School visits for the B/C students

College Search & Selection
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The last few posts on the other thread have me thinking:

There’s a plethora of info here for the kids aiming for top, well known schools. But there’s a real dearth of info on the schools appropriate for the kids who aren’t aiming quite as high.

So I thought it was probably past time to start a thread with the impressions of schools for those B and C students. I’m going to copy and paste the notes I’ve taken on visits, both this year with my daughter and 2 years ago with my son. They’re just impressions, but may help some kids looking for the unique qualities of each of these schools.

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PLYMOUTH STATE VISIT February 22, 2018
Plymouth, New Hampshire

  • Long drive; ballpark 5 hours
  • Stayed near the Tanger Outlets; Holiday Inn in Tilton, about 30 minutes from school.
  • School is 3 minutes from I93, easy to find.
  • Met in Hartman Union Building (HUB) containing school store (closed), bagel place, mailboxes, fireplace, etc.
  • Presentation by Leslie from admissions
  • Cluster approach; a number of different majors form a cluster for research projects
  • Tour guide Nicole. Tour became private when other mom was injured.
  • Other mom fell on the stairs and needed medical help. Impressed with quick response; less than 5minutes till paramedics were there. Nicole said there was a hospital on campus?? Iffy
  • Dorms: being reworked to remove interior walls in each room that separated beds from desks… very good idea since the walls make the space feel too enclosed. One new dorm, another will be redone by next Sept. Dorm choices based on when you pay your deposit.
  • All buildings toasty warm on chilly Feb. night.
  • Lots of kids from abroad; 30 countries and 45 states.
  • Library has lots of places to work on video/ projects.
  • Starbucks in Library Café; Green Mountain coffee elsewhere.
  • School ice rink in town, 2- 3 blocks away.
  • Workout space is nice. You can ride bikes overlooking intramurals in gym.
  • Dining hall included stations for pizza (J not a fan), pasta, grill, salad bar, forget what else. All you can eat before leaving. That night was “steak night” if you signed up ahead of time; man grilling steaks behind dining hall outside. Nice dining hall.
  • Very outdoorsy vibe. Big Outdoor Center; you can rent everything from skis to snowshoes to camping stuff.
  • Annual Ski Day at local mountain. Classes canceled, everyone goes to ski/hang out. Not sure what non-skiers do.
  • J was impressed with the beauty of the mountains, and surprised with how impressed she was.
  • Kids were incredibly nice. It’s obvious they love their school.
  • Buildings are not new. On some level that bothered J

OVERALL: a great choice. They don’t really have her major, that may be a factor—closest is Tourism and Sustainability… they do offer one Event Planning class. Distance from home is a factor. The $5000 scholarship they offered does sweeten the pot.

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Neumann University, Aston PA August 17, 2015
Small Catholic College, about 20 minutes from Philadelphia

  • LOVED This school!!! A real feeling of community!
  • Left home 9:30. Got there 1:15…tons of traffic on the Belt & Staten Island.
  • Proud of beautiful campus, small class size…
  • tour by Mary Kate,
  • Institute for Sports, Spirituality and Christian Development—brand new building, very pretty. Only one in US. Hopes to intill leadership abilities.
  • Chaplain for each Varsity team, goes to all games.
  • Media production for SM Majors, broadcast booth
  • Gym /workout room free for all students Dorm: Rooms are BIG. Reg twin, not XL. Each pair of double rooms share one bathroom/ shower.
  • Wifi, cable, central Air.
  • 4 Learning and Living Centers LLCs (dorms) across street from the building that houses the café.
  • Can buy micro fridge, can bring a Keurig (soup, hot choc….)
  • Xbox OK
  • Laundry on 1st floor—cash or card
  • Beautiful campus—idea that atmosphere educates. Gardens, grotto, lots of Adirondack chairs on lawn. Franciscan nuns—love of nature
  • Textbook rental/sale in store. Buy over summer, they’ll package them up for you. BUY for major, RENT for Core classes.
  • Lots (not all) kids have laptop
  • Two 24 hour computer labs
  • 250 pages printed free per person- more than enough for most
  • Knights Café- same building as classes. Takes points, not meals from meal plan. Sandwiches, grab and go stuff.
  • SM Internships: Neumann is about 20 minutes from Center City Philly. Shuttle to train station.
  • Academic Advisory Center- for kids looking to change major or find direction.
  • Academic Resource Center- peer and professional tutoring.
  • SmartThinking online resource. Provides proofreading—grammar, spelling etc.
  • Radio Station- anyone can join
  • Shuttle to mall, train. Mall is HUGE, about half hour away. (King of Prussia mall, not sure that’s the one they meant.)
  • Campus Security—“Knight Riders” they’ll pick you up at night, even under sketchy circumstances. You may have a conversation the next day, but you’ll have a ride.
  • Career Office. Won’t set up internship, but will prepare you for one. Resume, cover letter, mock interviews. Start involvement frosh year.
  • Library in Bachman Building. Very welcoming and comfy.
  • Campus is very condensed—very walkable. Gorgeous—very homey.
  • Sunday night mass, also noon each day. Participation is up to you.
  • Evidence of caring—during Sandy, when dorms were pretty much on lockdown, they brought in food so kids would be safe and fed.
  • One of their most popular business majors is Sports Management.
  • 4+1 program—you can get 5 year Masters. You can start this track early, get some of it in under your financial aid. 2 internships needed for 4+1
  • Business background is emphasized. If you do the 4+1, your BA is in SM, your MA is in Sports Marketing.
  • 95% of kids get financial aid, lots of merit. Ballpark $8k based on Brian’s current numbers, more possible. (current SAT 870, get it up over 900.)
  • A big hockey school: mens, V Ice, Club roller and ice
  • D3 sports, last year club won nationals, 2009 Ice won nationals.
  • You could get a job as manager, connect w/ coach to see
  • Overall impressions: What a nice school!!! The feeling of caring permeates the school. EVERYONE knew Mary Kate, every adult we passed stopped to welcome us.
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KEYSTONE COLLEGE VISIT APRIL 25, 2015
LOCATION: ABOUT 15 MINUTES NORTH OF SCRANTON, ABOUT AN HOUR SOUTH OF BINGHAMTON.

We stayed at the Radisson in Clarks Summit. Would stay there again. Next door to Damon’s Grill for dinner, pool (which we didn’t check out). Neat and clean, affordable. Do NOT stay at the Comfort Inn; stopped there accidentally and it looks sketchy.

-Met with Katie and Cara (Dean of Enrollment.) Both very sweet, spent lots of time talking to us.

  • lots of internship possibilities: Wilkes Barre and Scranton both 20 minutes away
  • Frosh: OK to have cars on campus. Lots of parking right near dorms.
  • Upperclassmen: housing not a problem, can also do apartments.
  • Daily shuttles to area stuff. Nothing seems walkable from campus, really in the middle of nowhere.
  • real proud of financial transparency.
  • Sports Management And Recreation Team
    .
  • small campus, about 2000 kids
    -** Your total student debt at graduation shouldn’t be more than your expected first year salary. They’re big on the fact that they’re the lowest debt college in the north.
  • safe campus, he lives there. (We’re in the middle of nowhere, who’s coming onto campus to start trouble?)
  • They’ll shift things to accommodate you, not the reverse. We’ll help you figure out what you want.
  • “Stairs to Success”—you’re dealing with career placement from frosh year. They’ll help you discern.
  • Keystone Promise: That within six months after graduating from Keystone and fulfilling the requirements of the Career Development Center, you will have received at least one job offer, or where appropriate, be accepted into a transfer or graduate program. In the event this does not occur, we will provide you with additional courses and career counseling at no additional charge.
  • Lots of administrators here—they seem to really care about selling the school.
    Student Life Panel Q & A:
  • Because they’re so small, you can be involved from day one. Not as much competition for key positions.
    – Club sports, intramurals include tobogganing, paintball.
  • You can be a sports manager.
  •     shuttles to shopping: mall, Walmart, pharmacy, bus station.
  • Work/study program
  • 35% live on campus, they’re working to get that number closer to 50%, eventually building a new dorm.
  • SAT scores: holistic admission. They look at SAT, GPA, activities, essay!!
  • Security: safety officers will shuttle you to where you want to be. You can call and ask for an escort. I didn’t see any blue poles, but did see a security call box by the entrance to a dorm. They didn’t mention the whole blue pole thing. Buildings secured with swipe card
  • About 45% of frosh graduate; they didn’t give a timeline.
  • Residence Halls: I don’t think frosh ones have AC. You can rent micro/fridge. Free laundry.
  • Tablet will be supplied. You can download texts so you always have them.
  • D3 sports
  • Campus is 320 acres—lots of hiking trails, fields, ropes course, stream behind campus. They make their own maple syrup.
  • Frosh need a 19 meal plan, it comes with $100KCash. Use in Grill (chips, burgers, soup etc) or Restaurant. As you get older you can decrease number of meals. $KC good only on campus (but where would you go anyway?). Discount at Taco Bell.
  • Weekends: Res Life/Student Activities organizes trips (dinner and movie in town), on campus: roller rink, bingo… You get a $1 token when you attend an event, you can cash them in on campus.
  • Big study abroad program: a semester, a week… Only school in the nation with that particular program. Financial Aid office covers the cost in most cases.
    Tour:
  • No language requirement. It looks like they ONLY offer Spanish anyway.
  • Laundry room in each residence. Use swipe card so you can get a text telling you when it’s done.
  • Not a cliquey school—everyone knows everyone. Lots of opportunities; no one will say no to your ideas.
  • Lots of free copies, not sure of exact number.
  • Very hilly campus, lots of green space.
  • Lots of couches in library, looks very comfortable.
  • Actual used part of the campus isn’t horribly big. A good part of their property is the fields/hiking trails.
    Academic support and career counseling to assist undecided students who need to make an informed decision about a major.
    A guarantee for on-campus housing to our first-year and sophomore students for as long as they remain full-time students*.
  • Lots of emphasis on availability of tutoring.
  • A Physician Assistant is available Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
  • One ATM on campus, through PNC bank- fee of $2.50 for others. Located in building w/ Grill, restaurant, bookstore.
  • OVERALL: We REALLY liked this school!!!!!
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As a B/C student , struggling to decide where " I would fit in " , I would love to see your findings. Please keep coming

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IMMACULATA UNIVERSITY, PA
Near Philadelphia

VISIT January 16, 2017

  • Stayed at Sheraton Great Valley—neat, clean, safe, pool, restaurant, 5 min from campus
  • Good first impression-- welcoming
  • Pretty old brick buildings, nice and warm on a cold day
  • - Youtube video: What makes Immaculata YOU? & Dorm video
  • Liberal Arts core
  • Lots of traditions, like Christmas tree & caroling in rotunda Brand new: Immaculata Advantage—tuition decrease of 25% starting next fall, and SAT optional.
  • Down to $26,500 + 12,500 R&B
  • New president next few months
  • Capital campaign incl new Center for Student Engagement
  • US News list of Best Colleges, Top Fashion and Merch school.
  • Why IU?- Liberal Arts Core, employers want it, well rounded
  • Lot of service opps
  • Fashion Management & Fashion Merchandising both listed?
  • Each major has an internship component
  • Study abroad
  • > 50 clubs, activities, intramurals
  • 19 NCAA DIII sports
  • Deep water pool, 2 gyms, fitness center
  • 5 dorms, includes new apartments for upperclassmen
  • Every kid gets some merit aid—importance of SATs for Julia!!!
  • Apply online or common app
  • Rolling admissions

Tour with Paxton and Kaylee—great job, informative, welcoming, fun

  • Dining Hall 19 or 15 meal plan + 150 Ipoints
  • Salad, Mediteranian Bar, Hot bar, dessert bar, ice cream, chicken, waffles, grill, eggs, pizza…
  • Closes @ 8 pm, library starbucks has food later,
  • Late nite swipe or I points 8-11 Swipe at Starbucks in Library
    • neg- extra swipes don’t carry over from one week to the next.

Good Counsel Hall—Mac or PC computers all OK
Library: peer tutoring, A students as tutors, help you write papers

  • Library hours: 8-11, 1am during finals. You can get a study room
  • 500 free prints per semester.
  • 3 PC labs, 2 mac labs
  • Tables, couches with lots of outlets for charging electronics
  • Whole campus is wireless
    Loyola Hall- most classes other than business
  • Few real big lecture classes
  • Typical class about 20 kids
  • Snack shop/deli—milkshake maker, panini maker, frozen food, open till 10
  • Core: 2 philosophy, 2 theology, 1 ethics, 2 engl, 2 ___ , 2 phys ed includes swim, pilates, yoga, zumb….
  • Frosh car OK, $50 per yr
  • Pool open to everyone
  • Work study jobs easy to get, so are work study
    -Fitness center: always room for you, bikes, treadmills, weights, no fe
  • water fountains equipped for water bottles
  • PT on campus if you gt hurt,
  • hospital 10 minutes away, urgent care close
  • prof office hours: PA rule is 4, IU is 8
    Back Campus:
  • Quad—lots of activities in nice weather, inflatables, food trucks…
  • SEPTA bus right outside campus, Exton mall, train station to Philly or KoP mall
  • Trips to 6 flags, aquarium, NYC etc

MARIAN Hall: dorms

  • Vending machines near entrance. Cash or swipe
  • Bed can be lofted
  • Real closets
  • Sink in each room
  • Windows do open
  • Central AC with thermostat in room
  • Lounge with laundry—fooseball, pingpong, TV, computers, smart TV, Wii, micro while you do laundry. No fee for machines
  • Greek life: 6 sororities, 1 frat. Not an overwhelming presence
  • IHMs live on campus
  • 2 chapels
  • 2 masses Sunday, 1 other days.
  • Roommates paired by survey
  • Keurig OK in dorm
  • answer to email question: "As for the suite style living, yes Lourdes hall does have suite style residence halls. You have the option of having a double, where you share a bathroom with a roommate and two suitemates; or a single, where you just share a bathroom with another suitemate. The double rooms in Lourdes are more readily available for students in all grades, where the singles go to more of the upper classmen. "

You can rent textbooks through bookstore, Barnes and Noble bookstore. They price match textbooks through amazon, B&N, local competitors through 1st week of class.

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Holy Family University, January 30, 2015
Suburb of Philadelphia

  • We LOVE this school!
  • Tour guide Caitlyn, admissions counselor Doug
  • Degree in Spots Management Marketing, I’ve never seen that major before. Emphasis on well rounded prep for job market.
  • Free laundry: 3 washers, 3 dryers per floor
  • Unlimited free copies
  • 47 acres, 2,100 students
  • Very walkable
  • No lecture halls, just classrooms, labs etc
  • Train station very close, 20 minutes to Center City Philly
  • Freshmen can have cars, parking is convenient to frosh dorm.
  • Freshman dorm is across a small road from the student center/cafeteria
  • Small class size, lots of internships.
  • 87% of interns get job offers there.
  • Division II athletics. A select few get to manage one of their teams… very competitive for that.
  • Admissions: want 500/500, but as low as 800, 850 total
  • GPA gets lots of notice, over SAT.
  • They take lots of note of an increasing GPA… they like to see that improvement. Very holistic approach to admissions
  • Essay: Why I want THIS college.
  • $$ Lowest net price of any private college in PA
  • Scholarships range from $4k- $17.5K
  • 97% receive some form of financial aid
  • Residential scholarships
  • This school is in a neighborhood, huge residential feel, lots of local schools.
  • Nearby: Rite Aid, Dunkin Donuts, Shop Rite, WaWa supermarket, supercuts.
  • 2nd campus nearby… business classes???
  • You need to take 2 religion classes, several choices.
  • Vending machines in dorm building (including one with ice cream!) Each floor has a microwave.
  • You can bring your own TV, wifi and cable in rooms
  • Central heat and AC in dorms.
  • Even older buildings well kept up
  • Nice neighborhood.
  • Lots of flatscreen TVs in building telling you what’s going on.
  • Conversation with Doug Ulrich, ad. Counselor “kind of counted as the interview.”
  • ONLY NEG: some classes (business??)) take place at the other campus; take a shuttle to get there. Top choice after first three schools. Great career potential. Great feeling in the school.
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SUNY DELHI December 8, 2017

Left home 5:15 , stopped for breakfast @ Liberty McDonalds, arrived at around 9 am

  • 10:30 met with Linda Blocker, Asst Prof of Hospitality in Alumni Hall
  • Most of Alumni Hall is hospitality
  • Electives include ice carving, butchering meat, wines
  • VERY HANDS ON!
  • Signatures Café—can use dining plan—run by students Tues, Thurs for lunch, Fri nite
  • Kennedy Center Lounge—cocktail receptions, downstairs from Signatures.
  • Event planning class right away, 1st semester
  • Between 1st and 2nd years, everyone does internship in hospitality. Mostly local—think LI Wineries, Milleridge,
  • Some kids do Disney College Program
  • Trips include NYC hotel show @ Javits Cntr
  • Clubs—MPI Meet Profess. International
  • Small classes (17 or so)—you know your profs
  • 2 hotel suites, you can learn hands on hotel management

Frosh Admissions Counselor

  • Big on Disney College program, did it 3 x
  • Julia’s Italian Regents will cover her language requirement
  • Can do either Associates or Bachelor’s program… Julia’s stats get her into BA.

Tour guide Cade

  • Only 1 lecture hall on campus, mostly for Vet Tech
  • Comfortable classroom chairs 25-30 per room
  • Cafeteria—different stations—pasta, Mexican…
  • Several places to eat on campus
  • Convenience store open late.
  • No dorm tour; they don’t have a spare dorm room this year.
  • Buildings comfortably warm on cold Dec Day

Negs: Parking can be a problem; frosh can have cars

  • Campus is in the middle of nowhere. You can only walk to McD’s, Rite Aid, pizza/ Chinese
    Pos: Phenomenal Event Planning/ Hospitality program
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Thanks for this thread, @bjkmom. An oft-ignored universe here!

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Framingham notes November 15, 2014
MA State college, about half an hour from Boston

  • About 80% of freshmen live on campus.
  • 1st year seminar course an hour per week per course. Meet with administrator to help transition. Faculty advisor in your department also meets with you once a semester.
  • 32 courses to graduate. Gen Ed 10-11 outside major, major 10-21, open 0-12
  • Internships not required but recommended. Junior year. 20 miles from Boston.
  • Laptops required. If you get their recommended one through them, you have their IT support. Bonus, you can get loaner if yours breaks. They’ll install software. IT can’t service Macs. You can download some texts.
  • Tuition, fees, room and board $25,780 before any financial aid.
  • 7 residence halls. If you meet deadlines, you will have housing each year. Suites, doubles, quads, quints. Frosh mostly doubles.
  • Health center. On campus. If not open, police ride to hospital. No co-pay.
  • Intramurals include floor hockey.
  • FAFSA only fin aid form needed. Can go in right after New Year’s Senior year. 84% undergrads get fin aid.
  • App is only online, rolling admissions.
  • 4th level of foreign language—you can waive college foreign language requirement.
  • Effective fall 2014, you need 4 years math and 3 years science to get in.
  • Admission: essay, recommendations not required, but WILL be looked at and considered.
  • Submit 1st quarter Senior grades. They’re projected as full year’s average.
  • Tram 7 days/week to mall, Target, CVS etc. Reliable transportation to off campus job.
  • Cab to train station $5. (3 miles away)
  • You can get an on campus job, either work-study or other.
  • Flex dollars from meal plan accepted lots of places (food, laundry…)
  • Students get into games free, so does anyone in FSU attire.
  • $500/ year to have car on campus. Parking is a problem; frosh not guaranteed.
  • Dorms: we saw a double freshman room. Beds on either side, up on blocks or something with portable drawers underneath. Two bureaus, 2 desks, 2 closets. Cinderblock walls—they had used Command strips to hang stuff. You can have a micro/fridge combo in the room. No AC, but your own thermostat. It was a cold day, but the temp. was comfortable.
  • Each dorm has its own laundry. Girl’s rooms on one end of the floor, guys on the other end. Security on the way in—you need ID and to open your bag. (Not tours, but normally.) Guests surrender ID and pick it up later. You can have overnight guests for up to 3 consecutive nights, but they must sign out and then back in within each 24 hour period.
  • Each floor has both a lounge and a quiet study room. Lounges have largish TVs, ping pong, pool tables. Carrie said the guys tend to congregate there with their X-boxes.
  • Food: LOTS of places to eat. What appears to be the main café (??) is in the Student Center. Stir fries, pizza, lots of choices. Lots of other places to grab some food, from Library to gym. Lots of vending machines around the campus. Flex dollars good in all those places.
  • No extra money for gym usage—treadmills, bikes, rower
  • Get books from amazon and resell at bookstore.
  • CASA—student walk in tutoring.
  • Each student gets 350 printed pages free.
  • Typical class meets 4 hours a week, mostly 2x2. Classes start at 8:30 am.
  • Weekly movie nights, 2 concerts per year, 2 comedians per semester
  • Campus police on patrol 24/7, campus and 2 mile radius. Blue call poles scattered around; you’ll have an answer within 30 seconds and someone there in less than 2 minutes.
  • My impressions: Small, pretty campus, kind of like a hilly Molloy—brick buildings. Small, only a few blocks long with ballpark 20 buildings. Very walkable. Very self-contained… no “town” at all. Easy drive to Stop & Shop, Friendlys, Staples, Walgreens, and a big bank (one of the NY ones, I forget which one.) Dry campus—no rathskellar or bar to be seen
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Thank you @bjkmom for starting this thread. I have always liked reading your reviews and posts and this one is for a niche that my older 2 fit squarely in (both B/B+). D15 ended up at her safety but has thrived and S18 is waiting to hear from 2 reaches and then will decide. Not sure where my D22 will fall (she is more academically inclined than bro and sis) but I will keep up with this thread for sure. The details are so helpful.

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Great… could you give us some impressions of the schools you’ve seen? It doesn’t have to be quite as crazy-full-of-minor details as mine!

I would love to read reviews of some schools in other parts of the country!

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Let me start off by saying I have no school reports to post for D15 because her college search process was a hot mess. She was my first, it had been many years since I had applied to colleges and she told me repeatedly ‘I got this.’ So between her and her college counselor, I was very hands off. In hindsight, this was a huge mistake. I knew what her grades and SAT scores were but I did not know that all of the schools she was interested in were reaches. So we visited 5 schools on her list, she applied to 4 of those and she got into NONE. She did get into 2 others she applied to but they were very far away and she ended up deciding that she did not want to be that far. So as a last minute suggestion from counselor, she applied to East Carolina U which is 2 hours away from us and was accepted. As that point, it was her only viable option and she accepted there without having seen the school. She was beyond dejected. Fast forward to now, her junior year, and she is doing phenomenally, both academically and personally. She is now a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.

Based on experience w/D15, I took the opposite approach with S18 and was probably too hands on, but it payed off for him in the end. He applied to 10 schools, has been accepted to 7, withdrew his application to 1, and is waiting to hear from the last 2 (reaches). His grades were only .2 better that sister but his SAT scores were almost 200 points better. He also had better EC’s which showed focus and interest on his part.

He applied to 2 of the schools we visited with D15 (his 2 reaches) and we visited 6 schools with him. He applied to 3 of those schools. Below are 4 of the schools we visited with him that would serve a B student.

Florida Gulf Coast University (Did not apply):

  • Met at admissions center and were left to mill around building until van was ready to shuttle us to campus.
  • Handed kids a large amount of literature when they checked in, but as is a huge pet peeve of mine, there was nothing to carry it in and kids (or parents) had to hold said pieces of literature in their hands through the whole tour.
  • Shuttle bus reeked of marijuana. The kids were all snickering and the parents were all giving each other looks over their heads. It was very obvious. It was an older gentleman w/large sunglasses driving the van and my husband's whispered response to me was, "maybe he has glaucoma'.
  • Shuttle took us to Rec Center and large lake at the far end of campus. Not walkable from rest of campus.
  • Tour guide told us that out of 13,000 students, 10,000 were commuters.
  • Dorms and dining hall's stay open for breaks.
  • Free tutoring/writing/resume centers

*Freshman don’t have to live on campus

*Campus is self contained- must have a car or catch a ride if you want to find shops and places to eat off campus.

  • Lots of golf courses nearby (Imp. for my son)

Flagler College (Applied/Accepted w/scholarship):

  • Got a phone call a few days before as a reminder
  • Had a parking space for our visit set aside with his name on it
  • Once in beautiful welcome center, had his name on a large screen welcoming him.
  • Had water/coffee/snacks out for parents and kids
  • Given literature in a cloth bag (YES!)
  • Admissions mtg was just us. AO had pulled my son's application info, knew his intended major, pulled information sheet for his major and tailored his talk towards the major.
  • On tour of campus saw: dining hall, library, classrooms, dorm room, bookstore, student center (had a chick fil a), courtyard and rotunda
  • Air conditioning in all the dorms and free laundr.

" Limited inter dorm visitation.

  • Free tutoring/writing center

*Help with resume and once an alumni, help with resume for life.

  • All of downtown is walkable from the campus. Amazing selection of shops and restaurants, but big name stores (target, Walmart, etc) require a car.
  • They gave us a pass to eat in the dining hall (for all of us) for the duration of our stay. Went in immediately after tour and got iced tea and a bowl of cereal.
  • Once back home, son got a written thank you from AO and and typed thank you from Director of Admissions.

Hand is cramping, will be back with other reports later today. LOL

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I’m back with the rest of my reports. @bjkmom as you can tell, I am pretty detail oriented as well.

UNC- Wilmington (Did not apply)

  • Huge crowd during info session. We had to stand at the back of the room. Admissions Rep seemed really knowledgeable and spoke for about 30 minutes.
  • split into 2 very large groups for 2 hour + tour (In the rain).
  • Had 3 female students giving the tour- 2 were great and 1 was awful.

*. The 3 girls spread out and walked along the line of students/parents to answer questions along the way and have one-on-one conversations which we really liked.

  • Saw the exterior of library, academic buildings and dining hall. They said there was a building with some restaurant options but did not take us in there either.
  • Went in rec center (amazing), student center (very nice), education building (phenomenal) and a co-ed dorm (looked like every other we had seen).
  • Lots of green space and manicured landscaping. Classic architecture of buildings.
  • A group of girls yelled over to us to all come to UNCW.

*Street lamps lined the walkways through the academic buildings and looked really nice, even during the day. Wished we could see them lit up at night.

  • Also a self contained campus. Needed transportation to get to beach (which we never saw), shops and restaurants.
  • As a side note, we met a small group of students for lunch as I had traveled there with friend of S18 and his mom and their cousins go to the school. They had nothing but positive things to say about the school. However, they did tell us that the new president, in an effort to cut down on the amount of cars brought on campus, made an edict that if you lived within a certain amount of miles fr the school (I want to say 4 but could be wrong), you could not drive to class on campus. So the students started moving further out so they could still bring their cars. This left the former 'student housing' area open to lower income families to rent. That in turn, had brought an increase in crime and problems to the area immediately surrounding campus.

Appalachian State (Applied/Accepted):

*Warm and sunny day in mid April and kids were outside everywhere.

  • Had to park in a garage about a 15 minute walk away from the admissions building. They did give us a voucher so we would not have to pay.
  • We are Jewish and were there over Passover. It did make me happy to see a table set up in the lobby with a little Passover display.
  • A recent graduate gave an overview of the school with slides. He stressed the November 15th deadline for scholarships multiple times.
  • A group of 5 students came out to take turns showing slides of the areas of campus we would not be getting to during tour (West Campus). This included the Rec Center, the Stadium, dorms, and academic buildings.
  • Room divided alphabetically with about 30 people in each group.
  • Walked through mostly the exterior of campus with a stop in the Business School.
  • The hi light or horror of our tour came around the middle of our time walking. A group of about 20 girls came chanting through campus and passed directly by us. The theme of their march was 'No Means No'. If they had just been chanting and holding posters that would have been fine. However, they were dressed in as little as possible to the point of being completely obscene. Girls in pasties and thongs (I think) with whips, chains and similar paraphernalia. Most looked naked. Everybody stood stock still with mouths hanging open and our poor tour guide was mortified. She apologized profusely that we had to witness that but said their campus believed in free speech.
  • The town of Boone is definitely very hippie and a lot of students seemed to be free spirits. Every restaurant and shop we went into had that vibe.
  • Son still wanted to apply.

Elon University (did not apply)

  • We visited even though son's grades and scores were low for the school. But we had to pass right by to get to App State and I wanted son to see what a smaller/mid sized campus was like. While my son knew it was not the size he wanted (and had no town), D22 fell in love. I know she has several years to go till we seriously look at schools but as of now, her mind if made up. She is going to Elon. If only it was that easy!
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15

Texas Tech University March 5, 2018

Son and I had an unexpectedly great visit to Texas Tech. We arrived on Sunday and walked around the campus a little. All of the buildings are Mission style architecture with red tile roofs. We both found the campus to be very attractive although extremely spread out. The campus has its own continuously running bus system because of this. Bikes are also very popular.

The vibe of the campus and students was really relaxed and friendly. The intro presentation emphasized very generous financial aid. Because my son attends a small private school that doesn’t rank, his SAT score (which is decently strong) is used for his rank and entitles him to about half off tuition. The awards start at 1200 SAT/top 25%. In state tuition is only $10,000 and any student that is awarded a scholarship valued at $1000 is entitled to in state tuition. Texas Tech uses Raise.Me so I think many might qualify for in state tuition at least.

The dorms are pretty standard fixed furniture dorms and most of the food seems run-of-the-mill cafeteria or fast food. The athletic center is very extensive and nice (kinesiology is a very popular major) and the outdoor pool has a HUGE lazy river.

The Greek system is very prevalent with about 50% of kids participating. This is a negative for us. However, Texas Tech has an honors college with a very new dedicated honors dorm (pod-style, not the old fashioned kind) and even with a 3.2 average, my son’s stronger SAT would put him in contention for admission. The honors college kids we met were fantastic and represented the program well.

We also had a presentation at the College of Engineering which contains the computer science majors, son’s main interest right now. The first presenter had just had to frost his hair blond due to his second to last finish in the fantasy football league (“You don’t even want to know what the last place guy had to do.”) and was being teased by the other guides. He wore a Hawaiian shirt for his presentation to “embrace the look.” For an engineering presentation, he made the major seem remarkably attainable. Our personal guide was very candid about the hard work of doing well in engineering (“I studied this entire weekend”) but told us that student created study groups were the norm with everyone collaborating on homework together for efficiency.

The only downside was our glimpse of the actual CS facility. The CS classrooms were old and tired looking, comparatively. It raised questions in my mind about the priority of the major at Tech. Neither of our delightful guides could give us more info because they were in engineering.

Another attractive feature of Tech is that tutoring is available for free for any subject. It’s just a matter of going to the tutoring center and finding the tutor for your class. The professors have an open door policy as well as office hours. If their office door is open, any student is welcome to drop in, seek help or just chat. Also many classes have SIs, which are students employed by Tech that earned an A in the class taught by the same professor the previous semester. The SI attends the class again and then holds two open tutoring sessions per week in which he/she reteaches the material covered in the previous class and takes questions. Tech additionally has an excellent student service center to support accommodations for students with any diagnosed disabilities. The student support culture at Tech is really second to none. If a student fails out, that is a because they chose to not seek help.

My son will definitely apply to Tech (student body 37,000) even though he is more interested in smaller schools generally. The honors college, low cost and plethora of support make it a great safety. For those even in the top half of their high school, a 1260/26 will guarantee admission. In the top 75%, a 1290/27 will do.

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16

Immaculata won the the first three NCAA Women’s Basketball Championships (1972-1974)! Almost a decade ago, they made a movie about it, The Mighty Macs.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034324/

17

Yeah, it’s something they’re very proud of.

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Southern Connecticut State University
December 29, 2014
(In 2nd place behind Framingham. B like the smaller student body.)
Much larger campus than Framingham, more spread out, more students.
Michele: BA in Exercise Science, minor in Psych
Division 2 sports
Wilkenson Dorm (frosh & Sophs) 4 story.

  • Rooms are bigger than at Framingham, 2 to a room.
  • Each has a cable box—you can bring a big TV if you want.
  • You can request a triple if you want to save some money, probably a larger room.
  • One Utility room per floor, with 1 washer, 1 dryer, electric stove & oven—you can bring some pans & cookie sheets and cook if you want.
  • Large screen TV in lobby, some of the guys play video games there if they don’t want to schlepp to the game room
    -You can waive their medical insurance if you’re covered under your parents.
  • Medical office right near dorms, open 10-6 or something. Doc in a box in town for after hours, hospitals nearby.
  • blue light poles on campus if you feel threatened. Answer in 20 seconds, someone there in 2 minutes.
  • Very well lit—lots of street lights.
  • Shuttles: one around campus, another to town
  • Dorms (9 of them) all on one side of the street, close to the field house (Sports Mangement classes?). Across a small street is “Conn” (Connecticut Hall) where they have the all U can eat buffet. It’s one meal as long as you don’t leave the building.
  • There’s also a food court at the Student Center, which is pretty close to Conn, near the Library.
  • Library: finishing construction. 4 levels. One has conference rooms you can book for group projects. Top floor is computer lab.
  • you’ll want a printer in your room; no free copies 8cents per double sided page. She prints up about 50 pages per week.
    Most profs have 5-7 office hours per week.
  • Rare to have to move much from one building to another for classes. They tend to be grouped by subject.
  • Pells Gym—Sport Management classes. Pretty far from dorms, past library.
  • Most campus events free to $5.
    Student center:
  • Bookstore, run by Barnes & Noble
  • Credit Union. If you join theirs, ATM use ( of them on campus) is free. Otherwise $2.75.
  • Food court: Dunkin Donuts, Subway type place, etc.
  • Free movies about once a month, something current.
  • Game room- pool, fooseball, etc
  • Fitness Center, $45 per semester
  • Over 100 clubs, incuding paintball.
    INFO SESSION:
  • You can double major. Or major/minor. Or create your own major.
  • You declare a major as a Sophomore.
  • 14:1 student/faculty
  • Internships highly encouraged (where??)
  • Common App or Regular
  • $50 app fee
  • 1-2 letters of rec.
  • They look for strength of curriculum
  • Average HS GPA around 3.0
  • Sat about 950-1000 math & CR
  • Superscore- best combo of math & CR.
  • They look at everything.
  • Personal statement—give them reasons to say yes!!
  • Good letters of rec—they should say something different from your personal statement.
  • Nonbinding early action. Due by Nov 1st, you’ll have an answer by Dec 15.

- Apply for Fin Aid ASAP after Jan 1st.

19

Oops. sorry. Double post.

Any recent input from B/C parents?

20

Our kiddo fared pretty well in the process overall; I think the low GPA was offset by a strong SAT score, so I’m sure that helped him along. Out of all the schools we looked out, one stood out to me as a GREAT choice for a B/C student:

OHIO UNIVERSITY (applied, accepted)
Athens, Ohio
5 hours from Baltimore Maryland (straight shot west, NO traffic)
22,000 students, 83% from Ohio, 17% out of state

-Very rural area, college is adjacent to cute, small town with cobblestone streets and lots of artsy shops and eateries. Beyond that, some strip mall areas that look very depressed. The economy in this area of south eastern Ohio is not great.

-Campus is gorgeous and historic with brick buildings everywhere. Even on a cold and rainy winter day, it was lovely. Lots of brick walkways and a hilly campus

-Lots of gorgeous new buildings including an impressive rec center, huge student center, nice dining halls and dorms that are situated around a quad (we didn’t get to go in dorms).

-Well known for health sciences and communications programs, OU offers a lot for an undecided student.

-Went to out of state dessert reception the night before the “Ohio Up Close” program. Admissions recognized us and said she had emailed one of the intramural coaches to meet with kiddo regarding playing at OU. The dessert reception had pens, magnets, stickers for kids to pick up, and also gave them each a bingo type form to fill out - they had to find other students to fill in the boxes. Slightly embarrassing to the average high schooler, but they mingled! Boys accapella group came in and performed for the group and they were fantastic. GREAT school spirit. Three different admissions counselors introduced themselves to our family; they were engaging and warm and truly seemed happy that we were there.

-The next morning went to the admissions info session, held in the school theatre. It was CROWDED with close to 2,000 students visiting that day. Still, the admissions people did a wonderful job of presenting an informative and fun session, with students coming onstage to talk.

-At other colleges we visited, students who were presenting for the college seem so focused on achievement: “I’m Rebecca, double majoring in Biology and Organic Chem, pre-Med, and I am the president of the Spanish Honor Society and will be interning at the National Institute of Health this summer”…whereas at Ohio U, it was more like, “Hey, I’m Jake from Columbus, Ohio, I’m a film major, and I’ve made great friends here.” Totally different vibe. Much friendlier, more accessible and approachable kids, which my kiddo LOVED.

-When we got to the student luncheon in the cafeteria, the coach, captain, and three players from my kiddo’s sport were there to meet kid. They sat for 90 minutes, eating lunch and sharing their highlight reels from their sport…wow. I was impressed. After lunch one of the students came to where we were sitting and offered to answer our questions. They all took a photo together.

Overall, we just got the feeling that this was a welcoming school with possibly the friendliest people I’ve ever met. No pretension, no competition, just a genuine group of people. I can’t say enough good things about Ohio U!

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