<p>I was also going to say that if your son does not mind the rural location, I think Grinnell might be the best choice for him on that list if he gets off the waitlist.</p>
<p>Not sure what #16 refers to with this: With Bard, I would be concerned with the need for some structure and community. </p>
<p>Bard has a strong structure including a special August session for incoming freshmen, moderation process to āmajor,ā distribution requirements, senior project requirements, etc. And a very strong community on a lovely campus.</p>
<p>I have to speak up here on the Grinnell vs. St. Olaf issue. I find this a little odd, considering that both consider themselves to be open to a variety of types of students and points of view. In fact, D has been accepted at, and is seriously considering both (although leaning towards St. Olaf because she picked up a better, warmer āvibeā during her visits, among other reasons). Both gave her merit money. I personnally prefer St. Olaf, but itās her choice and I think she would truly be happy at either place.</p>
<p>What impressed my H about Dickinson is that the President sees it as his job to visit top grad school programs and āsellā his students. S loved the new Physics building, the library and the sense of history. S felt that Dickinson was going to the extreme in its attempt to be āgreenā and 'āglobalā. I loved the dorms, but found Dickinson difficult to get to.</p>
<p>Dickinson is a more āmainstreamā, preppy school. Bard is āquirkyā., Brandeis , to me, more intellectual. I felt that the atmosphere at Dickinson is much more like the most selective schools in the country, overall. The kids could be plopped right onto the Princeton campus without anyone missing a beat. </p>
<p>If your student is not so mainstream, perhaps the other schools are a better fit. My sons found Bard too āgothā, artistic, non athletic, too quirky. One of their best friends felt she had come home. Brandeis has a lot of intense students and is not a well rounded, athletic , preppy as the schools my kids liked. Of the bunch Dickinson stood out as the one where the students fit them the best. </p>
<p>Academically, a strong student will be fine at any of these schools. They all have a good number of serious, bright kids, and the facilities to challenge them. The atmosphere is what differentiates these schools.</p>
<p>I like Bardās approach to education, but itās in the middle of nowhere. It seemed much less quirky than itās reputation when we visited. Iād pick Brandeis for the location and easy access to Boston. They seemed to take academics seriously and put it front and center in the admissions building which I liked. Donāt know anything about the two midwest schools.</p>
<p>intparent, thank you for your insider perspective - this is very helpful. (St. Olaf sounds like a possibly wonderful place for #2 - but thatās not for a few years!) My son has experienced a super-intense bitter winter in a lot more darkness than we have - and loved it! So, I think if the setting seems right, the weather wonāt be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>SDonCC, if he were accepted to Grinnell it would probably be his #1 choice. Weāve known about Grinnell for a long time now, and - on paper - it feels like it has all the components of a best-suited college for him: even good food! - call me petty, but I am actually kind of sad that some of these schools apparently provide not-very-good food to the students ),: I am a little surprised that Grinnell did not admit him. I feel like they missed spotting a kindred spirit. His record was a bit lopsided, in large part due to positive circumstances, and possibly they focussed on what was missing rather than what he accomplished. I think his Grinnell mascot essay was awesome too - one of his best! Anyway. He told me he does want to stay on the waitlist, so back to the application process!</p>
<p>And for me, on to planning the dizzying details of the visits!</p>
<p>Would your son definitely go to Grinnell if he got off the waitlist? If so, Iād recommend he write them a letter and tell them that. Just fyi, he may be interested to know that Grinnell is hiring a linguistics professor who will start next year; right now, there is a linguistics concentration, but all the courses are taught by professors from other disciplines. There is also a linguistics table biweekly, where students get together to read an article and generally chat about linguistics. (Just saying because sounds like it would be up your alley). Brandeis has a linguistics department; Bard has related offerings and an intro course, but it is not offered every year. I did think that Bard had alot of interesting courses relating to languages. Their English department has some incredible names on the faculty!</p>
<p>I want to clarify my comment above about community and structure at Bard. When I said that, in my mind I was comparing it with Grinnell. A common theme for both schools was āfreedom.ā (This is what alot of the students told us they liked about Bard when we revisited to make the final decision.) Bard actually does have alot in the way of academic requirements. The difference between the two schools in what I saw, though, and Iām speaking more about life skills or something like that I guess, is that Grinnellās āfreedomā is designed with great intention. They recognize that the students are adults, and treat them so, but they do so within a structure that gives them guidance and support in doing so. The self-governance at Grinnell is not easy to explain in a short post, but it does permeate everything about the school. It encourages the students to learn how to live and work together in a community within a specific structure. The only academic requirement (beyond requirements for the major) is freshman tutorial; instead it offers an āindividually advised curriculumā where the tutorial professor is the studentās adviser until a major is declared, and then that student moves to an advisor in that department. The students have to fill out a detailed questionnaire prior to arriving on campus, and while they list courses they want to take their first year, they do not actually register until after they have worked with their adviser on planning and thinking about it. </p>
<p>I probably did misspeak a bit about Bard in the respect of academic structure, however, because the moderation process really requires students to think about what theyāre studying and what and to evaluate their own learning progress. So sorry about that. But, I recall feeling that if a student needed organizational or other academic support, it would take more work figuring out how to get that at Bard. (I could be wrong here.) At Grinnell, the resources for that kind of support are exceptional. The school also sent out this very helpful form about learning disabilities that was very encouraging for any student who might have felt uncomfortable reaching out for that in college or accept the need to continue with services. </p>
<p>In terms of community, well, again i was thinking about Grinnell, and there really is just a spirit of being a āGrinnellianā that I think comes from the shared experience of self-governance (this system requires them to be responsible to and for each other), and the campus location and layout. It is not community in the rah-rah go team sense.</p>
<p>Anyway, Iām sorry to go on and on about Grinnell when your son is on the WL, but I"m just trying to share our experience because it has been so similar! </p>
<p>Ultimately, my son felt like he would have a good experience no matter where he went: the classes would be interesting, heād make friends, heād find things to do. And Iām sure the same will be true for your son! </p>
<p>I think that when you go back for visits, it will clarify. My S tried making his decision based on a spreadsheet, but ultimately, it came down to where he felt most at home. If we assigned points to things on paper, Grinnell wouldnāt have won.</p>
<p>SDonCC, thank you so much for this information. I will share it with my son. I love those ātablesā - I noticed there was one for his foreign language too, and I thought how great that would be. He will pursue this, understanding that if it doesnāt happen, heāll still have other great options, which our visits will clarify, hopefully!</p>