<p>Our visits today were good. Son loved Haverford! This is great, but he needs safeties, not more reaches. Of course, if he does get in, they have fantastic aid.</p>
<p>He liked Arcadia much more than he expected. But, not enough that it has moved from the maybe to the will apply pile. So, I’m still in search of a safety that will spark him.</p>
<p>He was very engaged and talkative between the 2 visits. He shut down on the way home, but it was nice to glance at some of his thought process.</p>
<p>@laurendog- Fredericksburg <em>is</em> an awesome town. Very nice downtown area and tons of great restaurants throughout the city. A negative is the traffic though. It can be horrendous. My ILs live there and it used to be bad at only certain times of day… now I would say it is bad a lot!</p>
<p>longhaul, I’m glad the trip went well!</p>
<p>DD and I took a quick trip yesterday with mixed results.
School #1 - DD fell in love with it. She loved the campus, the way it was situated in town, our tour guide, the other students we met, the info session (with her admissions counselor) and the conversation that we had with another administrator afterwards about the sports program. But, it doesn’t seem as strong in the sciences, she wouldn’t be able to play her sport (on the team, but no play-time) because they just brought in a star player for her position, and the fin aid isn’t as good as some others so it may not be feasible in the end.</p>
<p>School #2 - we both had high hopes, and really wanted to love it because the sports situation is better, they have much better fin aid, and they have a great academic program for her interests. She didn’t like it at all, and we had a bad experience all around.<br>
First, the tour guide was AWFUL. I fault the school on that as much as anything, for a lack of training and limited time. The guide didn’t walk backwards, probably because she needed to rush to get through the tour in the time allotted. She talked, while walking fast, on a windy day. We had no idea what she was saying. She’d rush into a building, rattle off some info, then quickly move on - she’d walk out first, not hold the door or keep the tour together, and not even STOP walking when she walked out of a building so that everyone could get out and catch up.<br>
Second, the info session just wasn’t working for us. They treated it as a guided q&a session and didn’t give us any real information about the school, it’s vision etc. DD left feeling like she knew about bits of things that people asked about, but no sense of the school’s identity.
Third, the campus felt institutional. It had lots of potential to be very pretty, but it needed more trees, more flowers, more… something!</p>
<p>She’s keeping #2 on the list because there are strengths “on paper” if not in her gut.</p>
<p>So we head out tomorrow on our Grand Spring Break Tour. I think I might buy a few little treats and surprises to keep the mood up since we are going to be going at a breakneck speed.</p>
<p>Our plan is to go to Juniata, Grove City College, University of Pittsburgh, Case Western Reserve, College of Wooster, Denison U, Ohio Wesleyan, Miami U and Xavier. </p>
<p>Today will be gathering info and fact sheets, starting to try to get her packed (she’s on a mission trip and gets in at midnight tonight) and covering all the details. </p>
<p>Is anyone else going on a trip this week (week of April 9) or are you all getting back at this point?</p>
<p>We went the last week in March (that was when we had spring break). I think we are done with visits until summer. Our weekends are booked with the exception of Memorial Day weekend and the kids won’t miss school for college visits. I think we only have one or two more to visit though unless something comes up between now and summer.</p>
<p>We only get a long weekend for Easter break (Spring Break was 2nd week in March) but S2 is in Washington DC visiting his sister at American. I mentioned the possibility of going to visit Catholic U while he was there but just got a contemptuous look. I imagine his weekend consists of hanging out w. sister’s friends (she has rehearsals for a play that she is stage managing) and all the pizza he can eat (his favorite part about college life). He visited last year and was freaked out by the communal bathrooms, so I’m hoping that he is a little more chill this time. It’s surprising which part of college life causes problems.</p>
<p>One thing that I learned this past week on visits - the college admissions escalation hasn’t slowed down. At all 3 of the schools we visited, acceptance rates went from 40+ last year to low 30s with this year’s acceptances. And average scores increased as well.</p>
<p>Let’s put it this way. College admissions is getting worse. I’m glad I only have one kid left and not 6+ kids or more. DH & I made the right decision.</p>
<p>A few years ago they were predicting that the application numbers would be down at this point, due to demographics in the US. I’ve come to realize though that many schools (the ones DD is looking at anyway) have expanded international admissions and they now have huge numbers of international applicants - driving down the admit rates for US students (and the financial aid available…)
Oh well. There will be schools out there that will want my DD - the trick is to get her to want those schools!</p>
<p>Octoberdana - thanks for your reply. DD is a soph. so I will def. let you know if we are headed to Upland next Fall. We are all planning on U of W Madison later this month for a campus tour and Biz. School meeting. Both kids want the midwest although I think I will have them apply East or West to a dream school. Wings and roots, right?</p>
<p>Hi Everyone!</p>
<p>Speaking of increased applications . . . we were at Case Western yesterday for their spring open house. There was a girl from San Diego in one of our groups. My S13 and I were talking about the surge of applications likely to Ohio schools next year due to this deceptive winter/spring weather. Northeast Ohio doesnt usually get this much sun even in the summer! </p>
<p>Im looking forward to hearing about all your college visits. If anyone is interested, I can give a more detailed take on Pitt and Case Western, but heres a few things I hadnt previously read on CC (this is from the perspective of a engineering/cs boy):<br>
-Pitt doesnt have enough honors housing for all of its honors students, so its selective. Surprisingly, this is important to my S13 at the bigger schools hes considering
-Pitt offers free room/meal plan to some techie kids that work so many hours dealing with students computer issues, installing software, etc. (an alternative to being an RA.)
-Pitt students can take classes at CMU for the price of Pitt tuition if Pitt doesnt offer the class (a really nice benefit for CS majors!)
-Case has a bar in its student union! Doesnt matter to S13 either way, but I was kind of surprised is this common?
-Case students must be able to tune out sirens the ambulances are constant since the main academic quad backs up to the University Hospital ER entrance.
-The Rapid (train) has a stop on campus in addition to the busline. Very easy and inexpensive to get to the airport, internships downtown, etc, but also very easy to get to the new casino!</p>
<p>Reporting back from a 5-college spring break trip to: Delaware, Elon, Marist, Richmond, and Susquehanna. We’re from NJ, and D wants a school with an equestrian team, and we visited barns at the schools when we could.</p>
<p>Elon and Marist were the favorites, I think because D particular liked the ~5k student size. Small enough to have small classes and feel supportive, but big enough to offer a wider range of majors and classes, larger student body, more food options, etc. We’ll be searching for more ~3k - ~10k student schools to consider. I wish there were more of that size in the area, especially ones that aren’t religiously affiliated or super-selective.</p>
<p>Susquehanna wins the prize for the most personalized experience. Personal tour guide. Interview with an admissions officer that seemed more informational than evaluative, with the parents invited in at the end to ask questions. Admissions gave us a free pass to eat lunch on campus. D met with several members of the equestrian team who were incredibly nice and helpful. D really liked the people, but was concerned that the school felt a bit small, at ~2300, and thought the food options were limited. Still, I think it stays on the list as a safety. </p>
<p>Delaware was the biggest school D has visited, and she thought it felt bigger than she would like, even though it is one of the smaller state flagship U’s at about 16k undergrads. As we drove the length of the campus en route to the info session, I could sense her anxiety rising as she was surprised at how the campus just kept going and going. Still it was a very pretty campus, and the students really seem to like it, and I think stays on the list.</p>
<p>Richmond’s campus was drop-dead gorgeous. H, D, and I all agree that it is the prettiest campus we have ever seen. Good food. However, it is a really big reach, so D wouldn’t let herself fall in love with it.</p>
<p>Marist had a very pretty campus, well maintained with lots of new buildings. Its selectivity level is increasing. It had the best barn we have seen, with a huge indoor ring. D liked the range of course offerings, and that you could take classes outside of your school. Small classes, most limited to 35. </p>
<p>Elon was the favorite from the visit, although D is uncertain about North Carolina being too far away from NJ. Beautiful campus, small classes, friendly students, good food. A random student stopped to offer directions and chat with us while we were attempting to navigate around campus. D spoke with a very friendly member of the equestrian team. Liked the range of course offerings and majors, and the next-to-campus pizza place, and general location. </p>
<p>It was a successful trip, and we learned more about what D likes and doesn’t like about what colleges have to offer.</p>
<p>Just found out the our junior son scored the highest in our school on the American Math test. He took the senior version of the test. He was pretty excited. Shameless Mom brag :D.</p>
<p>Congrats, SteveMA! My D scored in the top 3 in her HS on the AMC 12. No one broke the score to qualify for the next level (AIME?) though. She is hoping that might help her get accepted to Northwestern’s MMSS program.</p>
<p>MommyDearest, I lived for a year across from the University Hospital Emergency entrance at Case. It was noisy! The university bought up my building and tore it down though, in their expansion quest. I did use the Rapid to commute downtown to my summer co-op job when I lived there.</p>
<p>I’m glad this is my last child too, things keep getting crazier!</p>
<p>Congrats Steve for your son.
For all of you reporting back on your college visits- thank you very much. So much valuable information!
We have decided to hang around universities in Boston this spring break and do some online research on colleges that are far away.</p>
<p>After a while, S is home relaxed with not much activities except for the volleball practice today morning. Nice to see him hanging around the house- he was not able to do this in a while now.</p>
<p>Mine is going to the beach. Nice to see that she gets a break before a slew of more standardized testing coming in May and June.</p>
<p>I still have 5 to send to college - UGH! Fortunately, I think only the oldest ones will have the motivation to go beyond state schools. I’ll admit to being pretty stressed about D13 and S14, though. With D13 at boarding school, I don’t know how to take her to visit schools when classes are in session. She keeps coming up with crazy things like, “I want to go to school in Canada.” That’s when I say,“There’s a reason why Canadians come to the U.S. to go to college.” And, “If you want to go to a school where you’ll be in class with 100 other students, you should come home to our state flagship where you’d get free tuition and save us some money.”</p>
<p>warning…long post
We did the ultimate NC/VA college tour. I have never seen so many manicured lawns, beautiful columned buildings, fantastic food halls and absolutely awesome libraries. What the hell has happened in 30 years? NC schools were a little poor and unsophisticated compared to the yankee colleges in my time. Duke was nice in the 1980’s but not chic…the library was musty and dusty, the gardens a little unkempt, there was no work out room or fancy places to eat…and now…oh my! everything gleamed and shone! All the schools seemed to be about student amenities with a nod to academics. Elon was the most extreme with new and beautiful everything but even William and Mary had some very gadgety stuff going on in the library. We started at W&M, then Elon and Wake, UNC and Duke, Davidson, Virginia Tech, UVA. We actually gave up when we got to Charlottesville and just stopped for dinner and did not stay overnight for the tour in the morning. So weird not to be going to any art things as with S but managed to see that Davidson had an absolutely stunning art facilities and museum with gallery space for students and DUKE? oh my! with their new art museum with gorgeous Calder exhibit. There was nothing close to the artsy at Duke in my time. Duke, however, still had for me a creepy vibe of hyper-competitive mix of overachieving middle class public school kids along with arrogant prep-school “bros” walking around with blazers, ties and shorts…and the ubiquitous cap turned backwards. I feel I can say this as a Duke grad. The buildings and facilities were amazing and you could see kids working on all sorts of projects in the team rooms looking quite intelligent, intense and engaged…like an advertisement, but I still felt the place oozed social and academic pressure.</p>
<p>Happiest students…by far and away were at UNC and at Virginia tech. The kids just looked energized and smiley. Davidson…big campus and small number of kids so my daughter said that she never saw a kid up close except for the exceptionally perky guide. Just too small. VaTech…the only issue is that there really is no place for the undecided, liberal artsy kid…pick a technical field or business and know that you are going to get a great education but you need to know what you are going to do when you get there. Elon…or rather, spa-Elon, was very nice but the town was small. D liked Wake–struck me as a little more low key than Duke but even more emphasis on greek life.Still, they did a very nice presentation despite having the weakest tour guide of the lot. </p>
<p>Personally, I liked VaTech the best due to $ and vibe. Wake would be best fit for D except for the $$. UNC and UVA are wonderful but are big reaches for all kids. Duke is not only a super reach but is not for the faint of heart or those without a really strong sense of self. </p>
<p>The best result was that my D decided that any of these schools would be fine for her and made her look into the big book for others that seemed to be more like Wake in terms of size and emphasis on undergrad teaching…hopefully she can find a few more “matches” as well as “reaches.” Any suggestions? We would consider outside of the midatlantic too. </p>
<p>PM me if you want more details on the schools.</p>
<p>@Heavylidded- You got it! I just picked my D up from the airport and am sending her to bed so she can get some sleep before I get her up to head out. I am going to use some of the great suggestions I got for our road trip to try to keep it as even keeled and pleasant as possible. </p>
<p>@Steve-Congratulations to your son! That is brag worthy indeed!</p>
<p>@Fineartsmajormom- How about Furman? Another suggestion for great school spirit and super happy kids is James Madison.</p>
<p>Apollo: Your D is in an IB school- which is why she is attracted to Candadian universitites. Universities in canada think highly of IB deploma and a lot of IB deploma candidates apply to canadian universities especially the international ones- and there are some world class universities in Canada!!</p>
<p>Fineartsmajormom: we are adding VirginiaTech to our list of schools, your post has helped me made this decision. My S was talking about this school- i was discouraging him.</p>