ME is Maine
yes - definitely true of my kid as well (he did a summer enrichment program there and loved it!).
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Any idea on how much SSEN helps?
I think as unique as your kid may be - sheâs not the only - most places. But kids do have to adapt / engage with others or they might be left out - including employment.
But as theyâre away they see that maybe they need to integrate. Of course they do need to stay themselves.
@dfbdfb â In your opinion, is the field of computational linguistics a growth field, or would someone with those interests also do well (perhaps be more employable) with CS and a LLM focus â assuming thatâs even of any interest.
I know the CS market is declining, but my understanding is that LLM is growing â but thatâs just from reading the news, etc.
Thanks!
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Middle kid finished undergrad in 2020, degrees in Linguistics and Applied Math. Got into some great PhD programs for linguistics, specifically computational linguistics.
Her undergrad school was mentioned on here - and more or less dismissed - because it doesnât have a lot of comp ling courses. My kid was not as advanced as your daughter, didnât take linear algebra until senior year in HS, but was the all-around good student, good test scores (NMF), regular type activities (board member on a local educational non-profit, two varsity sports - one of which she played travel for six years, worked at the local comic book store).
There are advantages and disadvantages to the large and small schools, public versus private. Advisors recognized that she needed a challenge, and she was taking graduate level linguistics courses sophomore year (graduate versions werenât really that challenging, but better). Worked as a TA in math department and linguistics (for comp ling and data science). Might not get the grad school course and TA opportunities at a small school.
She can make things work at a variety of schools. I get that there are schools where she wouldnât be able to find âher peopleâ, though at large public schools you can almost always find a group - there are a wider variety of people at large public universities than youâd think.
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LLMs are growing, but I worry that thereâs some frothiness in there right nowâI side with Emily Bender on skepticism about how useful they really are or even can be.
That said, computational linguistics generally has been doing well, though if someone were going into it I would try to stress to them the important of not just going full-bore into only LLM-related stuff, and making sure that the skills they develop are broad-based and adaptable. I mean, even if LLMs are everything their evangelists claim they are (they arenât, but letâs pretend), that space moves fast, and something else is going to follow along and displace them at some point in the not very distant future anyway.
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Stony Brook might be a school on this list that wouldnât be obvious to people. I donât know anything about linguistics (thus take your word for it), but can confirm that it is also noted for its strengths in computational and neuroscience fields. I have a computational neuroscience collaborator there.
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Btw, at private universities that value geographical diversity, being from Maine is a hook (or at least a nudge) 
since theyâd want to make sure all states are represented and there arenât that many college applicants from Maine in the first place.
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UNM is a good thought. If it was in Santa Fe itself-sheâd be sold. She loves that place. Never been to Albuquerque.
Albuquerque is pretty similar to Santa Fe, but itâs a budget version not dependent on tourism and celebrity money. Santa Fe has a certain amount of faux glitz to it; Albuquerque is day-to-day real.
UNM has its own art museum on campus. UNM is well respected in the fine arts so there are many student art shows held around campus.
UNM has plenty of open/green space on campus where students hang. The Duck Pond is prime hang out territory and itâs pretty easy to strike up conversations with other students there and students do spend a lot of time outside because the weather is lovely most of the year.
ABQ is liberal, solidly blue, with tons of galleries (especially around downtown and Old Town), an art museum (and a childrenâs science museum and a dinosaur/palentology museum) in Old Town.
UNMâs campus is urban, but not any more urban than U Rochesterâs is. ABQâs campus town is vibrant with coffeeshops; restaurants that range from cheap student eats to high end; brewpubs; boutiques; international import shops; high end consignment stores, an independent cinema, etc.
But like all urban campuses, there can be issues. There is a lot of traffic on Central Ave (the south edge of campus) and there can be a few unhoused individuals panhandling along Central.
D1 graduated from UNM and both daughters graduated from UNM med school. I also lived in ABQ for 40+ years. If you have any questionsâŠfeel free to DM me.
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Nice!
@Skoten I sent you a DM â look for the envelope icon in the upper right next to your avatar.
I just finished reading this whole thread and would love to keep the conversation going and hear updates about where your daughter is now seriously considering.
My daughter sounds incredibly similar to yours in almost every way from stats, to political stance, to outdoorsiness, and even some of the comments from your daughter that you mentioned. Our family also will not qualify for need based aid at most schools except for maybe the most generous schools (Williams or Princeton??), so we are also looking for merit scholarships. Paying nearly 100k a year for a top private is just not in the cards for us.
I wanted to mention that we just visited Macalester last week and from everything youâve mentioned about your daughter, it really could be a great fit. After their highest merit scholarship, it could be closer to 60k a year, though.
From an intellectual stand point, Williams seems like a good fit, and I am continually being told how generous they are to even upper middle class families. Itâs a bit small and very rural, but with that comes tons of outdoor opportunities.
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Thanks for asking. My husband has been the one talking with her recently because my work has been crazy.
We decided on-
UNM
ASU
UMass
Pitt
Stony Brook
Rochester
Tulane
Brandeis
Macalester
Emory
I think itâs pretty fixed. Sheâs excited about UMass and Brandeis particularly. Pitt and Rochester are next. NM is supposed to be the safety-the weather and nature appeal to her.
Sheâs worried about the average ACT score being 22, though. To be honest-I share that worry.
Weâll see what happens. She is finishing up her essays.
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The thread is a bit old.
I went back to post 1 and it said the student has a 1570.
Now you are saying 22 ACT.
I suspect we are talking about different students?
The student with the 22 - what is their overall profile (GPA, rigor, etc.).?
A 4.0 and 1570 - assuming solid rigor - will see an admit - potentially at every school on this list - but budget at some will be the bigger issue if $50K is the target.
I think the op was talking about the safety schoolâs average act being that low, not their childâs score.
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Sorry-22 is the average submitted ACT for UNM. SAT average is 1030. Both of those point to peers who arenât really collectively at her level.
Of course there will be smart kids there. But I worry that sheâll be less challenged by her peersâ engagement.
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ahhhh - thanks - and @momofboiler1 for the clarification.
We had this.
My daughter attended a school with a - I want to say 21 to 27 range and she was in the 30s on the ACT. I think it was like 23 in-state and 25 out of state.
In her case, there was Honors - and then within Honors - the creme de la creme of the school - so she found a lot of like minded.
For one, UNM is a budget safety - so you know that going in - so itâs unlikely but itâs there just in case and they will have some Ivy level talent there. But sheâs paid for stats.
But if you need $50K and run the NPCs of course - but Iâm not sure, if you donât qualify for aid, that your list is optimized.
At the same time, if being outdoors, etc. is important - than why Stony Brook, why Pitt, etc., why Tulane?
So what is the list built for in reality?
There are schools that can get you to $50K that have the outdoors that might be a little bit more academicky.
But UNM is, like Arizona, a dominant hispanic institution - and those typically are less rigorous historically - and the administration is pulling funds - I saw an article a week or two ago.
You might see if they have a sub group of Honors - a cohort, etc. - but itâs odd to me you have a UMASS, ASU, and Macalester - so the list in general lacks vibes, in some cases outdoorsy-ness and unless the NPCs show aid, a lack of $50K-ness.
The reality is though - when you find a low cost public - itâs low cost in part because you come in as a big fish. But other schools to consider might be Colorado State, Arizona, Washington State, Montana schools, UVM, etc.
Anyway, admission wise and under $50K wise (if full pay, I didnât read back to see) - ASU and Stony Brook will both be assured to meet the criteria - although I donât get Stony Brook and outdoorsy.
In the end, there will be some really smart kids, there will be profs to take her under their wing if she asks for that and to challenge her, and who knows - maybe she can become the face of the school.
Not to open a can of worms - just some observations - but yeah, a school like UNM will be sort of a - safety net school for those not as fortunate. But at the same time, money draws smart kids - so there will be some. Not a ton - but some - including Ivy level like yours.
But I donât suspect with the current list, unless the price is too good to be true for you, that youâll get close to it.
How would it be so different from HWCUs that offer large scholarships for stats, like University of Alabama and University of Mississippi?
UNM does have an honors program: https://honors.unm.edu/
In any case, among colleges with lower average HS academic stats, a large college is more likely to have a decent number of HS high achievers at the upper tail than a small college whose upper tail may be tiny.
But where the high achievers may be found at a college may also depend on oneâs major, specifically whether it is one that is inherently highly rigorous at all colleges, one that is more rigorous than typical at the specific college, or one that is less rigorous that the specific college.
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Different in the marketing, in the football prowess, int he wealth of who attends.
Those schools, especially Bama, right or wrong, market to rich, high end school districts - and also have the NMF. Theyâre also known as leaders in certain fields.
UNM may be too - unsure of which.
But the overall student profile at a Bama will be higher than UNM. For example, the ACT 75% is 30 there - in part, because in the engineering school, they give more money - I think the last stat I saw was 7K kids had a 30 ACT etc.
The % of OOS and out of region is different too.
Just different schools altogether.
Not saying anything is wrong with UNM - but I understand the student concern. My daughte tr LOVED LOVED LOVED Charleston when we visited. It was the 4th school we went to after LSU, Tulane, U of SC and Charleston. We probably went to 30. I text home that day - this is where sheâll end up. But she did have concerns with the ACT range, especially after the put it up on screen. So I think what the student is feeling is normal. In the case of Charleston, getting not into Honors but the sub group of Honors (the Fellows and International Scholars) is what made the experience. Had she not gotten into those, I donât knowâŠ.so if Iâm OP and will consider UNM, Iâd look into enrichment beyond Honors to see if there is any.
I would actually compare Arizona moreso to UNM - as itâs also a leading hispanic institution - but Arizona has worldwide recognition in business (especially IS), engineering, physics, journalism, social sciences and more - so also not on the same playing field.
But UNM has the cost and outdoors (as does Arizona but a higher cost) - and I think thatâs why OP put UNM on the list.
But given the budget and stats, I think SB and ASU happen so UNM wonât be in the picture unless the half the cost thing really draws them in.
This was the administration action I was mentioning. I think there are UCs and even UT Austin on the list too, in addition to UNM and U Arizona.
Trump administration cuts grants for minority-serving colleges | AP News