Daughter is debating between MHC and American university. She also has been admitted to Sarah Lawrence and Bard. Her stats are nowhere near what is listed here by others. She has a good SAT score though and good essays. English is her intended major for now.
Went to a very competitive public high school in nor cal.
We have not visited MHC but have visited the other 3.
We are most concerned about the travel part and weather. Planning to attend the admitted students day. Appreciate any input. Thanks!
Current senior here (from the west as well)
Travel is challenging. It’s especially hard coming (as opposed to going home), because you loose almost an entire day with the time change; however, that will be the case for your daughter regardless. The college does run shuttles to both Hartford-Bradley and (less frequently) to Boston-Logan, and the Peter Pan can get you to Logan on pretty regular schedules. It’s doable. I will say things got easier when we got to be upperclassmen and two of my close friends got cars! Admitted students’ day will give you an idea.
The weather is what it is. It’s New England; it’s going to snow, and it gets dark in the winter. I personally don’t think it’s as nightmarish as advertised, but I come from a place with decently frequent snow. LITS (the library & technology department) does actually now have sunlights available for 3-day loan, though! I think people from California and other warm places generally adapt. Buy a good coat and a pair of waterproof boots - I have a knee-length Eddie Baur coat which has served me well. Learning how to layer appropriately is a bit of an art, but once acquired is a valuable life skill!
Congrats to your daughter, she has good options!
We are from S. FL- I can speak to the weather. Get:good boots (LL Bean), a good coat (Patagonia, North Face), wool socks were new to us and needed, and good under layering (we use underarmor, smartwool). Learning what to get was new to us as our Winter wardrobe is flip flops and a hoodie.
Our student loves the weather. Getting to enjoy the seasons has been a big part of the college experience. Being that they don’t have to drive in it, we have seen no safety issues at all with the weather. Classes will be postponed or cancelled if it is really bad. By the time classes start usually the walkways are cleared.
As for travel, we only go up and down the East Coast but we have found that Southwest, Jet Blue and Spirit have direct flights to Bradley. Bradley has worked well for us. It is small and easy to navigate. Our student usually uses uber to get back and forth, but we have used the shuttle and it works well.
Congrats to your daughter and family.
Thank You so much @FireflyLights and @SFLmom for your replies. The college sounds lovely! Looking forward to the admitted students day.
My daughter is an alum from Los Angeles. Weather is a novelty. You don’t need the high end name brands. Sierra trading post has good prices and will ship to her dorm. Travel to MHC is simple. Fly to Bradly/Hartford. The college runs $20 shuttles or she can uber. By her second year, she’ll be carpooling with friends. They wouldn’t let her I. If they didn’t think she could cut the mustard.
I live within a 5 minute drive of American University. I attended Mount Holyoke years ago. Don’t give any wasted neurons to this question. Mount Holyoke is the far superior choice to American University. Unless your daughter wants to be lost in a concrete jungle of a campus with students who are not as academically talented as she is, she should make a beeline for the bucolic environment of Mount Holyoke where she will get a far superior education, lots of individual attention and make lifetime friends.