<p>D had made her decision and did not want to even go visit WUSTL. But I encouraged her to visit in mid-April (better late than not at all) and she fell in love with it. Came straight home from the airport and accepted admission.</p>
<p>Iām trying to decide how Iād feel about being split up from D for a tour. If we knew about it ahead of time, no problem, but springing it on meā¦ Yep, I might āfreak outā just a little. Mostly thinking that D would have a negative reaction to it. I can see pros and cons to it I suppose, but Iād miss seeing what she chooses to linger and look at or point out to me, and Iād miss being able to point out things to her along the way.</p>
<p>We went from taking tours together to DD taking tours alone to no one taking tours. This happened fast because DD hated listening to what she had already read on-line.</p>
<p>Our DS is looking exclusively at LACs so weāve been challenged to find a safety school that he loves. After visits last spring, he ruled out Union (NY) because it was ātoo spread outā. He is kind of an edgy kid and I thought he would like Bard, but there were too many people smoking there for him. We just had the best information session ever at Connecticut College, which he knew nothing about previously, and now itās in his top 5 schools. Not a safety, but a surprise.</p>
<p>I had read about schools splitting up students and parents, but when it happened to us at Elon, it was a complete shock. Nowhere in the literature did it say that was going to happen. i was fine with it, but DS did not like it.</p>
<p>We toured Elon this spring and were not split up, interesting. I have no problem with it and canāt imagine any of my kids would have. I can see the benefits of it. As it is I always encourage all kids on a tour to get towards the front, and I hang towards the back. Iām never the only parent doing this. I donāt want to dictate my kids experience on a tour so i donāt want to be pointing out things I think are important. Afterwards I certainly want to know what their thoughts are, what stood out to them. I may validate things they say when I agree, but I rarely add my own opinions that may be counter to theirs as this is their experience. The tour has never been part of the final deciding factor, just a fact finding mission for my kids, so this may explain the hands off approach.</p>
<p>My D and I toured Elon this summer and were not separated. I also hang back and try to be anonymous. We did so many visits this year that it can become overwhelming. A lot of the schools begin to sound the same. So my job was to help D differentiate between the schools. We both loved Elon. It will be a very serious contender if she can win an Honors Fellowship!</p>
<p>We attended the Open House last fall, maybe they split because of the size? I think it is a great idea to split up the parents and the kids, but for some reason it was off-putting to DS. But in the end, he loved Elon and it is DSās second choice and as his first choice is quite a reach, it may well be where he chooses to attend. :)</p>
<p>I think splitting up on tours is a good idea. These kids are soon going to be away from home and have to learn to find their way among their peers. Some colleges also divide the info sessions into one part that is for the students and parents together and one that is separated. I think that can be useful as well.</p>
<p>Bates is a school that split up the tours - I wasnāt expecting it but thought it was a great idea. S #2 starts at Bates in two short weeks! I think so many kids wonāt ask questions with their parents there. And agree with Sally305 that theyāre going away soon so itās important that our kids be able to ask questions, etc.</p>
<p>Spud17 - re: safety school/LACS - how about Clark? My son actually liked Union a lot and liked Bates even better but we were really impressed with Clark. Itās not in the most exotic locale (Worcester Mass) but we all loved the energy and philosophy of Clark. They are very generous with financial aid as well.</p>
<p>BT Mell-I think we ruled out Clark because of the number of graduate students there.</p>
<p>Ah - too bad. I asked my son to apply there as a safety and he really liked it - I think we were surprised how much we all liked it there. At least at accepted studentsā day, it felt like any other LAC with no āfeelā of grad students. Iām pretty sure classes are taught by professors and not by graduate TAs. Are you looking in any area of the country in particular? (we liked Union too, btw)</p>
<p>Clark is on Dās list in part because of the 5th year masters/free program. I HOPE that puts a lot of grad students on campus or something is wrong with that programā¦</p>
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<p>Twenty-eight percent of all full-time students at Clark are graduate students. 32% of all humans (meaning part-time included). </p>
<p>I admit, that it is a little high, especially for a relatively small place. How that would affect the overall atmosphere I canāt say. But I can understand how that might be a concern.</p>
<p>What does everyone think of the following schools? These are kind of the ones Iām looking at.</p>
<p>U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
UW Madison
Washington U in St. Louis
Tufts
Notre Dame
Iowa State
Augustana in Rock Island, IL
Bradley U in Peoria, IL</p>
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When we visited Clark I ended up liking WAY more than I expected to ā¦ of all the schools I have visited with my kids (almost 50) I think it is the school where the students were universally the most enthusiastic and helpful. I believe all (almost all?) those grad students are masters students so I would think Clark would still be much more like a traditional LAC than a research U with hordes of PhD students. In fact, having the masters programs provides a platform for additional higher level courses in an undegradās area of interest.</p>
<p>3togo, Iām hoping D reacts to it that way. I like most everything Iāve read about Clark, and if 28% of grad students are really mastersā students, that suggests few/no TAs and a good emphasis on undergrad education.</p>
<p>We will visit at some point in the next year (D is a rising junior).</p>
<p>kelsihagerty - This would be a great question to post in the College Search & Selection Forum. :)</p>
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<p>No, I didnāt write ā28% of grad students are really mastersā students.ā</p>
<p>The statistic is: 28% of all full-time students on campus, are graduate students.</p>
<p>Make sense?</p>
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<p>No, not all.</p>
<p>Clark offers Post-masterās certificates as well as Doctoral degrees (in Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Physics and others).</p>
<p>Ya, know, all this information is available here:</p>
<p><a href=āhttp://www.clarku.edu/aboutclark/pdfs/CDS_2012_2013_Clarku.pdf[/url]ā>http://www.clarku.edu/aboutclark/pdfs/CDS_2012_2013_Clarku.pdf</a></p>
<p>And here:</p>
<p>[Academic</a> Departments | Clark University](<a href=āhttp://www.clarku.edu/departmentsgraduate.cfm]Academicā>http://www.clarku.edu/departmentsgraduate.cfm)</p>
<p>DD and I, along with my best friend and her two children did Elonās Open House this spring and we were split up. I didnāt have a problem with it, it just seem odd because it was sprung on us so matter of factly. My friendās daughter was clearly unnerved. She is severely attached to her momās hip and I have told my best friend that her daughter probably wonāt want to go away to college (and if she does, sheāll probably be one of those that comes home really soon thereafter). </p>
<p>Not trying to be rude, but I donāt think that she realizes how much her daughter deosnāt ever want to leave her side. Sheās very bright and my BF plans (in her head) for her to go away. We will seeā¦</p>