We will definitely NOT be doing this. I agree, this would be a bad thing - you can’t MAKE someone love a school. I can, however, wish that he did and set him up to make sure he sees what we see so he can consider that as he’s deciding.
Part of what I think has always been a challenge for him with VT is that there are a good number of kids from his school who go there, and it doesn’t feel special to him. He doesn’t want to feel like just another kid from his HS, and I think he has had some misperceptions about VT in that regard. I want him to at least acknowledge his preconceived notions, and consider the school on it’s merit.
If he ends up picking well, basically any of the other schools, it will be because of something amorphous, and that’s fine. It will be because they feel better or fit better for him somehow. Because objectively, VT is the strongest in the thing he wants to major in, the least expensive school that has that major, has equal or better outcomes and career placement, has equal or better alumni in the areas where he wants to live and work after school, has the big school sports and spirit that he’s said he wants, and is the right distance away (not too far, not too close). It hits top marks on every single category that he originally identified as being important. Except one - Clemson felt more welcoming and warm. And if ultimately VT lacks the vibe for him, ok, then it does. But I want him to give it a fair shake.
We’ll support him in choosing Clemson (or UTK, or Pitt if it makes a resurgence) if that’s what he ultimately wants, but I want him to make the choice because it’s right and he’s considered his options. I feel like because VT puts (comparably) little effort into courting their admitted students, it’s not shining the way I wish it would to put it onto even footing. But at the end of the day, it’s not my wishes or wants that are going to drive his selection process, it’s his. (And I don’t share all these thoughts with him - I don’t want to interfere in his decision making process any more than I already by necessity am. He knows I like the program at VT and the price. He also knows that I found Clemson just incredibly lovely and that I really liked their more business-focused approach to his major. So there’s things to like on both sides.)
Yeah, the dropping female percentage at WPI is definitely an issue. I truly hope the school is working on combatting it, because it’s a great program and I think both the women and the men are poorly served when it’s unbalanced. That said, it sounds like, despite decreasing numbers, they do have strong Women in Engineering org presence, the women on campus seem comfortable and confident (and not bullied or overshadowed or disrespected by the men, which would’ve been my worry if it were me going to a school with a greater percentage of men). And the school does place an emphasis on female leaders, with a good percentage of faculty in leadership female and the second female President in a row.
If it’s still even remotely interesting to her, you don’t have to do the admitted student day. My kid couldn’t because of his team sport schedule. She could certainly set up a Friday or Saturday visit and ask to meet with some of the women’s groups if that was an area of interest or concern.
And if it’s off the table, then it’s not the right place for her and I’m so happy to hear that she’s got the VT visit and program to look forward to! It makes me so happy to hear about people’s kids being excited about their options. (That sounds weird, as you’re all internet strangers, that I’m excited for your kids, but I am!)
Definitely sounds like you’re approaching this the way I would (and is therefore the correct way ).
Good luck.. let me know if you want your son to talk to another student there. My son has done that before… not sure your son’s major, my son is an aerospace engineering major and can talk about that.
Lol, this comes up every year and always makes me laugh. Around here people know UDUB, Wash State, the directionals, OU, Oregon State and the Cal publics and Ivy type schools, that is it. This includes teachers and counselors! It says more about their own college research and journey than your student’s. No one has ever heard of the school my son attends, including my family! My friend’s son was actually looked upon with pity when he chose to go to Davidson. Make them go and see, I always told my kids it was their first big decision and they needed to tune everyone out (including me) to decide where they wanted to go.
I wrote things that I DO NOT REMEMBER, but am fascinated to see now a year later.
Stalker that I am, I also read some posts from other Parents of 2025 Class, and it is definitely interesting to see what we all thought then and where we are now!!
I wonder if I’ll be as entertained looking back at these comments when I have gotten used to having an empty nest.
Anyhoo, once again, I’m grateful to this community for making this whole process feel manageable. I would be a hot mess without you, for sure. (Well, TBH, I am actually a mess outside of this board, but you know what I mean…)
I totally understand that. My daughter LOVES her job and getting her to take off on a weekend is almost impossible. She is very financially aware but we are getting her to focus on fit more than just cost.
DS was just awarded an NROTC scholarship to Pitt! We are so pleased with his results so far. We went into this military aspect of college apps with no idea what to expect. He doesn’t have the extremely high stats his sister has, but besides his reaches (3 service academies and the ROTC scholarships) he applied to 3 really strong engineering schools with acceptance rates in the 50’s and one safety state school.
University of Denver question since it has come up. D25 received great merit there (Chancellor’s @ $36k), but it is still more expensive than her #1 choice, St. Olaf. I think she would really like being in Denver though and it is a lot closer to home. For those of you who know both schools well, if she LOVES St. Olaf, do you think DU is worth a campus visit (i.e. do you think it has any chance of pushing St. Olaf out of first place?)
They’re so different! I think that if your daughter loves St Olaf, she’ll find Denver large and more urban (although it’s not right downtown). It doesn’t have that LAC feel to it. Really nice school but I would think not appealing to someone who loves St Olaf.
Thank you that is helpful. She didn’t like Macalester and I am wondering if it will be more like that. It is always nice to avoid the cost of a trip and the cognitive frustration that comes with making an easy choice more complicated with additional options.
Dropping in from the Parents of the HS Class of 2019 thread, but all the talk about swag is striking to me. When S19 applied to, and visited, a bunch of LACs, he received exactly one t-shirt, from Trinity University. There was already confetti when he opened his acceptances online, and maybe some follow up letters that I don’t recall, but no swag boxes, etc. He applied only to LACs, so maybe it is the bigger schools that are doing this, but it is my sense that things have really changed over a relatively short period and that maybe some schools just haven’t caught up with this trend yet. I really loved the Hostra story today - @dfbdfb was also a class of '19 parent - but otherwise maybe it’s better not to read too much into this?
Most of D25’s news has come on Fridays, but today will be a quiet one. Here’s her list now:
Auburn - accepted
Rollins - accepted
Tennessee - accepted
TCU - accepted
Furman - accepted
Wofford - accepted
Richmond - accepted
William & Mary - (sorta) waiting for RD, ~March 22 (received cypher card)
Denison - waiting for RD, ~March 15
I was kind of hoping that S25 would hear today if he made the next round for his scholarship, but nothing yet. When he did the interview last week he forgot to ask the all-important “what’s the timeline for a decision” question, so we really have no idea.
I think (based solely on what someone here said) that the next date he’s waiting for is March 7th to hear about Clemson honors. I think some honors programs are not really all that interesting or exciting or don’t offer that much. What really appeals to him about the Clemson honors program is the housing - he really likes that dorm and it’s location, and what appeals to me is the idea of him living in the honors dorm because I’m hoping that will be a more studious crew and he’ll have positive peer pressure.
St. Olaf and DU are very different. St. Olaf is in a small, cute town, has very strong Lutheran vibes and is very Minnesotan- and is so, so cold. DU is close to Denver but has a strong campus vibe. Check which school has better job placement in the preferred major. When my son was deciding between DU and Syracuse- the question that really settled it for him- was where he would rather work and live when he graduated. He chose Denver for that reason.
FWIW, As parent of 25 here, we have 8 acceptances, and other than some stickers there has not been any swag EXCEPT for a t-shirt or a hat from admitted student visits…not in the mail.
Also a D19 (and one next year). D19 did ED so didn’t have a lot of acceptances to judge; I think other than a couple of stickers all the swag from the ED school was handed out on admitted students day. But, she did get an admit from Fordham and while not swag, they printed a glossy brochure (as I recall maybe 8-10 pages) that was mainly an info booklet on the school for admitted students but had her name, major, campus etc in all the relevant parts as well as her merit award and other individual info. It was really nicely done and was well received.
Only some stickers and and nice note over here. I may be in the minority, but I am good with no swag and I usually love swag at work conferences. Personalized notes and letters are great, but I personally would rather they not send us stuff we will throw away or give away. Even the stickers seemed wasteful. Happy to take swag at admitted students days of the schools we are seriously considering though.
).
for making this whole process feel manageable. I would be a hot mess 
without you, for sure. (Well, TBH, I am actually a mess outside of this board, but you know what I mean…)