So, we were planning to tour UAH over the president’s day break (easy driving distance for us) – but D26 and I did something impulsive and flew to Rochester instead to tour RIT.
It was 19 degrees with a wind chill of 4, lots of snow and slush on the ground (more than she’d ever seen in her life), and the campus is filled with 1960s orange brick buildings that aren’t terribly pretty. We’re from the south, and we did not have appropriate clothing, lol. No marching band, although hockey is big and the pep band looks super fun.
But despite all that, the kid loved it. Really, seriously loved it. I thought I knew what she wanted – small, safe and “cozy” schools not too far from home with small, low-commitment marching band. Hence we had Furman and Elon on her list.
Problem is, she wants to study some intersection of design and computing – like UX/UI, game design, something in that realm. But she doesn’t know exactly what, and most small schools have maybe one major that falls in this category, if that.
At RIT, there were half a dozen majors that interested her – human-centered computing, new media design, game design, several others. I’ve not seen the kid light up like this at any other school. She thought the student body was diverse, quirky, welcoming…and deeply nerdy, LOL. She felt at home immediately.
Our flight home was delayed, so we got home after midnight, and she had school the next day. But she didn’t stop talking about the school for a minute.
So back to the drawing board with the school list I guess! Right now it consists of RIT and Ga Tech, and I don’t know if she’ll keep Furman and Elon or not.