If you’re out that way and can visit, maybe still do that. My D24 thought it was likely too far as well, but that’s where she’ll be in the fall. She really liked the campus, the dorms, and the students we met. I know it’s much further for you than us, but we’re 700 miles away, so not close. She decided she liked it much more than the places closer to us and that the distance would be okay after all.
There is an airport, but it is pretty limited for sure! Nashville is 1.5+ hours away and no shuttle that I’ve found. I do worry about trips home.
We were told most kids share rides as needed. And there is a local bus that picks up on campus on Fridays and goes to the shopping areas. She is going to do that for the first year at least. She doesn’t have her license yet but should by the end of summer. But she is not comfortable learning the differences that come with driving in a different state, so has no plans for a car for at least 1-2 years.
Dropped DH and D26 off at the airport to fly down to NC and SC to look at colleges for the week. Crazy that her brother S24 is headed off the school in the fall and here we are doing this whole thing again. She is touring UNC, Duke, Elon, Wake and South Carolina. They are lucking out with amazing weather al of next week. Excited for the two of them to have this time together. I did this same trip with S24 two years ago just the two of us and it was really special having that time alone with him
D26 spent the day at University of South Carolina and LOVED it!! S24 was accepted there but will be attending Auburn. SC was our second favorite after Auburn so I am really glad she loves it so much. She loved the layout of the campus and in her mind she felt like it was a mix between UGA and Auburn- big but still walkable and really enjoyed the entire aesthetic of the place. They did not have an organized tour b/c they give priority to admitted seniors and juniors, so they did a self guided tour. They made their way over to the nursing school and were allowed to see the simulation lab and she was impressed with that as well. I am glad her first official tour was so productive and really happy she has found a school that will definitely be on her list. Today she is off to Wake Forest- likely much too small for her and way too reachy, but worth having a very different style of campus to compare.
D26 spent yesterday at Wake Forest. She felt that it was too small and also that it was “too much woods and trees.” In her words “I felt like I was at a bird sanctuary” After their tour they drove into Winston-Salem which DH said was a ghost town (it was 5pm). They grabbed pizza at a local place (delicious) and then left to head to Raleigh where they are spending the remainder of the week.
I see I’m not the only one who is pivoting with the next kid after S24 got squared away! The daunting thing is that the process will likely be very different with S26. Kind of annoying that everything I learned in round one does not apply for round 2!
D26 spent yesterday touring Duke. They toured it because they were in the area and wanted to see it for size comparison and campus feel, rather than consideration for applying (it does not have her major). She loved the campus and now is thinking she prefers the medium size to large. Said the campus was beautiful and the dining hall super impressive. Rec center was meh. She did not like the vibe of the students, both the ones on the tour and her tour guide. Said the tour guide was a premed major and wasn’t able to answer any questions about non academic stuff. She also said he talked about his “12 AP classes in high school and other academic achievements”. She said there were several kids on the tour who were also throwing out their academic brags by way of annoying questions. Like “I will have taken 14 AP classes by the time I graduate. How many credits can I transfer”. This right after the tour guide said “you can only transfer 2 AP classes worth of credits”. So it was a bunch of gunners trying to see who was the smartest/highest achieving. But her and DH also kind of got a kick out of it. In the end she still enjoyed the tour and it helped her narrow her preferences in terms of campus setting/size.
D26 visited Elon yesterday and loved everything about it except the location and small sports scene. She did the two hour admissions tour first, then a private 1 on 1 school of nursing tour with a current junior. She loved the nursing school and every faculty she met. She also loves the 4:1:4 academic calendar that would allow a January study abroad. After the nursing tour, she and my husband enjoyed lunch at the Inn at Elon, their on campus hotel and restaurant. Then they wandered the campus on their own and ended up grabbing a couple Adirondack chairs (there are many all over campus) and enjoyed sitting in the sun and just watching students. She stopped many groups of students and asked them about their experiences at Elon and said everyone was super friendly and every student she saw walking around looked happy. They wandered over to the sorority and fraternity area and she spoke with several girls there as well. It seems like socially, people hang out with their friend groups on campus, go to parties and occasionally go into Raleigh or Greensboro. But mostly it is a stay on campus kind of place. Game day is not a huge deal there it seems- yes they all go to the games but it is not a huge thing like the SEC schools. So overall, likes the size, gorgeous campus, awesome student vibe, great support from faculty, etc. Just having a hard time with the location and lack of big game day culture. Her final tour is today- UNC.
D26 & I talked AP testing strategy for next year. For a couple of classes, she’s going to use Modern States courses as a means of extra prep for the equivalent AP exams at the end of the year. D24 did this for a couple of classes and it seemed to work well…well enough that D24 will get course credit for calculus and 1st semester US History because of the CLEP exam scores she got on those 2 tests (she passed the equivalent AP exams, but got 3’s instead of 4s and her college only gives credit on APs if you get a 4 or 5).
FYI in case anybody is interested, here’s how Modern States works:
all of the courses are entirely online
all of the courses are free because of their “freshman year for free” program
at the end of each course you take on their website, you take a practice CLEP exam. once you get a passing score on that, they give you a voucher code that will essentially waive the CLEP exam fee with College Board. You DO have to pay whatever the testing facility fee is ($20 in our case, through a local community college)
you take the class as fast or slowly as you want
if you want to find out if the college(s) your kid is applying to will give course credit for CLEP exams, go to the college’s website and do a search for “CLEP.” It’s often listed on the same page as AP exam info.
So D26 is going to do this for:
AP Calculus AB
US History I
US History II
AP Psychology
Spanish
There’s a really great interview of one of the directors of Modern States on the “Your College Bound Kid” website, if anybody wants to check it out.
You definitely are not! I just got done with S24 twins (get me a padded room please) and D26 will be a whole different ballgame. I doubt we’ll even visit the same schools.
When we toured Cornell with one of my S24’s it was like this. There was a dad and GRANDAD (!!) on the tour who made sure every single person within earshot knew they had both attended Cornell and that the campus was ever so slightly different that what they remembered from the halcyon days. “Muffie! I believe that old Professor Dumblebutt taught in that building as opposed to this one, isn’t that right? And isn’t that where we saw the string quartet back in 1896?” They even corrected the poor tour guide, who was doing a great job given the circumstances.
End of school year burn out is starting to happen for D26. Next week is review week and then the week after that, AP exams and final exams start. At our school, all of the final exams will be done by 5/17 and the last week of school is ‘project week,’ which is basically a fun week of half days. D26 is signed up for the Harry Potter themed one, where they’re going to watch Harry Potter movies and do chemistry experiments.
Same. DD24 pursued business and wanted big, warm, football, rah-rah. DD26 wants engineering. At least today. No idea if she wants big or small, urban or suburban, athletics or no athletics, etc. Sigh. Feels like starting all over again!
Right there with you on end of year burnout. D26 still has two days of State standardized testing second week of May and finals are not until third week of June. She is so done.
We are all ready for school to be done here. Six more weeks for S26. We talked college and he still plans on Bama. It might be an easy process for him! I’m sure he’ll put in a few other places and we will visit some, but he wants to go warmer than Michigan and liked the campus when we visited S22 last year.
S24 was 99% set on Bama and at the last visit switched so will be heading to Auburn instead. Bama is a beautiful school with a lot to offer. It was the very first school he was accepted to way back in September and we kept saying if he had ended up there he could have been one and done way back in August when he submitted his application
We told that to S22 as well. Got accepted in September with the NMF scholarship and didn’t really decided until April. Could have saved himself so many essays!
What are everyone’s plans for summer? D26 will be doing a lot of babysitting as well as shadowing at a doctor’s office (she wants to do nursing in college). She has cheer practices throughout the summer and pre-season starts mid-August so the summer will fly by. She is staying behind to watch the pets and work when we take S24 to college Makes me sad but both D26 and S24 feel like it will be “easier that way”. They are really close and I think the goodbye will be easier for both if it is done at home rather than after leaving him at school and flying home.
After their tour they drove into Winston-Salem which DH said was a ghost town (it was 5pm). They grabbed pizza at a local place (delicious) and then left to head to Raleigh where they are spending the remainder of the week.
Makes me sad but both D26 and S24 feel like it will be “easier that way”. They are really close and I think the goodbye will be easier for both if it is done at home rather than after leaving him at school and flying home.