Ha here is the final list. Rules were: great astronomy program, not too small or remote, blue states only:
Northwestern (ED), Tufts, Wesleyan, Amherst (though much Astro would be at UMass Amherst), Harvard, UPenn, BU, CU Boulder, UToronto, UMD College Park, UWashington Seattle, Vassar, Brown.
My super kind, relaxed, somewhat nerdy/introverted OOS kid is at UCSC and selected it bc of his area of study (not astronomy, but in STEM). He said that the people are nice and the food is good. He came from boarding school so I trust these observations. I was astounded by the stunning natural beauty of the campus. UCSC is not the rah-rah Greek life - socially intense/big sports/faux-gothic quadrangle kind of college experience(not that there is anything wrong with that) so if a kid is ok with that, it might be a good fit. There are housing issues, prob similar to UMiami (another school he applied to), but so far itās been great.
Thank you and best of luck to your student!
Thread update - the kid is heading to Northwestern! Thanks to all!
@relaxmon, Not sure if youāre still on these boards, but my senior is following the same track as your kiddo (hoping to double major in Astronomy and Theater!) Trying to decide between ED at Northwestern or Brown. I know itās early days for your student, but howās it going so far at Northwestern? (I hope theyāre having a great experience so far!) What led them to ED at NW over Brown or other schools?
Hi! No I am not on the boards any more but got an email about your post so came back to respond! Northwestern just started so too early to say much though my son loves it so far. He was also deciding whether to ED Northwestern or Brown (among a few others). I think Northwestern won out over Brown for several reasons - N has a culture of it being extremely easy and common to double major including between different schools and due to the quarter system you can take many more classes (understood there are also downsides to the quarter system). Also Evanston is a wonderful college town but it is very close to a great vibrant city - he couldnāt get past the remoteness of providence from a real city.
In any case both are great schools you canāt go wrong with! Good luck!
Thank you for coming back and replying. I really appreciate it! Itās helpful to hear different perspectives on this big decision. Wishing your son a wonderful four years!
Hi there, how are the housing issues now? Iāve read such horror stories, but my OOS hs class of 25 daughter is interested in the school, and having seen it myself, I can understand why. Sheās STEM-oriented. We are going to CA for spring break vacation and Iām wondering if we should even look there, because of the housing situation.
Housing seems fine to me? Way better than Georgetown where an older kid went! I havenāt heard any issues and my son has a nice double. Not glorious but hey itās a dorm. Did you have a specific concern? Most kids live on campus only the first two years.
Oh I have no concerns about the quality of the on-campus housing thatās available, Iāve just read that itās limited to first-years, and that off-campus housing is not only expensive but also extremely scarce. Iād love it if those reports exaggerate the reality.
Well some is certainly incorrect. You are required to live on campus for first two years and I havenāt heard of any issues getting housing at all on campus. My son had a double as a freshman and is hoping for a 4 room suite as a sophomore but will do a double again if the lottery number isnāt enough to get that. On campus Housing quality is about same as Columbia where one of my kids went and way better than Georgetown where the other one went. There also seems to be plenty of off campus housing very close to campus. it being Chicago it is expensive though that of course is in the eye of the beholder and not expensive like NYC. I would say $1k per month though could go lower or higher depending on quality, how many roommates, etc. some kids choose to stay in campus after two years and some move to frats after the first year. Really from my son and his friend group we havenāt heard about any housing issues. I wouldnāt make that a major consideration if I were you. The quarter system, being in a suburb of Chicago, the weather, are all bigger differences from similar level schools in my view.
I think mle77 was talking about UC Santa Cruz in California, not Northwestern.
Ok I am an idiot and no wonder I was so confused. Sorry everyone! Donāt know anything about UC Santa Cruz - we visited but my son didnāt apply.
Correct. It is sometimes hard to tell which comment someone is replying to. I tried to inquire about the real-life housing situation at UCSC. If anyone has any recent feedback on that, Iād like to read it!
S23 is doing astrophysics at UCSC and enjoying himself there. Dorms are triples but slightly more spacious than at say UCLA (and climate-wise the lack of A/C is much less of an issue). Freshmen do all get a room (even those getting off the waitlist after the normal room application deadline).
They have just introduced a lottery for housing in sophomore year so weāll know in a week or two, but it seems much better because previously there were priority groups who got most of the rooms (and so you had to make friends with one of those people to share their on-campus apartment). (Regents scholars who did previously get priority may disagree). The lottery makes it fairer, but there may only be a 60% chance of getting an apartment. However, at the presentation on the new system, it was also stated that there are always a few spare spots in triples if you arenāt picky.
The main problem is that going off campus is expensive and not particularly close (down the hill a bus ride away). And once you go off campus, you arenāt eligible to participate in the lottery for rooms in subsequent years.