<p>ffscout: WPI will probably win regardless, for all the reasons you state and then some, but I have to try to get WPI to be a better financial fit. Haven’t heard back from either school at this point with answers to my questions.
Cpeltz, where do you think this anti-midwest bias is coming from? When I hear things like this from my S - that are somewhat vague - it is generally based on some comment from a peer - no basis in it but pervasive.</p>
<p>Cpeltz: He may be expressing his fears and resistance to leaving by projecting it all on the school. This may be an important part of his process even though it is so unpleasant for you. Just try not to take it seriously. I know it’s so hard when a kid is grumpy.</p>
<p>Hooray for historytwins!!! So glad the decisions are made! And glad they won’t be too far from home. You gave them so many good options and allowed them the freedom to choose and look how great it has turned out! Congrats historymom!!!</p>
<p>oh, cpeltz! I’d be happy to tell him the midwest isn’t a bad place to be!!
I couldn’t get either of my Ds to look at schools out of the midwest, they love it here. I was hoping they’d be up for something different but they had their own ideas!</p>
<p>historymom—congrats! so glad your girls have found their place, and that it happens to be together. my mom and her twin would say, "they will have their own friends, their own dorm, their own classes, their own passions, but will have it while sharing the campus…</p>
<p>imagine the ease of bringing them up to college, the fun of family weekend, etc…</p>
<p>good luck to those still wringing hands…</p>
<p>prom is tonight! bf flew in last night and my d and he are so excited to share it together…cute conversation in car, they each said how weird it was that they were ready to go off to college, and to be in a relationship, when did we grow up, how did this happen. I told them if they kept it up I would start singing Sunrise, Sunset, while crying…</p>
<p>Hip-Hip-Hooray Historymom & twins! What a week… I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of you all. At least it is FRIDAY!! :D</p>
<p>lindz, your Sunrise, Sunset reference made me think of Try to Remember from The Fantastiks. I used to live on the corner of Houston and McDougal in NYC, which is only a couple of blocks from where The Fantastiks played for decades. I popped in to see that show more times than I can remember whenever I wanted a pick me up. I also have the album on my IPOD, so those songs really mark passages for me.</p>
<p>Cpelz, I bet your son gets excited once he commits and if not then, will likely fall in love once he gets on campus. I was very turned off by my school when I first arrived (going from a remote island to a big city was not an easy transition) but learned to love it within a couple of weeks. Kids who think they are going to their dream school sometimes have a harder time with the reality than kids who go in with a little skepticism and are pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>I am always bemused/amused by midwest bias that is common on both coasts. I grew up in SoCal, lived in New York for 4 years after college and then spend 10 years in Chicago before migrating back to Northern California. My brother has settled in Iowa. I find midwesterners (in contrast to both coasts) more warm, welcoming and non-judgmental. I think Chicago is the best of American big cities for accessibility, architecture, variety of things to do, places to relax and just over-all tourist friendliness. Public education is well supported and there are zillion great small LACs and private universities as well. And talk about folks who support both sports and faith-based communities of all kinds…</p>
<p>So I hope cpeltz’s son goes off and comes back a convert…</p>
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<p>I needed to go to a state school for financial reasons and when I started my “college search” (such as it was), I soon found out that there was exactly one state school that had my major. I applied sight unseen and was admitted. I was initially pretty turned off by my school, too…even now you’d hardly describe it as a beautiful campus. </p>
<p>I don’t think that at any time I would have said that I “loved” my school. BUT, I made good friends and had a great time. So whether or not I had a love affair with the actual university, I had a very positive college experience. If our kids can say that four years from now, then they’ve made a good choice.</p>
<p>mmaah, I so agree with you! I live in a Chicago suburb near a commuter train, and I love all the options we have for cultural enrichment and entertainment. Just walking along the Lake Michigan shore is a fantastic experience. And there are many wonderful natural areas for visiting and hiking in our area. The harsh winters are the only thing I don’t like.</p>
<p>TheAnalyst–I know that corner…bf had apt on 9th and Broadway. and Try to Remember does that to me as well…</p>
<p>Oooh. I think lindz’s bf, TheAnalyst, and I were all more or less neighbors in the years BK. </p>
<p>And historymom, really, the shared campus thing is going to be wonderful. They’ll each make their own space. (Mine are doing the same thing, just three years apart. :D)</p>
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<p>For my '11, what are some Chicago schools? I know about Loyola and DePaul. Prob won’t have the stats for U of Chicago or Northwestern. Others?</p>
<p>Heading out to pick up grad party announcements from photographer. They give you the photo montage cards to be mailed and these cute little business card sized ones to hand out to school friends. I’m feeling stressed with all the planning for graduation. At times like this I really miss my parents who have passed away and my sisters who all live back east. sigh…</p>
<p>missypie: For the arts, Columbia College is excellent.</p>
<p>NorthMinn, I was really missing my own parents and H’s mother last night, when S produced his graduation invitations from his backpack. </p>
<p>And along with being sad, we are going to have to be careful with deciding whom to invite - after me, H, D, and S2, there are only six seats we can offer, and H comes from a biiiig family. I’m in the evil position of quietly hoping to hear confirmation that certain family members are planning a cruise or something for early June.</p>
<p>Scoot your chairs away from me, folks. Lightning strikes are likely.</p>
<p>This discussion of location really resonates with me at the moment. I am a born and bred midwesterner. I have spent some time on each coast and love the excitement of the big cities and the beauty of the outdoors in both directions. </p>
<p>Its interesting to see D looking at 3 choices, one on each coast and one smack dab in the middle of the country. They are all good, liberal arts colleges, she’ll get a great education at any of them. The differences in location really delineate her choices, east coast with lots of access to new and interesting cities, ties to other east coast colleges and universities, a different sort of outdoors. West coast, more remote but a beautiful location with lots of opportunities to be active in the outdoors, a more laid-back feel. Finally her midwest choice, also remote, but more accessible to home and for better or worse, familiar friends and others with a similar “culture”. </p>
<p>We keep repeating the mantra, they are all good choices, she will do well at any of them, it is her choice. In the end it is all about where she sees herself and I think that is what makes it so difficult! Up until now, she has always embraced each new thing that interests her and generally could try whatever interested her. I think it is difficult to close some of those doors and make a choice that shuts down some of the other possibilities.</p>
<p>I had a great place on 8th and Broadway for about a year, but it was an illegal sublet and I eventually had to move. The Houston & McDougal place was a third floor walk-up above a shop that made home-made pasta on the ground floor, owners lived on second floor, and I lived with graphic artist roommate on third floor–great light. H lived on the upper east side (86th between 2nd and 3rd) in another walk-up convenient to the subway but not ritzy at the time. He was very friendly with the hooker who used to work his block. I bet those places are outrageously expensive now.</p>
<p>Thanks for the helpful comments. I’m relieved I can vent and whine here, because most of my friends and certainly my H are sick of hearing college woes. The whole process has been stressful at our house, and I did think that there might be some modicum of joy once the decision was finally made. Maybe it will come once it’s definite.</p>
<p>The anti-midwest feeling from S comes from all the time we spend in the midwest. We have a lake house in the northwoods of Wisconsin where we go a few times a year, “dragging” my son along. He has some fun, but he’s a grumbly teenage boy who is NOT into fishing/hiking (remember the S in “Little Miss Sunshine”?), and there’s only so much time he can spend on the waverunner or snowmobile, so he resents “having” to go all the time. Sounds like a tough life, eh? </p>
<p>He wanted to be in a school near a city, and since his stepsisters and their family live in Milwaukee and H is an alum, Marquette seemed like a great option so I insisted he apply, he interviewed here in L.A., was accepted with a scholarship, did the admitted students visit and liked it, but is still resistant to “having” to go there as it is clearly his best option in most every way. It’s a life lesson I know (he should have worked harder in school and been more engaged in the process), but I don’t need to throw an “I told you so” at him at this point.</p>
<p>TheAnalyst, your comment about it being easier to fall in love with a school than for a dream school to live up to expectations gave me hope!</p>
<p>I love the midwest and plan to spend half time there when I retire. Missypie, we didn’t find many good options for S in Chicago. Loyola didn’t work for a crazy reason, DePaul is too much of a commuter school, Lake Forest seems too preppy, and UChicago and NW weren’t options for him. Milwaukee is only an hour away and a great little city on its own though - maybe my S who will be loving his experience there can tour your '11 around!</p>
<p>NMinn…I’ve been missing my mom and SIL like crazy through all this…they would have understood my S better than anybody other than me, and would have let me vent/cry/scream/celebrate ad nauseum. Your comment brought tears!</p>
<p>Perry & Hudson. And yeah - the teeeeny one bedroom we lived in right up through D’s arrival is now beyond outrageously expensive.</p>