<p>Another request for comparisons: my son is interested in international relations and in geography (which would make Clark stand out), but is mainly coming to the US for an American liberal arts experience and the chance to explore new disciplines. We'd be grateful for all feedback.</p>
<p>We are going to the open house tomorrow. While, I can’t speak to the differences between the schools you’ve listed, I will post a report of our experience at Clark when we get back. We are probably only going to the morning sessions, then leave after lunch to explore Worcester as that is our biggest question mark.</p>
<p>My D’s choices came down to Clark vs Dickinson vs American. She really liked all three but just chose Clark. She decided that Dickinson was a little geographically remote for her, and maybe a little too preppy/Greek. She said when she visited Clark she just felt like she belonged there. She likes the size, look of the campus, programs, dorms and the mix of kids, who seem really nice. And the train access to Boston.</p>
<p>@Upstatemom, I hope you have a great visit to Clark today and I’ll be glad to know your family’s impressions of Clark and of Worcester.</p>
<p>@Researching, thanks for your input - that confirms our impressions of Dickinson (remote and a bit too conservative), and it’s now way down on his list.</p>
<p>Well we just got back from Clark. I was still very impressed with the campus itself. This was the first time my H had seen it and he, too, was impressed. The program they put on was very organized and informative. We first attended a fin aid session which was excellent; lots of details on loans, work/study. After the opening remarks, we attended some sample classes; everyone could choose two. All three of us went to the same ones–one about the history of the home taught by the history dept chair. and one about psychology and body language. The profs were very good, very impressive. After that the students separated from the parents and had lunch together. Parents had lunch together in another part of the campus; thought that was a great idea. After lunch we went to an academic fair and D checked out their clubs. We talked with a student rep from the psych dept about the major and Worcester. She said she never felt in danger, everyone knows Worcester’s rep., she seemed to really like the school and although she’d never live in Worcester, she had no problem going to school there. She personally didn’t feel the need to go to Boston. She lives off campus and has a car. Having a car makes a big difference but there is the Clark shuttle and some kind of deal on the bus system. She said there were regular shuttles to the two malls on the weekends (which, to me, wasn’t a selling point). Freshman can have cars; it costs between $110 to $325 per year to park. I asked her what she was doing next year and she said she was eventually planning to apply to a PHD program, but needed time to prepare so she was applying for research assistant jobs in hospitals in Providence and Boston. </p>
<p>My D was not blown away and didn’t fall in love. I was a bit surprised because she had said that she really liked the friendly people she had seen the first time we visited and that if weren’t in Worcester, Clark would be her first choice. We all noticed the lack of ethnic and cultural diversity which was very surprising. With a motto like “challenge convention, change the world,” I thought it would be more worldly. Pretty much everyone was white.</p>
<p>We left after the academic fair to tour Worcester. It is what it is–a rundown small city with some pretty neighborhoods. A very good friend of my D’s has decided to go to Becker College in town and we drove by it. I thought that because he would be there that it would be a real sell. But after seeing how far his college is from Clark, she was a little disappointed. Last week D got into Tufts which has become a game-changer. It has the exact majors she is interested in and is basically in Boston. So we are going to the admitted students days at Smith and Tufts and hopefully then she will decide. But I think that at this point, Clark has moved low on the list.</p>
<p>@Upstatemom, thanks for posting your impressions, and congratulations to your daughter for getting into Tufts! It’s a fantastic school, so she has some great options and a difficult choice to make.</p>
<p>@Upstatemom, thanks for the post and congrats on your Ds acceptance to Tufts.</p>
<p>We were also at the open house with the S and this was our third visit, and on the second one we were able to sit in on a few lectures as well. We also were at the history of the home lecture, and we went to the far side chemistry one which was entertaining but otherwise was more of a sell on how undergraduates can do research than a class lecture. We left early but it was mainly because there was overlap between the open house and the previous session we went to…and we had seen enough.</p>
<p>I think the main concern the S has coming out of the tours and walking around is that Clark is small geographically…he wants to see how it’s like at UMASS Amherst. I tend to think that Clark would be a good fit for him and he did like the academic opportunities. Thanks for the info on having a car…if the parking isn’t that expensive I’d be tempted to let him keep one on campus so that he could get away on occasion. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, Tufts didn’t accept our S so that’s not an option for us. Not sure I’d consider Medford to be basically in Boston but it’s definitely closer and Boston is more accessible. If Tufts had accepted him it could have definitely been a game changer for us as well.</p>
<p>Thank you all and good luck to all your kids!</p>