Parents of the HS Class of 2026

[SpreadsheetMom]

We got back late last night from touring Clark University and WPI – I posted our impressions on this thread:

Colleges your child crossed off the list after visiting, schools that moved up on the list. Why? (NO REPLIES)

Two college visits in Worcester, MA this weekend – Clark University – DOWN and OFF for D26, SAME for me. The campus seemed really nice, not pretentious, and our two tour guides were lovely and personable. The info session covered a lot of different ways in which students get individual attention – it does seem like students don’t slip through the cracks at this school. Lots of opportunities for research early on. It’s hard to get an impression of the student body in the summer, unfortunately – campus was pretty empty. I did ask about what kind of students attended, even giving the example that my older kid is at Rice, and they very much describe students as “happy nerds” (which is accurate, lol). But we weren’t able to get a sense of what kind of kid attends Clark. My D26 is interested in an interactive media and game design major, and Clark boasts the #3 program for this in the U.S. – which is kind of weird for a small LAC. But we learned that there was another school – Becker – tha…

I think we’ve exhausted all the schools that D26 is willing to look at. Stevens is still niggling in the back of my mind, but it’s too much to plan another trip to go visit before application season – kid is busy the rest of the summer.

So with that, she has five schools on her list that she’s likely applying to – RIT, Miami Ohio, WPI, Georgia Tech, UAH. That doesn’t feel like enough to me because D22 applied to ten, but D22 had mostly reach schools, and these are all targets for D26 except for Georgia Tech (which is a reach for everyone, but she has a decent shot being in-state and female). UAH is a true safety.

I am ready to be done with building the list – we need to move on to the essay portion of the application process, lol. She has read the College Essay Guy’s guide, has a decent idea that’s brewing, and she’s emailed her college advisor to ask for feedback on said idea before she writes it. Waiting to hear back.