<p>My son is going to go to a college preview weekend at Earlham College the first week of October. I'm wondering if anybody out there is also planning on going to this preview weekend? Also, wondering how many out there have plans to apply to Earlham -- pretty sure it will end up being our son's #1 choice... so I'd like to hear from anybody else out there that is applying, attending, or thinking about Earlham!!!</p>
<p>My D is in her last semester at Earlham, and it’s hard to boil her experience down to a few sentences, but I’ll try to hit a few of the high points.</p>
<p>I think one of the things that’s really benefited her is the intimate, personal nature of the community. That goes not just for student-to-student relationships, but she’s also worked very closely with, and gotten to know, a number of the faculty – not just on school projects, but on personal and extracurricular things. I think there is a gentleness and respect that pervades everything at Earlham, and I believe that student voices really are listened to by faculty and administration.</p>
<p>One of the most important things that Earlham has provided my D is an opportunity to join, grow in, and finally lead one of the big student-run organizations. The skills and confidence that she’s gained from that experience are going to serve her well as she launches out into the world.</p>
<p>And of course, the education is top-drawer. She has been challenged and stretched in wonderful ways.</p>
<p>What’s your son interested in studying? Does he have any special extracurricular interests?</p>
<p>Hello,
Our DS is in his 2nd year at Earlham and is quite pleased with his choice. I have to agree with LASMA in that there is a sense of respect that does go through the school…because of the Quaker roots.</p>
<p>I also have a 2nd year student at Earlham and agree with what’s already been said!</p>
<p>Thanks so much to all of you for your responses! I have probably read any posts you’ve made about Earlham previously, as I’ve read every single post on the Earlham part of CC… </p>
<p>LasMa, my son is interested in studying something along the lines of Geology or Environmental Science. He goes to a challenging high school, and takes honors (not AP courses) – Honors Calculus, honors env. sci., and also honors foreign policy. He is on the autism spectrum, and so we have been scouring university possibilities to find a school that is good academically, but not competitive – we were hoping to find something that was more cooperative, friendly, liberal, and most of all, accepting of differences. Earlham certainly would seem to fit that bill.</p>
<p>He has not especially branched out in extracurricular until now – but he is almost done with his Eagle in scouts, has done lots of volunteer work through scouts and our church, and this year he will probably do Amnesty International club and an env. science club. No sports at all. He’s quiet, nerdy, funny, and though he dislikes sports he does like rock climbing, camping, bike riding, etc. Up until lately he has been quite the gamer … but I wonder if he’s either become bored with that or decided that he should “grow up” and find other interests. I would assume, though, if he’s at Earlham, he will go back to gaming a bit because it seems like lots of guys there will be doing that. I don’t mind gaming if you’re actually doing it alongside other people!</p>
<p>I think my son will especially like the diversity of the campus, he’ll be interested in the Quaker roots, he’ll love the study abroad options, and best of all, the friendliness and inclusiveness of the students. I hope he can get in. He is considering Hampshire, Clark, Alfred Univ. in NY, and RIT – but he would prefer Earlham, so I think he’ll do Early Decision. </p>
<p>I have read about an Earlham student who graduated last year, who also has aspergers/is on the autism spectrum. It sounded like the best time of his life. His story bodes well for my son… and any recommendations or insights that any of you can provide about Earlham would be so appreciated!!! I love to hear your stories about the success of your students, and how they have enjoyed the friends they’ve made at Earlham. [nygiant – I think I tried to PM about your son’s experiences at Earlham – this was a few days ago…]</p>
<p>He actually sounds like a really good fit at Earlham, and your description of the college is spot-on. </p>
<p>A great thing about a small schools and someone who’s on the spectrum is that they aren’t likely to get lost in the shuffle. I didn’t have to check on this with my D, but you may want to touch base with Admissions about it. I’m sure that they’ll reassure you that your son would be accommodated and watched, and that help and early intervention if problems arise would be readily available. Also, if your son enrolls, during Orientation you’ll have a chance to talk with his advisor and you can certainly make him/her aware of it. If you’ve read my previous posts, you might remember this, but I’ll say it again: I once heard the previous Director of Admissions say: “No one falls through the cracks at Earlham,” and I’ve found that to be true. </p>
<p>So he’s a nerd, eh? He would feel at home then! 
There’s a gamers club: [url=<a href=“http://www.earlham.edu/student-life/student-organizations/hobbies-and-interest/]Hobbies”>http://www.earlham.edu/student-life/student-organizations/hobbies-and-interest/]Hobbies</a> and Interest, Student Life | Earlham College<a href=“scroll%20down”>/url</a>, as well as a geology club. I’m sure he’s already checked out the Environmental Sciences and Environment Studies majors, as well as the Geology major. And he does know about the rock-climbing facility, right?</p>
<p>Yeah, when we walked through the athletics building, we passed by the rock-climbing wall, and his head spun around and I heard “ooooooohhhhh!” So yes, when we had our tour at Earlham last summer that was definitely a plus, that rock wall!</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up about talking to Admissions. I’m thinking that we should try and get a meeting with the disability office to see specifically the types of supports our son could use if he needs them. </p>
<p>Besides the gamers club (which sounds great) I think he might want to try out for the Brimleys, the acapella club there on campus. I wonder if it’s the kind of situation where he has to try out, or is it just a “show up and your in” kind of thing? But as you were saying, he’s a nerd, and it seems like he’ll be pretty comfortable there at Earlham as there seems to be a nice mixture of types of kids. We went to Beloit for a visit after we saw Earlham, and I don’t know – as much as I liked that school and it seemed nice, I just wasn’t sold. Can’t really put my finger on why.</p>
<p>Have any of you parents (or students, for that matter) gone to a preview weekend at Earlham? I’m wondering what we, and my son, should expect…</p>
<p>D and I went to a Preview Weekend in Spring 2011. It was well organized with breakout sessions for parents and for students. The student will have a opportunity to sit in on a class or two and spend the night in a dorm if they wish. My D enjoyed sitting in on a class but opted not to stay in the dorm. I don’t recall anymore details but we both enjoyed it. Earlham had been her favorite early on but she was unsure about the school after the Preview primarily because she wasn’t impressed with Richmond. This was her first college visit and I think she was also just a bit freaked at the idea of moving away and of college in general. </p>
<p>However, she is now a junior and loves Earlham so much that she doesn’t want to graduate and leave next year! EC has definitely been the right school for her. And I have grown to love Earlham, too, for the confidence, opportunites and individual attention D has found there.</p>
<p>We didn’t attend a Preview Weekend, but that description sounds the Admitted Students Weekend that we went to. schleppenheimer, if there’s a particular group or activity that your son is interested in, you might have him contact them prior to going. My D’s favorite part of the weekend was getting to participate in a session of the extracurricular group she wanted to investigate.</p>
<p>I don’t have a kid there, but have visited twice and it was a very close second for two of my kids, they both loved it. I have posted previously that I am pining for one of my kids to go there, or maybe that I could go back in time and attend, seems like such a special place. My next (and last) kid also is on the autism spectrum, he is really interested in Earlham and we will be visiting, and while the choice will be his, Earlham already was #1 on my list for him. But this from LasMa kind of cinches it, with me anyway: “I think there is a gentleness and respect that pervades everything at Earlham . . . .” Pretty powerful words for me to read, the parent of a very gentle, respectful kid who lives in a world that much of the time has not been very gentle or respectful to him.</p>
<p>Son did not do the preview week. I dropped him off after he was accepted and he spent an over night
Son did do the Wilderness adventure which he said was the greatest thing he has ever done.</p>
<p>My kid didn’t do any preview or admitted student events there. First visit was part of a 4-campus college trip. Earlham was on spring break at the time but my kid was able to set up a meeting in advance with the coordinator of a program she was interested in there and was able to have discussions with a couple of older students. Also had a meeting (that included me) with the head of the FA dept, the usual campus tour, etc. She had already been admitted by that time. </p>
<p>She returned a few weeks later for an overnight visit (not one of their regularly scheduled ones) in order to sit in on some classes and talk to some professors, get a feel for what the college was like when everyone was back from spring break. Sent a wish list to the admissions office of 3 particular classes to visit, 2 professors to meet with, said she’d like to visit a certain theme house, and do a couple of other particular things while she was there to help her make her decision. They made sure to build a schedule for her that included every single thing on her wish list which was very helpful to her. If your son has a similar wish list, have him ask the admissions office ahead of time to help him meet with anyone who can answer his questions about the place. </p>
<p>She went there 4 days after doing the same thing at another college on her short list. I thought she was choosing the other college but she came back from her second visit to EC saying that it was going to be her choice for sure. When they found out about a big independent research project she was doing for a special program she was in, two professors and a senior there all offered to give her assistance. One prof offered to be her mentor for her project. The senior emailed my kid the research she’d recently completed for her senior capstone project so my girl could read it since it had some similarities to her own research. These people had never met this HS kid before and were all going out of their way to help her out even though they might not ever see her again.</p>
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<p>There was a recent thread in which someone opined that LACs couldn’t possibly offer decent opportunities for undergrads to do research or any other meaningful work. But can you even imagine something like this happening if she’d previewed a big research U? Not in a million years. This is a great example of just how personal the Earlham experience is.</p>
<p>Forgot to mention that my D also interviewed at Preview Weekend. The most appealing aspect of Earlham for me has always been the respect and tolerance one feels on campus.</p>
<p>That’s the part I left out of my earlier post in this thread. It was a huge example to my D about how Earlham is a collaborative place and not a hugely competitive place. She had enough of the latter in her HS. LOL </p>
<p>I remember how she came back from that second visit to Earlham telling me what the two professors had said about her research and the special national program she was participating in and she told me, “I didn’t even consider that I might want a mentor for my research paper. I can’t believe they offered.” And the senior at Earlham had already emailed her own research for my D to review before my D got off the plane in our state later that same day. </p>
<p>When I took her to orientation/move-in last year, I had conversations with several faculty members at different events and the genuine caring for all the students from each of them was just incredible.</p>
<p>This is all highly reassuring stuff I’m hearing from all of you. We are leaving tomorrow to get to Indiana – Preview weekend starts Sunday, and our son will stay overnight. I am very much looking forward to how he feels about Earlham after this experience.</p>
<p>Let us know what he thinks (and you).</p>
<p>another question – my son has been having his typical rough time at the beginning of the year, when his grades look awful. Then, halfway through the semester, thing pick up and by the end of the semester he’s got fairly good grades. Right now he has all B’s, one A, and a D in calculus. It’s our feeling that this is due to his having a young inexperienced teacher in calculus that he’s not learning from in class. He got a B in honors pre-calculus last year, so we know he can do the work. </p>
<p>If DS applies Early Decision to Earlham, will that “D” in calculus disqualify him from being accepted? We’re trying to figure out if he would just be better off dropping the class,
and he could take an online course in the summer for calculus preparation for college.</p>
<p>A couple of thoughts from a dad as well as a graduate: If your child is a good fit, admissions can be pretty understanding. If you find there is an issue with a class, have your child contact his admissions councilor. If there is a reason and if he is likely to succeed, the school does not “go by the numbers” as much as schools who are more concerned about showing that they are competitive. If it is a surprise to admissions with no explanation however, it might not be so good. As for being a good place for kids with special needs, I will generalize to say that every student will be stretched. Sometimes students think that if they are smart they can get by without stretching themselves, or if they have special needs they can avoid working hard. While it is hard to fall through the cracks, it is also hard to hide your potential. It may not be in every class, but at several points along the way your child will be asked to reach their potential, which may not always be comfortable, but is how they grow and prepare for life.</p>