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Peppermill
Member
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Posted: Mon Sep 3rd, 2007 02:11 pm |
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Hello everyone - Having just deposited my youngest son at college and feeling a bit blue about it, I found myself looking at some of my college information links and stumbled on this board for the first time in quite a while. I have checked here to read from time to time but for various reasons have not participated on a college discussion board for a number of years. A couple of you would know me from my participation years ago on the old PR board - and I did also join CC back in its earliest days. But life being as busy as it has been, I have done little more than read the college boards from time to time. Last night I saw a thread here where I thought I might have something to contribute, so I decided to come back this morning and register.
I have three boys, the two oldest of which have now graduated from college. The oldest is an engineering graduate of Union College, and the middle just graduated from Colgate University in May. My youngest is a freshman at Connecticut College. I am happy to answer any questions I can about those particular schools, if anyone has a child looking at one of them.
This is really a terrific site, Carolyn! You've done a wonderful job with it.
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mackinaw
Member
| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
| Location: | Michigan |
| Posts: | 776 |
| Mana: |    |
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Posted: Mon Sep 3rd, 2007 04:12 pm |
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Welcome, Peppermill! Your interests and experience can be very helpful here, so just weigh in whenever it strikes your fancy. My own kids are out of college a few years now, but I guess I can't let go and so I remain active on this board (and in a much more limited way on "the other" one). I'm also in the higher ed industry and so sometimes have a perspective based on that experience. I also have some knowledge from the experiences of my own kids' colleges (UChicago and RISD) and I weigh in about my alma maters (Reed and UWisconsin) from time to time.
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CarolynLawrence
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 3191 |
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Posted: Mon Sep 3rd, 2007 06:26 pm |
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| Peppermill, Welcome! Thanks for your kind words, but what makes this board special are all of the great people who participate, not anything I've done. That's why I'm glad you have decided to join the conversation -- as Mackinaw notes, your experiences and insights will be appreciated here. Do check out the Life After High School section where you can talk about college issues. Welcome again!
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Peppermill
Member
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Posted: Tue Sep 4th, 2007 12:47 am |
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| Thank you both for the kind welcomes!
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Canadian
Member
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Posted: Tue Sep 4th, 2007 06:17 am |
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Welcome, Peppermill!
It will be nice to have another "experienced" parent on board.
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Peppermill
Member
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Posted: Tue Sep 4th, 2007 08:05 pm |
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| Thanks so much, Canadian!
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DesperateDad
Member
| Joined: | Tue Mar 14th, 2006 |
| Location: | California USA |
| Posts: | 829 |
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Posted: Tue Sep 4th, 2007 08:19 pm |
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Welcome peppermill!
D and I visited Colgate in July and she really liked the campus and community. Even with few students around, the campus spirit was alive and well. After the tour, as we all traisped back into the Admissions (Colgate Hall?) on a hot, muggy day, the Admissions staff was there to pass out ice cream sandwiches, (made with chocolate chip cookies, I might add), and visit with the tour group. A very nice touch. Of course, D had to ask: "Is every eastern college on a hill?"
Did your middle son enjoy his four years in Hamilton? Biggest surprise? Biggest disappointment?
Last edited on Tue Sep 4th, 2007 08:19 pm by DesperateDad
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scoop
Member
| Joined: | Wed Oct 4th, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 546 |
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Posted: Tue Sep 4th, 2007 09:24 pm |
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Welcome Peppermill,
You have a lot of wonderful advice and I look foward to reading your posts.
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Peppermill
Member
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Posted: Wed Sep 5th, 2007 06:24 pm |
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Thanks for the welcomes, Desperate Dad and Scoop!
When we toured Colgate with my son four years ago on a hot summer day, we also got the ice cream sandwiches, and it did make an impression! We got back in the car and he said "So, can I get in here?" 
Our tour had commenced down the hill out of Little Hall (they were remodeling the admissions office in Colgate Hall) and they immediately started us climbing up the stairs to upper campus -- no problem for the tour guide who does it every day, but DH and I thought they were trying to kill us!!
S2 really enjoyed his four years at Colgate, which he spent taking challenging courses and stretching himself. He also furthered his interest in music, beginning with joining the pep band right away freshman year (he later joined several other ensembles (jazz, wind), learned a new instrument and took a number of music courses). Pep band gave him a wonderful core of friends who lived either together or near to each other starting sophomore year, culminating with several of them sharing one of the new 16-student townhouse apartments during his senior year. They were all serious students in a range of majors, and developed what I am sure will be life-long friendships as they supported each other through college.
I think to him and to us, this emergence of music as a major focus of his life was the biggest surprise, because while he had always enjoyed music, it was not really on his radar in high school after sophomore year (albeit mostly due to scheduling problems). I thought it was terrific that he was able to pursue music so deeply in college, even though it was not his primary academic focus.
There were challenges, of course. First semester freshman year was pretty much a hellish experience for him, and it is to his credit that he stuck things out and pressed on. He had to deal with the roommate from hell (a roommate with serious mental health issues--colleges often have no idea who they are admitting in that regard), and then soon after getting moved to a new room, he became ill and required emergency surgery (thankfully Colgate has a wonderful community hospital just across the street). To say that college got off to a rocky start for him would be an understatement. What we found, though, was that Colgate's administrators did their best to get him (and us) through all of that and put it behind him. His professors were all very accommodating.
The winters in that valley can be quite brutal, although the last two years were milder with less snow than is often the case. But that hill does keep them in good physical shape! It's a beautiful campus and the students seem to have enough available to them on campus and in Hamilton to keep them happy. They had only just moved the bookstore down into the town four years ago, and I think that it was a brilliant idea to keep the students connected to the town in a positive way (and there are some nice little cafes and sandwich shops down there that they get very attached to). The shuttle vans that make the rounds of campus and into town are very helpful when they don't have a car or it seems too cold to walk.
Hockey is huge and football is also well supported, so there's that kind of traditional college-spirit fun to be had. It's a fun place to go for Parents' Weekend!
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