What colleges are on you or your dc's "short list" for spring/summer visits?

[Michelle in MO]

And, why are you or your dc interested in those particular schools? When you visit a college with your dc, what factors are you and he/she looking at as you make your rounds?

 

For those who have BTDT, I know that colleges give specific tours geared towards recruiting and persuading high school juniors and seniors towards their school. Obviously, in most cases the school is putting their "best foot forward". As a parent, are there any other questions or concerns that a parent should ask of the school or college counseling/student counseling staff?

 

Does anyone else find starting this process with your oldest child difficult?

 

I'll start:

 

1. As far as our "short list" of schools, these are some that my husband and I are looking at for our oldest:

 

Truman State University in Kirksville, MO, is about a 5 hours' drive away from us. It's a top-ranking public university; small campus, excellent academics, decent dormitory rooms, relatively affordable, compared to private schools. Also, their choir director is the son of the former choir director at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.

 

St. Louis University, also an excellent school, and obviously in St. Louis. Private school and not too outrageously far from home.

 

Washington University in St. Louis; one of the top-ranked schools in the country. Excellent reputation, and I think on one list (don't laugh: Reader's Digest) was also ranked as an extremely safe campus, which is a concern in this day and age. Downside: extremely expensive.

 

St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. Beautiful campus that's not too large, excellent academics, good Great Books program, top-ranked choir. But, it's also expensive and a bit far away. We'll have to see how dd feels.

 

As a family, we're obviously looking at some of the following factors:

 

1. Academics and strength of programs that our dd is interested in.

 

2. Cost/affordability/potential for scholarships. This probably goes without saying for most families.

 

3. Campus safety, which I think can be a concern for many parents.

 

4. Healthy/sound student body; i.e., we're not looking for a "party school" but a campus that has solid student organizations and support for students.

 

But, as we look at campuses, what questions are you as parents thinking about asking schools as you make your tours?

 

Any thoughts or ideas from anyone else? Especially if you've BTDT, can you help us "newbies"?

 

TIA!

[Sharon in MD]

We felt like one of the most important things to do in the college visit process was to visit a variety of types of colleges. We took our son to really big schools, really tiny schools, some in-between. We took him to strong liberal arts schools that emphasize the Renaissance Man and to schools that are really more technologically/research geared. We went to specifically evangelical christian campuses and very liberal secular schools. We went to big city schools, small town and rural schools. We felt that this process helped him to get a feel for what was important for him in a school. We found that it really is true that you will feel very comfortable in some schools and like you just don't fit at others.

 

As we began to narrow the field, one of the things that he decided was of great importance to him was that the school not be further than reasonable weekend trip home distance. That narrowed it down quite a bit. He also decided that real undergrad research opps were extremely important, that narrowed it a whole bunch more. I really think it is a process for the kid and the parents; you visit, you think, you talk. Most importantly you write down what you liked and didn't like after each visit or you will get them mixed up if you are visiting a lot of places.

 

We always asked about arts opportunities for non-majors, student organizations, particularly Christian and conservative opportunities. Would he be comfortable there or would he be like a fish out of water? We found that the admissions people, tour guides, and professors were very open and honest about these things. They do want to recruit your child, but they also DON'T want to recruit someone who is then going to be miserable and transfer away.

 

I have to dash, but I'd be glad of try to help more later.

[Laura R (FL)]

We're just starting this journey as my dd is finishing her freshman year. She has not expressed an interest to go far away, so our list of schools is local. I agree with the idea of looking at a variety of schools. Here's our list so far:

 

Full Sail University: a specialized private school in town specializing in graphic design, film, media education. She has two main interests: science and media. This a high rated tech school with contacts in the entertainment business.

 

Rollins College: a private liberal arts college in town. It is less expensive than Full Sail and has a classic reputation. Both of these private schools are within daily driving distance to our home and accept Bright Futures Scholarship money.

 

University of Florida: only if she leans toward science/zoology. It is one of the few schools that offers a zoology degree.

 

local community college if she's undecided and wants to stay home for her first two years. She also has the same option with the University of Central Florida.

 

She's still undecided and I'm not going to pressure her about college yet. We worry about campus safety, funds, etc. I really picture this dd living at home and commuting and not really being involved in student organizations. Picking her school will be pretty easy..."Mom, can't I just go take whatever class I need and leave?" It'll be much different when my youngest starts looking for a school. I'm having a feeling that she'll be looking for a very strong performing arts school. ;)

Edited February 23, 2009 by Laura R (FL)

[Nan in Mass]

My son knew where he kind of wanted to go, but it was almost the only school he'd ever seen, so I wanted him to look around. He wasn't very helpful, other than saying that he didn't want to go to school in the city. My husband banned places that were expensive to get to, like Hawaii or California. I made up a list of places that I thought would want him and where he might be happy, but we didn't necessarily visit those places. Instead, I opted to have him begin by visiting different kinds of college, just randomly picking ones that were within . We visited a large and a small state school, a larger and a smaller alternative school, and a medium sized private school. My son was not enthusiastic about the project, so we did it in bunches, one fall of his sophomore year, and one late spring of his sophomore year. He also had stayed at a few colleges when he was running across the country. Sweetbriar was one of them. That summer, he and his older brother made a plan and decided where they wanted to go. We went to visit in the fall (now his junior year), his brother went the next fall (now his senior year) (brother had strict instructions to stick it out and be good and do well at least until younger brother got in LOL). Fall of his senior year we went to the open house, and then went back to interview. Meanwhile, he was hearing about it from his brother. He applied in Oct. was accepted in Nov, with the provision that he had to get 2.0s in his CC classes. (We got the feeling they were only interested in his interview, his CC transcript, and his brother.) Our plan was to apply early and then, if he didn't get in, go through the process of deciding on and applying to some other colleges. It would have been rather a scramble, but it would have worked, I think. I started the search process fall of his sophomore year because I wanted to be able to talk to a few admissions people about what they wanted for validation. We suspected he was going to test poorly (he did, for our family) and were looking at CC classes instead of SAT2s or APs. In retrospect, I'm glad we did it the way we did, although beginning the search process that early was every stressful for my son.

 

HTH

-Nan

[Michelle in MO]

We felt like one of the most important things to do in the college visit process was to visit a variety of types of colleges.

 

I hadn't thought of this aspect of college visits, actually; for the most part, we've (obviously) been thinking mostly of colleges in-state for this girl, due to her personality. In fact, we haven't ruled out the thought of cc for this daughter, either, for the first year or two.

 

We felt that this process helped him to get a feel for what was important for him in a school. We found that it really is true that you will feel very comfortable in some schools and like you just don't fit at others.

 

So, from this I'm thinking that visiting a number of possible schools, even if they're not specifically on the "short list", is still very beneficial to a kid. They themselves need to find out for themselves what is important to them. I think this is an excellent idea----don't narrow the field too early in the process, right?

 

Most importantly you write down what you liked and didn't like after each visit or you will get them mixed up if you are visiting a lot of places.

 

Another excellent idea; I presume too much about the quality of my memory, and jotting down thoughts and questions in a notebook, as well as impressions of visits, will help us to keep better track of things.

 

We found that the admissions people, tour guides, and professors were very open and honest about these things. They do want to recruit your child, but they also DON'T want to recruit someone who is then going to be miserable and transfer away.

 

This is also very good to know; I'm the type of individual who reacts strongly against high-pressure "sales" tactics of any kind. It's a relief to know this---yes, colleges do want to recruit, but they also want the potential student to fit in.

 

I really picture this dd living at home and commuting and not really being involved in student organizations. Picking her school will be pretty easy..."Mom, can't I just go take whatever class I need and leave?" It'll be much different when my youngest starts looking for a school. I'm having a feeling that she'll be looking for a very strong performing arts school. ;)

 

You sound like you're describing our older two girls, in a way; the one wanting to stick closer to home (although circumstances will force that issue at some point in time in our situation, as we have only limited opportunities at our local cc beyond the two-year degree), and our second girl wanting to go much farther away.

 

We visited a large and a small state school, a larger and a smaller alternative school, and a medium sized private school. My son was not enthusiastic about the project, so we did it in bunches, one fall of his sophomore year, and one late spring of his sophomore year. He also had stayed at a few colleges when he was running across the country. Sweetbriar was one of them. That summer, he and his older brother made a plan and decided where they wanted to go.

 

Nan, it sounds like your plan was pretty similar to Sharon's; I really like this thought of not narrowing down the field too early, especially to give the kids the opportunity to explore what it is they really want out of a college. It's a brave new world out there for them, so I think this "widening" of the possibilities may help to give them added security in the decision-making process.

 

Did your two boys end up going to college together, then? Did they stay in a dorm together, or live separately? Just curious how that worked out for them.

 

Everyone, I can't tell you how helpful this is. If anyone has additional thoughts, please feel free to join in, even if you haven't BTDT. :)

[Brenda in MA]

We did most of our visits last spring and summer with one over the winter. We helped him narrow the list down to ones we thought were a good fit for him academically and had the major(s) he's interested in.

 

One other thing we did that I found helpful was to go to a Barnes & Noble or Borders and check out their section of college guidebooks. The ones by the College Board just really have stats that are also available on line, so we didn't find those too helpful. We liked several that were made up mostly of student reviews. I think one was called something like "Insider's Guide...". We found those books helpful for getting a sense of what the atmosphere is like at a particular school. Is it preppy? Is it geeky? Are students politically active? How active is the frat scene? Etc. When we made the visits, we found the info from these books to be fairly acurate.

 

I think the most helpful visits were those where we spent more than 1/2 day on campus, and ds was able to meet with a faculty member. Not all schools offered this possibility, but my ds found it really helpful in trying to narrow down his choice of majors. He was also able to talk directly about the possibility of undergraduate research. We also made sure to schedule an admissions interview if they offered that.

 

We also tried to get a tour of at least one dorm, if they offered that, and we also tried to eat in the student dining hall. We were able to make several of the visits while school was in session, and that was helpful in getting an idea of how crowded/active the campus was. My ds was really turned off by one school whose library we toured mid-afternoon a few weeks before finals. The place was absolutely packed, and there were lines waiting for study carols and computer stations.

 

Overall, we found the visit process very informative and helpful for ds to be able to envision himself in college. You are very wise to be thinking about the process and making many visits before senior year. This past fall was so busy just trying to do school and get the applications in, I'm not sure when we would have squeezed in more visits.

 

Here are some websites we found helpful in studying college stats:

 

http://www.unigo.com/

http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

 

Best wishes!

Brenda

Edited February 23, 2009 by Brenda in MA

[mcconnellboys]

We're looking for pretty much the same things you mention. My son is a history/lit sort of guy, so we're looking at schools that we think may offer good programs in that regard. Most of the schools are smaller, liberal arts colleges. We're looking in an area within a couple or three hours of our home, as he's not keen on going far.

 

I've already started this process in an effort to show him some schools of the type that I think are NOT a good fit for him. In that regard, we've toured both UT Knoxville, and UK, here in Lexington. Surprisingly, we also toured Vandy and crossed it off our list, as well. Right now, the top contender is Centre College, in Danville, just about 45 minutes from our house. I think Transy and Asbury, also nearby choices, are both too small and don't offer any majors that seem very attractive for him. Hanover is lovely - and in the middle of no where. I can envision him wiping out on a huge curb going into it coming home from a late night in Indy.....nooooooo....... LOL, so I guess location, location, location goes for colleges, too.....

 

This spring/summer, we'll be trying to get to Miami of Ohio, Sewanee, perhaps Oberlin and/or Kenyon, and a few others. We're also going to try to do a more formal visit to IU in Bloomington. We were there for a swim meet over Christmas and were most impressed. My son has already taken some correspondence courses with them and we were impressed with our contacts for those, as well. It's not a small, liberal arts college, but it does seem to have good programming in Classics studies, Literature, Mythology Studies, etc. The town isn't too large so it's really a college centered town.

 

Good luck on finding a school anywhere, except something like an ORU or Patrick Henry, that doesn't get a reputation from someone for being a "party school" - of some sort. I think it goes along with being a college. What I'm trying to do is gauge the overall degree of liberal atmosphere of the school and amount of partying that seems to go beyond the pale.....

[Susan in IL]

The advice I can give you (and this is JMHO) --

 

We went on visit days. When visiting colleges, keep many of your opinions to yourself. Whether it is the condition of the dorm, the friendliness (or not) of the staff, the great reputation of the school, the cost, etc. Try not to inject your standards or values on your child. Let them get a feel for whether or not they will be comfortable there, academics, student life, location, etc. They are going to be the one attending the school. Personally, I knew immediately which one he would end up at but I kept quiet. I think hsers know their kids pretty well and know which ones would be right.

 

They often know which one is the right fit. Right off the bat, we ruled out huge state universities because that size of school is not a good fit no matter how good the program. My ds stood on one campus and said "I feel at home here". I bit my tongue (and if you knew me, you would know that is very hard for me to do), knowing we had 2 more colleges to visit. After we had visited all of them, I told him I was willing to go back to any or all of them if it would help.

 

He (on his own which shocked me) made out a pro/con list and then ranked them based on his feelings. We then discussed them and I offered my impressions after he told me his. There were 5 on the list. College #5 was ruled out because it in Chicago. #4 was totally indifferent and was big into greek life and Div. I sports which neither interested ds. #3 was actually the one with the nicest staff, actively pursued him through numerous phone calls both from admissions and students. It was ruled out because it was too far and too rural. #2 and #1 were very, very close. We planned to revisit both. When we went back to the one where he said he was at home, he attended a couple classes (I went shopping) and that sealed it for him.

 

Also, if cost is a factor and your dc are interested in a very expensive school, make sure they know what you will or will not pay for. A friends ds (not hsed) applied and was accepted to both Wesleyan and Northwestern ($40K+) and those were her top two choices. Her parents had to tell her no, the numerous scholarships she received did not make up enough of the difference they could afford. She is happy elsewhere but not at any of the schools her parents suggested.

 

Hope this helps.

[Michelle in MO]

I like the idea of getting a guide to colleges, as Brenda in MA recommended. I've seen them before; in fact, I think we own one, but we already had it when we were first married, so it's pretty outdated by now.

 

I think the idea of "location, location, location" is also going to be important for all of our girls. There are so many factors to be weighed. I wish we lived in a slightly bigger area sometimes, with more local options.

 

Susan, your ds's feelings of "home" would probably seal it with my oldest, too. Honestly, no matter how good the program, if a child feels really uncomfortable on campus and just isn't happy there, they're not going to thrive.

 

Thank you. I appreciate everyone's advice.

[Nan in Mass]

He goes in the fall. They aren't allowed to room together freshman year, and I'm not sure what will happen after that. We were relieved that they decided to go to school together. We told them both that going someplace because your brother was there was a perfectly valid reason for choosing one college over another. We think they both will have a better chance of finishing if they are together. I think they are finding the prospect of being grown up and out on their own (after college) much less scary now that they've decided that they are going to live together afterwards. Who knows whether they actually will when the time comes, but it doesn't really matter. For now, they are looking ahead and making plans and thinking about where they want to be in the future and what they want to be doing. Of course, some of those plans are a bit scary, like heli-boarding in the Canadian Rockies... but I'm sort of used to that by now, having three boys.

-Nan

[Nan in Mass]

Someone here suggested a strategy for dealing with the travel costs of out of state applications. Apply to the far away schools first and then only visit the places at which you were accepted.

 

I also remember reading somewhere that one clue to how a school treats their students is how it feeds them during open house. If they offer only a meager snack and bad coffee, they might be equally cheap about labs and the library, for instance.

 

I thought it was good to visit colleges my son wasn't interested in. He could practise asking questions without worrying, and had more of a basis of comparison. I intended to have him interview at a few before he interviewed "for real", just for practice, but it turned out that his school's interviews are pretty low key (judging from his brother's), so we didn't bother.

 

-Nan

[Sharon in MD]

There was one campus that we visited that we initially really liked. We felt very comfortable on the surface, because it would be really easy to go there....everyone was just like us. KWIM? Only they really were not like us, more like the us we would be if we had unlimited purses. We decided that while they fit with our ideals, they were a bit too rich for our blood. We were concerned that the students there would spend Christmas skiing in the Alps while we would be skiing the mid-Atlantic. The young ladies carried significant amounts of very expensive designer bags and shoes and so on. Although we liked this school and it appealed on many levels, we decided that we would always be poor relations at this school and that ds would never truly fit in.

 

My point is...don't forget to look hard at the demographics as far as where you feel like you fit. You don't want to put your son or daughter in a social setting where they can't keep up with the field.

 

Sounds really repugnant. I know. But I do think it is a real consideration.

[Michelle in MO]

Excellent additional suggestions, Nan and Sharon. I think I'm going to have to print out this whole thread and save it for my own future reference!

 

I think the demographics do matter, and I don't think that's being "exclusive" in any way. It's important, when the kids are going away for the first time, that they feel as comfortable as possible in their new environment. In fact, similar to Nan's thoughts, my oldest and middle dd's have spoken at times about going away to college together. They are very good friends, and that option may well end up happening.

 

Again, you've all been so very helpful. Thank you!

[Nan in Mass]

My sons aren't there yet, but it occurred to me last night that my husband and his brothers were at college together, and my mother and her sister. I guess it was no wonder we were so comfortable with the idea LOL. Nobody roomed together. It definately made the campus a more homelike, though, and there was someone to help you make decisions, sympathise and rejoice with you, and show you how things work. They each had their own particular friends, but those friends all tended to form a larger group together. There were disadvantages as far as I know.

-Nan

[Jane in NC]

My son has had a couple of colleges in his sights, but the tidal surge of college information only began hitting the mailbox a few weeks ago. We both feel that there is a world of colleges out there that we don't know about yet.

 

We visited two out of state colleges last spring. Ideally one wants to visit when college is in session, but some of us have this business called dual enrollment going on. When my son's semester wraps up, so will the other colleges' terms. At this point, every one of my son's prospective colleges are out of state. And I'd rather not pay for weekend trips around the country until we learn more.

 

So we are reading websites. We'll probably visit a few schools this summer, even if he won't get the feel of the institutions when in session. I like Nan's advice of visiting those schools where one's child is accepted.

 

How helpful are open house weekends? One of my friends and her son attended one at an LAC and walked away knowing they had found their match.

 

By the way, the schools we visited were Dickinson and Lehigh. My husband attended Lehigh, but the school is not for my son who is completely smitten by Dickinson. He found this college online as a sophomore when he was looking for some supplemental information on a Roman poet. Their audio data base of Roman poetry tickled him which led him to the college's website and the rest is history. I suspect that there are some other "Dickinsons" out there that are not on everyone's radar (particularly here in NC) and would be great schools for my son. We are on the quest to find them--whether or not they find him first. Loren Pope's book and website is a help in that direction.

[Ria]

By the way, the schools we visited were Dickinson and Lehigh. My husband attended Lehigh, but the school is not for my son who is completely smitten by Dickinson. He found this college online as a sophomore when he was looking for some supplemental information on a Roman poet. Their audio data base of Roman poetry tickled him which led him to the college's website and the rest is history. I suspect that there are some other "Dickinsons" out there that are not on everyone's radar (particularly here in NC) and would be great schools for my son. We are on the quest to find them--whether or not they find him first. Loren Pope's book and website is a help in that direction.

 

Lehigh, eh? LOL. My oldest son chose Lafayette over Lehigh, lol. They are huge rivals. :D My son liked the liberal arts approach (even though he's majoring in engineering). Our 16-yr old is also going to look at Dickinson this year, along with Franklin & Marshall and Gettysburg.

 

Ria

[Jane in NC]

Lehigh, eh? LOL. My oldest son chose Lafayette over Lehigh, lol. They are huge rivals. :D My son liked the liberal arts approach (even though he's majoring in engineering). Our 16-yr old is also going to look at Dickinson this year, along with Franklin & Marshall and Gettysburg.

 

Ria

 

My son is being encouraged to consider Franklin & Marshall by an alum.

 

Lehigh is a great school (as my husband will attest). A noteworthy degree program they offer that may serve well in the coming years is a business/engineering combination--can't remember precisely what they call it. The idea is that business students have foundational courses in engineering and an understanding of how engineering works. This seems far more sensible to me than having students focus on management theories or marketing strategies--all of which are bound to ebb and flow in fashion.

 

My son is determined to study medieval and classical history. Lehigh's history department has a strong focus on American which is sensible given the Moravian settlement that is in its backyard.

 

Tell me more about Gettysburg if you have the time. Thanks.

 

Jane

[Blue Hen]

Nan, my neice and nephew, 2 yrs apart, went to the same college. Neice decided upon Rice cause her brother was there. They are now 30 & 32, still best friends, and cherish their years together at Rice.

 

Carole

[JFSinIL]

Mostly colleges I read about HERE on the boards! Sewanee - Gettysburg - Furman...and now Lehigh and Centre may be on the list (just emailed them for more info). My ds wants to be a history major...and his guidance counselor (moi) has decided he needs to be within a two-day drive from home.

 

All our Illinois schools look too big, flat and boring. DS likes outdoors, hiking - if Sewanee becomes his top choice I would not be surprised.

[Michelle in MO]

I like this idea:

 

We visited two out of state colleges last spring. Ideally one wants to visit when college is in session, but some of us have this business called dual enrollment going on. When my son's semester wraps up, so will the other colleges' terms. At this point, every one of my son's prospective colleges are out of state. And I'd rather not pay for weekend trips around the country until we learn more.

 

So we are reading websites. We'll probably visit a few schools this summer, even if he won't get the feel of the institutions when in session. I like Nan's advice of visiting those schools where one's child is accepted.

 

I hope we can visit some college campuses before school lets out. It seems that there is a flurry of activity between now and the end of May, when school lets out. For some odd reason, I've had noodles for brains on this issue and forgot that campuses will be mostly empty this summer. In fact, I notice that someone has started a thread just now about when to visit colleges; important stuff for me to read.

 

It makes complete sense to visit websites first, which are free and cost much less time expenditure than trying to visit a ton of colleges. I like Sharon's idea of not narrowing down the field too early, but I wonder if our short list will end up staying . . . our short list, kwim?

 

We're still going to do the college summer camp thing this summer, which at least gives the girls the idea of the college campus. I'm going to try to prompt the eldest to choose a second camp; I know they both desperately want to repeat the Creative Writing Camp which was such a success last summer.

 

JFS, one college in Illinois that is highly regarded in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area is Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. I've never seen the campus, though. Is that also a huge campus? I know my dh says it has a good reputation, and it has a "draw" into the St. Louis and surrounding regions.

[Nan in Mass]

the few we've been to, anyway. We liked those better than the non-open-house visits. We weren't very focused in our enquiry, though, so being given a number of general tours and a number of general presentations was helpful. Things were open that would normally have been closed to us without special arrangements. Some colleges were set up for dealing with visits whether there was an open house or not, but some weren't. There also were more students around to question without having to walk up to strangers and say, "Do you like this school?" We got tours by several students instead of being led around by only one. We also found the bigger tours more helpful than the smaller ones because we got to listen to other questions and didn't have to think them all up ourselves. Our son was more willing to ask questions during the open house tours, also, because he felt less like someone was going to remember him and the (possibly stupid) question.

 

-Nan

[Michelle in MO]

the few we've been to, anyway. We liked those better than the non-open-house visits. We weren't very focused in our enquiry, though, so being given a number of general tours and a number of general presentations was helpful. Things were open that would normally have been closed to us without special arrangements. Some colleges were set up for dealing with visits whether there was an open house or not, but some weren't. There also were more students around to question without having to walk up to strangers and say, "Do you like this school?" We got tours by several students instead of being led around by only one. We also found the bigger tours more helpful than the smaller ones because we got to listen to other questions and didn't have to think them all up ourselves. Our son was more willing to ask questions during the open house tours, also, because he felt less like someone was going to remember him and the (possibly stupid) question.

 

-Nan

You know, Nan, at first I thought open-house visits might involve too many students and we might not get the "real feel" of what the college is like.

 

However, you've raised some excellent thoughts. Perhaps going on an open-house weekend would actually help us in the selection process. All of the kids and parents in attendance are intensely (or somewhat) interested in that particular school. Many of them may be asking questions---good questions that I myself haven't thought of. So, I think I'm going to make sure we include some open-house weekends when we do our college tours.

 

Unfortunately, this may be difficult to squeeze in this spring, but we'll have to make our best effort.

 

Thanks, as always, Nan, for posting your thoughts!

[cathmom]

Last year my son went to observe a German Day at a nearby college, one he had applied to. From spending the day on the campus he realized he did NOT want to go there. He said there just weren't enough people around, and the ones that were around were just walking back and forth. In contrast, he had already visited a very large state school, and there were people everywhere, impromptu Frisbee and football games, etc. And he loved it! yes, he is 100% an extravert - seriously, that's what he tested on the MBTI!

[Susie-Knits]

We have already made a few visits this school year - Rose Hulman, TN Tech, Belmont (looked at Comp Sci/Math - no engineering), and UofA/Huntsville this past weekend.

 

His initial criteria has been within 1/2 days journey of home, smallish, internship possibilities, with profs teaching the courses, and good engineering program. While he is a true mathie, he is pretty well balanced in the other areas too so looking for a college that will also play to that side of him is another thought. My added criteria, we will need $s any where he goes (just as everyone else! haha)

 

For March, we have University of Evansville (IN). My son is interested in their engineering program and also their semester (Fall of sophomore year)in England. He is really hoping this school is as good as it looks to him on paper. Any feedback out there?

 

For April, Vanderbilt - good engineering program, local to us, and his grandpa went there. He is not pumped about Vandy.

 

I haven't booked anything for May (maybe one that appeals from all these brochures/emails he is getting right now. Any suggestions of one we missed?)

 

He has applied for Operation Catapult at Rose Hulman for June. Guess fall of senior year will be here so quickly.

Sigh,

Susie

[talexand]

For those looking at engineering programs, I don't think I would cut out an engineering program which has the grad students teaching recitations and the professor teaching the lectures. It was often the grad student who helped me figure things out when the professor made no sense. Its nice to have two places to go for help. But I would make sure that the professors and teaching assistants both have good office hours and that teaching is a priority at the engineering school. But I think research is also important. Maybe see if there are opportunities for undergraduate research.

[Jane in NC]

Today's mail brought a brochure from Southwestern University which caught my son's eye. He was quick to point out that this is a school on Loren Pope's list of Colleges that Change Lives.

 

Anybody know anything about Southwestern beyond the website?

 

Thanks,

Jane

[Kareni]

Jane,

 

You might find this site of interest: Unigo.com. (Be aware that these are reviews by students and not all the content is G rated!)

 

Here's an article from the Wall Street Journal about the site.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[readwithem]

Jane,

 

You might find this site of interest: Unigo.com. (Be aware that these are reviews by students and not all the content is G rated!)

 

Here's an article from the Wall Street Journal about the site.

 

Regards,

Kareni

Agree with Kareni about the Unigo site - in spite of the language:001_huh: we found the comments to be helpful.

[readwithem]

Today's mail brought a brochure from Southwestern University which caught my son's eye. He was quick to point out that this is a school on Loren Pope's list of Colleges that Change Lives.

 

Anybody know anything about Southwestern beyond the website?

 

Thanks,

Jane

 

Several of the (former) students at dd's dance class go to Southwestern and love it. It's a great LAC. Georgetown isn't far from Austin (about 30 minutes), still in the Hill Country. I wish I could convince dd to look at it but she's adamant about NOT going to college in TX (I guess the grass is always greener, sigh...)

[brendafromtenn]

TN Tech is one of the best schools in the state of TN for engineering.

 

(Course I just love Cookeville! We lived there 6 years while I was young. My Dad pastored the 1st Methodist church in downtown Cookeville. )

 

Dr. Bell, the president of Tech, was a friend of my father. My dad ministered to the Bell family when their son was born prematurely and spent many weeks in the hospital. And when Dad passed away last year, Dr. Bell was there. So, I am just a touch biased. But DO go check this out if your child is interested in engineering.

 

When 2nd ds (my little Thomas Edison) is ready for college, TN Tech will be the First school that we check out for him.

 

Blessings,

 

Brenda

[Sharon in MD]

Thanks for the link...this was really fun to look through! And reassuring as well!

[Jane in NC]

Jane,

 

You might find this site of interest: Unigo.com. (Be aware that these are reviews by students and not all the content is G rated!)

 

Here's an article from the Wall Street Journal about the site.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Thanks Kareni. I finally had some time to spend on the site which is illuminating.

 

A good tip.

Jane

[TravelingChris]

My son has a friend who goes to a large state school. His parents sent him there because of the finances and they had gone to state schools. However, he never lived in the state and it is very local. He is somewhat ostracized since he has lived in many states and countries. I really do think that fitting in with the student body is very important.