Don’t wish to disparage the concept of the Greek system. I’m sure that many have amazing experience from their fraternity/sorority life. It’s just that it wasn’t for me and there was a feeling of “what’s wrong with me” that I didn’t rush when I was a freshman. I grew a lot in my college years and I found other clubs and organizations that gave me a sense of ‘belonging.’ It can just be a lot of pressure to fit in as a freshman that does concern me a bit.
Best of luck on your journey as well…
Good luck with the process.
For my son, UD went from “Huh, there’s a university in Dayton?” to “I could like it there” pretty quick. It seems similar to other universities he liked, and we’re looking forward to move-in day.
I have a friend whose son graduated from there with his bachelors and is now getting his masters there. They have nothing but great things to say about the place. And if I remember right, the tuition was locked in for the entire 4 years which would be nice.
@cshell2 , you’re right. The tuition for us is locked in for the entire 4 years. That’s a great feeling of financial security, knowing my costs won’t increase if my AGI increases.
@EconPop
Dayton is on the list for D22. There is a lot to like about the school. It seems their general education requirements include more classes than most schools. Did this come up as an issue for your son?
UD has more gen ed requirements than the public universities we looked at, but some other private universities had similar gen ed requirements.
American University and some others had a required writing class for freshmen, just as UD does. And I noticed that other religious-based schools had a requirement for one religion class, but that could usually be resolved with a class in philosophy or world studies if the student did not want to take a religious studies class. But yes, once you couple those with a FL requirement (for non-engineering majors at UD), it can all add up and I can see where it might be a concern for some students.
I think the biggest reason it was not a bigger issue for us is my son doesn’t really have a burning desire to take a lot of specific electives. He’s more focused on getting his degree in his major and, for now, nothing else matters all that much. He had plans to minor in Philosophy, but he may or may not keep that decision. He may want to continue his photography classes and maybe some music classes, but neither of those would be a deal breaker for him because he can pursue those outside the classroom if needed.
But again, I can see that it may be a larger concern for some students.
…continued …
To clarify @dadof2d, yes the CAP requirements could potentially hinder some students from fully following their own path when it comes to electives. For my son, I think it provides a nice balance between forced focus on a core set of classes with enough freedom for him personally.
Looking at his proposed class schedule, often a single class can fulfill two requirements. Though sometimes, where it seems double counting should be allowed, it is not.
@EconPop
Thank you for the information. Good luck to your son!
D20 just enrolled in a class offered by MaryWash. Very impressed - offering a summer online course where upcoming students will be awarded 3 credits of IDIS 300P on their fall 2020 UMW transcript at no additional cost. The pass/fail class is called COVID-19 in Context - A broad and interdisciplinary course on understanding the effects of COVID-19 on society. The last class will focus on “The Pandemic’s Impact on K-12 Education” which will be of interest to D20 for sure as she’s interested in being a teacher. Even I would like to take the course! Very interesting and pertinent topic!
Here’s a complete description: https://www.umw.edu/covidcourse/
Son committed to Quinnipiac University for the fall 
@taverngirl Congrats to him.
I was saying the same thing to my family the other day when I saw this being offered! Not only a great idea and opportunity for the students, but super-interesting topic. I liked the session about the impact on the financial markets.
That sounds like a great class. And even better to get college credit without having to pay for the class! Kudos to MW
Congratulations!
So, reached our final decision, and happy to say my daughter is UIdaho bound!!! At the end of the day, everything fell into place. Full WUE, amazing living accommodations and wonderful support for her coming to the university with an IEP.
It also has that great “college town” feel which she loved. I know it’s the right decision. I’m glad we “questioned everything “ and came back knowing that we made the best decision.
@Damon389 Congrstulations!
@MAmom111 and @1stTimeThruMom and others I have let down by disappearing yet again! Hope you all are well and your families are safe! I have been very busy balancing work from home, caring for parents, and keeping the peace in the house while college kid and HS kid tried to finish their school years virtually. Like all of you have experienced I am sure, it was a very hard time for my 2020 grad to go through this senior year and missing her friends all of the events she was looking forward to not the least of which was her spring sport.
Luckily we visited her (then accepted) schools in February and on that trip she made the decision she was leaning towards which was to attend the dream/reach for her school which came in as a big surprise in December…James Madison University!
To give hope to all those reading this for future years overall she did much better than we thought she would at the start. She had a 3.1 and her scores were 1080. She had very strong essays and supplements and was able to showcase her personality through them. We visited every school except 3 she threw in at the end and I think the visits helped her frame her applications.
Out of 13 she applied to she only had two outright denials, Auburn (which she never visited) and UNC Wilmington. In the end she was accepted at JMU, Ole Miss, Alabama, College of Charleston, UNC Charlotte, University of Rhode Island and West Virginia all EA or early rolling. She was deferred EA at Elon and then accepted RD. She received spring admits from Tennessee, Delaware, and Tampa ( which she also received merit at funny enough).
If ever there was a year I would root for the spring admit this would be it but she really loves JMU and loves that they loved her from the beginning. They also gave her a really nice scholarship! She did apply there test optional but had to submit her test scores to all the other schools.
Congratulations to all of you! I have had fun today catching up on the last several months and getting to see the decisions your kids have made. I am hoping they all get the best possible start in the fall and have a much better launch into their college careers than ending to their high school ones!
@MinnieFan Congratulations to her!
@MinnieFan - Congrats on your daughter’s decision to attend JMU. Our oldest D is a 2017 grad. and thoroughly loved her experience, so much so she works in N. Virginia thanks in part to strong Dukes alum network. We are from Massachusetts - JMU was the best combo of affordable OOS tuition, solid academics, and a great school vibe.
@MinnieFan are you in-state for JMU? It’s high on D21’s list but without money it may be too expensive. I wasn’t sure how generous they were with OOS money.
@eb23282 I go and sit with my daughter and we listen to the sessions together! Although I have to admit the first session on the biology of the virus went over both our heads!