Rochester IS in a city!!
Its campus is self contained, yes, but it is in a city, with many city things to do (restaurants, concerts with big name acts, etc etc).
And I definitely would not say Vassar is any more rural than Conn College. Vassar is in striking distance of rural areas, sure, but Poughkeepsie is not rural.
I am sure the OP’s son will have a much better idea of what he wants after the tour.
By farm he meant literally. Our tour guide was an ag sciences major and UC Davis is world-renowned for its ag sciences—that came through a lot in the tour. He was fine with the town of Davis, and a college town generally.
Pushing back on this – have you been to Davis? you can smell the cows. This isn’t about country vs city or big vs small town. It’s about a vibe (arty, social, not sporty).
That said…this led me to revisit the original description of the study interests. For some reason I got hung up on “arty” and “Japanese” but now I see that physics/chem/math are academic leanings. I’m not gonna scroll all the way back up to see if other people have recommended same but – given where we were and where we’ve landed since then – I’d strongly encourage focusing on schools that meet at least one of the following two conditions:
–offers engineering and/or
–if LAC without engineering, has a decent # of students majoring in the physical sciences. You can find this by looking at schools here: College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics
I actually used this to rule out some of the schools on your list for our son.
(Our challenge: our son’s interests evolved a lot junior year. At the beginning of the year he was talking about languages and history and maybe some sort of international studies major. Then he liked his physics class and added physics to the list. Then he realized that he really wasn’t doing as well in his humanities classes and maybe should focus on STEM. Then he started thinking that engineering would be interesting, but only after we’d done a big tour of non-engineering LACs. How I wish we’d shoehorned in visits to Purdue, Rochester, and Case Western Reserve! Now we’re going to try to see those places senior year.)
Ok. I get it.
Rochester itself is a large city. The school is in the city but a few miles from the ‘city’ part of the city was my point.
If he’s ok with towns but cities a distance away then a Poughkeepsie could make sense. But what you describe sounds like he wants an actual city … but perhaps I’m off.
My kids both wanted urban campuses. We live in a semirural area and they wanted to be in the city, and actually have things like…public transportation, or even the ability to walk to things to do.
Nevertheless, we visited some less urban campuses. For example, we visited University of Richmond which actually is way on the outskirts of Richmond. My kid hated it. We tried to convince the other kid to apply to Ithaca, but no city with city amenities like orchestras, sports teams etc.
And one of my kids also had a weather criteria, but hers was the opposite of yours….she wanted “pleasing weather year round”…translation…no snow. She went to school at Santa Clara where the weather is just about perfect year round. For that kid we only visited colleges in CA and in the southeast. We didn’t waste her time visiting places where she didn’t want to be.
The other kid went to Boston University…just about as urban a campus as you can get, and he loved it…and took advantage of all that the city had to offer.
So…sure…take your kid to see different kinds of colleges. But really…listen to them.
For our CA college kid, (we live on the opposite coast), we asked her to apply to one sure thing nearer to home just in case she changed her mind. That was a waste of time…and money. She didn’t change her mind.
Anyway…I would say one college per day is plenty with the driving between schools. Plus you want to have time to do things like…eat, sleep…and explore the locations a little near the college towns.
Not only have I been to Davis (multiple times), I interviewed for a job in the MBA program’s career office. Davis is a cool town. But I see what she is saying now.
I just get the sense that this student, like mine, wants more urban.
My other kid (older) was never diagnosed ADHD but we had him tested. He’s very literal - so I thought perhaps this about this student too might be the same and so that has me thinking he really wants a city and not Carleton/ St Olaf or Vassar types.
Thanks
I feel that. His interests are definitely all over the place. Math is his go-to happy place academically. But he’s loved physics for years and does well. But then there’s art, which he continues to love and pursue. He also loves history but considers writing a sore spot (though he’s actually quite good at it when he stops fighting it). He has no idea what he wants to do—like no idea. He likes cities, but also loves to be known by his teachers and has thrived in smaller communities. He’s a very curious person naturally and goes deep whenever he discovers a thing he loves.
I’m sure he can be happy in a lot of places… I guess I want him to see a wide range and see what sparks excitement for him.
Coming from CA, we really don’t have a ton of the classic liberal arts colleges (aside from the cluster in SoCal). I think it’s useful to visit a handful and get a sense of the vibes (and they do vary quite a bit. I don’t see, for example, Denison and Oberlin appealing to many of the same kids, even though they aren’t very far apart and are both in small midwestern college towns.)
Our kids sound quite similar (mine also ADHD and – although very verbal – writing is tough for him, which means most humanities majors would be rough going.) I do think Macalester is worth a trip (and yeah, we’re basking in the glow of a recent Macalester acceptance and also worrying about whether or not physics vs engineering will be the right choice for our son so I’m definitely biased but…get thyself to the twin cities this year if you can swing it.)
Yep, he might really like Macalester. And congrats to your son! I actually went there with my D22 when she was accepted a few years ago. It was not at all the right place for her—but she and her brother are polar opposites so maybe it’s just the right place for him…
And I agree with you about the dearth of liberal arts colleges in CA… and they are very much a “fit” choice, so I feel compelled to show him what they’re like so he can see something besides the huge, 30k student version of college.
If Engineering is in play, I’d think Union near Albany could be fit in. It has Japanese and yes Engineering - which given the math and science could work - moreso than Bard if you’d need to swap out one.
Interestingly, many engineers are musical and artsy so given his academic loves, that might be a good path for his mixed interests - which most LACs won’t provide on a four year, single school path.
Ps if he’s a Junior you might consider an engineering camp next summer. The two I know aboit - both short term in length - Operation Catapult at Rose Hulman and STEP at Purdue. My son went there. It cemented that yes - engineering is for me (and that he loved Purdue). It’s just a way to further suss out an interest.
But then it could also blow up your anticipated list - which would be ok (if that’s the path he decides after the camp).
Reading this, I think you may want to visit Union. There’s an engineering school as well as a liberal arts college, and cool opportunities to find intersections of the two. One of our tour guides was working on a project involving sound – using music recording.
Edited to say @tsbna44 and I were posting at the same time.
Are you going to be able to visit CWRU at some point? They have all the options and are apparently located in the arts district of Cleveland. My sense is that the location vis-a-vis city amenities might be a bit more favorable than, say, that of Rochester, but that (unlike BU, NYU, or maybe even perennial favorite Pitt) they also have something resembling a classic college campus.
One thing we are learning about the smaller engineering schools is that they don’t have the capacity to offer as much breadth in humanities. WPI, for example, doesn’t offer French. RPI doesn’t have any on-campus language courses. Ergo the appeal of a place like Rochester or Case (or Union or Lafayette) for kids who are looking for a more intimate feel than a bit state school …but aren’t competitive for a place like WashU or Rice.
I forgot to mention that Brandeis is intriguing for kids who like arts and humanities but also want strong sciences. They are staggering towards an engineering program but it looks like they are cutting in other areas to make it possible. Still…worth a look. Wild card school with tremendous faculty.
So, maybe Union it is. And Connecticut College if there is appetite and seems like a fit after all of the other tours.
I don’t know if he will gravitate toward engineering. I’ve offered it up many times, but he dismisses it right now, saying he enjoys the theoretical over the practical. But he is almost 17 and hasn’t yet grasped that theoretical must eventually turn practical for the sake of making a living (unless he makes academia his home). Sometimes he talks about majoring in both physics and philosophy 
But he loves to build things and tear them apart, still requests Lego sets for Christmas… the things he loves to illustrate are often incredibly intricate, like the insides of machines and robots… so engineering seems like a natural direction.
As for Japanese, I don’t know that he’ll take more language college unless required to, but it would be good for there to be the option. He may bow out after this 3rd year, but I’d like him to keep it one more year.
Agree we should research CRWU, Lafayette, Brandeis. I do hope that after our winter trip of seeing many things he will become much more certain of what he likes, what he’s willing to compromise on, what’s a must have.
According to various articles, 75% of engineering majors aren’t engineers.
My former sales vp was an aero major.
I was thinking more about his academic interests merged together.
That was the only reason I mentioned Union. Trinity has but I don’t think would be the right vibe. Bucknell in the middle of nowhere etc.
But the summer programs I mentioned are short - if he did one and thought like mine - I loved this - or didn’t - that’s why you do them. Purdue’s is competitive. My son was turned down but accepted after we submitted a higher ACT.
Right now he’s guessing - but this adds a dose of what it really is.
True cautionary tale. My DD started off as an engineering major (my husband,her dad, is a career engineer so she knows the field). The third quarter if her sophomore year, she picked up a double major in biology. She DID finish the engineering degree also. As she put it…she really liked the courses, but couldn’t see herself doing the work. IOW, she will never be a practicing engineer. She pivoted to a different career field that is more suitable.
What I’m saying is…if your son likes the theory but not the practical in engineering, there are lots of other careers he could enjoy more.
Yeah, the theoretical vs. practical thing is a confounding factor these days. I think you’ll find that for a lot of the NESCAC colleges (of which Wesleyan, Conn and Hamilton are members) there are certain majors that are vectors for business and finance. And it isn’t just Economics as one might suspect; there’s a thread on CC that mentions Amherst’s Architectural Studies major in the subject line, but after only a few posts it turned out that half the graduates go into i-banking and consulting! So, you never know. My feeling is that even in bad economic times, “quants” (physics and math majors) have some flexibility.
As a note on facilities, Hamilton is constructing a computer science center with a notable materials component, such as in electronics and robotics. The facility will will be “equipped with best in class technologies and resources.” This, from the article linked below, suggests the additional scope of the facility:
Reading this, has he considered Reed? It’s very much a fit school, but perhaps it might be a good fit for your son.
Yes! Reed is definitely on the list. I’ve heard mixed things about it both socially (lots of drugs, so small that it can be stifling/like high school) and academically (extremely demanding) so I have some reservations. But my son was actually quite excited to learn they have a nuclear reactor that’s staffed by undergrads. And it’s in a city he thinks is cool.
And it’s 2 mins from my brother and his wife, which I think is cool