@doschicos Yes, that is normal, but I was wondering if there is some benefit to going to a school that works on a trimester system, per se, and students take more classes.
What does anyone here think of Smith?
Smith is a great school if you’re okay with going to an all women’s school. I would absolutely consider it for my kid.
@auracle I have talked to a few people who go to schools on a quarter/trimester system (and I will be attending one) and they definitely have added flexibility in there course selection and see that as a plus. One school that comes to mind is Dartmouth (not the school I will be attending) because it’s smaller than others and I believe you wrote LAC. The downsides I’ve heard to this kind of calendar are extra fast paced courses, which can be overwhelming, and the fact that your breaks will often not coincide with those of your friends who attend other schools.
@Auracle also it makes study abroad a bit more complicated
Smith College (it’s free to apply to!)
Depends on what you mean by “similar”. Similar in what respect?
If you just mean any selective liberal arts college, check out the US News national LAC ranking.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges
(Don’t fret over small differences in rank, though. Most of the top 50 or more LACs share many similar features. The most significant quality difference IMO may be the level of need-based aid, which tends to be a bit better at the highest ranked schools and to taper off below the top 30 or so.)
@auracle, I’ve found that it’s often the case that applicants who are not familiar with the NE don’t realize that some of the LACs are in the middle of nowhere. You may or may not not find that acceptable. Do your due diligence.
^ Very true, but “middle of nowhere” is closer to “somewhere” in the Northeast than it is in some other regions. You may even find Nowheresville itself a lot more charming in the NE than its counterparts elsewhere. Still, good internship opportunities may be in short supply in places like Middlebury, Williamstown, or Hamilton NY.
Swarthmore-Haverford-BrynMawr (the Philadelphia-area Quaker consortium) are a little unusual in this respect. They’re on the edge of a major metro area with good public transportation into the city. Other LACs in the northeast that are in/near urban centers include Barnard (women only), Goucher, and Wellesley (women only). Top 50 ~urban (/suburban) LACs in other regions include Colorado College (Colorado Springs), Davidson (Charlotte area), Macalester (Twin Cities), Occidental (LA), Reed (Portland), and Rhodes (Memphis).
Agree with @doschicos about the Fiske guide. We got our money’s worth from that book.
As for the 4 vs. 5 classes per semester…it feels like a bit of a red herring. Some of the most rigorous schools use a 32 credit graduation requirement. It’s a matter of focusing wide vs deep, not in the amount of learning you can do. There is a huge difference between offering classes and actually being able to enroll in them. Smaller schools seem to have more access to classes kids want to take. The larger the school, the more I’ve heard that students get squeezed out of a class (a bit counter intuitive).
One thing that comes to mind when looking at schools is having pass/fail or easy change options. Haverford for example has “shopping week”, where freshman attend classes they may be interested in and then at the end of the week enroll. There is no picking classes Freshman year before you get a feel for the classes and the professors. That sort of flexibility early on could provide huge benefits later on. Anyplace where you pick classes before ever being on campus Freshman year has the potential to dramatically reduce options.
It should be noted that many NE LACs are located in areas that are in-between very rural and urban. E.g., Amherst, Smith, Vassar, Bowdoin, Bates, Wesleyan, Skidmore, Dickinson, etc.
These colleges - Middlebury, Williams, and Colgate - are aware that they’re in rural locations and they make accommodations to create opportunities for internships. I know of no one who went to Middlebury who was unable to find an internship (often in a big city) they desired. One of my good friends spent a winter term interning for a plastic surgeon in San Francisco. Middlebury, in particular, uses the connections and experiences of the parents and alums to set up internship opportunities, literally all over the world. I never felt as though I was limited in internship opportunities by attending Middlebury. I still receive messages from the school asking whether I want to offer an internship to a current student.
I live in a suburban area of the bay area right now, and am totally good with that, but I think I’d also be fine with “the middle of nowhere”, as long as it’s pretty and there are things to do.
Hi, I know this is getting super off topic from the original thread, but here I go anyway: Interviews. Especially on campus interviews over the summer if I’m visiting anyway. Are they important? How important?
I generally interview really badly. I answer the question asked, sometimes with just a yes/no answer if that was all that was asked for, don’t like to talk about myself, and ask way too many clarifying questions about the interviewers questions. I also am not great at eye contact and tend to fidget when uncomfortable. Also, I have a weird habit of using a clicking noise as acknowledgement instead of just politely nodding and murmuring uh huh. And I don’t really like getting dressed up.
I guess my question is, is it worth trying it anyway?
Good question. You probably should not interview if you don’t think it would be helpful. They are evaluative so it could be a negative.
That said, interviewing skills are important down the road. It’s important to understand that the interviewer is not any sort of hostile adversary. Just think of it as a conversation with someone you’ve just met, who is interested in learning about you, and from whom you are hoping to learn something of a place you might live. An admissions rep is just trying to learn about you. It’s okay to talk about yourself; it’s the purpose of the interview after all. You can be honest and open, though it’s always a good idea, interviewing or not, to present a positive perspective. It’s important to understand that talking about yourself is not the same as bragging. Bragging would not come across well, but an interviewee can discuss what they’ve done, what they think, what they like, what they hope to achieve without bragging.
Importantly, an interview is also an opportunity for a prospective student to learn about a school. Not things that can be found online but things that maybe you are interested in, or reveal something about the vibe, the culture at the school. What does the interviewer like best about the school? Are they a student or alumnus? Well, what did they do on a typical weekend when they were a student? What’s the most inspiring thing they’ve seen on campus? What was there favorite moment on campus in the past week? Semester? What bothers them most about the school? If they could change one thing, what would it be? These personal questions can reveal a lot.
The admissions rep will expect you to want to learn more. They will understand that the interview is a great opportunity for you to ask questions of someone who is very well informed about the school, and will to some degree expect you to take it as such an opportunity.
Just to add some perspective, imagine you are the admissions rep. You are spending many days interviewing many students. Your job is to learn about the students and to sell them on the school, because the school wants the largest possible pool of applicants and the largest possible % of those offered admission to accept the offer. The student who is a young adult and very probably less experienced than the interviewer sits down before them. You have probably 15-30 minutes to learn about that student and to give them a positive impression of the school. You would probably want them to feel comfortable, to feel like they could express themselves openly and honestly. You would try to foster an environment and develop a relationship that would allow that. You would probably like the school where you are working (and are maybe a student and alum). You would probably want to talk about the school, to share the positive things about it. You would probably have little desire to be mean to the student or to make them uncomfortable. That’s how it is for the admission reps, and it can be helpful to keep that in mind.
If possible, you might arrange an interview at a school where you might want to learn more but that is not at the top of list, maybe a school nearby. You can use it as an opportunity to learn about that school and as a way to get more comfortable with the interview process. I’ve seen that happen before–students who fear an interview, do one or two, and realize it’s just a conversation.
And sometimes it’s okay if it does not go well. The most outstanding, confident student can have an interview not go well. It probably just means that that school is not a good fit, which is good to know and perfectly okay.
(Not so much in a college admissions setting, but elsewhere, an interviewer might be challenging on a point. That’s okay. Often it is just an effort to see how the interviewee handles a difficult question. Do they maintain their poise? Do they make a solid point without becoming defensive. I throw this out not so much for an undergrad admissions interview but for ones later down the road. This is possible but more rare in this type of interview.)
If you’re bored and want to help a random student, read on:
I’m applying to discover swarthmore (weekend checkout a college program), and an essay is a part of it. Super rough draft, is topic okay?
Swarthmore students are socially aware in both a broad, global context as well as an interpersonal, community context. They approach problems with intentionality, and they often contemplate their place in the world. Given this tendency we would like to know, “What keeps you up at night?” * (max 500 words)
I am kept up at night, both in a metaphorical and literal sense, by the possibilities of bridging the gap between knowledge and action. Making what I have learned useful is always something I have struggled a bit with, but it has especially come to the fore this past year. I’ve been part of a leadership/junior counselor program at a summer camp, and we spent the spring learning about different philosophies, and three weeks this summer at camp learning more about these and seeing how the fit seamlessly into life (among other things we did).
Many of these philosophies are centered around communication and building empathy and community. The focus is on recognizing the needs behind people’s actions, active listening, empathy, and open communication - at it’s core, very simple. However, making use of vague, broad knowledge is unlikely, so there are many more specific strategies.
Despite learning and grasping many of these strategies, I’m having trouble bringing them into my real life because I’m having trouble balancing authenticity and “me-ness” with wanting to be able to be a better support to those around me and ________.
So I’ve been spending time thinking about why things make more sense at camp, and what I can bring back that can help me. I’ve been going over the day in my head after I climb into bed in the evening, reflecting on my actions and where I would like to be the next day.
-Own Needs
-Other needs
-> more open, accepting, willing to accept others actions without annoyance/disgruntlement/anger.
As I said, rough. Written in the past twenty minutes or so. Questioning mostly about suitability/sensicality of topic.
Isn’t Discoswat due today?
Yep!!