<p>Welcome back LadyA!! Good luck to your D on her test score. Did you get a chance to read any of Pixleyyy’s blog on their tour of western/NWtern universities? Her S and your D may be interested in some of the same schools. :O) </p>
<p>I haven’t seen that blog, but we have been to a few of the colleges. We’re not going to do a tour. She’s applying for NJROTC, and pretty much has to take whatever college they assign her to, so she’s going spam applications to every college on the west coast that has engineering <em>and</em> NJROTC. Also to U Colorado (my alma mater) even though we can’t afford the out of state tuition. She just wants to know if she can get in.</p>
<p>I hear that bake sales (brownies in particular) are a great way to raise college money in Washington and Colorado these days!! 
Maybe that could help offset those OOS tuition costs in Boulder?</p>
<p>I still have mixed feelings about U Colorado. I think Ralphie dragging a few hapless students out before a football game is one of the coolest pre-game rituals in the country, but as a Wolverine fan I’ve still got PTSD (Post Touchdown Stewart Disorder) from that pass Kordell broke our hearts with…not that I hold a grudge or anything. [-( </p>
<p>It could be worse. At least no one on this thread has mentioned visiting Appalachian State – yet. </p>
<p>College visits are done for the summer. We had a great time! S’15 finally engaged (using the 17 year old boy definition of “engaged”) in the process. He had opinions! that he expressed!! positively and negatively, throughout the process. :-bd </p>
<p>Concordia, St. Paul: It is just too small. S didn’t know what his bottom limit was, until this visit. They were eager, enthusiastic, very genuine and pleasant. But with only 1400 undergrads in a nondescript, disheveled urban “campus”… he was uninspired. Off the list.</p>
<p>Macalester: was an embarrassingly minimalist event. It felt like they woke up realizing they had guests coming, threw some brochures into a folder and cranked out a 5 slide (standard talking points) power point presentation and grabbed some kids off the street for tour guides. Campus was a ghost town. I won’t criticize the tour guide (they aren’t professionals 
) but believe me, my tongue is bleeding right now. This was the one academic reach and “reputation” school S’15 had on his short list. Oh well, they did me a favor. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Off the list.</p>
<p>Bethel University: Nice. Religion (Evangelical) is noticeable, but not overbearing. Polite, engaging presentation. Great student panel. Well prepared session and tour. This is what an organized event (with a little forethought, planning and elbow grease) should come off like. Benefited greatly from tour placement order in contrast to Macalester. Will apply.</p>
<p>University of St Thomas: D’12’s school. I’m biased. Let me just say; if you don’t want your kids to end up in MN at UST? don’t attend a student recruiting event. I’d like to see what they’re conversion rate is… 8-> easily the most entertaining, professional, polished, potential student centered presentation with facilities unmatched this side of Notre Dame. Will apply.</p>
<p>Hamline University: Easily the biggest surprise of the week. Meticulous grounds, best (by far) Admissions Person and event MC. Great regional reputation, campus was buzzing with activity. They had students mixing in during the waiting/registration before the presentation. Nice touch. Distributed tour guide bio’s so you could sign up with matched interests. Great (new) facilities. An obvious effort put into this event and it showed. If UST put on a #1 show? then this was a #1b. And if they keep it up? they will contend. They showed extremely well and S was impressed (that’s hard to do!). Will apply and potential #1 choice.</p>
<p>St. Olaf: Pristine campus on a gorgeous summer day… I think S made up his mind upon driving through the main entrance. Another campus not wanting for any maintenance. Literally sparkles. They came across as more serious and I thought a little luddite’ish by focusing on their 160 year old residential college traditions. I get it… but, the world… it is a changing. Any way - they had S’15 at the door. Will apply.</p>
<p>I’m not as good writing feedback as others on this site. Visits are so personal.</p>
<p>@giterdone , what do you mean you’re not good at this - it’s fabulous! We will now add UST and Hamline to our Minnesota itinerary. St. Olaf was already on it. I’ve heard that the campus is spectacular. In a trip visit posted somewhere on CC, a dad wonders whether there’s a plant printing money somewhere on the campus.</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing!</p>
<p>^ Thank you! And I think they call the money printing plant “student parents” :)) They’re the one school that makes me sweat - if you’ve seen my stuff on here? I’m allergic to the CSS profile and St. Olaf is the one school that subscribes to that method, that hooked my S. :(( </p>
<p>Enjoy your trip! Hamline, UST and St. Olaf are 3 of the best schools of their kind within 500 miles (coming from a true “homer”)</p>
<p>
D and I were just discussing the issue of number of students from your high school. Her HS is not one of the powerhouse high schools that often seem to be discussed…not even remotely. If D and a student who has better stats from her school both apply to the same selective school, would that likely hurt D’s chances? </p>
<p>@Wolverine86, you’re right. @LadyArwyn’s D and my S are looking at a similar round of schools. The blog post link was posted on 6/22 so you’d have to go back several pages here to find it. Can’t post it again because it was an oopsie… didn’t know you weren’t supposed to link blogs. </p>
<p>The short version is that we went on a road trip to several western states engineering colleges and gives details on what we liked/didn’t at each. We didn’t visit UW as S didn’t want to be in Seattle area. He liked WSU but it was pretty hilly and large. We also went to Montana, where MSU was a favorite (and despite the cold and snow they get 300 days of sun a year!) and Utah where he liked U of U (though I thought it was way too big for him… not that I get to decide). Boise State was our last stop and it was smaller and nice. Would be a good choice too. OSU is a given for us, as it’s in-state. U of O doesn’t have engineering. Let me know if you want specifics about any and I’ll share our thoughts from the trip.</p>
<p>Since coming back from our trip we had a new development. S has decided not to work at a camp this summer. I’ve mentioned before that he has worked at a Cub Scout summer camp for the last 2 years (he’s an Eagle and enjoys everything scouting) but decided he needed to dedicate this summer to working on ACT prep, college essays and finding a “real” job. So instead of leaving for camp in a week he’s now starting himself a list of all the things he has to do.</p>
<p>In addition, he met with an admissions advisor for the Air Force Academy. We visited when we were in Colorado Springs last summer and he really liked it. He started looking into the process and we drove into Portland on Monday to meet with the advisor. A lot to consider. A lot involved in the application process. He’s taking a few weeks to consider whether he’s going to pursue it or not. It was the first time we had his college resume seriously scrutinized and it was a learning experience. </p>
<p>For those of you who might be insomniac college process obsessives :-S , June SAT scores are already up this morning. </p>
<p>Well D is still sleeping and I won’t peek at her SAT [-( </p>
<p>Shoboemom when we visited Emory they told us that they take all of the kids applying from the same HS and literally line them up and do an apples to apples comparison on everything- course rigor, GPA, tests scores, letters of rec, essays, etc. Our HS usually has about 5 or 6 applicants; this year it was 3. Not sure how many were accepted because the final list of colleges that our kids are going to has Emory on it, yet Naviance still has a 0 under acceptances which indicates it has not been updated. </p>
<p>That being said, don’t worry. Your D sounds like a competitive applicant and a terrific girl. All we can do is have them put together the best application possible and let the cards fall where they fall. After being through this process once before I can honestly say that the system works and that the vast majority of kids are happy. The only time it may not work out ( unless you are that boy on Long Island LOL) is if every school on your list is a reach and you are shut out. Of course our group is way too smart to allow our kids to do that. With a little research ( or a lot of research) our kids will be very happy. As I mentioned before, all that we really want in life are happy and healthy kids 
and the ability to retire without living in a cardboard box! </p>
<p>giterdone, thank you! My D pretty much has her heart set on a school farther away (KU) but her dad now lives in St. Paul and would love to have her consider somewhere close by. She did like UST when we visited and said “I feel like they would help me be successful.” Your review makes me want to bring it up with her again.</p>
<p>My D didn’t look at Macalester, but my son did–and was similarly underwhelmed. I do know kids from our HS who go there and love it, though.</p>
<p>And yeah, St. Olaf scores high on almost everything. Affordability could be an issue for kids relying on merit aid.</p>
<p>@someoldguy I don’t get the App State reference??</p>
<p>Just tweaking @Wolverine86. This link explains things. </p>
<p><a href=“http://bighousenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/APPSTATE.jpg”>http://bighousenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/APPSTATE.jpg</a></p>
<p>Great summary @giterdone, but there’s one noteworthy admission. Are you one of those Minnesotans that considers Carleton an out-of-state school?</p>
<p>SOG I just saw your post. It’s a good thing I was not up earlier or I may have been very tempted to peek, but I had a change of heart. </p>
<p>D checked her Spanish subject test and although her score was very good, her other two subject tests are much higher… So she is officially done with testing and will send in her SAT, ACT, and two subject tests. </p>
<p>D now told me she reads Trevor Packers tweets and is upset that he only tweets about Spanish Lit and not Spanish Lang, which she took. </p>
<p>@pixleyyy, Good for your S to know what he wants and to be organized about it. Sounds like he has his act together. Good luck with his college apps. </p>
<p>Pixleyyy you have a very impressive son. Congrats to you for raising such a mature young man. I believe your son is the one who organized the college tours ( very impressive)?</p>
<p>It really sounds like all the kids are getting engaged in the process in one way or another now, in the search, in studying, in trying to have productive summers, etc!</p>
<p>Well, our Air conditioner quit working yesterday. You know what Florida is in the summer?..It’s hot! Lol. Luckily we have a lot of shade trees and the repair guy says he should have the part to fix it today. Crossing fingers that it’s still under warranty.</p>
<p>Dropped D off at her mandatory volunteer project for school this morning. Yes, mandatory/volunteer…hmmmm. They, of course, have to have a certain number of hours, but some of them have to be at this specific place, and available times are limited. As I was waiting for her to get the form there she needed me to sign, I looked up her subject test scores to show them to her. X_X </p>
<p>Now I just need to figure out what to make of them. Bio seemed great, spanish seemed good, but not great. I recall some discussion of how the language tests are often taken by kids who speak that language as a native language. Does that have an effect on the curve, or how the scores are viewed? Do the schools pay attention to that aspect of it on individual applications? </p>