Master List of pointers to 2006 Trip Reports

Parents Forum
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<p>Some oldies but goodies from the old forum:</p>

<p>Connecticutt College
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=30525&highlight=visit[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=30525&highlight=visit&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>University of Delaware:
<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/[/url]”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Georgetown U
<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/[/url]”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>St. Mary’s College of Maryland
<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/[/url]”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Vanderbilt:
<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/[/url]”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Midwest: Hope, Wheaton (IL), Carleton, St. Olaf <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=114763&highlight=visit[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=114763&highlight=visit&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Colleges for “average” students: St. Joseph’s, Randolph Macon, Lynchburg, Rider, Susquehanna, Rider
<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/[/url]”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Grinnell and Oberlin:
<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/[/url]”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Dickinson, Goucher, Washington College:
<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/[/url]”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Sorry, Mootmom noted that those links don’t work. However, anyone who wants to SEE the old posts, can click on the above links then do a search for the school in question. They should turn up just fine.</p>

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<p>Winthrop University (SC)</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=151693[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=151693&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Just visited Clemson, U of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn. (other direction to be visited over spring break in March)</p>

<p>son is a junior.</p>

<p>Advice to other junior parents who have had trouble getting their kid interested in college search:</p>

<p>BEFORE arriving to the campus

  1. find out which college entrance is the most attractive.
  2. Find out where the cute college hang-outs are and drive thru the area first (if there is time, stop for coffee, burger, pizza (whatever) there before heading to campus)
  3. Try to go on a “school day” so that your child will see the students “in action”. (my kid loved seeing the kids sitting on the lawn with their laptops and lunches)
  4. Find out ahead of time where the best “on site” eating/rec places are and be sure to visit them early (even if its before a “tour”)
  5. Walk thru some of the dining halls (we had no problem just telling the ladies at the door that scan cards that we were just looking around). My son became especially enamored with one school that featured a huge dining hall that has a LARGE variety of stations of “exhibition cooking” (the food is cooked in front of you by the chefs).
  6. Find out which is the best dorm and try to go in for a visit.</p>

<p>Before we ever went to a college, my son was DRAGGING his feet at the idea of visiting campuses (campi ??) However, by using this trick, my son “perked up” and now loves the idea of visiting campuses.</p>

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<p>This is probably a good place to paste a link to the ([Not</a> so obvious visit suggestions](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=33248&highlight=obvious+visit]Not”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=33248&highlight=obvious+visit)) thread. Lots of good ideas here.</p>

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<p>Thanks to everyone who has posted! What a wonderful public service.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>carolyn: if you open the threads in a new window (with right-click), you can get the “real” URL.</p>

<p>I tried the search, but I guess I came up with different threads than yours:</p>

<p>[Notes</a> on College Visits](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?70/10172]Notes”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?70/10172) – Harvard, Bard, Bryn Mawr, . . . </p>

<p>[College</a> visits part II](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?70/10697]College”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?70/10697) – Whitman, Puget Sound, Pacific Lutheran University, U of Oregon, UT Austin, Trinity, Yale, Columbia, Bradley, Barnard, NYU, UVA, Carnegie Mellon, . . .</p>

<p>(Spring of 2003)</p>

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<p>Furman:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=151825[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=151825&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Swarthmore: posted today by a prospective student:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=151552[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=151552&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

30

<p>Lenoir-Rhyne (NC) College: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=99974&highlight=lenoir-rhyne[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=99974&highlight=lenoir-rhyne&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

31

<p>Let’s keep this thread going. This is wonderful. At some point, perhaps someone can go back and create an actual “Master List” — Any volunteers?</p>

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<p>University of Maryland-College Park: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=54391[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=54391&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>from late summer '05</p>

<p>Dickinson: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=89612&highlight=dickinson[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=89612&highlight=dickinson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>FYI, I’ve volunteered to put together a master Master List in a little while, after the new reports have settled down. I propose mid-April for this task, since there will doubtless be more reports after spring break trips. (I plan to submit at least 3 myself!)</p>

35

<p>The following is a combination report for Hendrix (Wednesday) and Rhodes (Thursday). This trip was in September. DD has applied, been accepted and offered a scholarship to Hendrix. She did not apply to Rhodes.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=99708[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=99708&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>more tips:</p>

<p>Arrive the evening before and see what the college hangouts are like at night. After spending the night, go to an early tour. Sometimes you can be “done” with the whole visit by 1- 2 pm. That can give you time to move on to your next destination and visit the next college’s hangouts in the evening (If the following destination is within 4 -5 hours)</p>

<p>If your child is used to warm weather and you suspect that he may not like cold weather once he “really experiences” it, plan a visit when the weather is at or near its coldest. We did that recently and by the end of the visit, s had crossed school off his list. Better now than midway thru his freshman year!!! Who wants to go thru all of this only to have your kid want to transfer and send you all on another wild goose chase!</p>

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<p>Kinshasa, I found some on the old forum that you wrote:
<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?4/50482[/url]”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?4/50482&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>College visit report – Part 2 </p>

<p>NEW YORK UNIVERSITY – We knew all the good stuff about NYU: tons of internships, study abroad programs, great academics. S felt that NYU was more of a pre-professional school than liberal arts. Emphasis seemed to be on theater, business, and pre-med and pre-law tracks. </p>

<p>Student-faculty ratio 13:1, average class size 25-30. All courses taught by professors except discussions and writing workshops. 70% of teachers live in university “faculty dorm.” Over 300 clubs and organizations. </p>

<p>Housing guaranteed for 4 years. Must sign into dorm you are visiting. All traditional residence halls have private bathrooms. Apartment style housing available as well. S didn’t like idea of some dorms so far from academic buildings. 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. shuttle bus provided. </p>

<p>We didn’t think the security system was that great. Instead of blue light call boxes, NYU has green light buildings: a green light in front of a 24 hour convenience store means you can call for help inside. We didn’t see too many on our tour. </p>

<p>SAT I middle 50% 1350-1450,. ACT 30-32. Acceptance rate 40% ED, and no deferrals – either yes or no answer. 25% regular decision acceptance rate. 74-78% graduate in five years. NYU does not guarantee full need. </p>

<p>We compared apples to apples: Boston University and NYU. Both large, urban campuses. Although S loves New York City, he didn’t fall in love with NYU. </p>

<p>DREW UNIVERSITY – An hour train ride from Penn Station ($11 round trip), the RR station was a 10 minute walk from campus in Madison, New Jersey, a nice suburban town. 1500 undergraduates including 14% students of color. Drew’s president, Thomas Kean, is former governor of NJ and was chairman of the 9/11 commission. Our tour guide told us she attended one of the commission’s meetings which was held on campus. She sang Kean’s praises, very involved, personable leader of the school. He’s been president for 10 years. With this leadership, the political science program is strong. </p>

<p>Most of the academic classes are held in two buildings. Our guide took an introductory philosophy class (60 students, largest class at Drew) and the professor had everyone sign up for a time to meet him personally. We ran into the chairman of the biology department on our tour and he was very friendly, asked our group if he could answer any questions. Professors are accessible, interested and love teaching. Student-faculty ratio 11.5 :1. </p>

<p>Drew gives every freshman a personal computer, printer and software package as part of the tuition. It was the first liberal arts college to adopt this policy. </p>

<p>Campus is beautiful, set in an oak forest. Housing guaranteed for four years. 95% of students live on campus. The dorm rooms were adequate size, and there are theme houses. No microwaves allowed in room, refrigerators are OK. Lounges have microwaves. Students are heavily involved in community service. There’s a student initiated Volunteer Resource Center. </p>

<p>The orientation program for new students, called OC, is well organized. Orientation committee members are responsible for contacting their “siblings” during the summer. A sibling group is 12-15 freshmen. Roommates are paired within the group. </p>

<p>Our tour guide was from Ohio and loved Drew. Overall impression: friendly, tight-knit community, good academics motivated students and faculty, plenty of clubs and extracurricular opportunities. S had an interview after the tour. The adcom told him he was guaranteed admission (male from California). Drew offers lots of merit aid, and if S got about 100 points higher on his SAT, the adcom told him he would get 75-100% tuition. (He’d get at least 50% tuition with his current stats) It’s true that if you want merit aid, apply to a school where your stats put you in the highest bracket. </p>

<p>Seven year dual degree program (BA/MD) with UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, dual degree (BA/BS) engineering program with Columbia, Wash U, and Stevens Institute of Technology. International and off-campus programs, including semester in Washington, U.N., Wall Street, etc. Acceptance rates to law and medical schools and graduate programs total about 85%. SAT I verbal middle 50% 560-670, and SAT I math middle 50% 550-650. General undergraduate acceptance rate is 72%. </p>

<p>S said he could be happy at Drew, but BU was still #1.</p>

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<p>Next on our tour stop was… </p>

<p>GOUCHER COLLEGE – Goucher and Drew were the safeties: both small schools at which a male from California would be a slam-dunk acceptance. Goucher couldn’t match Drew. </p>

<p>Beautiful campus, huge dorm rooms (40% air-conditioned). A new dorm will be ready in Sept. ’05. 90% live on campus, and housing is guaranteed for 4 years. All students can have cars, but only juniors and seniors can live off campus. </p>

<p>Students can take classes at other schools in the consortium (Johns Hopkins, Towson State, etc.) to which there is regular shuttle service. 64% acceptance rate. 32% male, 68% female this year and a freshman class of 399, up from 350 the year before. Internship, study abroad, community service or independent research is required. 80% do internships—Goucher is a pioneer in this field. Computer science, wellness and PE required. Two courses, “Frontier” (intro to liberal arts) and “Connections” (sort of an intro to Goucher) also required. Generous merit aid. Global citizenship award—minimum 3.0 unweighted, 1100 minimum SAT, $8500-12,500/yr. Dean’s Scholarship (10 awarded) full tuition, 3.8 unweighted and 1470 SAT. Varsity sports only, no club or intramural sports. </p>

<p>Our male tour guide had transferred from a public Texas college and loved Goucher. Both S and I felt that the academics were more limiting and probably not as challenging as Drew. </p>

<p>Goucher was the first school we visited which asked us to complete surveys of our visit.
I was impressed. Brochures and publications are professional and well-designed. This is a school that invests in itself and its image. </p>

<p>Drew bumped Goucher off the list as the safety school. </p>

<p>JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY-- Instead of a tour followed by an info session or vice versa, JHU started with an interview at 10 a.m. S said the interviewer was a recent grad working in admissions. “If you were a drink which one would you be?” S said diet Pepsi. “If you could switch shoes with someone, who would that be?” JHU has a quirky side. Even the application has an off-the-wall $10 essay question (if you had $10….). </p>

<p>The adcom conducting the info session was the best yet. He was likeable, knowledgeable, and up front about what JHU is and isn’t. JHU is a research university. If you’re not interested in research, don’t come here. JHU was the first college we toured which did not have a printed course catalog. It’s available online. The student has control over the curriculum. Flexibility and exploration are the key words. There are no core courses, only distribution credits. </p>

<p>There are four kinds of students at JHU: engineers (1/3 of students), natural science majors, social and behavioral majors, and humanities majors. All majors involve research. Credit is granted for internships, study abroad and research. Qualities of a successful JHU student – decisive and independent, and interested in research.
96% of freshman return for sophomore year, and 84% graduate on time. 90% do post-graduate work within 7 years, and 45% of graduates do post-graduate work immediately following graduation. </p>

<p>Freshmen are graded the first semester, but grades are covered. No GPA is reported, which deemphasizes competition and allows freshmen to explore social life. </p>

<p>The adcom was bluntly honest about the application process. Of 11,000 applications, JHU can admit about 30%. 80% of applicants are admissible; that is, they have the stats and personal qualities to succeed. When reading an application, he asks himself, “Is this student ‘brochureable’?” a word he’s created to help him decide. Is this a student who can represent JHU? Does JHU want him/her to represent us? He’s looking for interests outside the academic sphere. GPA and SATs are not the sole factors in admission. In fact, he’s worried if a science student, for example, has ONLY science related ECs. Scores are evaluated differently depending on a student’s intended major. Math scores are not as important for an international relations major as for a BME major. </p>

<p>The adcom warned about dual early decision applications. This year JHU broke ED agreements with three students when it discovered they had submitted ED applications to another school as well. </p>

<p>We liked the campus. Red brick, lots of grass, a unified look to the buildings. We’d heard negative comments about the campus and we were pleasantly surprised. </p>

<p>The biggest drawback to JHU was Baltimore. S and I went to the aquarium later (don’t miss this!), wandered around Fells Point and watched the Orioles lose to the Twins. He was disappointed in the city. Maybe if JHU had been in Boston or New York, it would have ranked higher on his list. S also did not like the higher male to female ratio.
Definitely a possibility, but it didn’t grab us like BU.</p>

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<p>Debruns, thanks for digging those up. And congrats on your S’s acceptance and merit package to Drew!</p>

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<p>And thanks for teaching us the word “brochureable.” Yes, it’s ungainly, but it defines a concept that tends to elude highly-partisan parents.</p>