I’ve always had a soft spot for Rhodes, as it was the first school that popped up in response to my very first college search query on google - was something like “beautiful small college in urban environment”. I quickly learned there aren’t too many of those, but I was intrigued by Rhodes and the idea of studying in Memphis. In the end it didn’t make the list because one of my son’s former middle school teachers persuaded him to avoid all southern schools. I guess a small town in Ohio, where he landed, was probably just as exotic for a kid from Tokyo as Memphis, but I was pretty annoyed at the time.
5 Likes
@goldbug
I totally agree with @kaslew that many students choose Rhodes over top schools.
Some want Rhodes as great premed or prelaw environment, others like it for its beauty and student body. In any case, this is not a school for losers that were not accepted to some top schools.
On our initial list were
Oberlin (DD disliked)
Denison (did not have the foreign language that DD wanted)
Wooster (was too remote with too many students from Ohio to our taste)
Case Western (the only school that did not take DD probably due to older sister not attending after top scholarship…)
Lafayette (accepted)
Rochester (accepted)
Richmond (accepted)
Gettysburg (top scholarship -almost committed :))
Dickinson (accepted)
Furman (accepted)
Hobart and William Smith (accepted)
UMD - Honors, Presidential scholarship etc.
So, there were quite a lot of good choices with scholarships…
This is the same for all her classmates at Rhodes.
She told me just today, that she was talking to one of the football players there and was amazed at the level of that kid. He was in the top humanity classes and very well educated…
1 Like
Okay, I clearly touched a nerve. I certainly didn’t mean to imply that Rhodes was for losers.
I think in my mind I’d built Rhodes up based on all the rave reviews on this site and while I appreciated a bunch of things about it (and our son liked it), I also had a feeling of let-down. I’m not sure anything could have matched the vision I had in my head. I’m posting this not to diss Rhodes, but maybe as a reminder to myself (and others) that the perfect school probably doesn’t exist, that visits can only show us so much, and that if we’re mapping our limited perpective on a present-day school (via visit) to our burnished memories of our own colleges, we might be disappointed. Of course, I don’t get to go to college this go-round – my son does. And he’s almost certainly apply EA to Rhodes and if he is lucky enough to be accepted and it is his top choice, we will gladly pack up and bring him to Memphis.
3 Likes
I just messaged you.
No worries! I didn’t think that you were dissing Rhodes - just that you were worried that it wouldn’t hold up well in comparison to the smorgasbord of elite schools you’re heading off for in a few weeks.
I’m right there with you on expectations - I often wondered what it would be like to experience visits to all these schools without the intense amount of preparation that sets our expectations. I had that experience at Dickinson (one of our first visits) - was so ready to love it!!! And the visit was just meh. But in retrospect it was all about my expectations. Still a lovely school.
2 Likes
I would also note that initial impressions at visits don’t always hold up.
My kid was underwhelmed by Vassar on our visit fall of junior year. The campus was beautiful but very quiet. The neighborhood immediately outside of campus was also very quiet. It just didn’t have that vibrant feeling we were used to feeling on college visits. He kept it on the list, but it dropped down out of the top tier.
But as he started to really zero in on what was important to him in a school—open/flexible curriculum, theater/arts opportunities, strong LGBTQ+ presence—he started talking about Vassar much more positively. It didn’t hurt that a friend attends this year and loves it. He realized that he shouldn’t dismiss a school with so many fundamentally positive factors based on single visit of a few hours. And now that we’re in the midst of decision season, it’s his strong second choice (after Wes).
He visited another NESCAC school last spring and had a strong negative reaction to it, which has not softened in the intervening months. I’m sure that’s because in addition to the things that rubbed him the wrong way on the visit the school doesn’t have most of the other things that he’s deemed priorities.
The point being, don’t assume that visit impressions will be definitive. Visits are great for getting a feel for a place, and obviously if that “feel” is extremely negative, it’s probably not for your kid. But don’t take the “eh, maybe” schools off the list if they are matches in other ways. Your kid will inevitable mature and grow and have some realizations that allow him to contextualize those initial visits in new ways.
The small LACs in particular are prone to off days, I think; a UCLA will always feel big and lively and college-y just by virtue of having tens of thousands of students and a campus that feels like a small city. Small LACs can more easily feel deserted or isolated if the weather is bad or a lot of kids went home for the weekend.
Enjoy the journey with your kid!
9 Likes
I was really proud of my S24 the other day when he explained he thought a couple of the colleges that looked good on paper, but were more only “meh” on visits, he probably didn’t really give a fair chance due to being burned out and such by the time we got to them.
Of course I think it is fine for him to choose another college equally good on paper that he is already excited about, and not look back.
But he said he will consider revisiting those colleges if they are looking like strong contenders once he knows where he is actually admitted.
Quite wise, and I think reflects the reality of this situation. It is so much, so fast, sometimes.
6 Likes
From our experience:
On our first visit, DD loved Dickinson. It was at the top of the list. She was not that much impressed by Gettysburg. Tour guide was not that good there, and we did not see much.
She applied to both. After she got the top scholarship at Gettysburg (Eisenhower), I suggested to revisit Gettysburg. They treated her like a queen. The school was great, she almost committed that day. On the other hand, Dickinson totally disappeared from the picture…
It all depends on tour guides, weather, environment, and zillion other factors. Things can change.
9 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. If you’d like to reply, please flag the thread for moderator attention.