D is taking the SAT this morning. All of the schools she will apply to are test optional or test blind and I don’t expect that her score will boost her admission chances anywhere. So it’s a low stakes test and I’m not worried at all, but unfortunately she did seem a little stressed this am. She has been super busy with her main EC for the last few weeks (and another week to go), so hasn’t studied or prepped at all. In fact, on the way to school this morning she was googling whether it’s better to blindly guess at the end or not (apparently it is).
As far as which schools she will be applying to, so far it’s a short list:
UC Davis (although she hasn’t toured yet)
UC Santa Cruz (she likes it a lot but thinks it’s too close to home)
Cal Poly (needs to tour again–toured with D22 in 2021, remembers liking it okay)
Oregon State
University of Oregon (seems to be the favorite school right now, but unfortunately the most expensive)
Lewis and Clark?
University of Puget Sound?
Yes I def want to get her to Ole Miss- much harder to get to from here as we would need to connect flights. Auburn is so easy for us (our son is a freshman there). Def something to think about in terms of getting there and back when considering schools.
Ease of access is definitely key. My D22 briefly looked at Bucknell University – until we figured out that it’s impossible to get there from here. Or from anywhere, actually!
(And we fly out of Atlanta, so you’d think it’d be easier, but nope.)
Parent of 2025 here enjoying following the thread for my younger kiddos, thanks to all! For ease of transport back and forth by air, Lewisburg is tough. I wanted to share what we’ve learned about their transport options. Bucknell does have a very robust shuttle service to five airports (Harrisburg, BWI, Philly, Newark, and JFK). It skews much stronger for transportation to and from airports, most likely because of their location, than other PA colleges we researched. Harrisburg is about an hour south of Lewisburg and was a small easy airport to navigate for us.
Hope this helps anyone looking at Bucknell for college lists.
My S26 seems to want to spread his wings and go out of state. That said, he is a nervous flyer. He nearly always wants to hold my hand during take off and landing, and if there’s moderate turbulence. I’m not sure he’s quite connected the dots on wanting to go out of state + needing to fly to get there!
Are there any schools in surrounding states that he could still drive to?
I hear you, though – my D22 really hates to fly, and she’s at a school a 2-hour flight away. Her issue is more that she gets sick to her stomach, though, and not as much nervousness in general.
She used to take non-drowsy Dramamine every time we flew, but that stuff knocks her right out, even the non-drowsy version, and it takes like a full day to recover. Then I bought a Relief Band – it’s like a wristwatch that vibrates and supposedly works on the nausea center of the brain. It’s a step up from the old sea bands – it seems to actually work.
I wonder if it would help – even as a placebo – for your S26?
I bought one for my younger daughter, too, who tends to get motion sick on buses – and she’s always on a bus to away games with marching band.
Barring that, maybe L-theanine or GABA or magnesium – one of the calming supplements – before he flies? Olly makes a “goodbye stress” gummy and soft gel that seems pretty good.
Has he flown often and still nervous? (Trying to work out if flying more will help it or if it’s more innate).
Oh gosh, me too! It doesn’t take as long to recover, but I only take it if I need to …or if I can or want to sleep on the flight. Does she like ginger? I do and find it’s a big help for nausea too (made this discovery during my first pregnancy but it works for motion sickness as well as morning sickness haha).
He has flown quite a bit but never alone (at least 1-2 a year since he was very small). He loves U Washington but that would be quite a drive from the Bay Area. I think he could get used to flying solo and I like the gummy idea/magnesium idea too. We will try that on our next trip.
D19 was not a nervous flier as such but had a lot of anxiety about navigating airports on her own (esp JFK as she was at NYU) but she had it down after a couple of times - just need the excitement about the destination to offset the other issues! I think the calming gummies are a great idea, even if it’s just a placebo effect. You definitely don’t want to do that as a drive!
Haha Bucknell is such a PITA. My daughter went to a cheerleading camp near State College and we stayed at a hotel right near Bucknell. Middle of nowhere- both Bucknell and Penn State.
So - we had a nice list and now my daughter says, “Can we add more west coast?” It’s fine --really.
So we have Scripps but that’s more of reach. Are there schools similar to Union, Dickinson, Muhlenberg on the west coast? (small liberal arts with good Bio/pre-Health, not religious)
For the schools that are members of Colleges That Change Lives, I included a link to their profile page.
I know you indicated a desire for a school that is not religious. I’m unsure if you want absolutely no religious affiliation, or if it’s okay if it’s more heritage based and more of a loose ethos of values (but not necessarily about a particular religion). If the latter is okay, two other schools that may be options include:
California Lutheran: About 2400 undergrads. On College Navigator the mission statement is, “The mission of California Lutheran University is to educate leaders for a global society who are strong in character and judgment, confident in their identity and vocation, and committed to service and justice,” (source). You can read more about the school on its About Us page.
Pacific Lutheran (WA): About 2400 undergrads and its mission statement is, " PLU seeks to educate students for lives of thoughtful inquiry, service, leadership and care — for other people, for their communities and for the Earth." (Source with more info)
Thank you! I really think U of Puget Sound is a good fit but the NPC gives me a number that is twice my actual budget I have no idea why. I have a friend whose kids attended Lewis and Clark and Willamette -so I’ll check in with her. And of course I’ll NPC everything!
ETA: Puget Sound NPC is close to $50K, Redlands at 40K, and Oxy comes in at 25K. It’s so odd to me that these vary so much.
We just toured Case Western this past week. Went really well.
The funniest moment was when we were on the campus tour and this parent asked a question and I see the daughter make an angry face afterwards and said something to the mom. Not sure what she said but Im guessing - “Dont embarass me!”
Case is on our list too, need to schedule a visit, but promised D26 a travel break for a while, no more college talk or visits until after AP exams are over.
I really want to tour Case with D26 because I think she’d like it a lot – alas, they don’t have a major or even a possible combo of majors that align closely enough with what she wants to study. (Not for lack of my combing their website, lol.)
(small liberal arts with good Bio/pre-Health, not religious)
I have no idea why. I have a friend whose kids attended Lewis and Clark and Willamette -so I’ll check in with her. And of course I’ll NPC everything!