at BU for him in April. It would give him a chance to see a real city school and see what he thinks. I think WPI would be an awesome fit for him but we have a few more schools to visit.</p>
<p>Of the 6, one is a true safety and a second one would be a safety too but he could do their honors college…not sure how I feel about honors colleges. The other 4 would be matches. RPI would have been his reach, but honestly I don’t even think he should bother applying for such a reach when he has other good options.</p>
<p>Thanks for telling me about gsmomma. She is a wealth of information! :)</p>
<p>Vitrac- So happy for you, LOL.
LINYMOM- didn’t know you knew Vitrac too. Good luck to your son. Looking forward to hearing his final decisions. (UM, UM, UM!)</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your well wishes re: Tulane. Honestly, we didnt care if D2 followed D1 to Tulane. There are pros and cons to that route. We just want her to be happy and fulfilled while at the same time leaving us financially solvent! Chatting it up with other prospective Tulane parents last weekend (I know some CCers were there though screen names were not disclosed), it was so clear that everyone shared these sentiments–the delicate balancing act we all must negotiate. I’m glad this phase is over for us and wish all of you the best of luck in the next few weeks.</p>
<p>I’m really sorry I neglected to say congrats and mazel tov to you when I posted last night! :(</p>
<p>Very happy your D2 made her decision and will be at Tulane, hooray! </p>
<p>Looks like last year’s college of the year was Elon (still is…) and this year’s colleges are Tulane & Miami! Don’t know if I shared with the group that I have a good girlfriend here whose D1 just graduated from Tulane last year and her D2 is a junior at Miami! So they are right in the groove.</p>
<p>Long time lurker here (I even posted once)… OK, I might be posting in the wrong place but any UMD forum seemed like a wrong place also… Anyway, S2 was accepted at UMD - it is not his first choice but is still at the top. He did not want to take time away from high school to go the accepted students weekend but a friend of his went and spent Shabbat at Hillel. I spoke to the friend’s parent just to get another adult’s vibe. Well, the parent mentioned that although her S enjoyed his time and met a few great kids, one thing that concerned her was the presence of free flowing liquor on Friday night. Her S mentioned that some kids were noticeably tipsy and that bothered him. This also bothers me and that brings me to my question… Do University Hillels serve wine? Have any CC parents encountered drunk Jewish students on Friday nights? I know that UMD has almost 500 Jewish students and about a 100 was present that particular weekend so I am not generalizing, however S2 has never been to a Hillel dinner or lunch so I want to make sure that he is aware of what might be going on.</p>
<p>Vitrac, congrats…fantastic news! We are headed down to Tulane a week from tomorrow and I’m hoping my daughter gets that “feeling” which she hasn’t quite gotten yet at any of the schools she is potentially attending next year.
Linymom, its come down to Syracuse (should hear this weekend, fingers crossed), Elon, Tulane and Maryland. Revisiting all and hopefully she will be able to make up her mind. As an aside, she got accepted to Delaware Honors program with lots of merit (something my twins dd not get) – happy to be accepted but has zero desire to attend.</p>
<p>Jaynebe-I want to say something about that “feeling” concept that is discussed on CC. Neither of my kids had that “I want to, I HAVE TO, be here” feeling. Yes, some kids have it, but mine didn’t. Please don’t feel that UNLESS the student has that feeling, the school is not the right fit. It just isn’t true. At least it’s not NECESSARILY true.</p>
<p>jaynebe: Your D has great choices. Enjoy the visits. A wise woman once told me that when her D couldn’t decide on a college, she told her to pick the “closer, cheaper” school.</p>
<p>Choc: It was Gsmomma. Glad that your already found her.</p>
<p>PAmom18 - interesting observation re Maryland Hillel. I know lots of Jewish kids there - have never heard that before. I know there is plenty of drinking - as there is on most university campuses - and I know there is an active Hillel, Chabad and other Jewish groups - but never heard about excessive drinking at a Hillel function. That seems rather inappropriate. Given the large number of Jewish students at Maryland and the variety of Jewish groups on campus - I would still feel that a non-heavy-partying Jewish student could find their niche at Maryland.</p>
<p>PAmom, I haven’t heard about excessive drinking at UMD’s Hillel, either. Maryland is a big party school, but like RVM mentioned, it’s big enough for non-partyers to find their niche. Most of the Jewish students I know who attend aren’t involved in Hillel, but a lot of the girls are members of SDT, a Jewish sorority. The students I know who were happiest at Maryland were involved in Greek life or club sports.</p>
<p>vitrac…my older daughter walked onto delaware’s campus feb. of her junior year and knew the second she saw it, that she wanted to go there. I guess I’ve been waiting for younger sister to have that same feeling however she is a different kid entirely. Her problem isn’t that she doesn’t have the feeling, it’s more that she likes all the schools she sees and is having a difficult time making up her mind. , I definitely like momjr’s advice, “closer, cheaper school.”</p>
<p>Thanks, momjr. I’m thinking that he’ll apply and if he gets in to McDaniel, then we’ll take a more serious look at the environment. On paper, it looks great. It’s also a really pretty campus and I think my son would do well there. </p>
<p>Chocchipcookie…we have one University we’re visiting next week that we’re only going to look at because he needs a safety. I think my S2 will probably really like it, but it’s not necessarily where I want to send him. The other schools we’re looking at should be good fits, but it’s questionable whether or not he could be accepted. His stats really aren’t good, but he’s coming from a well know, very respected high school, and they’re not out of the ball park.</p>
<p>He found a school he really liked, which is in-state, and would really be ideal. The question is whether or not he could get accepted. Unfortunately, if we had sent him to a public school, rather than the rigorous private school he’s in, his grades would be better, and he would have much better chances of acceptance. It’s a judgement call we made along the way that I’m starting to question. </p>
<p>I’m thinking that he’ll apply to 6 schools as well, and we’ll hope for the best. I think they all have EA or rolling admissions, but I won’t be surprised if he gets a bunch of deferrals wanting to see 1st sem grades next year.</p>
<p>I have been told that admin offices look at GPA and grades but they also look at what classes were taken and if the student pushed himself to take challenging courses or easier ones.</p>
<p>Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’s a balance of grades and courses chosen. So if he is at a private school taking challenging classes, that has a lot of weight. What do the rest of you think??</p>
<p>PAmom:</p>
<p>We have a cousin whose D went to UMCP and was very active in Hillel. I know she is a non-drinker…her brother is at UDel now…they are very active Jewishly and also in Jewish greek life, but I doubt they were drinking at Shabbat dinners. I could be wrong, but I doubt it, I could ask…</p>
So they are right in the groove.</p>