<p>Dartmouth: the quarter system. Kids start a month later than most other colleges and finish a month later than everyone else. The school sells the “D” plan by claiming it gives the students greater flexibility as far as obtaining internships or going abroad. Perhaps that’s the case, but I suspect it will be harder to get a summer job, when other college students are home in early May and Dartmouth doesn’t end until late June. Final exams for the first quarter this year end on 12/6, which is so close to Thanksgiving that students who live OOS far away must foot a large bill for travel in a short span of time, or else stay on campus for Thanksgiving, which it seems many decide to do.</p>
<p>More on UF complaints - Agree with doubleplay. My daughter’s Calculus exams are at 8:30 at night! The free tutoring on campus was a waste of 3 hours for my child but I hear that the Tutoring Zone session ($$) is worth it. The drinking culture at UF seems out of control and my kid really has had to work to meet the non-drinkers. The campus does not offer any wellness/substance free dorms or any “quiet floor” options. The parking situation is awful. Freshman can get a parking decal but all that it means is “a license to hunt for a space”. Despite the downsides, my daughter LOVES her school and does not regret her choice.</p>
<p>One other minor UNC-Chapel Hill issue. All my d’s labs are offered 1-4:45 p.m. or 6-9:45 p.m. None in the a.m. She rows and her squad is in the boat from 5-7 p.m. She really has to scramble, is always late and she may have to give up crew altogether when they move practice time from 4-6 p.m. </p>
<p>She has to talk to her coach about all this, but I don’t see how it will work especially in the Spring when she is in labs 4 afternoons a week. I wonder…are all pre-meds, science majors really expected to forego athletics or other afternoon/evening obligations? Seems as though they would offer a few lab sections in the morning hours.</p>
<p>Seiclan, OMG I forgot about the parking at UF! To anyone going to UF and living on campus their first year- don’t bring a car! I’ve heard there’s a Myspace or Facebook page titled I HATE UF PARKING or something like that. S doesn’t have a car there, and I don’t think he misses it. He does have a bike. He says the thing to have is one of those motorized scooters.</p>
<p>Have you been to Gville on game day? It’s one massive party. Of course, I’m not sure this is a minus in my S’s book. It’s not just the kids partying- it’s everyone! When I was in college, the drinking age was 18 and it was everywhere (and I didn’t even go to school in Florida), so it seemed natural to me to see lots of people drinking beer. Now I guess it’s a bigger deal because they really shouldn’t be drinking under 21.</p>
<p>Wash U - agree 100% about the billing system - I never quite know how much we’re paying. I think I need an accountant to figure it out, but maybe that’s a good thing.</p>
<p>My number one criticism is the mandatory health fee. Wash U is one of three colleges that requires it and frankly I think it’s a waste and a hassle for people who already have coverage. My son is a senior and has used the health center once- it took three visits to diagnose him correctly with mono - that was his sophomore year. He waits to come home to see the docs for the serious stuff (Type 1 diabetes) because their coverage isn’t as good, doesn’t pay for prescrips and has been a hassle in the coordination of benefits. </p>
<p>Diane - I highly recommend asking for a new advisor. Part of the reason we were willing to make this financial sacrifice was to get good advising ( I could have had a beautiful new kitchen by now, complete with the Subzero). So when my son started complaining about his freshman year advisor, I started nagging for him to ask for a new one. I let him handle it for a while, but when several people he contacted didn’t bother to get back to him in a timely way ( a month or two) I stepped in with a well targeted email. It was the best and last intervention I made as a parent. </p>
<p>Now, the career center, that’s another story.</p>
<p>Dartmouth:
- One year further into it than TheGFG - it can be difficult to get a summer job, we’ll see about the internships, though, it sounds as if the quarter system is an advantage for that. The kid is totally out of whack with all the old high school friends, though</p>
<p>2) The all or nothing aspect to the drinking - this may not be unique to Dartmouth. D does not drink, and did pledge a sorority, but is still not happy about the fact that drinking is either heavy drinking or NO drinking (although she did see more moderate drinking in the sorority setting). She does not drink, because it is illegal as much as any other reason, and does not unserstand why so much of the drinking is done to excess. She is looking forward to being in France, where people have wine with dinner legally, not illegally guzzle beer.</p>
<p>3) Another vote about rural schools and transport difficulties. Dartmouth does have good regular bus service. The problem we see is that air service on our end is very expensive. I think if your home is a major city and you can get good flights in and out of Boston or Manchester, you would be fine - we are working with constraints on both ends, so setting up trips home is big deal.</p>
<p>The only thing my son has talked about as a slight negative is the lack of a football team. But it was more like it would be an alternative something to do rather then he cares much about football. Roanoke’s lacrosse team is supposed to be very good so perhaps he’ll go watch that when the season starts. His advising is phenomanal. Freshman are assigned an advisor whom they see at least 6 times the first semester. His advisor has 15 students. He parks next to his dorm - closer then his assigned spot at HS. </p>
<p>Now my daughter’s school, tiny private Christian school in Illinois (pm me if you really want to know) is really tiny, with less then 600 students it’s smaller then her HS. The flip side to this is the networking is incredible and alumni association is very active. Also, very rural location and nothing is within walking distance. St. Louis is 45 minutes away and students need cars or friends with cars to get out of Dodge. My daughters college is also on the quarter system and it is tricky for the summer jobs. What she has had to do is to get everything in place over Spring break and then know that she will have to start as soon as she gets home in June. She has used her 7 week winter break wisely though with either working or traveling. This year she’ll visit London and Kenya. Much more fun then her previous winter breaks working at toys r us and Kohls!</p>
<p>My D goes to Maryland Institute College of Art. D biggest complaint is that she placed into Painting 2, which is being taught by someone who has never taught before. The students are doing less challenging work that those in Painting 1.</p>
<p>D has taken to calling her class Painting 1/2.</p>
<p>And apparently the dining hall food, while tasty, provides its own biological challenges.</p>
<p>lizschup, my son’s school also charges that mandatory fee. in fact just a couple of days ago, i posted a question about it in the parents cafe but have since found out that this cannot be paid with health account dollars.</p>
<p>mkm56: Interesting comments about Wake Forest, UNC-CH, Virginia Intermont, and Elon. You have kids who go to all those schools? Wow! I’m impressed.</p>
<p>I have to agree with ldmom on trying to come up with some complaints about UNC-CH. I honestly can’t think of much. Indeed, it has lived up to its promise. My daughter, too, has had terrific advising. No problems there at all. She’s a sophomore, but as a freshman last year, she had only one or two intro classes that were large–required for specific majors. They didn’t seem to be a problem, mostly because the professors were excellent, she said. The only complaint I can really muster is maybe too much construction-- always going on, it seems. Of course, at the end of it all is the upside–beautifully renovated (and new) buildings. Oh, and for those students who have cars, lack of available parking would probably be a big complaint.</p>
<p>Room & board costs, at $9500 are too high IMHO. However our son quickly solved that issue by moving off campus which is nearer the academic quads that some on-campus housing and is saving about $4800/yr.</p>
<p>lizschup,</p>
<p>I wish I had intervened about the WUStL counselor situation. But I wanted my son to handle things and he kept saying he was doing all he could. He’s a very stubborn individual and always vetoed any parental intervention. Now he’s a senior and it is a little late. Funny how his safety graduate school application is going to be to the same school! Things must not bother him too much.</p>
<p>I agree about the billing. We did the prepaid program, but had offsets due to my MIL’s promise to pay a certain amount each year for tuition. (I know, she’s a sweet lady and I’m very lucky 
) The calculation on the school’s end has been messed up any number of times – it keeps changing from letter to letter, it doesn’t agree with our spreadsheets based on how the program is described, etc.</p>
<p>But at least the food is excellent, unlike Brown LOL I’m looking forward to my second consecutive parent’s weekend in a few days and this time may actually venture to eat on campus. We’ll have to find a good place to watch the World Series if it goes to game 6, too. This is the first year he’s wanted us to come. Could it be due to the fact that we just visited his sister for her first parent’s weekend? Hmmmm …</p>
<p>CMU
Son loves it. I was very disappointed in the student/teacher ratio. The statistics say one thing, but many of his classes are large (80+). Obviously a lot of the professors are doing research, and not necessarily teaching. As a result, he doesn’t get to know his professors personally.
Everyone complains about the food.</p>
<p>Well, my daughter loves W&L, but has one complaint. There’s no ice hockey! It’s a minor issue to be sure, but football games do not hold the same appeal for her; we’re a hockey family.</p>
<p>Of course she was accepted to schools with hockey and turned them down…</p>
<p>Jack, the UNC-CH is by marriage, but since she has been part of the family since she was 15 I counted her as one of my own even before DIL status. So as of now the Chapel Hill and the Elon have graduated :).</p>
<p>Great idea Curm
It’s comforting to know that many are finding flaws with their schools and that there are probably no perfect situations. I will second (or third or fourth) the too much drinking problem. I’m sure in time the students that want to have fun w/o binge drinking will find each other, but it can be disconcerting. Or perhaps after the first semester of freedom they will scale back? She has also found that her sorority offers the most non-drinking fun ( despite what many may think of Greek orgs).
Other than that she likes her school ( South Carolina)</p>
<p>S’s biggest complaint at Northeastern is that he did not get to select his classes for either fall or spring and has an 8:00 class all year (and he is definitely NOT a morning person); for college of eng’g there is a core curriculum for freshmen, where they are divided into small sections, and classes and teachers are pre-assigned for the first year sciences, math and engineering classes. I actually liked this structure for the first year transition for my S since he does better with structure (has Aspergers) and did not immediately have to deal with all the red tape typically involved in class registration. Fortunately, his 8:00 classes are his favorite subjects - chem this semester and physics in the spring, so missing classes hasn’t been an issue so far.</p>
<p>Willamette - 1. ) most of the dorms are right across the street from the train station. It doesn’t help to close your windows, though my husband discovered if the trains only blasted their whistles at certain points, the sound carried less (mybe they need to post signs on the tracks “blow whistles here”
2.) W has a sister university made up of kids from Japan. They arrive in February and leave in December. Each fall they are paired up with a new freshman. Not really the best situation for new kids far from home who are inclined to be homesick. Sure, it could possibly be a great cultural experience but from what I have heard it usually isn’t. The Japanese kids tend to stick together (a bit of a language barrier exists too) as do kids from the US. No where on the roommate selection list is this optioned mentioned. Plus the freshmen then have to go about finding a new roommate for the spring term. DD has mentioned it would have been helpful to have a roommate who she could relate better to and talk with. For her it has almost been like having a single room. Older kids on campus mostly just say “well, they (Japanese students) are nice and really quiet…” but that’s about it. I guess we were most annoyed at the school not imforming us of this roommate possiblilty and giving DD an option in participating. On the bright side, she has found a friend to move in with her come spring. :)</p>
<p>Diane,
I just assumed your son was a freshman or sophomore but it sounds like it has worked out.</p>
<p>As for Parent’s week-end, do any Wash U parents have an extra ticket or know of anyone not going to this Friday night’s musical review of the choir and all the a cappella groups? (Sorry to interrupt this thread, I just never see this many Wash U parents in one spot, not even on the Wash U forum) I had no trouble getting tickets the first year and this year, it is sold out. They didn’t even reserve any tickets for the parents of kids in the a cappella groups.</p>
<p>Chicago:</p>
<p>My daughter’s experience has been a lot like Katharos’:</p>
<p>– Hard to complain about kids being too studious, but she could use a little more un-neurotic joy, at least on weekends.</p>
<p>– For being in one of the world’s great cities, public transportation to the great parts is not very convenient or pleasant.</p>
<p>– Chicago should send a team to Penn to see what Penn has done over the past decade to make the area around its campus exciting and vibrant, and then it should do some of those things.</p>
<p>– Freshman advising was “eh”, especially if the kid is organized enough to figure out a plan for completing the Core on her own. </p>
<p>– My D’s core Humanities course really didn’t work well – very high school, and thus disappointing. </p>
<p>– Concert tickets in Chicago cost twice what they do here, and the percentage of desirable shows that are 21+ is very high.</p>