@mamaedefamilia so glad you liked WWU! Can’t wait to hear the full report.
Regarding the decline of SAT II tests, there are 5 schools on son’s list that require SAT with 2 SAT IIs OR the ACT. With the concerns over the New SAT, many kids are probably taking the ACT and calling it a day. Unfortunately, Georgetown requires 3 subj tests be taken in addition to the SAT or ACT and my son loved Georgetown so he’s willing to put himself through the subject tests in October.
There are two schools that were on my son’s list that required SAT II’s last year, but are not requiring them this year. One of the schools still recommends SAT II’s, but the other school doesn’t even mention the SAT II’s in its list of admission testing requirements.
I wonder if since the new SAT is being marketed as more of an achievement test, colleges that require SAT II’s along with the SAT, but don’t require SAT II’s if a student submits an ACT score will eliminate the need to submit SAT II’s for all students in the near future. I am all in favor of any policy that impacts the “non-profit” College Board’s bottom line while also reducing the number of testing hoops our kids have to jump through.
Yes, I thought more schools on D’s list would require SAT IIs when we originally put together a testing schedule. Oops. I think they’re not required or optional at all but one school that she probably wouldn’t mind removing from her list.
Most schools dont weigh writing section scores of new SAT or ACT in their decision!
Military academies: My 11-year-old watching her older sisters go through the process has a vague interest in the Coast Guard Academy, probably because she’s a thoroughly outdoorsy sort (way more than the rest of the family), particularly when it comes to water, and here in Alaska the Coast Guard gets at least as much attention as the others. But, of course, she’s 11, and so it’s kind of in the same category as wanting a new, higher-end drum set.
Air conditioning: Just to add another datapoint, pretty much nowhere residential in Alaska (as opposed to businesses) has air conditioning. You’d think that’s because we never need it, what with our temperatures nearly never hitting the mid 70s, let alone higher, but in Anchorage at least, people go running to the malls once it hits 70, because that’s. just. too. hot.
Campus Visit: The Ohio State: Our trip there was one of our more targeted visits. There is a program/major that OSU has that accepts only a small number into the major every year. It is pretty obvious from the information on the website that it’s important to show interest/make contact with staff prior to applying, and they have a few ‘open houses’ each summer, so we attended with that in mind.
Impressions driving through campus in the morning wer similar to what @saillakeerie mentioned earlier. It felt like a small Mich St. campus. It’s still quite a large campus, but felt so much smaller. Medical school was to the west near the river. A small business district to the east on High St. where the bookstore was located. It was very cute, with a Waffle House (c’mon, you used to like it too), Blaze Pizza, clothing stores. Kind of mom&pop. It also had a concert venue similar to some ramshackle places in Chicago that offer acts that college kids would like. A few of the acts on the marquee were ‘big’ names in D17s world. MSU does not offer this type of retail area that is walkable from campus, as far as I recall….but if it did it would be very far from many areas of campus, while at OSU it felt easy to get to.
We started off with the usual info session. They tried to get the crowd into it with the silly Y-M-C-A/O-H-I-O chant. Fairly successful…about 85% students come from in-state….maybe higher. President Drake spoke for a bit. He was good (former prez? at UCI), but it’s pretty bad when your president mentions that if one of the 1000 clubs doesn’t fit you, you can start your own. Yawn. They did talk of the impressive research funding they have been awarded lately, and their state continues to fund them generously (ahem, IL).
The session for the program I mentioned was extremely well done and D17 and I stayed after and talked with the program manager and a professor for a while. Well worth the visit. Not sure if, in the end, she’ll apply. Seems pretty likely. It’s obviously very competitive.
Following that there was a session for their Honors & Scholars program. Honors refers to a fairly typical enriched academic community focus, with most of the usual perks, including the access to research no matter your major. The Scholars program is an enriched community-focused program…with an eye towards service in the community. There are 17 themed living-learning communities (your major does not have to match the ‘theme’, I believe, but that’s probably pretty typical) that you would participate in. I believe the good scholarship $ follows the Honors program. They had a 2-student panel answering canned questions from the presenter. Both were involved with research in their area….but it was difficult to understand to what level.
We decided to skip the rest of the program after lunch (we paid for lunch at the Union). After lunch, we did a self-tour of parts of the campus. It is a quite pretty campus. Also, hillier, but very gentle rolling hills. Some might say it’s not hilly at all, but we are from IL. Nice looking buildings, mostly red brick. There are still several large green areas called ‘the ovals’, and a small pond/lake that D17 said they lit on fire annually? Not sure about that. We did not determine if the dorms had A/C or not :-j. We didn’t tour one.
On our way out of town we stopped at the book store, and D17 did not purchase any swag…after looking for a while. That’s one of the only schools she hasn’t gotten a shirt or pair of sweats. Maybe ‘cuz of the colors? Not sure, but I think she did like it…definitely enough to keep on the list.
Free Parking!
Thanks for your review @2muchquan.
QOTD: Speaking of swag, most tours seem to drop off at the student store. It must be very profitable for the schools. I’m curious, for those of you who have toured schools, at what percentage of schools did you buy swag and how much did you spend (ex. sweatshirt vs keychain)?
Now that visits are winding down, looking back, what is the likelihood that your child will apply to the school from which you bought the swag and if they don’t or if they don’t get in, what will you do with the stuff?
I thought it would be cool to buy a mug or keychain from each school we visited but my '17 thought that was dumb. :-/
QOTD: We are cheap. We don’t buy swag. I did buy an umbrella at USC bc it was pouring and we wanted to wal k around before the tour (which did provide umbrellas.)
We have not bought any sway at any tours that we went to, This includes all the colleges DS13 visited. DS13 didn’t buy his first swag until he made his decision however some colleges send free tee shirts and he did wear those.
Most schools my son is applying require SAT IIs.
QOTD We have not purchased any school-related items. D usually refuses the free magnet/sticker/cup.
@2muchquan Thanks for the visit report! We’ll get out there in Sept or Oct, I think. D has determined she prefers campuses with walking-distance business districts, bonus points given for vegetarian-friendly eating establishments 
Military academies D looked at West Point for a long while (she only told me about it last summer). But it won’t work with her food allergies and such. The idea did lead to multiple thoughtful conversations about serving/working under a Commander-in-Chief/federal government of the opposite political persuasion.
I’m going to answer the “swag” question- My mom let us(I have a twin sister) get a little stuffed animal from the bookstore following our fall visit/my interview. And when we got accepted she bought us a sweatshirt from our college(we each only applied to 1 school).
No purchases from any of the schools visited, although older son was OK buying shirt from my alma mater. Many students at school wear college tee shirts so I am not sure why my boys are opposed. Don’t want to jinx the outcome perhaps?
SAT IIs needed for many (most? have not looked) schools son is considering.
Interesting article about the decline. I also assumed that the shift to ACT had caused the decline but now see how much of an impact the UC’s decision had.
And interesting commentary yesterday about the well-rounded student vs well-rounded class. We will never know what goes on behind those closed Admissions doors.
D17 buys a t-shirt or sweats at almost every spot we go…I’d say 80%. She likes wearing all the different shirts to school (Elon? Where’s THAT?). It is an expense that I don’t like to deal with, but it’s kind of fun too. We would probably not do it if she toured any elite schools (e.g., she did not get Duke swag). She hits the clearance table first. Most schools give 20% off coupon in our experience.
I’ve actually felt that the campus bookstores are becoming a thing of the past. So often they are at a Barnes and Noble that is off campus. I do recall ending tours at the bookstore at only one spot so far: UNC-CH. There were probably others, but I don’t recall.
QOTD: The only swag DS has purchased while on tours (only 5 official tours, so not a big sample set) was an MIT mug from Caltech that changes to a Caltech mug when filled with a hot beverage. The story is that Caltech students gave them away at an accepted students event at MIT one year.
We visited MIT when DS was in 7th grade because DH was there for the marathon and scheduled business on campus along with the trip. DS chose a book with photos of famous hacks from the MIT museum. Pianos and cars on buildings and that sort of thing.
He has free t-shirts from CMU and NYU trips, but doesn’t wear them much. He’s gotten some UCSB shirts; lots of people wear those around town, and he feels more comfortable wearing a shirt for a college that isn’t a big reach.
SAT IIs: I think math plus a science are required or suggested by most colleges on DS’ list. We will send them to all colleges, in any case.
@CT1417 yes, I see a lot of kids wearing t-shirts and sweatshirts as well. There are some that seem to be more of a touristy purchase (Stanford, Harvard, etc) but I’m always curious when I see the UC Santa Cruz or Pomona College sweatshirts being worn by kids who are sophomores or juniors.
I’ve tried to incorporate campus visits with prospect days/camps for my kids. They usually give out t-shirts/pinnies to those who participate in the camps. That’s the only swag we have. My kids like them, wear them frequently.
@2muchquan According to this enrollment report, Ohio State’s 2015 freshman class was 70% in-state, 25% domestic out of state and 5% international. My son’s roommate is from East Lansing (I forgot he lived there when my wife and kids went to MSU last week so he got to visit with him because he worked this summer at MSU). Another kid on his floor last year is from Illinois. Both of them will be in my son’s suite this coming year,
http://enrollmentservices.osu.edu/report.pdf
If it makes your daughter feel any better, “The” is more of an official thing than practical thing. Students call it Ohio State not The Ohio State. And at least in part the “The” concept (and the O-H-I-O chant/YMCA thing) is based on a dispute (in the 80s I believe) with Ohio University. OU trademarked “Ohio” and sued to stop Ohio State from using it in certain instances. OU won the case. They insisted they would never go against Script Ohio or calling the stadium Ohio Stadium. One of the changes I remember had to be made was with certain Ohio State athletic uniforms. Some pictures of Jesse Owens show him in a track uniform with “Ohio” on it. That was the Ohio State track uniform back in the day.
As far as I know, The has always been in the official name (or at least for a long, long time). But prior to the OU suit, no one really used it. After that, the University began using it. Reading as a dig to OU: The Ohio state university as in The university of the State of Ohio. And when you see/hear people chanting O-H-I-O, its Ohio State not Ohio University. A lot of people take pictures at points around the globe (Eiffel Tower as the “I”, The Eye in London as an “O”). Again its Ohio State not Ohio University. Another dig.
We have talked with people at various places on trips who we saw taking a picture with “O-H-I-O” . Wouldn’t have known they were Ohio State people otherwise. Though hokey, its can be fun as well.
QOTD: Have not purchased any swag. Will wait until we know where D17 is going before we make that investment and provide free advertisement. However, if we saw something as cool as @Ynotgo described, then perhaps we would!