<p>First let me thank you all for the input on the last thread (archived boards) Your input was truly appreciated. I think he has narrowed down some choices. </p>
<p>Synopsis:
Son in Japan for Senior Year with Rotary. He is a B-/C student that excels in Literature (18 out of 18 on his ACT) Scored 1100 on his SAT, has not taken SAT2's. Struggles in math. (they dont rank at our rural public school, or grade on a 1-4 scale, no IB courses even offered). Looks flat on paper, but is quite personable.</p>
<p>Earlham-Japanese- Definite Reach
Ursinus-International Relations w Japanese minor- reach
Wittenberg-International Relations w East Asain concentration- ?reasonable reach?</p>
<p>Lynchburg- International Relations w Asian Studies concentration- ?match?
Mount Union- Japanese w International Relations minor- ?match?</p>
<p>Slippery Rock-Public Relations w East Asian Minor-Definite Safety</p>
<p>and one he pulled out of nowhere just to see what they offered him now that they are going co-ed:</p>
<p>Immaculata-Communications with concentration in Intercultural Communication</p>
<p>I think we need more safeties, and would like to know if the reach/match/safety we calculate is what you see.</p>
<p>Thanks. (does this get easier with son #2?)</p>
<p>Nice list of schools. I think you can probably consider Lynchburg and Mount Union safeties. Otherwise, I think you've called it pretty well. Just a thought, however, there is a HUGE difference between the student body at Wittenberg and Ursinus and the student body at Earlham. Wittenberg and Ursinus are very frat oriented, preppy. Earlham is very, very liberal and definitely not preppy. No frats. He may want to think about whether he'd feel comfortable there if he doesn't like being around too much political correctness. It's a terrific school, but quite different from the others on his list.</p>
<p>Goucher would be a decent match I think. They are looking to boost their male-female ratio and are also increasing the size of their student body from about 1300 to 1500 over the next two years. Last year, a male poster here got in with almost identical stats to your son.</p>
<p>Washington College or McDaniel College in Maryland are two nice schools that would be decent safeties for him. Not sure what they offer in his areas of interest. In Pennsylvania, how about Susquehanna - they have a terrific communications program.</p>
<p>You may also want to check out Lake Forest, near Chicago. More similiar to Wittenberg or Ursinus in terms of student body. The same student I mentioned above was also admitted there last year so it's a possibility for your son.</p>
<p>Another school that might be interesting is Wells College in Upstate New York. Wells is currently female only, but recently announced that they are going coed next year. I don't know about your son, but that situation would have certainly appealed to me -- being a trail blazer of sorts. I would think that Wells will definitely be on the prowl for males. Wells has both Communications and International Relations and has a very good academic reputation, as well.</p>
<p>Geneva College in Beaver, Pennsylvania is another consideration. It seems to be a good fit with your son's academic profile.</p>
<p>A safety school for your son to consider is Moravian College. For some strange, unexplained reason, I am currently obsessed with the school. Frankly, I can't explain why, but it just seems like a nice, relatively unknown school.</p>
<p>Good luck. I am glad that you found some of the advice helpful in your son's search.</p>
<p>What's wrong with what she said? Academically, he is average. Obviously, as a person, he's not average, because there's no such thing as an average personality.</p>
<p>icemaker, Wow, Wells is finally going coed? That's interesting news. Do you know if they will be increasing the enrollment size at the same time because it's such a tiny school. But it does have a very good rep.</p>
<p>I had not even heard of Wells, or Wheaton.(Can you tell I am new to this?!) It looks like he sent for packets from Moravian though, mail came today. Will look at it and scan it to him.</p>
<p>And yes, I am an average mom and I have an average student of a son that I am VERY proud of. There is nothing wrong with being average in some things, no one person can excel at everything. </p>
<p>My Grandfather (who was the smartest man I ever met and only went to the 4th grade before having to work the mines) used to say "Some people- the more learning they get the stupider they get" He had lots of common sense, as does my son. Some days it seems that is in short supply in the population.</p>
<p>I have to laugh at that last comment. I'm neither smart, average or dumb. But my mom is always telling me I have no common sense. hehe moms are the best :)</p>
<p>Sorry, that school of thought does not fly in my house. </p>
<p>I have given my sons the tools they need to succeed. They learn by example that if you want something bad enough you have to figure out a way to get it, and more. (which is how he is spending a year in Japan)</p>
<p>They know they control their own destiny, own their own triumphs and downfalls. They are also aware of the fact that college does not make a person witty, wealthy or wise.</p>
<p>not everyone is a school superstar, or a sports star, or a music prodigy or ..... (you get the point) it's okay for her son to be average, just like it's okay for you to be academically good, and i can bet my bottom dollar he's better than you at plenty of other things</p>
<p>Carolyn, I recently read an article which mentioned that Wells was attempting to increase their enrollment and that the Trustees thought that the best way to do so was to start admitting men. Currently, enrollment is at around 400. I think that in the 1970s the campus once had close to 1,000 students. I doubt that they would want to go that high, but I would think that they would like to increase their size by 50% -- up to 600. While all female schools have definitely fared better than their all male counterparts recently, I believe that it has been increasingly difficult for many of them to maintain their high academic standards while maintaining their single sex status. I know that this is precisely the reason why Rose Hulman started to admit women.</p>
<p>One other benefit of Wells that I forgot to previously mention was that they have a deal with Cornell University whereby students at Wells can take classes at Cornell.</p>
<p>With regard to Wheaton, I think that it might be a bit of stretch for your son to be admitted. But it might be a good reach school for him if he is interested. </p>
<p>Rotarymom, don't feel bad that all of this is new to you. You are doing your son a great favor by taking an active roll and learning about some of the options available to him that are not generally well known. While my parents were generally supportive (especially my dad), neither one of them graduated from college and did not know of any schools other than the larger state schools, the local religiously affiliated (and frankly, not very academically oriented) colleges, and the commuter school 20 miles away. The only way you learn about many of these schools is to do precisely what you are doing -- asking questions and relying on the kindness of Carolyn to give you thoughtful, truthful and unbiased answers. (only half joking there)</p>
<p>With regard to ivyleaguer's point, I think that when you casually look at this board, it is filled with students who have 1400+ SAT scores and 4.0 gpa's. I think that Rotarymom was simply pointing out that her son is not one of those students. One of the outstanding things about some of the colleges you are looking at is that they attract a wide variety of high school academic profiles -- from valedictorians, merit scholarship winners and 1500 SAT scores, to B/C students who scored 1000 on their SAT. As an example, Beloit College currently has 12 valedictorians and 14 merit scholarship winners on their campus. They also have a number of students who posted relatively average high school qualifications, but whom the Admissions Committee thought would contribute to the intellectual vitality of the community. Many of these students thrive, others don't. Many of the high achieving high schoolers thrive, some of these students don't. But they all tend to positively add to the learning dynamic of the institution.</p>
<p>Consider this a plug for Wittenberg, which my daughter looked at and early on was one of her favorites. It's only about 30% greek and it's a pretty mellow greek scene i.e. open parties, not competitive. My daughter has several friends there - they're down to earth type kids and they are very happy. Freshmen and sophomores are required to live on campus and then jrs and srs are required to live off. There's lots of off campus apartment houses immediately surrounding the campus that are owned by the school that jrs and srs move into (as well as greek houses but they're pretty spread out through the adjoining neighborhoods). It struck me as a pretty laid back campus atmosphere and I would have been happy to have my daughter go there.</p>
<p>I thought that your son visited Wittenberg and was either not impressed or did not like it, if I recall correctly. If that is the case, then why would he submit an application there? Just curious.</p>
<p>We visited U of Scranton, Wittenberg, Slippery Rock, Kings, Wilkes, Marywood. He loved Slippery Rock. He liked Wittenburg, didn't love it. Didn't care for the others much at all.</p>
<p>Thank you for the clarification. I apologize for not remembering correctly from your first post. Regarding your original list in your first post, like Carolyn, I believe that you are pretty much on the money regarding matches and safeties. Are you still looking for additional safeties, or are you and your son currently at the narrowing phase?</p>
<p>Hi Rotarymom, Carolyn et. al-I have had trouble resetting my password due the the @#$%^ format (can you tell that I don't like change)?<br>
My S and I visited Ursinus earlier this week. The school has a very pretty campus(somewhat compact). They are building a brand new performing arts center which should be opening in the spring (thought of your D and her arts interest, Carolyn). The people in Admissions that we met, as well as our tour guide, made us feel welcome. S was intrigued by the sculpture that they have at various points around the campus. We could not get into a dorm (frankly, if I were the tour guide, I would have gone back to get the right key). However, we were able to tour the student union and classroom buildings. They have good science facilities. Ursinus also has some lovely Victorian style house which are used for student housing. Overall, S and I both liked it. I know of someone who goes there and who is an East Asian studies major.
Rotarymom, I have confidence that your son will end up in a good place. As you may recall, my D had similar stats and she is now a college freshman at St. Joe's-I have never seen her so happy-working hard but thriving. I used to read these boards and lie awake at night worrying about her choices because this board (and the other one) tends to be populated with ultra-high achievers. My worries were completely unfounded.
In looking for my own S (now a junior who wants to major in East Asian studies), I cam across several Ohio schools (and some further west) that have East Asian studies programs. Since I sense you are in PA, they may be worth a look. I am going to post a separate thread on them to see if I can get any feedback-look for Midwest LAC's if you are interested.</p>
<p>icemaker-I think he would like one more safety since he cannot interview in person. He sent a link to me tonight to look at George Mason . Not sure exactly what he wants me to look, at he just sends links. I am assuming I am supposed to look at their Integrative Studies Concentrations. I know nothing about this school except they seem to be a commuter school.</p>
<p>Like you, my son will be first generation college. DH is military trained. I went to technical school way back when the rules to become a Med Tech were different than today. I only applied there. They accepted 5 students out out 237 applicants and we paid nothing for 2.5 years of school (I would not have been able to afford school otherwise). They even paid for our books and our ASCP boards. I basically had to wear white, show up and learn. </p>
<p>I appreciate the help you have all been so kind to provide. I feel like I should pay Carolyn for picking her brain.</p>