D has finalized her acceptances down to these three schools. We can afford all, though Dickinson and Roch would be a financial stretch as they are about 10k higher per year than Allegheny. Here are some pros and cons about each. Any considerations that we’re missing? D is on the nerdy side, motivated by a very intellectual group of friends, not a big partier but she’ll definitely be attending some I’m sure, is currently thinking English major and environmental science minor (or double major) Career goal at the moment is working with children or adults with developmental disabilities, perhaps in an educational setting. That could definitely change–she is not really sure what she wants to study or do at this point. Will probably be involved in club sports and other actiivities on campus.
Allegheny Pros:
-honors program comes with a few benefits (small stipend for research or study abroad, honors housing, mentorship opps, special advisor)
-least expensive
-seems like a good school with nice, down to earth students
Cons:
-8 hours from home
-small school, small remote town
-limited offering of majors/classes?
-lack of student diversity?
URoch Pros:
-open curriculum, seems especially enticing for someone who isn’t sure what they want to do; it’s really why she applied
-vibrant campus, lots of diversity
-Rochester seems to be a great city with lots to do
-lots of offerings for classes and majors
-5 hours from home
-great research opps if she decides to focus on environmental or other sciences
-feels like she would fit in well socially
-spoke to someone at the grad school of education and would have opps to get involved with some of their projects out in the community as an undergrad
-Take Five year
URoch cons:
-more expensive
-??
We haven’t visited Dickinson yet; will be attending accepted student day. Really don’t know a lot about it other than it seems like a great school. Bigger than Allegheny and closer to home–about the same distance as URoch. Honestly not sure why it’s still on her list except that she doesn’t have a reason to take it off, as she did the rest of her acceptances.
I think her top choice is Rochester, but she (and us, her parents) aren’t sure if the pros of Roch are worth the added expense. Not sure how to evaluate that. Also, she had a great financial offer from Siena as well, which is only two hours from home. She’s pretty lukewarm about the school, but I’m wondering if we should push it as a less expensive and closer option than Allegheny? Any and all advice to help her get closer to a decision would be super helpful.