<p>Kathiep-Hartwick is a really good school and Oneonta is a great college town! Congrats!!!</p>
<p>kathiep, Congrats to you & your son! </p>
<p>Agree, 3 of mine have gone to private schools, one to public. As I recall it was cheaper for one of them to go to the private as opposed to the in state flagship school. I will say that even the public OOS (UCONN) was a good deal then & it was affordable. But now I believe UCONN approaches about 40K for OOS. OUCH!</p>
<p>Kathiep, congrats to your son! My son also has applied to Hartwick and should be hearing from them in a few weeks. We are expecting merit aid of $22K a yr given his GPA and ACT score. It’s a very nice small school and if he has to go there he’ll do the 3+3 with Albany Law School.</p>
<p>it’s so refreshing to see the success the kids are having on this, the 3.0-3.3 thread…all the while those on the top 20 threads are shaking in their boots due to the increase in ED applications…</p>
<p>interesting process, isn’t it?</p>
<p>Rodney- I agree!!! Glad my d applied to all matches and safeties! Much less stress for her… And me!</p>
<p>The parents on this thread sound a lot more sane to me, too. </p>
<p>Some are already plotting out for their kids who are in still in Middle School. They seriously need to get a life.</p>
<p>I LOVE this thread!! You never know when someone is going turn you on to a new little gem. I looked up Hartwick after Kathiep mentioned that was a school her son had an early acceptance to with merit aid. It actually looks like a school my outdoorsy S would really like. That is so far his main criteria for picking a college… LOL, gotta love these boys. Kathiep… do you know anything about the location? We live in CA so it is all foreign to us. My S is also looking at St. Lawrence which seems similar. Are they close? He is interested in majoring in Philosophy/Religion and then going on to med school. I didn’t look up their med school acceptance rate… I guess that’s next.</p>
<p>5 Boys, Hartwick is about 70miles SW of Albany, NY. They also own land at a lake about 5 miles from campus with cabins that some of the students live in if that’s their thing. </p>
<p>St. Lawrence is much further north - near the Canadian border. My son is also applying there. There is no easy way to get there, either. St. Lawrence is a few steps up academically than Hartwick. </p>
<p>Hartwick has been trying to attract better students the last few years - thus the large amount of merit they give out. </p>
<p>They three Maine schools Bowdoin, Bates & Colby) are good for the outdoorsy student, but they are in the highly selective category.</p>
<p>Oh yeah… does anyone know the “vibe” of the school? Is it sports dominated? That is my S’s worry at some of these Northeastern small schools. He really wants more of an inclusive, unpretentious, intellectual discussions sort of place. Not sure about that. He is really bright but just is not a type A student and does not like competition. He is the kid who has read everything he could get his hands on, hangs out with his teachers at school and likes to go out climbing, backpacking or anything related to the outdoors on the weekends. He is also fiercely independent.</p>
<p>emilybee… Thanks… so closer to William’s? My S is also looking at all 3 Maine schools. A lot will just depend on this year and if continues to do well. So far all A’s this quarter… actually amazing considering last year he had all B’s and B+'s. He is only taking 1 AP this year, but most kids at his school only have 3 at this point because they limit how many they can take. Will get his PSAT scores next month so that may push him up or not. He is really just looking at schools for fit and not really worrying so much with selectivity at this point.</p>
<p>5 boys - Hartwick is not sports dominated and their only Div 1 mens team is soccer. The students didn’t strike me or my son as being pretentious. I wouldn’t worry about competitiveness at Hartwick.</p>
<p>Williams is the other direction - about 50 miles east of Albany.</p>
<p>5boys-sent you pm</p>
<p>5boys, We visited Hartwick this past Spring. HollieSue and any other NY state posters can probably describe the area better then me, but I can tell you it’s a world apart from any area of California. Coincidentally though, our tour guide was from California! We liked the buildings and all of the students and staff were very friendly. The little town that’s within walking distance of the college looked like it had all the necessary shops with the exception of rail or air transportation but close enough that buses will suffice. I did a review on the collegevibe site that you might want to look at. We will be doing another visit for sure and will keep you posted.</p>
<p>It reminded me quite a bit of the vibe of my older son’s college, Roanoke College, in VA. If you have an outdoorsy child, you might want to check that out too. My older son is an Eagle scout and was very involved in their outdoor group. They offer substantial merit aid for B students with minimal gpa requirements to keep it. The campus itself is just 10 minutes from a trail head for the Appalachian Trail.</p>
<p>My son did apply to some reaches because he’s going for a technical major and his course selection reflects rigor in his High School classes. He got B’s and some C’s but many of his classes were honors or AP’s. And we thought, what the heck?! As long as he has other colleges that he really likes, might as well throw some long shots out there.</p>
<p>Thanks kathiep… My S is also an Eagle Scout and plans to take a gap year so he can hike the Appalachian trail…among other things. I will definitely check out Roanoke too. My S will also apply to some reaches because he has high test scores, a ton of unusual leadership EC’s, and all of his teacher’s ADORE him. I started crying when I read his teacher comments on his report card last week. Lots of " class wouldn’t be the same without him in it" kinds of comments. Also, he has what looks like an upward trend this year. But, as much as I support him applying to reaches, I don’t know if that is where he belongs if he does get in. It is definitely a fine line. I am in the camp that you fall in love with your safety first and then go from there. No reaches until he has found at least 3-4 safeties that he would love to attend… preferably with merit aid.</p>
<p>SLU is not sports oriented, it is Division III Athletics & the hockey teams are Division I.
The academics are highly regarded, professors care about their students, small classes, good financial aid as well, both need-based & merit aid. Price tag is over 50k/year. </p>
<p>Canton, NY is a nice little town with some restaurants, a movie theatre, there is a Wal Mart located between Potsdam & Canton. SUNY Potsdam, SUNY Canton & Clarkson University are nearby. SLU is ranked #55 in LAC’s in USNWR Rankings. </p>
<p>Very little Greek Life, believe they are down to one fraternity & 3 sororities. So the reputation of being “fratty” has vastly diminished. Lots of clubs & outdoorsy stuff to participate in. About 2400 undergrads as I recall. </p>
<p>If anyone wants to ask me anything else about SLU, feel free to send me a PM.</p>
<p>Son got three (!) e-mails today from admissions offices asking for first semester grades. We’re very happy to send them as they are all good. In fact, I was thinking of doing that due to a suggestion on this forum to all of the schools that son hasn’t heard from. One thing I was wondering about though is throwing in one more recommendation letter from a teacher that clearly thinks son is a gem. We had not asked her before because she’s teaching an elective class and son just met her this fall. The elective is something that fits right in with his future major and his field of interest. What do you think, gilding the lily or okay?</p>
<p>kathiep-I don’t think it can hurt to have one more good recommendation!</p>
<p>Agree with Hollie
Good luck</p>
<p>More agreement. I think it is fine to send updated grades - updated awards/honors/leadership positions and an additional letter of recommendation from a senior year teacher. While I would not go overboard - adcoms love to tell stories about the kid who sent in 30 letters of rec, etc., a few more choice morsels as senior year progresses can’t hurt. Good luck.</p>