<p>Might be useful infor for those applying.</p>
<p>OTOH, might be quite misleading. Reasons to be incredibly happy or unhappy can be very individual. More importantly, many students who come onto these boards incredibly unhappy at this time, and wanting to leave their school, are completely over it and love the place by second semester.</p>
<p>Conversely, some who seem to be in seventh heaven at their “dream” school find things can go off track soon after. See the Second Semester Blues thread (one of the best ever on cc, btw; but not an easy read). <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=300244&highlight=Blues[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=300244&highlight=Blues</a></p>
<p>jmmom</p>
<p>I was thinking the same thing. My son is thriving in his current college right now, but that doesn’t mean it would be right for every student. And I THINK he’ll continue to like it, but the thread you linked to is a good reminder of how uncertain that is too.</p>
<p>I think its important to recognize that almost every student loves the school he or she is attending, especially first semester of freshman year. There are always plenty of exceptions, of course, but they tend to be kids who made a mistake about themselves, not necessarily the fault of the school.</p>
<p>The worst unhappiness story I knew about last year was 100% the girl who wasn’t as ready for what she thought she wanted as she thought she was. Her parents, and she, were all very complimentary of the many things people at the school – from the administration to the RAs to the students – did to help her. And it was a largish state university. She wound up leaving after one semester, and ultimately transferring to a LAC, but no one can really say anything bad about the first school.</p>
<p>On the other hand, JHS, there are a lot of students who hated their first term or year but stuck it out and ended up truly loving the school. I don’t hear it as often from students today since it’s quite easy to transfer after a year, but I clearly remember a CC thread with parents attesting to that pattern. My father hated his first year and wanted to transfer, but you’d never know it today–he’s obsessed with his alma mater!</p>
<p>Anyway, I agree with the others. Something that makes one person blissfully happy may not make someone else feel the same way. There are students at most schools who are unhappy for one reason or another. (You have to remember, too, that happiness is not always a very good guide. For example, students may dislike their time at one of the military academies–I’ve never met a student at one who was “incredibly happy”–but be thankful and glad they attended.)</p>
<p>However, they are some schools that go out of their way to make sure freshman have a good experience and have really well developed first year experiences designed. I don’t want to violate the spirit of the posts on this thread by offering specific names, but this is something an applicant could research if first year adjustment raises a question in applicant’s or parent’s mind.</p>
<p>corranged:</p>
<p>My father, too. The night before I started college, we were staying with my grandparents, and I read his letters home from his first semester at college. They were heartbreaking (and a little hilarious). Everything he knew was wrong. He couldn’t have been more out of place: a wisecracking, obsessive Jew from Newark (think Alexander Portnoy or Nathaniel Zuckerman) with his flashy hand-painted ties in a bastion of “dirty bucks” and WASP lese majeste. He was lonely and miserable, and he couldn’t even really tell his parents about it because they were part of the problem. The most he could do was to give his younger brother advice about what NOT to pack for a college in New England.</p>
<p>Needless to say, he had a wonderful time at college, and is devoted to his alma mater.</p>
<p>Reference to the Second Semester Blues thread caught my eye, since our experience figured prominently in that thread.</p>
<p>My son stayed at his school, despite having a terrible freshman experience. He DID do transfer apps, was accepted at a school that he believed offered a superior education, but decided to replicate that for himself at his current school. This year is going much better. He got into courses with small classes and which are more interesting to him. He is living off-campus (in a dump-but most housing around this school is awful) and likes it much better. He isn’t Mr. School Spirit, but he’s satisfied and appreciates the doors that will open for him with this education, internship opportunities and degree.</p>
<p>My daughter was very, very happy at Rice. She graduated in May. Some of the things that made it work for her, besides a stellar music school, were the absence of fraternities/sororities, relatively low athletic focus (except for baseball which she enjoyed and supported), beautiful campus with a lot going on, great off-campus housing for her last two years and a city that offered a lot culturally but was outside the campus trees and grass.</p>
<p>In that spirit, my son is VERY happy at Grinnell, where the students seem to take academics, but not themselves, very seriously. It’s a strength of the US college/univ system that there are so many great schools for every kind of student.</p>
<p>So much too can depend on the luck of the draw: roommate, RA, academic advisor, profs, etc. Personalities may have nothing to do with the school yet may make all the difference between being happy or miserable.</p>
<p>For a variety of reasons I could not start at my first choice school, was not miserable but never felt like I fit, and was finally able to transfer to my dream school where I thrived. That experience made it easier for me to let S1’s final decision be his alone. He is insanely happy which makes writing those checks a bit easier. The peace of mind is priceless.</p>
<p>Yes, sewbusy, my son “lucked out” with roommate, advisor, dormmates, etc. I’m sure not everything is perfect, but it’s everything I could have wished for him. However, could a similar outcome have happened at any of the other schools he applied to?–probably. They were all great matches.</p>
<p>My son has a single which I love. When he’s restless and isn’t engaged, he just calls me! He likes it too because he’s a horrible sleeper. The large complex he is in is all singles, so all the kids are in the same boat. There is an elaborate entry system so they do have immediate friends.</p>
<p>The other complex has doubles. Kids got their choice.</p>
<p>My son isn’t so much ecstatic at school as normal and natural. It feels like he’s always lived there and either he was made for the school or the school was made for him. He has bonded so much with his professors that he is pursuing them for next semester and is already picking out his courses. He wrote a phenomenally creative paper for his metafiction class in which he told two narratitives in different color inks. I don’t hear much about the school; I hear everything about what he’s engaged in. A good sign, I think. Would this have happened elsewhere? Probably. He’s adaptable, but here he didn’t have to adapt.</p>
<p>DD had the same experience. She found a place where she could just be more her.</p>
<p>Does that mean there won’t be second semester blues or problems as outlined on the thread? Not at all. As Alumother pointed out, difficulties are a part of life.</p>
<p>Both my kids were (are) very happy at Rice as freshman and on. I think this is partially due to the strong sense of inclusion and community that the Residential college system fosters, and partially due to being around lots of neat and interesting people. (And partially due to being away at college where the food is good and they are on their own and the world is their oyster… 
)</p>
<p>I wish that I could share with you the email that I received from my D after her first few days of school. It literally made my H and I both cry. After just a few days she was truly just glowing with excitement about her professors, her classes, the other kids, her room mate and the campus.
So many factors go into finding a school that is “the right fit.” Some people think that they have to have a school that is rated in the top ten for the major that they seek. We were initially influenced by those numbers in US News & World Report, but in the end it was more about what school had a solid program and FELT right. Our D knew very specifically what she wanted and has found just that at Drake University. She’s also be very lucky to have met her room mate at orientation last summer and the two are now best friends. If I had one piece of advice to give pre-college students, it would be to be VERY HONEST AND SPECIFIC on the dormatory survey about how they would describe themselves. Having a room mate with a similar schedule, sleep, study and tidyness habits can be sooo important.</p>
<p>I agree with all the posts here. Our children know what they want and seem to know when a school is the right fit for them. Our freshmen S just went back to his ‘other’ home after a quick weekend fall break here with us. He loves his school and it is everything he had hoped for and imagined. The academics are very challenging but he knew that going in and seems to thrive on this. He has made lots of new friends who all are enjoying this excting and challenging college. From talking to him I now know that they study pretty hard (+4 hrs daily) but yet the play pretty hard too. We are thrilled that he has found the correct balance.</p>
<p>I totally agree about the honesty on the roommate form, but I wonder if some kids know what they’ll be like when their parents aren’t there and they can choose their schedule.</p>
<p>Your’re probably very right, bethie. My D is in a BFA Musical Theatre program, they have very limited choices about their schedule and her room mate is also BFA MT. Our D knew this going in and sought out other BFA MT students at orientation. She met and arranged to room with her current room mate and feels that it was a good decision. My older D did the same.</p>
<p>Our daughter is very happy at Cornell. It wasn’t a place where she thought she would end up. She thought she wanted urban - Columbia, Tufts, etc. What she likes about Cornell is the size and diversity - racial, academic (with so many different schools, there are some very smart people, some not so smart), social economic. She has some small classes, but a few large lecture hall. She finds courses to be challenging, but not overwhelmed. It is not the most nurturing place (no one cares if you don’t go to classes). She studies hard (Sun to Thu) and she parties hard on weekends. There are many single rooms at Cornell (she is in one), which is a great option for students that like a bit of privacy. She has already made some very good friends (the amazing four), and they do not all live in the same dorm. When she goes out it’s mostly frats, but she doesn’t feel the pressure to drink. The only down side about Cornell is its food. It is very good, so she has gained a few pound. At this point, she would recommend the school to anyone. We hope the good feeling continues.</p>
<p>Our daughter is the happiest we have ever seen her. I just returned from parents weekend and was totally impressed by her contemporaries there. She attends an ivy with a terrific support system for freshmen, has made friends from all over the world and has a single(which for her is great).Her closest friends are a suite of eight young women just down the hall. Three of her four classes have 20 or less students.</p>
<p>cornfed: Glad to hear your daughter loves it like my son! Sounds like they are both thriving there.</p>