<p>Jackief, as a visitor from '09, come over and see what you’ll be doing in April! A lot of us are scurrying around trying to get those visits in and agonizing over watching our seniors make (or not!) their decisions. Believe me, missing a day or two of school takes a back seat to the upcoming huge four year investment!</p>
<p>Parent’10 here. I haven’t posted on this thread for a long time. My son plays 2 varsity sports (might make varsity for a 3rd one in the fall), but I don’t think he is recruitable. Do you think it matters if he talks to coaches of DIII colleges? I’m assuming that there would not be DI interest. Thoughts appreciated.</p>
<p>If he wants to play in college, then sure. My ds, who I doubt could even play DIII, has still made some contacts in passing, in case he wants to walk on.</p>
<p>CD, will we get write-ups on Carleton and Macalester???</p>
<p>cpeltz- I definitely have been following the 09 thread :eek:</p>
<p>Burb- when we had a college panel at our school recently, Tufts which is D3 and one other? said that if you aren’t D1 recruit, sports is pretty much a nice EC. D is interested in participating at a sport at a D3 school and I have encouraged her to talk to coaches. No dice yet.</p>
<p>CD- would be interested in hearing details of the NESCAC vists including classes and coach talks. Is he recruitable or tippable or however the lingo goes? Sounds like the interview went well, was it low key or a grilling?</p>
<p>Okay, now I am very disapppointed in my alma mater, scualum. The UW sent 350 in ONE tour group? How could they! When we visited Berkeley last Friday, the lobby area where we congregated was positively packed with people, and it was a bit difficult to swim against the tide to make it to the counter to sign in. The coordinator said they were expecting up to 500 visitors just that day (it being spring break and all.)</p>
<p>Despite this, the coordinator had a plan. People who had already signed in were told to make their way to the far side of the lobby, where he stood with his team of tour guides. He introduced a tour guide, then asked the closest group of people to follow him/her down a hallway, as he counted off to 50, ensuring that families stayed together. We followed our guide down the hallway and outside the building, far enough away from the exit where it was not crowded any longer and we could actually hear her speak.</p>
<p>Even though a group of 50 is a bit more than optimal, the tour guide kept us together pretty well and also kept us on schedule, while imparting a fair amount of information. She also encouraged, multiple times, for people with specific questions to walk up front next to her while we walked between the buildings, so she could respond to those questions. I had one, walked faster to catch up with her to ask it, and it worked out fine.</p>
<p>I think as an alum, I’m going to write a note to the UW. They can do better than that. Something must have broken down.</p>
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<p>Will do! </p>
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<p>I wish I could tell you, but I have no idea. S doesn’t know what he wants to major in, except possibly Journalism, and that’s not a major that Pitt has. At this point he’s more interested in the overall feel of the campus than anything else. With D, who had your kind of stats, the academics were paramount, but she never looked at Pitt, or anywhere else in the state. She wanted to get out of here. :)</p>
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<p>I agree, but don’t let that necessarily turn you off. D (a Classics major) has had some outstanding TAs at Yale; remember that these are the grad students who will eventually be those professors teaching the courses - they have to start somewhere! And besides, if D’s experience is anything to go by, profs are delighted if you come to their office hours just to talk about something that has interested you in the class. In fact, I remember this being remarked on in the Pitt info session, that office hours are the loneliest time of day for professors, who would love to see more students take advantage of them.</p>
<p>I do think the Honors program at Pitt is more rigorous than the one at UDel, but I say this only from what I have gleaned from hearsay and looking at the schools’ websites.</p>
<p>FindAPlace that sounds very similar to our Berkeley experience a couple of years ago. We were also there on a day for admitted students, so they also sorted us by juniors and seniors on the tour though we were together for the info session.</p>
<p>I had some wonderful TAs at Harvard too. In fact one course the TA was far, far better than the prof - I stopped going to his lectures they were so pointless. (Really a shame - it was a Shakespeare course.) Other courses I admit I had great lecturers and so-so TAs. I do feel sorry for people who get TA’s whose English isn’t really good enough, I never had that issue.</p>
<p>FAP:</p>
<p>I assume that someone didn’t show up - but even if they were missing 1 or even 2 tour guides, the numbers were still like 100+ each. I sent the director of admissions an email this afternoon - I’ll let you all know what I hear back. It really doesn’t matter in my daughter’s case - she was already saying too big before the tour - but I would like others to have a better experience when they go.</p>
<p>I am enjoying reading of the bonding going on amongst the students and parents on these college road trips. </p>
<p>I was very pleased it also happened on our trip to NorCal. Very relaxed, joking a bit. It probably helped that we could celebrate our S’s birthday in an atmosphere that bespoke of exciting things coming for his future in not that long a time at all. Our S has never been one to experience anxiety with any major change in his life, starting from the time he first went to day care and moving on forward, so we expect he’s looking forward to this next stage with fond thoughts, in spite of all the extra work with the applications that will take to get him there.</p>
<p>Sounds like everyone is making good use of their time this April. Glad your D has a first choice, jackief. I’m not sure whether my D does or not - but if she does, I don’t think she’ll ever share it - at least not until decision time. ;)</p>
<p>D has her spring break this week, but with sports commitments, and some other stuff, its really hard to squeeze in the visits. We’re still going to make an attempt later this week.</p>
<p>Hi all. QM is right, it is so hard catching up after being gone for a week. I see everyone has been very busy. Last time I posted we were in GA looking at Emory, Georgia Tech, and UGA, and then visiting UF on way back south. She liked Emory enough, liked Georgia Tech more (which surprised us both), and refused to even go on the tour at UGA. Did not like the “feel” enough just by riding around campus by car and campus bus. She said she liked UF barely enough to attend if she has to for financial reasons. That would be if she could get in. It has become a reach for everyone with the economy.</p>
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<p>We started out with the trip being more of a “chore” than anything else. Finished by really having a great time. We are now planning to drive to New England this summer!!! BIG roadtrip. We invited a friend that I love to join us, so it should be really fun and LONG. We will finish by meeting husband and some family and friends on Martha’s Vinyard for a week’s vacation. That should rest us up for the return trip.</p>
<p>Glad to see from my quick skimming that everyone seems well and are getting some of their choices more narrowed down.</p>
<p>I have heard the stories of bad professors and awesome TAs–but the fact remains that TAs are NOT the full Ph.Ds that everyone claims are teaching all of the classes.</p>
<p>UD’s honors program is actually quite comparable, one-on-one, to Pitt’s; no BPhil degree, which is really just icing, but honors housing is guaranteed. Neither offers priority registration, alas. Which reminds me, I need to go email a creative writing professor at Pitt (a different one, since I never got a response to my email many months ago) about genre. I already know that UD’s creative writing program will probably be nonexistent by the time I get there.</p>
<p>Hi everyone! We recently returned from our college tour and I was going to post all of the visit reports before coming back on the thread. I started off with Indiana U last night, but each of those reports takes me a long time to complete, so I’ll just report back here and hopefully finish up the remaining reports over the next couple of days.</p>
<p>D and I looked at Indiana University - Bloomington, Kenyon, Oberlin, University of Pittsburgh and University of Rochester. D’s academic interests and priorities seemed to have been shifting over the last few months and this college tour pretty much has confirmed that. Originally, she was interested strictly in studying Creative Writing, preferably in a more intimate LAC setting. However, she’s recently expressed some interest in double majoring in English and Psychology(she’s really enjoying her AP Psych class), and even expressing some occasional interest in neuroscience. She’s increasingly intrigued by schools that have a lot opportunities for undergraduate research. And the more she visits the small LACs, the less they appeal to her.</p>
<p>With that in mind, she isn’t sure about either Kenyon or Oberlin. In particular, she just couldn’t picture herself spending four years in Kenyon’s isolated, rural location. It felt too much like a bubble to her. Also of concern was the fact that we passed by at least one dormant construction site on campus where the construction had been halted due to the economic downturn. On the plus side, the English program at Kenyon did seem quite strong and the students and staff that we spoke with were friendly and welcoming. D also had her first interview at Kenyon–she was interviewed by a current upperclassman who was very candid about the school and really put D at ease.
Oberlin also seemed to have strong programs and a better location than Kenyon. <em>I</em> happened to really like Oberlin, but D–while impressed with the caliber of academics at Oberlin–after sitting in on a class there and walking around campus on a tour–wasn’t sure if she could fit in comfortably in Oberlin’s social culture.<br>
By the way, for anyone who might be interested in possibly applying ED to Oberlin, we learned in the info session that they also offer an “early estimate” of financial aid (both need AND merit based)for any students considering the ED application option.</p>
<p>Indiana University and the University of Pittsburgh both are on her list as relative safeties. (Though, to be honest, I tend to agree with Queen’s Mom’s statement that it’s hard to imagine any school, other than perhaps a community college, that can really be considered a safety these days.) That having been said, she really likes both of them a lot. They have large, diverse student populations, with a lot of school spirit. They both have plenty of opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in research. Both schools have Honors Colleges that are of particular interest to D. (By the way, we also attended the Honors College info session at Pitt, and, like Keilexandra, D and I were very impressed with Dr. Stewart, the honors college dean.) And to 2Blue, if you happen to be reading this, in response to your question, Indiana U guarantees housing all four years and Pitt guarantees housing for just 3 years. (However, Pitt does have staff–including attorneys to review rental lease terms-- to help students find off campus housing.) The schools have very different locations: IU has a lovely campus located in an appealing small college town, with regular shuttles to the airport in Indianapolis. Pitt, of course, is an urban (but definitely not run-down) campus. D doesn’t mind the urban setting at all, if anything it’s a plus for her, especially with the low cost of living and easy access to the cultural resources of Pittsburgh.
University of Rochester was the last school that we visited on the tour. We almost skipped it because D was starting to get really tired from all of the traveling from school to school. In the end, she was so glad that we stuck with it as U of R ended up being her favorite school on the tour. She loved the relatively open Rochester curriculum. To answer Mathmom(?), URoch does not have a language requirement: The only “required” class is a Freshman writing class. She was also intrigued by the seemingly numerous research opportunities there, as well as the “Take 5” program, where students can apply for a fifth year, tuition-free to study an additional subject outside of their major. After walking around and talking to some current students, she felt like she could comfortably visualize herself going to school there. She also liked the fact that while the school wasn’t too tiny and cloistered, it was still small enough to ensure that students didn’t fall through the cracks. It definitely made a good impression on both of us.</p>
<p>Interesting to note the different reactions between your D and myself, momonthehill! (I still need to complete 3 visit reports. Eek.) The more I visited–and I have visited a lot of schools–the more I discovered that I really did want a small LAC. I found Williams a tad too tiny (no Chinese takeout!) given that I didn’t mesh with the dominant campus culture, but I loved Oberlin (not LOVE, just love), especially the campus culture (social justice, changing the world, diversity-within-the-left). Rochester surprised me–I liked it more in-person than on paper–while as I have said several times, Pitt’s urban setting is definitely a con in my book. But I do think UR is a good fit for your D if she thinks an LAC would be too small.</p>
<p>I wasn’t on the tours, so I may have to let S2 report when he has time. He took notes and wrote reflections, but I haven’t seen those yet.</p>
<p>– Macalester: great food, liked the two polisci/history classes he visited. Talked to a prof afterwards. He also went to the International Studies department, read the walls, and I think talked to someone there as well. Campus is compact but very pretty. Liked the St. Paul area. Interview was supposed to take 30 minutes and lasted over an hour. S says it was wide-ranging; he talked about his specific interests in IR, his experiences in IB, football and other ECs. </p>
<p>– Carleton: Program there is international relations as a subset of polisci vs. international studies, which is the focus he prefers. Also sat in on classes and really liked them. Thought people were laid back but very intelligent. It had the intellectual vibe he wants. Also talked to profs. The admissions folks had him talk to the football coach and a couple of players – this was a pleasant surprise, as S had not requested this. Carleton does not interview juniors until after 5/1, though their website indicated they do interviews now.</p>
<p>– Chicago – also on the list, though for completely different reasons than his brother. Liked their polisci/IR better than Georgetown. Felt it was safe to be intellectual without being a nerd. </p>
<p>– Tufts – Went by admissions to sign in and his regional rep was there. Also sat in on classes, talked to profs, and I think saw a departmental advisor as well. Likes the Experimental College, esp. as it has a couple of courses that would be quite relevant to his studies. Feels very comfortable with the focus of the IR department in terms of what he wants to study, likes the campus and fit. Talked to coach. Coach said that even football players go overseas for a semester, and that they understand the players are there for the academics. Lots of good stuff. Absolutely on the list.</p>
<p>– BU – S felt that they were trying to market to kids who would qualify for Honors at UMass but wanted a better-funded program with better placement/internship possibilities. Class he visited was OK, but didn’t get him excited. He is into small/midsize schools, though. Probably not staying on the list.</p>
<p>– Bowdoin – Had some concerns about creating an IR curriculum, but his fears seem to have been assuaged. He had visited previously, but during the summer. Thought the social vibe would concern him (he is not a jock or prep personality), but he seemed fine with it. </p>
<p>– UMD – Visited one history class today, liked it better than BU or NYU. Found out about a couple of different programs that would make the place feel smaller, but overall felt that he could make it work. Is not sure he would want to do College Park Scholars with everyone majoring in the same area living together. Honors housing, he’s OK with, but he wants to be with folks studying a wide range of majors.</p>
<p>After Carleton, he felt confident enough to start seeking out coaches. They told him it was not inconceivable to get recruited and asked S about his scores. He is not such a stellar athlete that anyone’s going to come banging down his doors, but I’m told he has very good academic stats for football. He doesn’t expect coaches will use tips for him, but if he has the academic goods, the football might be a little hook. None of us are counting on it as an admissions strategy, that’s for sure.</p>
<p>In general, coaches encouraged him to attend their summer camps/regional camps in the areas where he’s interested in playing. UChicago has a one-day camp in mid-July for juniors and seniors – but I don’t see hopping all over the place as very feasible. He’s thinking about going to a more local camp, possibly one where his D-line will be attending so they can improve as a unit for the fall. We are total noobs to the recruiting thing, so I don’t know if this is terribly helpful info.</p>
<p>S2 still wants to visit JHU and URochester. Suspect he will like Rochester a lot.</p>
<p>CountingDown, can you ask your S about Macalester’s campus/green space? I won’t be able to visit until post-acceptance, so I can’t judge my tolerance for the urban setting. My test: can I stand somewhere on campus (preferably more than one somewhere) and not see any cars going by? (A test that CMU passed but Pitt failed. Alas, CMU is not for me.)</p>
<p>I just found this web site recently. This is a very cool web site! My D is going to be in college in 2010 like all of yours. She want to learn Fine Art and double major History or Political Science, etc. This make all Art schools not a good Choice.
Is any one in this thread can share information about : which small universities (No more than 6000 undergraduates) or LACs have strong Visual Art program? THANKS!</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon is an obvious one to check out. It’s got a great art department in a larger university. You’d have to check out how intense their art major is, as it’s a school within the larger university - it may be too intense to double major.</p>