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<p>I think you actually have it backwards. The Abu Dhabi campus is much, much more selective than NYU in New York. At least that was always my impression.</p>
<p>âUpper middle classâ means greater than the average wealth and able to afford all sorts of things I couldnât bavk then but can now. Wisconsin will no longer cover (grandfathering it in so current students not affected) the few hundred dollars difference in tuition for reciprocity students at Minnesota- a neighbor student thought that it was inconsequential, I pointed out to him that for some it mattered a great deal. Public Uâs are seeing richer students, possibly as there are more college educated oparents than in our day and not that many more places at the flagship Uâs. The costs of college are much greater than the income increases- I can think of many poorer students from my day who wouldnât have considered college at todayâs relative prices. They also had a âswim or sinkâ attitude back then, now students who are accepted expect to graduate instead of being âwinnowed outâ.</p>
<p>I suspect there are more college educated parents now than when we went to college- especially mothers. In the 1960âs and 1970âs HS students from the Madison area were likely to consider a 4 year college whereas in blue collar cities elsewhere in the state equally smart kids generally did not consider a 4 year degree. This has changed with more kids whose parents just went to work in the mills now consider college.</p>
<p>Those who disliked Michiganâs apparent attitude- make the trip to the other side of the lake for a school with the same academic possibilities and not known for financial snobbery (UW students/alums are known to be elitist about their school compared to all others in the state, however). There is the saying- âStudy hard, party hardâ- note which comes first, the second is not mandatory. Actually, however, UW applications are skyrocketing and they donât need more to keep up the quality.</p>
<p>TAâs are an excellent adjunct to professors giving lectures- closer in age and willing to answer the nitty gritty questions, understand how students donât know things, new enough to not be jaded by decades of the same freshman discussions and labs. TAâs teaching beginning foreign languages, the mechanics stages, are on par with HS teachers doing it- the content doesnât need someone with expertise in the literature.</p>
<p>Michigan: I have a graduate of Michigan and a son who is a Freshman. We live out of state and both kids had great options of other schools to attend and overwhelmingly loved Michigan. In one way, I can see why your daughter may have thought the kids were snobby. The students have an intense sense of school pride that continues long after they graduate (Ohio State is similarâŠremember they call themselves âTheâ Ohio State.) </p>
<p>My kids were looking for colleges with students who were intellectually engaged, yet knew how to relax and have fun. I would say that they found both at UMich. As to the pseudo-intellectuals, I would counter that in fact many of the students my kids have met would qualify as real intellectuals, Intel finalists, art award winners, researchers, writers, etc.</p>
<p>I just attended my D2âs medical school white coat ceremony and UMich was heavily represented in her M1 class. Several of the kids wore Michigan pins on their coats (did I mention the diehard alumnis?) They were engaging, smart and funny. Basically, the kinds of students I would hope my kids would become.</p>
<p>My daughter is a high school senior and has been accepted to University of So. Carolina as well as u of Alabama. We have yet to visit either. Now that your D has been at USC a couple of years, does she still enjoy it? I know it has an urban location, but does the school have a campus feel to it? Thanks!</p>
<p>Not sure who you directed your question to, but we visited USC and definitely think it had a âcampusâ feel.</p>
<p>moltobene, as my daughter likes to say: âIâm always going to be a Wolverine. Itâs great to be a Wolverineâ. GO BLUE! </p>
<p>BTW she attended from OOS as well. First time she stepped on campus, by lunchtime she said: âI want go hereâ. Sheâs a 3-year graduate this year, so she saved us a fair bit of money, and I think she feels it is now time to go. But she will always be a Wolverine.</p>
<p>3-year graduate w/ a double major, I might add. We are so proud of her.</p>
<p>pleaseadvise, thatâs terrific!</p>
<p>My son thought he wanted a city campus. He really liked Case Western. I thought Pitt and Carnegie Mellon could be a fit.</p>
<p>As we drove up and into the Pittsburgh ds said it was the ugliest city he had ever seen. We went ahead to the Pitt tour. The info session was actually well organized. However, the dorms are absolutely atrocious - the worst Iâve ever seen, shaped like a piece of pie. Ds said though it was a busy, packed school yet everyone seemed very alone. We grabbed something to eat and no one was eating âwithâ each other. He just said, he hated pittsburgh and didnât even want to see Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>Then we drove up to Rochester and went to RIT and UR. RIT was the most depressing place we ever saw. We went to see the dorms, the person was late, didnât have keys, seemed bothered to have to show us. The dorms were depressing. It was starting to look like the trip was a total bust. However, he loved U of R, and has applied there. </p>
<p>We moved on to the other side of PA where we toured Lehigh, Lafayette & Villanova. He loved Lehigh, and has applied, he liked Lafayette, but after thinking about for a few months felt the campus was too small. It also had such a boring presentation on minutae we got up and left. I thought he would love Villanova. We drove up and he said he didnât even want to go in. It was the last tour, I thought heâd warm up. They made us wait in this room forever while admissions student volunteers came around speaking to people, but they never spoke to us. After the first two buildings ds said, I wonât come here, I donât like this place, and we cut out of the tour early.</p>
<p>That being said, people love Pitt, they love Villanova - but I figured out what it was he did and didnât like based on those visits.</p>
<p>Any other thoughts by anyone on Villanova? Like the proximity to Philly?</p>
<p>Although Villanova is near Philly, it is very much a part of a wealthy suburb. It is at least 1/2 hour away by highway and train to Center City Philadelphia.</p>
<p>thx. maggiedog. I meant my kid likes the idea of it being close enough to a major city. Nevertheless your info helps. What are the campus and students like? Seems the class size is very intimate something like 11:1 as I recall. Most teaching by profs not grad students I assume> I hear they also have a strong and loyal alumni network, even though they are a small school.</p>
<p>pleaseadvise- We visited Villanova last year. My D did apply EA for engineering and was accepted, but chose not to attend. The campus is very nice- lots of stone buildings, lots of green space, which was a big plus for my D. I attended Drexel, and my D absolutely hated the thought of being deep in the heart of Philly, but did like the proximity of Villanova to the city. She said that if Drexel was on Villanovaâs campus, she would go in a heartbeat. The students that we saw all seemed pretty much the same- white, upper middle class, etc. We did see some diversity in the dining center with one table of non-Caucasian kids eating together.</p>
<p>I always thought CMU was in Philadelphia? Does it have a Pittsburgh campus?</p>
<p>NYUâa bunch of disparate buildings that you might not know constitute a university except for the purple NYU signs. </p>
<p>MichiganâThough son would love this school, but he crossed it off list when he saw drunken frat boys being rude to people walking by.</p>
<p>This may not be the right thread for my question, but there are a lot of comments on U. of M and Tufts, so⊠my D was accepted Friday to U. of M. and is considering applying ED II to Tufts. We havenât visited Tufts and Iâm concerned with all the comments on the Tufts âvibeâ. We donât have time to visit before the deadline hopefully Iâve convinced her to do RD. In any case comments about U. of M vs. Tufts (sheâs looking at pre-med/biology)?</p>
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<p>Carnegie Mellon is in Pittsburgh. No presence in Philadelphia, that Iâve heard of.</p>
<p>Virginia Commonwealth University
University at Albanyâactually left mid-tour</p>
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<p>That was probably the Villanova basketball team! :)</p>
<p>Post of the day MOWC.</p>