<p>Thanks ST! I forwarded the link to D1. Let’s see if she’s interested.</p>
<p>5boys, yes, downloading the forms to give to the teacher is fine. As for which program would be better, you can wait to see what your son is accepted to before deciding.</p>
<p>Hey, all. We went to UCLA this weekend for a “private” tour given by my older D, a sophomore. It was full of interesting tidbits only an older sister would think of imparting. Here goes… The campus is large. Obviously. I think there are 25,000 to 30,000 students at UCLA. That may just be undergrads. The students who live on campus live on “the hill.” The dorms are varied. There is lots of construction going on, building new dorms, renovating old ones. My D currently has a single. She is in a suite with 8 other girls. They share a bathroom. She has lived in DeNeve Plaza, Rieber Vista and Hedrick Summit. She liked Rieber Vista the best. The dining halls are “okay”, but the dining “restaurants” are the best. Some even permit you to take your food back to your room. Some are open till 2:00 a.m. The restaurants are themed, like Mediterranean, for example. North Campus is “for the hip, good dressers” i.e. the social studies, poli sci, English, humanities, arts, theatre types. South campus kids “dress in hoodies” and “are buried in their books.” (those would be Math, engineering, science majors…Can you guess which side of the campus my daughter inhabits? lol.) On south campus there is the inverted fountain, which you can only touch during freshman orientation and when you graduate or it “curses you.” If you stand back, it looks like “a toilet”, which is a joke by the designer, allegedly a USC grad. The Bruin Walk has the gym (the most amazing gym, according to my daughter), the health center, Pauley (that’s where the basketball team normally plays, but its being renovated), and the Student Union. The student union looks a lot like a mall, with fast food restaurants, huge t.v. room, store, credit union, hair cut place, etc. etc. The library on the main quad is incredible. Absolutely stunning. Mosaics, and columns. It rivals Yale’s library in every way. The main quad features buildings you have seen in countless television shows and movies. Below the LaValle steps which lead from the library down the green is a massive green space the students hang out on. They tightrope between the trees and ice block down the grass. (Ice block: student take a block of ice, wrap it in a towel, and slide down the hill… This is Southern Cal, folks. It doesn’t snow here. So they improvise.) There are three swimming pools to hang out at. Most of the buildings on the center of campus are stately, in brick, very gorgeous. In North Campus, there is the sculpture garden, which is a great place “for a cheap date and studying.” There is also a botanical garden which is lovely. On two sides of the campus is Bel Air. On another is a National Cemetary. On the last is Westwood, which has lots of shopping, movie theatres, restaurants, etc. And the occasional homeless guy. The Santa Monica buses are 25 cents and take the kids into Santa Monica and to the beach. The campus provides shuttle buses that you can take at night around the campus, but my daughter walks alot and feels “safe” on campus. Parking is hard to get and very expensive. My D does not have a car. The thing my D loves best about UCLA is that she feels welcome there. She is “ethnic” and feels she fits in at UCLA, which has people of all races, creeds, orientation, and color.</p>
<p>Hi, I have been lurking here for some time, but now I am coming out of lurkdom to ask a question. I am the mom of twins in the class of 2012. We have one older child, so I’m not quite as daunted as I otherwise might be, but it still seems like there is a lot of information to absorb, times two.<br>
One of the schools T2 has on his list is Rose-Hulman. We live in the DC area and the twins go to a large, urban, very diverse high school. What kind of culture shock would T2 suffer if he wound up in Terra Haute?</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about Rose-Hulman (in fact, I have never heard of it and have no clue where it is located) but I wanted to welcome you, Mother-of-perl, to our parents of 2012 thread. Wow, twins.</p>
<p>chrissyblu, great tour report. Don’t forget to add it to the tour section of CC. 
[University</a> of California-Los Angeles - Videos, Photos, and Visit Reports](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/university-of-california-los-angeles/#visitreports]University”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/university-of-california-los-angeles/#visitreports)</p>
<p>Welcome, mother<em>of</em>perl. Sorry, I can’t answer your question. You try asking on the R-H forum here: [Rose-Hulman</a> Institute of Technology - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/rose-hulman-institute-technology/]Rose-Hulman”>Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>Hi mother of perl - welcome!</p>
<p>I did some of my growing up in Terre Haute, and had a family connection to Rose Hulman. My own 2012 son will probably apply as well. As far as culture shock goes - obviously, there is a big difference between any midwest town with about 50,000 people (it may be smaller now - I think Terre Haute has been shrinking for the last decade or so) and living in or near Washington DC. Way fewer cultural offerings and way less diversity in many categories. </p>
<p>However, like many colleges, Rose is it’s own little world off on the east side of Terre Haute - students can take the 5-10 minute drive into town for restaurants, movies, Target, etc - they’re all there, or they can take the 75 minute drive to Downtown Indy, which offers more museums, theater, non-chain restaurants, occasional cool little urban areas, etc. </p>
<p>As far as politics or liberal/conservative social views, I think you’ll find the students themselves lean toward conservative with a heavy dose of apathy (as in a lot of tech-centered schools). One interesting tidbit - Vigo County, where Rose and Terre Haute are located, is known as a bellweather in national elections. Vigo County has voted for the winner in presidential elections for every election but 2 since the late 1800’s. Don’t know what that tells you, but there you have it!</p>
<p>I think Rose is great for engineering, and think Terre Haute is “OK” - I would be more excited about it if it weren’t still 80% guys! I’d prefer 45-60% women for a college my sons attend, all other things being equal. Also, they don’t have a huge endowment and aren’t know for giving a lot of merit or need based aid - unless you’re full pay, your son or daughter will end up with debt most likely.</p>
<p>Welcome Mother of Pearl! Don’t have any info for you, glad you are here!</p>
<p>DS12 vent: Like many boys, DS12 is smart, but really good at doing the minimum required to do marginally well (92s vs. 96s). Occasionally, he blows it and he gets an 89 in a class. Ok, I’m learning to live with it, since no matter what I say, he just won’t do the extra required to get him into the “upper” level of student. He’s a good kid, very much engaged in life and he will do fine in the end. </p>
<p>Now to the vent: He has an 85 in AP Lang. He is a strong writer and does well on the writing assignments, but tests are hard. We’ve talked about it and he’s over thinking the questions, looking too hard for the “trick” and missing things b/c there is no trick. He’s working on it and it is fine with me. He has the 85 because he just got a grade back for one of his summer assignments. It’s a 15 to 20 page, both sides of the paper, journal. It was a lot of work. He asked if he could type it but the teacher said no. He got a 75. The only teacher comment was, “Your entries were good, but your handwriting is not acceptable.” His handwriting is legible, just not good. It’s the teacher’s right to grade as he sees fit, and a “good” from this teacher is really a “great”, but a C for a massive assignment because of handwriting? Ugh. I don’t even know what to say to DS except write neater. Ok, done with vent.</p>
<p>geogirl - wow, we are living in a parallel universe! Same here - D12 is a smart kid who could get close to straight A’s if he pointed his energies toward that goal. And to be real honest - I’m not sure if I would direct his energies there even if it were up to me. Well, i probably would, because I’d really like him to get scholarships, but i think he uses his time pretty well to be honest. He may not spend the time it takes to move his foreign language grade from a B to an A (his least favorite class), but he sits around doing math for fun that’s beyond his current class, does some really cool hobbies, gets enough sleep, does a couple sports, and has enough unstructured time to know who he is and have opinions about things. I know there are great kids out there who do all that stuff, even at a higher level, AND get great grades while still “knowing who they are,” but I think my son has found the balance that works for him. In the meantime, his new girlfriend is ranked really high in their class of 1100 kids, and I’ll admit I’m hoping some of her work ethics rubs off a little…</p>
<p>As for the summer writing assignment - again, same thing as your son! He had to hand write about 100 full pages and turn it in the first day of school (Aug 11!) Typing not allowed. His teacher never got it graded until a day before the quarter ended. it was worth 100 points, and most of her assignments are worth much less (a full typed essay is only 25-30 points). She didn’t have many graded things during the quarter, so his grade went from an A- to a C+ on the very last day of the grading period because of a stupid summer reading assignment. And most of the feedback she gave on it was positive, so while she didn’t mention handwriting, I have to think that was part of it! I’ll admit - that one bummed me out!</p>
<p>Curious that they call AP courses “college level” and then insist on a handwritten paper instead of a typed paper. Even more curious that the teacher grades partially on handwriting skills! Even way back in the dark ages when I went to college the professors insisted that papers be typewritten. Perhaps the penmanship critique is the teacher’s idea of preparing the students for the AP exam when handwriting can have a subliminal impact on the evaluator’s grade? Anyway, if it were me I’s have a chat with the teacher and/or school principal. Penmanship, or lack thereof, should not be part of the rubric for grading papers in a college level course.</p>
<p>Thanks PinotNoir and Hudsonvalley - It’s nice to be able to come here and whine and have parents around that understand. </p>
<p>PN - I would be pretty upset too with a quarter grade swing of A- to C on one assignment! That does not seem fair at all for your son. I keep telling myself that there is time to “fix” the grade. He has 3 more quarters to go, so there is time. Maybe this mantra will work for you too. However, to wait till the very end of the quarter to post those kind of grade changing scores is upsetting. Good luck to both our “balanced and on the edge” sons. </p>
<p>Hudson - The handwriting issue I think has to do with the AP and regents. They have to be able to write and spell on both of those tests. My son has been using a netbook since last year for note taking and writing everything. He loves it. He said it was a big adjustment to write everything out again. In fact, he finds it easier to check himself on spelling if he “types” the word out on the desk before going to write it down. It’s been interesting for DS b/c he has to really re-wire his brain to write things out. However, I agree with you that handwriting in a college level class should not be an issue. I could understand if he took 5 points off for handwriting - but there were no other comments on the assignment except handwriting. Even if we go with “good” being a 90 or an 85, getting a 75 doesn’t seem right. I will not go to the teacher or the principal about one assignment. Id look like a mom with snakes coming out of her head. My DS would also be mortified. That I even know what his grades are is an affront to him!</p>
<p>@PinotNoir: Is Terre Haute the kind of place where a kid has to have a car? (I guess that would also require a license, but that is another discussion…) I wonder what the social life is like in a small town with hardly any girls on campus. Is there more drinking than on an average college campus? </p>
<p>I’ll heed the suggestion to ask some of these questions over at the Rose-Hulman board.
Thanks for the welcome, everyone.</p>
<p>I don’t really know MoP - I think I’ve heard that Rose is an easy place for a student to have a car, and it’s also easy to grab a ride with someone else with a car. I can say - there is NOTHING but campus within walking distance (unless you like long walks). It’s about 2 miles or more to get to anything. If you want to ride a bike you can, but it’s straight down US 40 without much of a shoulder to ride on.</p>
<p>I have heard that Rose tries to encourage mixing with St. Mary’s students (an all female college in West Terre Haute), but I’m not sure if that really happens. i would guess that there is not more drinking than on the average college campus - students do work very hard, and techy students can have a really good time doing things other than drinking! i don’t have any inside scoop about that topic though. posting on the Rose board is a good idea.</p>
<p>I would recommend a car for Rose Hulman, though many kids bum rides. As to the social life, they do have events with St. Mary’s, and the kids prowl Indiana State University for girls. The Greek scene is huge at Rose (though they are not your typical frat boys) and so there were always mixers with sorority girls from other schools before the school went coed. I have two friend’s kids that are attending now, and they “escape” the campus every few weekends to visit friends at IU and Purdue. The guys at nearby Wabash college (all-male) do the same thing.
It is a great school, and is less selective than some of the other engineering powerhouses, so I think it is worth a serious look.</p>
<p>Hi all, I am new to CC–and I find you posts both informative and entertaining. So thanks for sharing!!! </p>
<p>As you can see by my screen name, we have 4 children that happen to be right in a row in school (Junior - 12 , Soph -13 , Fresh…). So we are feeling a little stressed and overwealmed by the whole process. </p>
<p>My question is, when is the best time for my D12 to take the SATs (she just took PSAT last week)? She has aspirations of going into UPenn, so it appears that she will have to take 2 SAT IIs as well. I am concerned that the spring will loaded up with SATs, ACT, SAT II, sports, life, prom. … Does it make sense to take the SATs earlier, say Jan? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Welcome aboard, 4kidsinarow!</p>
<p>Is your D12 a once-and-done type, or is she prepared to take the SAT more than once to get to a desired score? If once-and-done, then I would suggest no earlier than May of next year. If she doesn’t mind taking it more often, then I’d suggest taking her first one in January so she would know where she needs to improve, and have the time to improve. Always try to take the SAT II’s immediately after her classes in May or June, while the material is still fresh in her mind.</p>
<p>Thanks PCP-- (Acroym is pretty funny!)</p>
<p>I think D12 is willing to take the SAT more than once, if she does not get her desired score. If she does well, she may choose to take it just once. I think we are going to lean towards January and then see how it goes from there. </p>
<p>Thanks for thought on the SAT IIs.</p>
<p>Our daughter also has an interest in Penn and is planning to take the SAT I in January for the first time. Right now I think she will be taking her SAT IIs on May 7 (she’ll be taking AP exams that same week), and plans to sit for the SAT I again in June.</p>
<p>Our son is on the same plan. He is taking the SAT in January and again in June (hopefully after prep concentrating on his weak areas). He is taking the SAT 2’s in May (even though it is in the middle of his 5 AP exams). The thought is that he can study for the Chem SAT 2 at the same time as he studies for the AP chem exam. I am not sure if he is going to sit for a second SAT 2 in May. I don’t believe that any schools other than Georgetown ask for more than two of them. My son already took the Math 2/SAT 2 exam last June and that really worked out well for him (getting one out of the way).</p>
<p>My D is taking her SAT IIs in the middle of her AP’s. I have found that actually works best. It is what we did with our older D and she found it helpful to study for her AP tests. Last year, we waited until June with younger D and by that time, she wasn’t interested, had taken her AP’s and I think her scores were lower than they would have been had she taken the SAT IIs in May. So, back to SAT IIs in May… As for the SAT, she already took it in October. Depending on the score, she will probaby retake in January or March.</p>