My D21’s girlfriend started there at the same time and this was her take and feeling.
Per my D21 who has friends at many of the HWCs the they each sort of have a personality based upon location, relationship with non-HWCs in their area, classes offered, and students attending. This is totally unscientific and of course does not cover all students but in general the kids see Wellesley and Barnard as more intense, competitive and pre-professional feeling due to their relationship with Harvard and MIT for Wellesley and Columbia with Barnard. They are also more difficult to get into so the more intense, high strung and driven women end up there. Also give no merit aid so they have more of a barbell effect, with not a lot of middle income or donut hole families.
I was going to maybe post this as a separate thread in the disability section, but wholeheartedly agree that the quarter system would not be a good fit for my ADHD/EF challenged kid such that we’re thinking of just disqualifying any quarter system schools. Would love to hear others thoughts on this as well especially those with ADHD/EF kids who’ve had experience with the quarter system.
I still struggle to figure out how to compare weighted GPA’s, my daughter had one B, the rest A’s or A-‘s, 9 AP’s, the rest honors, and had a 3.9+ UGPA, 4.2 weighted at her high school. I think the top gpa was a 4.4. Her brother had a 3.7 UWGPA, 30 ACT, $35,000 was the budget, so not many options in the northeast besides in state NJ colleges. UDel gave my daughter enough merit to reach the budget, plus she had a much higher ACT score. Fortunately when he crashed and burned 45 minutes from home, after several trips home, it made things easier being close.
She sounds exceptional - no need to wonder what the 4.4 kid did differently. Possibly one more AP class, or a few more A’s vs. A- or B, or maybe the school actually grades to A+.
My friend’s son stopped Freshman year, took a year and a summer to take classes at the local community college to get a grip on how to handle college - and was able to return to his original college and doing well. So things might still work out, if college even is the best option for him at all.
There are some named schools in the Ne at $35k and other regional ones but by and large the NE, as a whole, has less budget options it seems - at least at the flagship level.
Glad your son is close. It’s certainly not uncommon for kids to stumble but many recover. Homesickness, the allure of independence throwing one off track, rigor at an entirely different level, not eating well, bad roommate situation - so many things can clip kids. It’s so new for them - no matter how solid the grades, it’s hard to know who is truly ready.
yes on Smith and Mt. Holyoke and Sarah Lawrence, which is one reason why they did not win out but BMC is only 20 minutes outside of Philly and has lots of doctors in the area, as well as a smallish hospital. So BMC fit the bill!
Gotcha. I assumed you meant from a financial aid perspective.
If it helps clarify her standing, she was notified that she will likely be designated as top 9% for the UC ELC. The high school does not report rank–only decile–so we can infer she is in the top 10%.
I know WL is just a soft rejection in most cases. I was responding based on the assumption that meets need schools would be off the table due to cost.
**I’m playing catch-up with the thread right now. Family medical emergency unexpectedly took my attention for the past couple of days. Thank you to everyone for your insight thus far!
I think a rapid-pace would be a bad fit. I’m not sure if that the quarter system at most UCs would be an issue (fewer courses to worry about at once does help).
The block system is different than quarters. In the block schedule, students only take a one course at a time. So…they only need to concentrate their efforts on a single course. Yes…intensive…but only one course.
The two colleges in the post by @WayOutWestMom are the only ones I know if with this. For some kids…it’s terrific, because they are concentrating their efforts on only one course at a time.
I’ll take anywhere in California over the east coast!
We tried to explain two main benefits to living closer to home: 1) mom and dad easily reaching her the same day she calls about a crisis/medical emergency (anywhere in CA ticks this box) and 2) being able to come home for a day/weekend/short break when she feels overwhelmed and ‘peopled’ out (not as easy if she’s in the Bay area or beyond but more manageable).
The financial costs are also a real factor (lower travel and insurance expenses).
Thank you for the info on women’s colleges. I made an offhand comment about HWCs to D a year ago–never anticipating she would latch on to the idea. She seems really excited and intrigued. D has talked with AO’s at Scripps and Smith and walked away with a great impression (she also talked to a Barnard rep but we both don’t feel like it’s a good fit).
We had Bryn Mawr on the list until recently and I can’t remember why it got taken off–maybe something to do with housing or financial aid? I genuinely don’t remember but you’re post is making me reinvestigate. The theater info is great; some of her friends in college have expressed frustration that if you’re not a declared theater major/minor, the opportunity to participate in campus theater is limited to non-existent.
Oxy was my first choice college as an eager HS senior but the financial aid just didn’t work out (those wingback chairs and cherry bookcases in the dorm lounge really spoke to my vision of ideal college life ). I’ve added it to our tour list and hopefully we can get some insider info from her sibling’s friend who will start school there in the fall.
Our high school (and many in our area) weigh honors, DE, and AP classes on a 5.0 scale. I think they try to align with the UC/CSU scales as much as possible.
Oh so Honors gets an extra point too. Wow. I wonder how they define Honors vs AP when they get the same points. ? I can see now how the weighted is that high. Makes sense. Thx
Trip advice:
We are trying to do a trip this summer to visit:
Philadelphia
Bryn Mawr College
New York City
Long Island
Smith College
Brandeis University
Mt. Holyoke College
Boston
*And maybe some additional schools mentioned that would fit geographically
Any advice on the best way to get from points A to B (and C, D, etc?). We plan to play tourist along the way. Any suggestions for places to stay, eat, etc would be appreciated along with sights that shouldn’t be missed.
). I’ve added it to our tour list and hopefully we can get some insider info from her sibling’s friend who will start school there in the fall.