Hi! My son says he has narrowed down his picks to Dickinson College and Susquehanna U. My husband and I think Dickinson is more academically prestigious, but my son liked the “vibe” at Susquehanna and would be in the honors program. And we liked it when we visited. He got good money at both. Could anyone offer insight into the comparison, and if he basically also likes Dickinson (if maybe not quite as much), should we push him in that direction? Like, would it be silly not to go there, given all they offer? He is very social, and he’s worried Dickinson might be less social (like, he wants to go to parties). But he’s also into performing arts so could do that at either place, and he’d be interested in club sports at either place. He gets along with nearly everyone so not so much worried about him fitting in as being happy. I’m torn between letting go with a gut feeling and guiding him toward the best school. He got into other very competitive schools but ruled those out for various reasons. Sorry this is long and very specific to him/us and thanks for any thoughts!
Paging @MaineLonghorn
My daughter attended Susquehanna and graduated in 2020. My oldest son looked at it way back in 2010 - he got a full-tuition scholarship but decided he wanted to study engineering so he went elsewhere. When my younger two kids were looking for schools, I took them to Susquehanna and D chose it. I was impressed with the school from the first time we visited in 2010 until D graduated. She was in the honors program and enjoyed it. She had two awesome mentors in the art history department and stays in contact with one of them.
I have written more than one post in the Susquehanna forum about it:
See post 12/16 -Susquehanna U coach just started recruiting my S21 for football - #12 by taverngirl
Compare retention rate & graduation rate for each school.
I know nothing about Susquehanna. We visited with DD Dickinson and she liked it.
However, here is the story that can help.
At the end of selection DD had to pick between Juniata (2 hours from home) and Rhodes College (12 hours drive) due to both were in LECOM BSDO program.
We assumed that DD will go to Juniata. It was close and DD was fine with it. She decided to connect with kids there ( she is very social).
She run Instagram for Juniata to “ignite” kids. Aftet a week of trying to connect, she came back very upset saying it is not her crowd there. Kids were either artsy or interested in sport, and she is not into either. She told us that she will not be happy at Juniata.
Then she tried same at Rhodes online. Within couple days she found her crowd. She has absolutely amazing roomate and big group of smart and hard working friends who also know how to have fun (they just spend last weekend on the lake and went to another state to see solar eclipse).
I think maybe your son needs to try to find his crowd. The best is a college where he will be happy.
So I just saw something on Instagram from harlancohen, which was when you don’t know what college to choose. He says to focus on the beginning and the end of college. So identify what organizations, clubs etc he wants to be involved in and reach out to some of the students running those clubs (like through snapchat or IG). Then reach out to those that are seniors or just graduated to see if they were happy with their college experience and if they are satisfied with their education etc. (I am not sure how you find these people but kids probably know :))
In many ways this advice is like @momsearcheng and @MaineLonghorn both mentioned.
Some of it will matter on major, etc.
I would say this - if your son is drawn to the vibe at Susquehanna vs. Dickinson, that’s where he should go.
Most of these PA LACs (short of a Swarthmore/Haverford) don’t really have name recognition. Yes, many - Lafayette, F&M are great - but the truth is, unless someone has a tie to one school and is recruiting there, no one is going to be like - oh they went to Dickinson, wow. It’s a fine school but no doubt Susquehanna will be too.
So if that’s his preference, he is going to school - not your husband and while Dickinson is higher ranked and all that good stuff - I don’t see an issue whatsoever.
Most people he tells where he goes to won’t have a clue about either - but it’s about him and not other people (including you) - so at 18, and having to spend the next four years somewhere, he should get to make the choice.
Best of luck to him.
What does he want to major in?
Dickinson reallly shines in study abroad and international opportunities, as well as the international business major. Is that of interest ? If not, Susquehanna is a great university, very supportive and friendly, one of these “hidden gems” you hear about.
Susquehanna has quite an impressive study abroad program. Every student is expected to do some sort of special study. If there’s some reason a student doesn’t want to go overseas, he or she is encouraged to go somewhere in the US. My daughter, a photography and art history major, had a wonderful semester in Florence. The semester didn’t cost us any extra.
Oh, I meant to add that I was also impressed with SU’s counseling services. My daughter has anxiety, probably due to seeing her big brother diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was 12. She saw a counselor for almost all four years of college at no cost. She encouraged her friends to go, pointing out that everyone can benefit from counseling.
Absolutely! I didn’t mean that Susquehanna doesn’t have solid study abroad programs, but rather that’s one of Dickinson’s specialties (with the centers they manage and the very strong international management major) and thus the only reason I can see a student picking one over the other, rather than “ranking”. In the same way, Susquehanna has an AACSB Accredited School of Business, which Dickinson doesn’t and would make a difference for s.o interested in a variety of business majors.
True, thank you!
So he says either Global Studies or Psychology but he seems a little anxious about not really knowing …
You can tell him that most kids change majors, anyway! I think I was the only one of my friends at UT who didn’t!
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