D actually wonders if it might be more prevalent for students aiming at the most selective schools? The students in her summer program were all incredibly busy. Many of them seemed very stressed about college applications to top schools, and seemed to feel that they had to use AI as much as possible in order to offload work and produce competitive output.
She wonders if it might be possible that colleges differ in the prevailing culture surrounding AI usage? She would like to be surrounded by students who use their brains first, and make use of AI more mindfully.
D24 is a TA for a couple of professors and she says itās pretty obvious when kids use AI to write their essays. She can tell by the way itās written and many kids who use it over rely on it instead of just using it to correct grammar etc.
I am aging the heck out of myself, BUT remember the Carol Burnett Show? The Gone With The Wind episode where she comes down the stairs in the dress made from the curtains??? If you havenāt seen it, here it is (skip ahead to 2:30) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSV-fFE45Tc
Do we have the same kid? Mine gets super angry at her classmates for taking shortcuts and not using their brains. She doesnāt want that in her college environment either.
I drove through Miami (OH) campus this past weekend and there was a pretty large No Kings protest happening in Uptown. Just sharing that with you as you mentioned concerns about politics of the area, to show that there is certainly representation from the other side. I also noticed the lack of immediately apparent racial diversity. I also noticed seeing a lot of happy kids hanging out outside together, talking to each other and not looking at their phones.
This is one of the reasons D26 is particularly interested in schools with an honor code as a central piece of governance. She thinks students who are drawn to those schools are less likely to take these types of shortcuts and are attracted to the ideas of using their brain first and academic integrity even when nobody is watching. She is not anti-AI, but doesnāt want to be in an environment where its abuse is prevalent. I hope sheās right about the honor code schools.
My D26 is of mixed Asian/white ethnicity, and it occurs to me that if Iām reluctant to send her to a school that isnāt diverse ā and if others feel the same way ā well, then it will never become diverse, lol. I have no indication that the school would be openly hostile ā I doubt it, actually. So Iām keeping my mouth shut and letting her choose where she thinks will be the best fit.
Iām pleased to hear about the protest, though. Thank you again for posting!
Did you guys look at Davidson? The honor code is a huge part of the culture. When we toured with my D22, they mentioned that students feel comfortable leaving their backpacks and laptops somewhere while running to get lunch, and no one steals them. And professors rarely waste class time on giving tests ā most assessments are take-home, and they just expect kids not to cheat.
There were a bunch of other examples, but those are two that I still remember.
Agree that Davidson is great. Without revealing specifics it was ruled out early because of location. Nothing wrong with the location generally, but was a no for her specifically for very individualized reasons.
Both Agnes Scott and Haverford have the take home exam thing and some version of cheduling exams where students like and when convienent for them during exam periods with no proctor. They are both top of the list.
I have the same impressions of campus - I donāt love the rural, red state location - and it does appear to be a PWI. But I also met a lot of āpurple hair, multiple piercing, multiple pronounā kids. I also talked to a lot of the young women on campus (I was visiting for a conference) - and they were more than willing to talk to some random, middle aged lady asking them if they liked their school. They were all universally kind to me and raved about their experience. I have heard good things about their honors program, and read that the honors dorms are decent (but not lavish). I think the campus is big enough that you can find your people -at least thatās my impression.
My daughter goes to Bridges later this semester -so it will give her a chance to see if she likes it. Glad your daughter had a good time!
Oh and Iāve been to that cute little downtown! I can see how shenanigans happened. Haha!
I talked to a lot of the faculty at Miami (Oxford) as well - and the state might not be welcoming, but the faculty are āso that hopefully provides some balance. Glad to see they have a robust No Kings protest.
D26 is vehemently opposed to the use of AI for many reasons, but for her itās a practical consideration as well. She is very concerned about how AI will impact the future of film and other entertainment. When we visited Quinnipiac, she was disheartened by one of the film professorās excitement about teaching the latest AI editing software. D understands that it saves money and time, but worries about the human cost. She doesnāt want to learn how to use AI, she wants to learn how to make films using her own brain and creativity. I tried to explain to her that AI can be a tool, just like any other editing software (Premiere Pro, Photopea, CapCut), but her argument is that you are still using your own skill with those programs. I imagine her reaction is similar to the thoughts of performers, animators and editors when CGI came into being.
The reaction to Tilly Norwood (AI āactressā) has been interesting, and Iām having a hard time wrapping my mind around how she can get an agent, etc. Itās all so weird.
My S25 is studying film and wants to work in post-production editing, so heās heavily immersed in this world, too. Heās working on Premiere Pro certification but will start Avid classes next year ā but Iāll be curious to see what heāll have to do to stay current in the industry.
Adding to the conversation about being spiky vs well-rounded, I wanted to give a shoutout to Alexis White (on Instagram as collegexpert) as an alternative to Sara Harberson. I find Alexis to be down to earth, practical, and fun to listen to.
Both my kids fall into the well-rounded category. My D22 was into theater, music, the school paper. She did some local civic work and applied as a political science major or something related to it. She changed her major the first week of classes when she got to her first political science class and saw a room full of āfuture lawyers taking themselves way too seriously.ā That was a huge assumption on her part, but she quickly skipped over to history, added communication and that has stuck (she did dabble in Econ and English before landing on Communication). She has continued to be well-rounded at UCLA. She has a wide variety of interestsāitās just who she is and itās awesome.
S26 is also well rounded. Heās tried a million things. His interest vary widely. He just discovered philosophy and loves it. Art has been his most sustained EC. He rock climbs, volunteers, tutors kids in math. Who knows if itāll pan out for him but I donāt think anyone can āfakeā spikiness. If a kid trends that way, awesome. They should lean in to that because itās who they are.
Anywho, we are reforming our list over here. Some of it due to the fact that it was always too long. Some of it due to the fact that S26 is continuing to think about what he needs and wants in a school experience. And some of it due to the fact that he really doesnāt want to write all of those essays.
One of the things that has been hard with S26 is that his interests are super broad. Pretty much every school has a philosophy and math programs, most schools offer fine arts. So it really comes down to factors like location and vibe. And heās kind of flexible about location. Vibe is a mysterious thing that can include anything from how the tour guide talks to how pretty the library is to how good the boba is near campus.
My daughter submitted her first 8 applications - part of the EA batch. We have 5 more to go in that batch. And then another 7 due later. We are chasing $ so itās a ridiculously long list. I told her after the next 5 EA ones - she should do the rest in her order of preference, and quit when she gets tired of writing supplementals. The supplements are weird -they are either āThe Muse is IN THE HOUSEā and they get written really quickly, or itās 3 hours of āgarbage on the pageā (her words) and start again tomorrow.
As far as the spikey vs well rounded approach: I sometimes think once a kid meets the basic academic requirements, itās partially a matter of what the school needs to fill out their class. Are they looking for a spiky research STEM kid -and thatās you? Well Congratulations! Are they looking for a well-rounded, involved in everything kid -and thatās you? Well Congratulations! For the more competitive colleges, they get far more qualified kids than spots.
I do remember that! Well, I donāt remember seeing it when it aired, but I remember it from after. I will say my daughterās dresses are more Sound of Music than Carol Burnett
Yup, we are chasing $ as well and therefore my D has the long list, too. Plus, she has had trouble figuring out exactly what she wants, so she keeps adding more different ones.
She has submitted 7 in her EA batch, has 4 more EA to go, then there is āearly RDā mid-November (a few Canadian schools + UW Seattle), then the UC application, then a few RD schools at the beginning of Januaryā¦
When my S23 did this, the RD schools ended up being cut from his list because he was royally sick of writing supplementals by then
Mini CSS profile rant: I was annoyed sending the College Board what seems like more money than necessary to send my financial information to a bunch of schools. My annoyance was likely rooted in part in the fact that for the one time D26 took the SAT, we spent an inordinate amount of money on change fees because no spots in CA meant we initially scheduled in Nevada, then changed twice - first to a 2ish hour drive from home, then to a 45 minute drive from home. So, I was bitter about the money I had to pay them in order for her to take the test without flying or extensive travel.
I was also annoyed at the schools that made us spend a whole lot of time making sure we precisely filled out the CSS profile form with details from various lines of our tax forms, sometimes requiring adding together lines. Then, after I finished that, they asked me to submit my whole tax return to them. If you are going to ask for my whole tax return to āverifyā the information in the profile, just take the tax form and review the original information yourself!
Thank you for indulging this rant. This is the only forum where I can let this out without getting crazy looks.