@Atyraulove We visited Connecticut College a couple of years ago. Small LAC with a lovely campus feel. They have a beautiful music/voice performance facility and offer great programs for research, student internships and study abroad opportunities. Very creative vibe with smart, focused students. Lots of interaction with professors, and small class sizes. On the downside, I don’t think they offer much (if any) merit $, the dorm room they showed us was truly awful (but there are nice apartments for upperclassmen), and word is the hallway-style dorm bathrooms are co-ed. (FYI They are at Vassar, too.)
QOTD: Not applying to any military academies here. My son received multiple letters from West Point last spring and they also send a letter to the parents letting you know when a representative will be in town so they can come meet with you. It’s just not something my son was interested in. I have a friend whose son was interested in the Coast Guard and was wait listed but encouraged to reapply next year. He just made the physical fitness aspect and they want him to work on that over the next year. He’s an athletic kid and very physically fit it’s just apparently not at the highest level as required.
@paveyourpath …I have a friend whose daughter just finished her first year at West Point. We have followed her journey on Facebook. OH.MY.WORD. Those kids are crazy amazing! They are made of some TOUGH stuff. Seriously.
@saillakeerie I would strongly recommend Havasu Falls this is the trip we did, but we had a guide and had to trec down 10 miles and trec in 10 miles slept over night twice and visited mooney falls and all kind of waterfalls. I was the slowest one there I do have asthma, but I did make it. Though you don’t ride donkeys, but mules carry some of your stuff down and up. This was in Arizona. Steve are guide was wonderful. The only way I’d ever do the grand canyon. He pampered us there cooked set up tents ect. The food was wonderful.
** QOTD ** No to service academies. Not the type.
But I do know it is a lot of work to apply there and basically needs to be done by September. The previous summer i.e. now for 17ners, they go on some sort of training at the academies.
I also have been following on facebook a great neighborhood kid and eagle scout at West Point and his family’s journey. Love the photos of him in uniform and gears. This morning’s photo was him flying an airplane or helicopter.
@2muchquan I went to an information session today and while giving the students some advice on the app process, the AO said something worth sharing. He was talking about HS curriculum and the importance of rigor. He said when they look at the apps, they look at the student’s intended area of interest (majors declared during, but by the end of, the 4th semester). The example he gave was a student interested in engineering. They are going to look to see if the student has taken the most advance courses available in the area that interests them so for an engineering student they would expect to see various AP level calculus and physics courses. If the student takes Honors spanish or AP spanish they don’t even look at. They don’t care.
APs: AO encouraged the kids to ease off of APs. He said that until a couple of years ago, they looked favorably on kids taking many APs as it represented that the kid could handle the rigor of college. Their admissions philosophy changed a couple of years ago because they started to sense the kids were arriving on campus burnt out and frazzled. Since then they make it a point to look for balance. He said the kids should enjoy their lives and take the advanced courses in subjects they are passionate about and not on the areas that are not their intended focus.
Well Rounded: AO said it’s a common misinterpretation that selective colleges are looking for the well rounded kid. They are looking to put together a well rounded class and that is done by finding the right individuals. His example was a math geek who is interested in only doing math competitions is what he would say is not well rounded but is as much a contender as the kid that is doing many different things.
This seemed to hit on a few of the topics we’ve discussed in the last few weeks so I thought I’d pass along the information. We had a fabulous tour guide. Fabulous not only in the way he represented his school but just an absolutely fabulous young man who spent 15 minutes talking with my son about things to consider when the time comes to make a final selection on college. The entire conversation was from the perspective of having been through the process 3 years ago and when you are trying to decide focus on things outside of the structured admissions weekend. He recommended finding the various bulletin boards with flyers on them to see what type of things are going on around campus, break away (walk a few feet out of the group) and listen in on what kids on campus are talking about, during unscheduled time walk around campus on your own, start up conversations with other kids on campus, stop in the dining hall.
This is very true. I’ve heard it over and over from various AOs.
Well rounded is good for life, bad for getting into highly selective colleges.
@fun1234 Sounds like a trip I would like more than my daughter. For her the appeal is riding the mules. Though in Zion, she was the only one hiking up with me to see some of the falls/pools. So she might go for the waterfalls of Havasu. She wants to go back and hike the Narrows at Zion. We didn’t plan on doing that on our trip there. Freaks me out a little. Several people were killed a couple weeks after we were there due to flash flooding.
At the Grand Canyon, I hiked about 1.5 mile down the Bright Angel trail. Change in elevation was about 1,000 feet. I know they discourage people from trying to hike down and back up in the same day at any time but particularly in the summer. And I could definitely see why. We were there in July and it was like descending into an oven. And I thought the hike back up was almost refreshing because of the decrease in temp as I climbed.
@STEM2017 DS is not considering any of the military academies but he is applying for ROTC scholarships. He wants a “normal college experience” without wearing a uniform everyday but is considering taking a military route into Intelligence. That’s why we have Plan A and Plan B for college applications so he has choices at the end and can decide then if he wants to go military or not. If he gets/accepts a Navy or Army ROTC scholarship it will pay for tuition, fees and book as well as a monthly stipend while he is in school. Some schools pick up room and board costs as well for ROTC students. If he goes that route he will graduate as a Military Officer and will have a military commitment after college.
Hi everyone! Wow, I have been away since late June and am now behind by over 3k posts… yikes! Haha, I promised D17 she could just enjoy herself for a few weeks and completely recharge her batteries from thinking about school/college admissions stuff until 8/1 and I gave myself permission to take a break too! But now 8/1 is around the corner, so I guess we’re back in. 
I don’t think I can catch up with all I’ve missed, haha, but I guess I’ll be around from here until the bitter end now.
Thanks @paveyourpath for the perspective from the AO. That pretty much jibes with what I’ve heard as well. Still not sure how we are going to handle D17s independent study.
@thermom we made up a rule while you were gone: Gotta read every post.
D17 is driving back from Pitt so I’m catching up on what I’ve missed while I have a little while.
Free lunch at Pitt too, btw!! At least, for the open houses. Free T-shirt and sunglasses too.
@2muchquan Was it you who mentioned MSU? I don’t quite understand the scholarship page. It has just sort of wandered onto our radar. Not sure if that is a good thing or not, though!
Now had a chance to talk with my wife and daughter more about their visit to Michigan State. Overall impression is its a lot like Ohio State only the campus itself is bigger in terms of acreage and thus has more trees/green space. They did not talk with any faculty or advisers. MSU does have an animal science program which would be helpful for vet school (which is why it on her list). Apparently none of the dorms are air conditioned (absent a note from a doctor). Michigan schools cannot start until after Labor Day so that likely helps somewhat with temps.
Overall, my daughter prefers University of Kentucky over MSU (and Ohio State over MSU). Merit aid will play a role though at this point, expectation (fingers crossed) is Kentucky will have the lowest COA.
Yes @Mom2aphysicsgeek Yes, we visited MSU. The scholarship page is confusing, and makes it sound like many are guaranteed, but I think things are a little more competitive than they let on. But, if your D17 is NMF opportunities may be more clear.
True about A/C being absent in the dorms, as @saillakeerie mentioned. D17 liked it a lot, especially what she heard from the Honors folks. D also spoke to Neuroscience advisor who was awesome.
^^^^
Great news on kids not needing to be well rounded and not needing a bazillion AP’s. I think I have a kid that fits that profile.
@sailakeerie - I’m not sure what state you are from but I lived in Michigan until I was 22… My parents still do and they don’t have air. I don’t think air conditioning is really needed much during fall/spring. I suppose it might be nice in the summer. Now if a college didn’t have it in Georgia I’d turn around and run.
Note to self. Don’t try to keep up with the 20 year old college club soccer player when visiting her at school over the summer. Great way to tour campus though. It’s not a fit for S17 but I think S19 would really like it if his major path ends up fitting it. Not sure if there is AC in the dorms, I don’t remember from her freshman year. Off campus house does not and its ok.
I live in Ohio near Lake Erie. Pretty much everyone I know has air conditioning. And no doubt its needed more in the summer than it is spring or fall. But I would imagine there are at least a few days in the spring/fall when it would be helpful. Absolute necessity? No. But at this point, I think air conditioning is something most people have become accustomed to. And there are a lot of things in college dorms rooms now at this point which are conveniences more than necessities. But when balancing different schools, those things will often matter.
I think AC will really vary by area. We’ve yet to tour a school that offered it in the dorms (CO, WY, CA and WA). Most people in our area do not have it but I can see where in certain climates it really would be.
Poll
A. At a summer program offered at a local college: Nope
B. At a summer program offered at a college away from home: Nope, I wish!
C. Traveling - yes, we all went to London and Iceland for two weeks
D. Summer school (local or online at home): No (I wish, again)
E. Working: she is currently a CIT at a sleepaway arts camp, teaching flame working
F. Hanging out with friends: She is close with a few of the other CITs so they are hanging out 'after hours," I suppose
G. Other (please specify): She had volunteered at our city’s natural history museum, and the only other volunteers doing what she did were college students from USC. So, that’s cool.
When she gets back, she’ll have two weeks to either do more volunteering at the museum, or really study for the next ACT, while writing her common app essay. I’m very afraid she is saving a lot of anxiety for the end of the summer!