Thanks for the update about Pitt @mm5678 . Their branch campuses went TO for the fall 2020 semester. I figured this was a “pilot” of sorts and perhaps a bit of foreshadowing. So not surprised to hear that the AO did not have a definitive answer.
Just found out that S19 will be returning to Penn State in the fall. Like many other colleges, the semester will run from August to Thanksgiving with no breaks. Classes on Labor Day.
My D is the same. She used to read every book laying around the house, but now it’s the assignments and nothing else.
Boston College just went TO…that’s good news for D21. I wonder how many more schools will come on board with TO in the next month or so. I would expect a slew of them if July ACTs start getting cancelled.
@inthegarden - I’ve visited Kenyon probably four times. S21 has gone to tennis camp there twice (overnight), and also a debate camp. Kenyon has a few 1970’s style dorms that are less-than-lovely. I’ve also toured both campuses with both of my kids. Kenyon’s campus is beautiful , and the athletic facilities are amazing. I’ve been to Denison three times, and the dorm that my kid stayed in for a week was pretty mediocre. Both campuses are not in the least diverse (and I say this as a mom to two multi-racial kids), but they are lovely, and I agree with Homerdog’s assessment of them. I will say that my D16 does have a friend who is at Kenyon now, and her friend says that by the time everyone is a junior, they all want to study abroad for a year, b/c they’re ready to be gone. I realize my comments are superficial and don’t really answer academics for your D, but at least they give additional context.
@carlson2 i agree that both Kenyon and Denison’s dorms and food are just ok. @inthegarden if your D doesn’t mind a secluded campus but wants nice dorms and great food and lots of amenities, check out Grinnell. Huge endowment there and you can see it in the campus and the opportunities afforded to the kids. Some of them get their own lab space or their own art space. It’s really wonderful in that way. If it was located anywhere but rural Iowa, kids would be clamoring to go there.
We are doing the virtual tour of Grinnell this afternoon. D21’s counselor said the same thing as @homerdog , if had a more desirable location it would be competitive with the top LAC. It seems like it might have the academics D21 is wanting and maybe some merit aid that would be nice. Does it have a more down to earth vibe compared to the northeastern LAC?
Thanks for the Grinnell tip @homerdog It sounds great, and maybe we’ll look into their website. I just think it would be a super-high, probably unrealistically high reach for my D (more so than Kenyon)and a very long drive. Probably no direct flights to anywhere near Grinnell from the airport two hours from us, either.
I think if my D were to add another high reach (for her) it would be Bates. She and I are both intrigued by it, she loves Maine (though not sure about the winter) and I do know our closest airport has direct flights to Portland, and Bates has shuttle busses from there.
Thanks for the observations about Kenyon, @carleson2, more food for thought. I see how the combination of very small and remote could get old. I do hope my D will do a year or at least semester abroad so an additional reason to do so is not a terrible thing. I imagine by senior year many students at any school are itching for a change. But if it’s a place where she’d be stir-crazy by sophomore year, it wouldn’t be good.
Sometimes I feel like being done with all this hair-splitting and encouraging her to apply ED to Dickinson. I think she’d get in, especially ED. Not her most exciting choice (to her, at the moment, anyway) but I think it could be a very nice school for her all-around, and an easy (but not too close) drive.
We are on a similar plan, although I’d love to get to 10-12 schools!
@inthegarden @lindagaf’s daughter just graduated from Bates (after depositing previously at Kenyon and then getting off the waitlist!) She has many informative threads and posts about the school if you want to dig deeper.
@inthegarden You can check the US News diversity index for LAC, then you can dig in the numbers for the school and surrounding area.
My D is the same. She used to read every book laying around the house, but now it’s the assignments and nothing else.
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That is 100% my D too, she read every single Harry Potter books in 2nd grade and would not put down a book from K to 6th grade, she would walk across the street with her nose in a book. Then boom, middle school happened and no longer reads books for pleasure at all.
My D still walks around with her nose in a book sometimes. I brought home the Hunger Games prequel and she was reading as she walked down the stairs yesterday…
We have a list! 10 schools with another 4 or 5 maybes. One location favorite and one school favorite of mine didn’t make the list but I think she’s good. One is a big financial reach and she knows it but it’s also a big admissions reach. Maybe I’ll win the PowerBall between now and 5/1/2021!
@AOP1925 – my D18 was accepted to Grinnell and got a very nice merit offer. She never was able to visit but based on a lot of research she thought it’d be a collaborative, rigorous education. The vibe is liberal and open-minded. As @homerdog said - lots of resources for students.
They also have more international students than typical LAC – not sure how COVID will affect that.
@mm5678 I’m jealous that you have a list.
Anyone else have a procrastinator of a child, who thinks there will be all the time in the world for college research/essay writing once fall rolls around? Which is so obviously not true, given his schedule.
What are my options? Should I just expand our Google doc, adding more and more schools and data for his perusal? It irks me to put much effort in if he has no skin in the game. But I have this notion that we want to pay college tuition for a quality product with good fit…
I don’t want to interfere too much in the process. It should be his. Perhaps I’m being too impatient?
@zinnia203. If he were a rising junior, I’d say you were being impatient. He’s a rising senior, though, so now is the time! However, if you have ideas about fit and affordability, I would hand him a list and have him tackle it. Maybe he will then rebel at your parental control and start doing his own research. Worth a try!
Yes to @mamaedefamilia . I made a big list based on her wants and criteria and my research on affordability and ease of getting there (direct flight from our local airport only) and then we used my staycation to schedule lots of virtual info sessions. I handed her the pared down list and gave her a deadline and a maximum number of schools (15). Gave her two sublists of “at least one of these” with 4 driving distance safeties and 4 financial safeties. And then she went to work. Yesterday was the deadline and I got the list this afternoon, but I’ll take it! 
Good luck!
@Zinnia203 You are not alone :). Each of my two has one target college that was visited. One has a potential reach that has been visited. But, no actual list. When we force the sit-down conversation, probably in about a month, I have an extensive excel workbook with about ten tabs so that all possible info will be at the ready. I’m more concerned with figuring out reaches (which would involve visits for potential ED, and maybe test taking) than I am about safeties.
Fortunately we’ve been down this road before with older sibling. There will be a few extensive conversations with kid and both parents, big picture. Draw up a long list. Then a week or two later, narrow that some more, and possibly a third time. I only see the lists getting long if they go into RD. The target happens to have EA, which could be a huge help. Probably my biggest concern is that their thinking will evolve over time, putting off ED to ED2 or RD, making for a long process, when if they’d only started thinking a little earlier, perhaps the road could be simpler. At this point, they have not yet been exposed to the vast uncertainty that awaits any potential reach applications.
@Zinnia203 I’m in the same boat as you he doesn’t want to commit anything now. Not ready to sit and talk…He feels stressed whenever we open the college talk. I’m sure we’ll be one of the few who will submit the application a couple hours before the deadline I guess…
@inthegarden I get it about Grinnell. It’s hard to get there. That being said, they do have kids from all over who fly into Des Moines. A friend of mine who lives in CA has a daughter who almost ended up at Grinnell. I think she had to fly from San Diego through Kansas City? Anyway, she tried it alone once and it was fine. S19 flies to Portland through Baltimore almost every time he goes to and from school. It’s fine. What bothers us doesn’t bother the kids as much but it is a consideration.
Grinnell is an easier admit than Bates for sure. S19 was accepted with merit there like @AlmostThere2018 's D. I think it was $25,000/year. Bates gives no merit aid.
Colorado School of Mines will have tours again starting July 5th.
I am appreciating the discussion of Denison and Kenyon. Denison is now open for tours and interviews, so we’ve signed up for later this month. We’ll do a drive-by of Kenyon as they are not open yet, but based on the comments here, I think Denison sounds more like what my D wants.