@homerdog We are in the MW like you. My Williams kid has found it easier and cheaper to fly in and out of Logan instead of flying out of Albany. Williams runs buses to both airports. The ride to Logan is longer, but he can usually get a direct fight that is quite a bit cheaper than the flights out of Albany. (And he has never been able to find a direct flight out of Albany)
Regarding fraternities…My kids are definitely not Animal House type kids, so I was floored when my oldest son told me he was pledging a fraternity. I had no prior experience of the Greek system other than the what I learned watching Animal House. I have learned that not all frats are like Animal Houses: my son’s frat competes with the other frats on campus for the highest GPA and they are very involved in charity work in the Boston area. My son has formed some great friendships and keeps in touch with the brothers that have already graduated.
@evergreen5 those were on my long list too until we went to NC and VA to look at schools. S19 make a big stink that weather will be a consideration now. He has to love a school for it to be really cold weather there! Carleton is staying on the list since he’s visited and thought it was a really good match in every way. And he doesn’t consider Grinnell, Denison, or Kenyon as too cold so they are still contenders. Whew.
Some other NE schools are still on the list for now for reasons unrelated to weather but they are mostly reaches so unlikely that he will end up there.
We don’t use the term safety with our kids. We just say apply to the sate school because it offers a decent value and your chance to get in is decent. We told them to find a fee schools where they should get into, and then the rest of the list is up to them.
Regarding size of school, son19 said that small schools are fun because you get to know everybody but big schools are cool too because there are more girls and parties, lol.
The only thing I know he doesn’t want would be to go to a school where all of the kids study endlessly, and have been deemed " no fun" zones. He likes schools with smart kids, high energy, things to do around campus or town, has to be somewhat diverse and have at least some nerd culture. Doesn’t like super preppy. He doesn’t want a huge frat boy culture either, but isn’t opposed to frats because they have parties, ha He has stated that he will only consider the 2 coasts, and probably not anywhere south either. I don’t know why, that’s just what he has in mind.
So we need a school of any size, with mechanical engineering, on the 2 coasts, with some kids that like to study and have fun, with some diversity, near a decent town/city, and where he can continue to be involved with sports.
Hopefully he’ll just keep rolling with the punches and maybe one day will have that a-ha moment and he decides to pick a finalist.
@Kona2012 You may want to look at the Honors College at College of Charleston if he is willing to look at southern schools. It’s an urban campus, if he’s not opposed to that. They have great mentor relationships with faculty with great research opportunities, especially with the Medical University of SC. CofC has approx 11,000 students, the Honors College accepts approx 200 per year. Just a thought.
Safety in my book is an rolling admit school where S’s GPA and test scores qualify him for automatic admission and that are affordable to us. S will have at least one of those on his list.
My son literally asked what a fraternity was on tour at bucknell yesterday. Yikes, I guess he’s been sheltered.
His English class is using films for language and comp this year and I swiftly suggested he ask if they could view Animal House next. The guide talked gingerly around the topic and she played them off as being controlled at bucknell. The figure of 50% participation was bandied about.
I think we are ditching Drexel for Tuesday as we did a drive by today while visiting museums and I think the location is a no go for my kid. He asked where the campus is located and I said we are driving through it right now.
I am going to try to slide in a quick engineering session at Lehigh tomorrow in between Lafayette and Villanova. It’s not in our tuition exchange program but I’d like to see the campus.
My son only knows about frats from movies and tv and thinks everybody just parties all the time and the girls are everywhere. I’ve told him he probably wouldn’t have time for frats if he plays a sport, but he might get invited to some parties as an athlete. That’s really all he cares about. He has to be able to go to at least one college party in his lifetime. So he’ll probably go, party it up, wake up the next day and have practice and realize how bad a combination of partying and running track are.
@DCNatFan Hmm not sure what he didn’t like he just said it wasn’t for him, as soon as we left the tour. But the disclaimer here is that he never had the school on his list and I threw it on because back in the day when I went to a college fair they came to my NJ high school and I took the brochure home to my Dad and was like look at those green lawns and blue skies… I want to go here. And my Dad said, hahhaha you are going to a state school - Glassboro (now Rowan)! So when we did the whole NC college tour last year during Spring Break I said can we please visit Elon. More of my dream school then my son’s! So my husband and my son indulged my inner high school junior. It was a beautiful campus and I really liked the atmosphere. My son said it was gorgeous but he just didn’t feel he belonged there and after seeing it I agreed, it just wasn’t a fit for him. I know many people from around Maryland who go there and are thrilled with it. My neighbors son, who is the same age as my son, just went to see it. However, he fell in love with NC State - go wolfpack!! Probably doesn’t help you much… sorry!
Looking at colleges is almost like looking at a wedding dress… I also want to say to my son, Is this your school… Are you saying yes to the school?
I also recently heard that shopping for college fit is also like looking for a house. You don’t know what you want until you see if. Or don’t see it. You may have a check list for what you want in a house, including a budget, but you don’t know about the details until you start seeing houses.
We toured Elon with D16 as part of a southern road trip. It’s hard to put my finger on, but she felt it just didn’t fit, She has friends who are there and who are happy though so I really don’t think there is anything wrong with the school. The school itself was gorgeous. I think the thing that bothered my daughter the most was that the town is really tiny. She didn’t hate it, but as she thought about it more, and as we visited more schools, it seemed to drop down the list. By the time we got home she had decided not to apply there.
We have not been to Elon but my local friends say this - the kids there are nice kids, the education is good but nothing exceptional, the campus is beautiful. They also say that it has no “edge” meaning it’s kind of non-descript when it comes to the personality of the place. They felt like they couldn’t tell what it stood for.
Maybe that’s why people have a hard time saying what they don’t like. It’s nice enough but maybe not very interesting? Not very “pointy” in its purpose?
I’ve heard Elon has a very nice campus, but my son’s friend thought it seemed kind of boring. He said it was like going to the country club, but you had to deal with school work, ha. He did not go there. It was also expensive, and I don’t think it was that easy to get to from Boston area.
Not knocking the place, it sounds like a nice place. I might like it there
@kona2012 i swear it is like say yes to the dress and in the back of my mind, we all know it’s just a dress - the real thing is the marriage (eg what you do when you get there). The romance of choosing undergrad is something I think only Americans indulge in.
@amandakayak yes so true! Whenever I discuss college with my friends from Britain they are always astonished by much work we put in to looking for a school and the cost.
I had another of those Moments of Truth just now. I was tidying up my desk from last week’s tax filing fun, and I realized that I am going to need all these documents in just 6 more months. Usually I shove everything into a manila folder and jam it into the back of my file cabinet, but this time I made sure to unfold everything and line put them in the folder facing the same direction. Less than 6 months until FAFSA day. This year’s taxes are living at the front of the file drawer.
Most of my own friends (and H) are astonished at how much work and thought and expense I put into the college search with my kids—though honestly I rather like touring colleges. But I rarely talk about it in real life, because it seems to either alarm or bore my friends.
@ninakatarina My husband is STILL working on our taxes and the stress in our house is so thick and we have an accountant who does our taxes!!! My husband has to review all his work before he lets him hit submit so of course all day I’ve been asked a million questions… I can’t for tax season to be over!!
Even my closest friends do not know the extent of my college search obsession . I actually think D19 could thrive in many places, but I love the complex puzzle of finding the places that are the most right for her. The process is also helping the whole family get used to the idea of her being away, and helping her be intentional about the rest of her time at home, and her goals for the future.
. I actually think D19 could thrive in many places, but I love the complex puzzle of finding the places that are the most right for her. The process is also helping the whole family get used to the idea of her being away, and helping her be intentional about the rest of her time at home, and her goals for the future.