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joy
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Posted: Wed Mar 26th, 2008 02:00 am |
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Here are some very random questions I have after our whirlwind tour of 7 east coast schools:
How could I sit and enjoy an hour and a half info session at one college without noticing that the woman talking "was the most annoying person on earth?" (in my dd's opinion?)
What if the wildly entertaining guide at school X had done the tour at school Y instead of the formal guide we had? Would we have liked school Y a lot more?
How could a well-known school be closed for spring break, have no tours for the week, the library closed and no dining facilities open for a poor mom desperate for a cup of coffee trying to do a self-tour with dd in a snow storm? Where did the students who stayed on campus eat?
And a real question...
My dd seems to want a medium-sized school in a big city, (preferably right on the subway line!) with outstanding academics, a great bio program, opportunities for undergrad research, good faculty:student ratio. And it should be in CA or in the northeast, not midwest or south. There are many great schools that fit this criteria, but I consider every one of the schools my dd likes to be a "lottery school." How can I help her find a safety that she loves, not just an "in case nothing else works out" school?
Joy
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Wendy (wjb)
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Posted: Wed Mar 26th, 2008 02:33 am |
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| I sure understand your dilema, Joy. My S had similar criteria, and we discovered that mid-sized research Us that are not "lottery" schools were few and far between. A few suggestions: Boston U, Tufts (not an easy admit, but not a lottery, great location just outside Boston ), Brandeis (a small research U in ex-urban Boston, but with relatively easy access to Boston, very good sciences, and good merit money for top candidates), and U of Rochester (more of a safety for HYP-type candidates, very good sciences). I know you said no Midwest, but U of Chicago and Northwestern are excellent research univeresities in a vibrant, big city that just doesn't happen to be on either coast. Neither one is an easy admit, but again, not as breathtakingly hard to get into as HYP.
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Chedva
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Posted: Wed Mar 26th, 2008 02:42 am |
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I'll also second University of Rochester (no surprise to long-time readers of this forum!) They have more research opportunities for undergraduates than they have undergraduates. And the research opportunities are growing. My d is a freshman doing psychology research. Medium sized (about 4500 undergrads, 2000 grad students). Absolutely outstanding academics.
And they give very good merit aid.
Last edited on Wed Mar 26th, 2008 01:39 pm by Chedva
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Shennie
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Posted: Wed Mar 26th, 2008 01:37 pm |
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I, too, immediately thought of Rochester. My son attended Eastman. Other 2 both applied and were accepted with merit aid but chose to attend other schools. It is an excellent choice.
You also might want to check out Carnegie Mellon, although I don't know what their undergrad research opportunities are. And if you can bring yourself to look at schools in other parts of the country, look at Washington Unversity at St. Louis (WUSTL) and Rice.
Last edited on Wed Mar 26th, 2008 01:43 pm by Shennie
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patsmom
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Posted: Wed Mar 26th, 2008 02:27 pm |
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I was going to suggest Rice, too. It fits every requirement you listed except location. But Rice doesn't "feel" southern. It's worth a closer look  .
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WestrnMom
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Posted: Wed Mar 26th, 2008 09:50 pm |
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Joy, I'm laughing at your random questions. I wondered the same thing about the tour guides, but in reverse. S didn't like any tours if the guides talked more about parties than academics or didn't know much about specific majors. Every school should split their tours into academic or social, and let the students decide which one fits their needs.
My husband and I loved some schools that S couldn't stand and he didn't know how we could miss the fact that one of those schools was terrible in every possible way from the dining commons to the social activities. We could have been at two different schools considering how diverse our perspectives were on what we had seen.
We went to one school that had no one available in any of the offices to talk to students or parents, two weeks before school was to begin. No academic advisors, no one knowledgeable about the majors, no one in student services. S liked the school itself, but the lack of attention to students was a turnoff to us. This was a very well-respected public university.
Some of the best bio programs in California are in the public schools.
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mackinaw
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Posted: Wed Mar 26th, 2008 11:47 pm |
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We went to one school that had no one available in any of the offices to talk to students or parents, two weeks before school was to begin. No academic advisors, no one knowledgeable about the majors, no one in student services. That is about the worst time to visit any college except Xmas vacation time. Most people would be there a week later, getting ready for the Fall semester, but two weeks before the Fall semester is the last best chance for everyone to get a vacation. Advisors, office staff, administrators, and faculty.
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joy
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Posted: Thu Mar 27th, 2008 01:59 am |
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I appreciate all the recommendations!
Wendy, she did have Brandeis and Tufts on her list, so we visited them on this trip, and she didn't like either one! Brandeis seemed too far away from Boston to her, not because of the distance, but because you have to take the commuter rail from the end of the T to get there. It's $4.75 each way to get back and forth, which could discourage someone on her projected budget to do too often! It aso failed the "I fit in here" test, because she saw a lot of girls in short skirts there and she's definitely the jeans/no make-up type.
We didn't visit Boston U, so I will do some research on it, and on Rice.
She's somewhat brave about weather, willing to go from San Diego to Boston, which most of her friends will not even consider. I must admit though that Rochester weather sounds intimidating to us!
Westrn Mom, I agree about Bio in the UCs. She said "No UCs" but I believe that will change. There are several that are very logical safeties for her, but I am applying the duct tape for now, assuming that logical safeties will be more important to her next fall! I have confidence too that she will get that advice from her friends and other adults besides me.
The good news is that she does understand that her high school record and SAT scores definitely correspond to students admitted to her favorite schools, but also correspond to most of the students not winning that lottery.
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Thu Mar 27th, 2008 02:46 am |
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Joy, I laughed out loud at your post. As I've said her before, my daughter scratched the entire Northeast off of her college list after encountering a tour guide carrying a designer handbag at one school and put the college she currently happily attends on her "maybe" list for the sole reason that the tour guide hummed aimlessly while leading the tour. My son scratched many fine schools off of his list because the tour guides were "Boring" and wore polo shirts. He put the school he'll be attending on his list because the tour guide wore a black overcoat that was nearly identical to the one my son had just bought at our local thrift store right before the tour.
Both of my kids remained steadfast in their insistence that they would not apply, nor attend, a UC school. My son briefly waivered when his girlfriend announced she was thinking about applying to UCSC, but that flicker died quickly.
I personally think that all of our kids are blessed by being able to set foot on college campuses and figure out some cockamanie reason why they wouldn't want to go there. Let's face it --- when we're shopping for a new home or a car, don't we all come up with all sorts of cockamanie "Gut feel" reasons why Car X or House Y just doesn't feel right? LOL!
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Canadian
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Posted: Thu Mar 27th, 2008 06:21 am |
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There is a book about this kind of "gut" thinking and decision making, Blink.
http://www.gladwell.com/blink/index.html
I think we all do it all the time, but mostly it feels so natural that we don't even notice. Kids choosing a college are pressed for "reasons", so they come up with this to us weird stuff that makes sense to them.
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Chedva
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Posted: Thu Mar 27th, 2008 12:19 pm |
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joy, one thing to know about Rochester - all the academic buildings are connected by underground tunnels, so the weather can be avoided in a significant way. And the largest of the freshman dorms has the main cafeteria in the basement - no going outside required.
Complaining about bad weather does make for a wonderful bonding experience, though!
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