How can my son and I find colleges for him to apply to that are not aiming to be four year summer camps? We’re watching these promo videos that some of the schools put out, and they seem to be promoting their schools as like high school for young adults, or four year summer camps. (Videos are not how we’re judging a school, but they do give a certain impression.) How can we know that they are still maybe really great institutions of learning and for career preparation? In our search, which variables should we be looking at to make sure we’re getting a great academic institution. Sure, the students need ways to connect and recreate, but we aren’t looking to invest in four plus years of play; we both want a place where being studious and involved intellectually and pre-professionally is the highlight. How can we tell this in our research?
Thank you in advance for any replies. I’m interested in any discussion on this topic.
Did you check out the schools on your other thread? If you list which ones your son might get admitted to with a 25 ACT and that are within your $25k budget, posters can give you their opinion of them.
Personally, I’d study the Common Data Set, course catalog, on-campus recruitment, accreditations, honors programs, research opportunities (if relevant), study abroad programs, and campus organizations. If they have a college paper and magazine, read them. In order to get a real feel for a campus, you may have to visit. Traveling to the East Coast from CA can be expensive, so you may want to visit types of schools close to home to see what he likes (large university, small LAC, etc.) then branch out from there.
We never looked at promotional videos…at least not until after my son had submitted his applications. Our best source of screening information for colleges were college fairs and roadshows. That’s where we learned about the school my son ended up attending as well as a bunch of other amazing colleges. You can also look at the online catalogs for different schools. In particular, look at individual departments where your son thinks he might major. If a department offers depth and challenge in its course offerings, that will tell you that students (in that department at least) aren’t spending all their time goofing off.
I’d say the top 30 universities are fairly serious institutes of higher learning. Other schools such as Northeastern, Lehigh, WPI, University of Washington, and RPI are also fairly serious.
Pretty much any significantly sized school will be a case of “you get out of it what you have put in”. I suppose if you really wanted to try to eliminate some schools you could look up the biggest party schools and try to eliminate those. Amusingly, some of the biggest party schools are known as academic powerhouses nationally http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/uw-madison-top-party-school_us_57c09881e4b04193420f1b9c
Yes! I’ve been researching all of those schools, austinmshauri. I’ve been looking at them and many more. There are so many schools! Thanks for some ideas of what to look at. That’s helpful. We are going back east (New England and New York) for the holidays - not a great time to visit schools, but the only time we have right now - and I’m working on which schools to look at while we’re there.
Mother of Dragons, I’ve just been looking at lists of co-op schools. I"m glad to hear an endorsement of them.
happy1, yeah, thanks, I figured, but I do think schools that put out summer-camp types of promotional materials are showing to whom they’re aiming to appeal, no? And yeah, I’m looking to understand where I find the substance. I’m already looking at freshman retention rate, graduation stats, average scores and majors offered, just needing more, and I’m already getting more ideas from posts here, so I have some more things to consider. Thanks for replying.
I’m having trouble thinking of a college that "aims"to be like a 4 year camp. Having fun on off-time shouldn’t be mistaken for “all play all the time.” My kids went to a work hard/party hard and worked their tushes off. One chose to play on Fri and Sat nights, the other spent those nights in the library. Both graduated well educated.
Any student will have off time or play time not devoted to school, homework, paid job (if s/he has one), or career preparation.
It may seem that residential colleges are more like summer camps, since most students’ off time or play time is with other students, but commuter students presumably have their own off time or play time, though it may not be as commonly done in student-dense environments or gatherings.
It may look like a summer camp in the videos, but once he is the the classroom it won’t feel much like one day more. I wouldn’t worry about it, except to discourage him from letting those images cloud his perception of what it is really like academically.
I have never seen a college that promotes itself as a HS for young adults or a camp. I am curious to hear what it was in these videos that made you feel this way?
I wouldn’t confuse videos that capture 10 minutes of fun with being like summer camp. At residential colleges students live on (or near) campus for four years. They can manage to have fun and be serious students. My son attended Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. It is a well regarded, small, research university in Cleveland. Students there are serious and pre professional. They also have fun. My son played football and was an officer in his fraternity. The vast majority of his classmates (2016) are employed or in graduate/professional schools despite having some fun while in college.
Will your child be a first generation college student? College is not like summer camp. The only similarity is that you will be with people of a similar age. In that regard it’s not really like real life either. Never again will they be clustered together with so many people of similar ages and with comparatively little financial responsibility (that will come later). There is far more independence and personal responsibility than there would be at any summer camp. What the videos don’t show you is your child having to make decisions. They get themselves up in the morning for classes, get to the dining hall to get themselves fed, go to class, study, find ways to meet people and entertain themselves, do their laundry, schedule their courses and determine their own interests. College is about becoming independent in a learning environment. Summer camps are mostly about trying something new and having fun. They may teach you something but you’re in no obligation to learn anything.
@twogirls, I can think of one college we visited that had a distinct summer camp feel. It is located on water and has a strong sailing team. They have an amazing boathouse facility. The cafeteria had a lodge-like feel to it, too. Of course the kids went to class and it was a college. But the facilities had s definite summer camp vibe.
I think what is bothering me is the use of the word " promoting" by the OP ( promoting their school as HS for young adults or like four year summer camps). This makes it sound as though the beautiful campus, etc is the main selling point of the school. I have not witnessed that.
Thank you everyone for your replies. Because some of you are curious, I’ll explain some background: no our son won’t be a first-generation college grad… My husband and I are both college grads, and I have an advanced degree. But both of us are CC grads who transferred to four-year schools. My husband worked a lot during his last two years, and I went to NYU, so it was for sure not a traditional school with all the college-y activities. Also, as a transfer student my peers were all older - not 17-19 - and were pretty focused on school, work, and internships over college activities. So, you are correct that I do not have experience at a more traditional college, nor with going off to college at 18 years old.
And trust me, we’ve seen videos that seem to be hoping to attract students to the fun activities, versus schools that are aiming to attract students to professional and intellectual development. I expect my kid to have fun at school, and have balance. He is presently a varsity football player, and makes plenty of time to both learn, and play. I expect that to continue. Am I wrong that some schools are more serious than others? I guess from what most of you are saying, I shouldn’t worry about it. Funny, there are so many things parents worry about, and so many things we just need to let go of, huh?
Certainly some schools are more serious than others. There are thousands of colleges, and a fairly wide range of academic strength across them. And they vary by size, location, party atmosphere, etc. Some schools are notoriously intense academically. And some majors are particularly intense (requiring more time spent studying to stay afloat).
The cafeteria had a lodge-like feel to it, too. Of course the kids went to class and it was a college. But the facilities had s definite summer camp vibe.