Well, we used our spring break to visit Grandma and squeeze in a couple of college visits of 2 schools that had made C25’s list. I probably should have put the UW-Madison visit before Northwestern, so the kid didn’t fall in love with the small private campus and then be dismayed by the larger public campus. But, that’s the order we did it in, and there was a clear winner between those 2 schools. C25 took notes and we’ll revisit the list after the first SAT is taken, and AP exams are done (kid likes to focus on one thing at a time, and it’s not like we’re going to be late to anything if we wait until June for re-assessment of applications to work on over the summer). I’m hopeful that the kid can extrapolate some of “what I liked about the campus” to the other schools on the list and have a better sense without having to visit the other 8 campuses as well.
Welcome to my 'hood! (I work in DC and live just outside the city in VA.) FWIW, American, GW, and Georgetown all feel VERY different. GW is right in the heart of business DC. Like I think there is literally an academic building next to the IMF. If he’s looking for campus, they don’t have much of one. But, it’s a real draw for kids who are interested in politics - more the literal working in politics than the thinking about policy - and location can’t be beat for that. Georgetown is enough off the path from the main busy streets that it feels like a real campus. And this is where you find more of your policy wonks or foreign service hopefuls. American is in yet a different neigborhood, farther still from the center of the city. I’ve only visited the law school and not the undergrad, so no specifics there, just that it’s always felt a little more like a normal (not so focused on DC, not so focused on politics) school than the others. If the undergrad location is similar to the law school, it might be a good in between of easy to access city stuff, but not so in the work center, and also not so challenging/reachy as G’town.
I’ll cross my fingers that the currently lovely weather holds for your trip!
We visited 8 years ago and only toured Georgetown although we did walk past GW’s hospital and a couple of buildings. At first blush, GW seemed to us like a group of marked buildings on contiguous blocks in DC; we didn’t have time to explore but it gave DS18 a good feel for an urban school that blends into the city…
Georgetown, at least for me, felt surreal. Multiple tour groups all pretty much stayed in the front quad area and milled around from spot to spot, so that was a little strange, but the campus showed well. But the surrounding neighborhood (the houses! the shops!) was a treat. I believe students can get off-campus housing in some of the surrounding row houses, and all I could think of was how fun that would be. I took the younger ones to a nearby cupcake shop with a line outside (dad’s idea of breakfast) while we waited for DS and DW to finish their tour. Anyway, it felt a world away despite being just a long walk from GW.
I hope your family will have fun, and if you have time, I’d toss in a gentle suggestion to explore the area around GTown.
That’s Georgetown Cupcake! I think they had a show on the food channel or something. Yes, students can rent some of those row houses. But holy pricetag batman…
RIght, I was also imagining I was spending my parents’ (non-existent) excess funds 
And yes, that was Georgetown Cupcakes 
Very fun and delicious!
Consider adding UMD College Park to your visit. Very close (and excellent light rail) to DC, more affordable than your other DC options and a great flagship campus.
@OctoberKate - Thank you for this extra info. I drew the straw for attending the GW and Georgetown tours/sessions, and DH gets to visit American with him. It will be interesting to hear their perspectives. We had hoped to throw William & Mary into the mix for this trip, but we’re just a bit short on time to make the logistics work and still get to see the things that the kids want to see in DC.
@RWatterson - Yes, we have left the afternoon after the Georgetown tour/session open to wander around Georgetown. Thanks for the cupcake shop tip! We’ll have our 7th grader in tow for this trip, and this will be a terrific diversion for him!
@Bsb22 - Thank you for the suggestion! I did not realize how close they were. I’ll have him do some research to see what he thinks. We’ve got a lot on the agenda with museums etc., but we may be able to squeeze in another visit, even if it’s a self-guided tour, if we’re super efficient or if the enthusiasm for seeing the sites starts to wane. Adding a flagship campus to the mix would be good for helping him get some clarity around school size for sure. Our flagship pales in comparison.
National Merit cutoff was originally predicted at 209. In the end it only went up one point, to 208.
“The Commended cutoff — the minimum score to be considered for National Merit honors — for the class of 2025 is 208. This is the highest cutoff in 4 years. Compass’s analysis of the results from the first digital PSAT showed that the Commended cutoff would fall in the 208 – 210 range, so the 208 is in line with expectations.”
So going by that do we think that the predicted NMSF numbers per state will be on par with predictions?
I’d think so. Particularly in “stable states” where the number of test takers is relatively large and constant from year to year.
Both Harvard and Caltech announced they are re-instituting the SAT/ACT requirement for our class. Not that my kid is applying to either;)
I think it depends on how many alternate entries they receive. Students who applied for alternate entry have through the August SAT, I believe. I don’t agree with giving alternate entry students multiple chances, but I don’t make the rules.
My kid isn’t applying to either of those either but, selfishly, since he’s a good test taker, I’m really hoping that his reach school also adopts this policy…
Frankly, it just makes sense in this age of grade inflation.
Grade inflation and just way more applications then any school can realistically review in a “holistic” manner. One of the California schools (UCLA maybe?) got something like 174,000 applications this year. That’s ridiculous. There simply isn’t enough time to give each of those a robust review. Which is why, despite the faults and issues with standardized tests, tests provide some triage value to help make some easy distinctions between applicants.
UCLA hires hundreds of external app readers, and the school maintains that every every app is read twice.
Hi All:
Can anyone here give a vibe-check on Emory? I’m a bit confused about the split campuses. – Oxford versus Emory campus in Atlanta. The Atlanta campus has a much, much larger student population… maybe too big for my D25, at 14,000 undergrads … while the Oxford campus at 1,000 students sounds too small. Do undergrads move between the campuses at all? Does the Atlanta campus have a real “campus-y” feeling, or is it more like a collection on dedicated buildings in a major city (as someone above described George Washington, I think)? Thanks!
D25 and I have visited UNC-Chapel Hill, UVA, Washington and Lee, and Georgetown so far and will visit Dartmouth, her dream school, next week. Bunch of Pennsylvania and mid-Atlantic schools in June.
I am impressed (and intimidated!) by the number of college visits some of you have already completed!
Someone from ATL here whose child was admitted to Emory. Emory has only 8000 undergrads. I see it as quite cosy and community-oriented. Oxford is in the middle of nowhere! And far enough away that there wouldn’t be a whole much of socializing. Emory is very pre-professional as a school.
Have a great visit! None of my kids had a dream school. Maybe we are weird.
Thanks! I’d misread that, about the student population! Seven thousand is totally in the sweet spot for my kid. Appreciate your help.