@STEM2017 - lol
And a belated welcome to @robNNN and @Cubanmom3!
I mean, Target is worth paying a little more just for a better experience, right? Yale is maybe Cartier? Definitely hard to compare on cost…
@STEM2017 Snort.
FWIW I don’t recall any generation before this talking so much about “fit” and “happiness.” My dad was the oldest of 9 and received scholarships to McGill and Syracuse and an appointment to USNA. He went to USNA. My mom was told by her father that she could be a nurse or a teacher, so she went to Seton Hall because they offered a BS in Nursing. I followed the money, then transferred. I am hoping that D17 gets the “magic mix” but honestly she will go to the school that has the program she wants and has it at the right price. She has applied to schools without considering location, size etc because it’s only four freaking years. She registered with the NCAA in all three of her sports and will play the sport the school offers or for the coach that wants her. Just like my D14 she will go and make the best of it and bloom where she is planted because she is resilient and grateful. The visit days for accepted students are BS, they are all the same, just like the tours and info sessions prior to applying. I totally get the college experience thing but it’s getting a little out of hand.
@STEM2017 :))
Just a quick welcome to @robNNN and @Cubanmom3 – thanks for joining & sharing.
@cleoforshort I, for one, want my D to have the best college experience possible, so we spend lots of time on fit. I went to a college that wasn’t a good fit and want better for my D. To each their own. (And I’m a cynic in many things, but I disagree that visits, etc are all BS. Know what to look for, what to ask, and who to ask, and get to the truth.)
I am sitting in a 300 level French class at OK. Interesting visit and I think dd is going to struggle with her decision more than she thought. There is a lot to like here. I am glad she is doing the 2 visits back to back. I have to admit that I am as conflicted as she is. I don’t think either one of us expected to like it here as much as we do. Campus is very nice and the people are fabulous. (There are only 12 students in the class she is sitting in and even though I don’t know French, even I can see what a great professor she is and how engaged the students are.)
But, ugh, the drive here was awful. If she chooses here, we will never drive it again. When we crossed the border into TX, there was a man walking along the interstate. I have no idea what was wrong with him, but he was spasming and stepped out into the middle of my lane. Thank the Lord there was not a car beside me bc I swerved and barely missed him. I was driving over 75 miles an hour. It was horrifying and the traffic was horrific. I don’t know if he managed to survive more than the 18 wheeler that swerved behind me.
Then when we got to Dallas. Oh my. The construction and our GPS did not get along. It was 1000x worse than anything I have experienced in driving through Atlanta. Never again. Ever. So glad we are driving to NC from here instead of home.
@cleoforshort - that’s a refreshing post 
I am not too much into fithe either, but my DS is applying to biology related majors.
@socalmom007 - As long as you’re looking for some good metaphors for some of the schools, check out this thread. There are some gems (post 133 is particularly good, but there are other great ones):
@cleoforshort - YMMV and everyone’s criteria are different. D17 is an only child with a strong intellectual bent and a passion for learning that has worked really hard to get scholarships and has overcome no shortage of challenges along the way.
Her high school was not the best fit in many ways and she does NOT want a repeat of that experience. The program she attended this past summer (TASP) gave her a taste of what she is seeking in a college experience and we support her in finding it. She is probably more concerned than either her dad or I about the finances and is coming from a place of deep gratitude and not of entitlement.
Like @itsgettingreal17, I did not have the best fit as an undergraduate and I, too, want better for my daughter.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek - small classes and engaged teachers are what made me become a language major as well. YIKEs on the driving experience. Glad you’re okay.
For us fit is pretty important but no matter what it will be a big adjustment for DS I think. He has a few good options already and in doing an overnight tomorrow night at GTech and staying with a student. He’ll have dinner, meet some other admitted students, go to classes and get a little sense of student and academic life - obviously limited insights but hopefully he’ll learn some things and think about what life might be like there - as well as being a plane ride from home, albeit in the same time zone.
Re accepted student days: Our older son was trying to decide between 2 schools a few years ago. We went to the accepted student days for each school on back-to-back days. His decision became crystal clear for him (although us parents thought it became less clear haha). I think you just don’t know what cues a kid will pick up on. As for fit, I think our kids could fit well at lots of colleges, but at the enormous cost that they are these days, a mistake can be extremely costly if they do not like where they attend and want to transfer.
My son and I toured RPI last week. He liked the “scene” there and felt pretty good about it. Troy is about what I remember it to be. Nothing glamorous, a little nicer than I remember it, but certainly not a swank cool town. My son isn’t too picky about stuff so he was fine with it.
The campus was fine. Some nice buildings, some in need of repairs. It’s an old school that had not been fully refurbished. I’ve seen better campuses though to be honest. I would imagine it is not fun walking around there in the brutal cold and wind.
We toured another cold place a few months ago,Clarkson, and all of their academic buildings seemed connected by glass hallways so you didn’t have to go outside in the cold/rain. That would be helpful at RPI I thought.
The dorms seemed ok too, but nothing spectacular. I don’t think they guarantee housing all 4 years, no cars for freshman. Again my son isn’t too picky, so he thought they were fine.
Lots of signs up for clubs and events. The student union zone was good, plenty to eat, pool tables, event rooms etc.
In the end, I thought it was a decent school. The educational and internships and co-ops give it a leg up I think. Seems like a lot of kids coming out of there doing ok for themselves. My son decided he really liked it; liked the diversity, clubs and events, good programs of study, co-ops and study abroad, he liked the food, sports etc. He thought he fit in there, his kind of people.
We’ll see if he gets in I guess and go from there.
He’d be in Lally School, probably in their innovation program.
I’m surprised how many other posters in this thread have kids applying there. The good news, according to the admissions people almost everyone gets some merit $$, except for international students. We’ll see!
U Buffalo has the same connectors throughout campus. The call it The Habitrail. :))
@LoveTheBard I would say that reading this thread all of our kids are pretty intellectual and no one gets through high school without some challenges. You do what’s right for your child, I was speaking about the general obsession with fit.
Ithaca college had tunnels, looked awesome!
@RightCoaster - BTW I like your new Avatar. I have heard from a couple of people that the tour at RPI is not very good - i.e. comes off as a bit uppity. I’m hoping it is not too much like that tomorrow. We’re also hoping to meet up with the son/brother of a friend of ours/S17 who is a Sophomore this year, to pick his brain a little on things we might miss on the official tour. Also UMass Lowell has a tunnel on the Engineering/Business Campus that links the main buildings - I thought that was neat.
@STEM2017 is on fire today!
D17 is only going to one accepted student event, at UMD for engineering, because we could make it fit with our spring break tour. We reversed the order of school visits because their accepted student day would allow her to visit with people from the Honors LLC she selected, and with engineering reps in her particular area.
On a different topic, our Skype session with D15 last night found her in much better spirits than we’ve experienced for many months. We’re in daily contact (minimal but regular updates from her) but seeing her so enthused was a real joy!
@rightcoaster So happy to hear your DS is exploring RPI. I grew up not so far away, so I may be a bit biased, but it is a great school with an amazing reputation. It was one of my DS’s top 3.