<p>It’ll be D and I and my 6’3" S’12 I’m thinking about reserving a hotel room about halfway that I can cancel without penalty before 6PM if the drive is going well.</p>
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<p>It and Oberlin are the two “best” LACs in Ohio, in terms of national reputation and selectivity. It’s small (1600?), and is well known for writing in particular. It is in a tiny, tiny town that is barely distinguishable from the campus itself, but is only 15 mins from a small city with chain stores/restaurants, and 45 from Columbus which has lots of everything. But without a car I doubt any of it is possible to get to unless the school has a shuttle or something. Incredibly low crime area. It’s almost always on the “most beautiful college campuses” lists. </p>
<p>That’s about all I know. It is too close to home for D and doesn’t have engineering or CS which are two of the majors she is considering.</p>
<p>Ohio State…well that’s a completely different kettle of fish. 65K students. Right in the middle of Columbus. A bazillion majors.</p>
<p>A happy medium might be Miami in Oxford. 18K students, more of a LAC feel. Also Denison, probably #3 in national rep of the LACs, a bit larger than Kenyon. Both Miami and Denison are known for merit $.</p>
<p>Yes I have developed an interest in some of the Ohio schools ( of course this should be a “she” or at least a “we” rather than an “I.”). She is going to major in the sciences - probably chemistry- and wants a bigger school than 1600. I will check out Denison and Miami Ohio. Thx!! </p>
<p>Good idea about the hotel and glad to hear your 6 ft 3 in S is joining you!</p>
<p>Thank you!! We are doing a big college visit this February and another one in April. I am hoping that she can at least rule out a size after these visits. Denison looks small-about 2500 kids. If she thinks that small may work for her then perhaps we will keep it on a list and get further info. Last I checked she wanted a medium to big " rah rah" school in or near a city or town.</p>
<p>Thank you Shacherry I was actually thinking about Case Western for her. We won’t be able to visit all of these schools- the list is just way too long. Case may be one of those schools that we visit if the finances work out.</p>
<p>What other schools do you have on your visit list? The only school not in the NY or LA area for my son is CMU. So a visit to Pittsburgh may happen. Cleveland is not so far from there so maybe my son and I can go check it out for you and report back. OR if your on the east coast you can join us on our road trip. How sort of fun would a CC college road trip be.</p>
<p>That would be fun!! We were in Pittsburgh in September visiting UPitt. My H and I loved it and declared that we want to go back to school. I could not get a read from my daughter, but after doing some investigative work it was determined that kids from her school don’t go there and she was trying to figure out why, and she does not like the name “Pittsburgh” ( sigh). I think she liked it more than she let on. It’s exactly what she said she wanted. They sent us a magnet which is hanging on the fridge. </p>
<p>In Feb we are going to Duke ( not sure if I will keep this one on the list but for now it is), Emory, UVA, Richmond, Wake Forest, and Maryland. Then in the spring we are going to DC and UDel and some of the Pennsylvania schools ( Lehigh and Lafayette). We already saw BU but I would like to go back in the summer. My husband does not- he does not like summer visits due to the lack of students. If we do not end up going back it’s ok because we saw it once and I took notes. My daughter can go to a BU event when they come to our area. </p>
<p>There will be a few schools that she may apply to without visiting because of time or distance ie Ohio State, Case?, possibly U of Georgia ( this is a new one that popped into my head), and if she likes the south I have a few more schools in mind- depending on what she is looking for. I am hoping these visits can clear things up a bit. Big- small- city -no city etc. </p>
<p>If she ends up applying to schools that we have not seen she will have to show interest another way: emailing, attending a local event, etc. </p>
<p>I found the list of schools from CTCL and started researching them - the ones I researched were very small ( about 2500 kids or less). I got the impression that most schools from that book are small, but I did not look at all of them. If my daughter decides she likes Lafayette ( less than 3.000 kids) then I will investigate some of those schools further. Richmond is not big either ( about 4,000?) so we can use that to judge as well. I liked the overall theme of the book ( just from the advertisement) which seemed to be " great schools that you have never heard of."</p>
<p>I forgot that we may add UConn to the list and eventually check out their honors program. It’s close enough ( but not too close … Then it would be off the list).</p>
<p>Thinking happy thoughts this morning for OHMom, keepme, and any others traveling through the Northeast. The things we parents do for our kids… :)</p>
<p>been keeping up but not posting for many reasons, most just super busy. D15 is prepping for the ACT, finding the math to be a project as she is not taking math this year ( took [precalc last year, is doing calc over the summer) so she has some practice to do though she does not think it is hard, just been a while. </p>
<p>Last night I wsa presented with a project. My D’s long time Best friend was here for dinner, and revealed that she has not started planning for college at all. Her parents are not Americans, but they are both PHD level engineers, so I was surprised. Apparently they thought next fall would be a good time to start looking.</p>
<p>Her search will be different though as there are no schools out of reach. She has a 4.4 GPA and 2310 SAT, and parents will pay a total of 200k for undergrad. Quite the situation to be in. The tricky part for her is she has no idea about major, though if forced to pick today would probably be Chem Eng. No humanities/social sciences, takes every science class available and just loves them. So my thoughts for her are that she shoulk be looking at large schools where she could easily explore different areas and where there would be lots of undergrad research opportuntities. I think she will tag along on our spring break college tour, and if so we will add a couple schools for her ( Columbia???) </p>
<p>As a special part of this project, it sounds like the parents will let her keep the $$ if she pays for some or all of her undergrad with scholarships. So if she can get a full ride and just pay for the extras, she would have a huge down payment on the rest of her life when she is done. I do assume she will be going after the PHD as well so not sure how that plays in. </p>
<p>SUCH a different challenge, and her parents really have no idea and they think Americans make too much fuss about this process. Honestly, they are right, but it is what it is!</p>
<p>Keepme will probably have heavy rains- OH may have a mix- yuck. My daughter will also get stuck in the mix as she travels back home from upstate. Safe travels everyone!!
Mitten- good for your D’s friend!! It’s always nice to be in that academic situation combined with the financial resources.</p>
<p>Yesterday D and I visited UNC-Asheville. Nice little school in a great little city in western North Carolina. It has only 3600 students so it fits D’s requirement of less than 5,000. The information session was pretty good, led by a well spoken new grad. He walked through what looked through a brochure but he kept it interesting if not particularly insightful. D and I jumped guides to walk with the biology major. The guide tried to engage the student visitors asking about potential majors, clubs and accomplishments. Both the info session speaker and guide struck me as bright and earnest. The guide seemed to be the classic underachiever in high school who could do the work when presented with the right motivation.</p>
<p>D thought the students were nice (lots of people greeting the guide) but we couldn’t sit in a class or evaluate the academics. It sounds like a very supportive environment where the professors and staff work together for the student. The campus was compact. The dorms were set up so hall bathrooms do not exist. The vast majority were two doubles in a suite sharing a bathroom; the rest were suites with four singles sharing a bathroom.</p>
<p>Asheville was a very nice surprise. I had been there many years ago but this visit reminded me that this place is pretty friendly, nice restaurants, great arts and of course, the mountains. The campus sits about two miles from downtown, so the students are close to restaurants, shows, arts but the immediate neighborhood is quiet.</p>
<p>H is worried that D won’t be academically challenged. D and I noticed no one mentioned study abroad so we assume they have a weak program; I’ll have to look into it. It looks like a good safety for D except for the study abroad issue. </p>
<p>I’m battling the prestige factor with friends and to some extent family. They don’t acknowledge prestige is a factor, they would even say it doesn’t matter. But then they would say things like “but that school isn’t even on any top 50 list” and all the schools they do mention are in the top 20. (sigh) </p>
<p>CTCL has been great. It’s perfect for D. Most of my suggestions for D are from the book. I also look for colleges similar to the ones in the book.</p>
<p>twogirls: UGA family here, happy to answer any questions. My bulldawg is in her 3rd year and just received 2 offers for competitive internships on Wall St this summer. Has been a great experience for her.</p>
<p>I was wondering if there is a way to obtain exact questions that a student got wrong in SAT?
Somebody mentioned answer service but not able to find that info on collegeboard?
Thanks</p>
<p>mittentigger, that would be so fun! It’s like playing with someone else’s money, and all for a good cause! :)</p>
<p>Safe travels everyone!</p>
<p>twogirls, I was also going to suggest Case Western for your D. They do offer good merit packages. She can always have it on the list and visit if (when) accepted and the money is right.</p>
<p>Thank you everybody for thinking about my daughter!! Suzy if my daughter decides that she likes the southern schools I will definitely ask you for info regarding the U of Georgia. Quick question: do you know roughly how many OOS kids are there?</p>
I’m thinking about reserving a hotel room about halfway that I can cancel without penalty before 6PM if the drive is going well.</p>
I know a lot more about it than Kenyon, PM me if you have specific questions.</p>