<p>For science interest, it might be worth a look at University of the Sciences. Very near to Penn to have a stop by - great Pharmacy program too.</p>
<p>Swarthmore or Haverford, though very selective would be good picks because both school look very carefully at fit when accepting their students. I have been surprised who has been accepted at those schools which both are very popular with my sons’ high school, and who has been denied. The Naviance is a bit skewed for that school, I can see. Penn seems very much more about the numbers. Legacies only get preference at Penn during the ED round, by the way.</p>
<p>I’m a grad of Ursinus. It is a great science school and can fit the match/safty school for many without giving up a challenging curriculm. Also, there is a nice museum on campus.</p>
<p>I also immediately thought of Franklin & Marshall.</p>
<p>There is such an overwhelming number of schools in the area that I am sure you will be able to have some nice visits!</p>
<p>For an urban school, Temple actually has a very nice campus (think green, and couryards and brick pedestrian walkways) and Division 1 athletics, good business school and great art school. It is large and in north Philly, but has 2 subway stops on campus with easy access to center city and west philly.</p>
<p>It has a nice campus but very sketchy surrounding area, no matter what people might want to pretend. I know a number of law students at Temple who do NOT feel comfortable at all around the campus area. I like a lot of things about Temple- don’t get me wrong. It is not a destination school for someone from Florida, though. It simply isn’t.</p>
<p>If you are going to Allentown I would really consider Lehigh and Lafayette. They are good schools for those looking at premed, sciences and I know Lehigh has a sizable Jewish population. </p>
<p>Both schools look for interest so visiting would be a great advantage for you. They are both looking for geographic diversity and I don’t know but I suspect that Florida may have a lot of kids that stay in state because of Bright Futures.</p>
<p>His stats look in line for both schools with Laf being a bit less selective. I would at least do a drive by since both schools are so close.</p>
<p>We visited Lafayette, Lehigh and Muhlenberg. My two kids both felt that they each had a very different feel to them. We went to the area to see Lehigh since it seemed to have everything my D was looking for. Not large but not small, decent Jewish population. She ended up liking it but not loving it. We next visited Muhlenberg. We parked and had lunch. She was turned off by all the kids in sweatshirts with greek letters and by what she felt was self segregation by the different ethnic groups. She refused to do the tour. I am not sure why because it seemed I did not get any negative feelings. We ended up driving out to Lafayette which wasn’t on our original list because we had time after she vetoed the tour at Muhlenberg. For some strange reason she liked what she saw at Lafayette. We ended up walking into the admissions office late in the afternoon and they arranged for a student to give us a tour. She liked it enough to add it to her list.</p>
<p>What does he want to major in? I would look at colleges for that first. But if he has a fluctuating GPA, why bother looking at Ivies? Go straight to Temple and Penn State. You can’t come to PA and look at colleges without going to Penn State!! Go to Haverford/Swarthmore/Penn/Princeton etc. if you wish, but if he has a fluctuating GPA, you are asking for a broken heart. West Chester and Lehigh would be good to check out, too.</p>
<p>Gratz is a Jewish college just outside of the city. But Villanova…somehow I just don’t think there’s a Jewish population there. </p>
<p>Ursinus is ok, but Collegeville is BORing. They have a large turnover, not all it’s cracked up to be. And the smell at F&M on a good day in the wind is…Mooo. Just because it’s in the city doesn’t mean it’s not close to the cows.</p>
<p>Oh, I just read - Sciences and Math - then that makes Penn State a given! And - what about the University of Delaware in Wilmington?</p>
<p>This kid is a rising junior. There’s lots of time. My understanding is that they are going to be in the area and just want to check out a few schools to get the ball rolling. I don’t think the purpose is to find a Philadelphia area school that will admit him in two years with a major he wants. He doesn’t know yet! A kid from Florida doesn’t need to be considering Temple, but if you are in the area I guess there’s no harm in looking at it. I wouldn’t do it, but to each his own.</p>
<p>I think you are right MoWC. With Bright Futures, if the kid is going to go to a state school, he has much of his costs paid at Fl State and UFl. Doubt he’d come up north to go to Temple. Though friend’s D we know went from Chicago to go there. </p>
<p>But FL also has some hidden jewels of LACs like Muhlenburg too. Rollins, Stetson, Eckerd come to mind immediately.</p>
<p>As I have said, we are going to be in the Philly area and have 1 1/2 days to take a look at some schools and hopefully get DS started thinking about what type of school he might like to put on his list. He will have a free ride to any state school in Florida so really, I don’t see the point of looking at any OOS state schools. His grades have not fluctuated. He is a currently good student but, next year his grades could take a hit since he is more interested in taking classes to learn the material than maximizing his GPA and taking a safer schedule. Temple is not on our radar, neither is Drexel. I don’t know if we will have enough time to see Lehigh and Lafayette and Muhlenberg in one afternoon…most tours/info sessions take 2 hours. Perhaps we could do drive bys on the other two. We are aware that UPenn legacy’s only get a bump during the ED cycle and that is why it is particularly a good idea to visit this one school. I don’t know if it is for him or if he would qualify to apply but if he continues as he has in the past 10 years of school, it may be a good fit for him. We also have to see how he feels about schools that are barely bigger (or smaller) than his high school, which has 3200 kids!</p>
<p>I’m going into Engineering and we’re going to be visiting Villanova, Lafayette, Lehigh, and Bucknell. Obviously if you want a Jewish presence, don’t visit Nova, but try the other 3.</p>
<p>OP: If there is a real pre-med possibility, I suggest Haverford over Swarthmore. Although both are outstanding LACs, Haverford is more focused to pre-med. Good research opportunities for undergrads and they have their own stem cell line - you won’t find that at many small colleges.</p>
<p>An out of the box option is Univ of Delaware - very good science, engineering and a nice campus. It has an Honors program as well. Although we live in NJ, many good students from our area go there. From a close friend, I think the Hillel (sp?) program is pretty active (although nowhere near UPenn).</p>
<p>Although I’m not sure if this is a factor, U of D will provide a lower cost option. Neither Penn, Haverford or Swarthmore offer merit $$ and from experience, their definition of “meeting need” is still a big pill.</p>
<p>Does anyone know of the political climate at Haverford versus Swathmore. I just bought the Fiske Guide and it made a comment about Haverford that said “People say that is it easier to come out as a gay male on campus than a Republican male.” Swathmore also seems to lean towards the left. We lean toward the right here. DH is an outspoken libertarian who, although a registered Democrat, has voted Republican for the past 12 years. DS, although not into politics at this point, is our child. Just wondering.</p>
<p>Your son is going to find that he is in the political minority at MOST colleges. My Republican son finally found a group of like-minded (and not- they enjoy the debating) friends at Penn. Where he got into trouble was with the almost entirely liberal faculty…Some found my son to have well-reasoned and interesting viewpoints, others did not.</p>
<p>My son is pretty moderate (conservative / Republican on some issues, liberal / Democrat on others - he campaigned for Obama prior to the election but is also doing some volunteer work for our county’s Republican party this summer) and I didn’t sense it would be a problem at Haverford.</p>
<p>Your son being “not into politics at this point” could conceivably mean that he is not into his parents’ politics at this point, or into picking fights with his father about that. In which case he would feel fine at Swarthmore or Haverford. Your husband might not feel fine at either place, though, at least not if he wanted to be in the majority. Both colleges have a Quaker history, and tend to be very, very left-wing on issues involving war and civil liberties. Not that they exclude conservative students – both places have them, just not so many of them. There will be plenty of people who would describe themselves as libertarians at either, but not so many who could reconcile that position with voting for many Republican politicians. If someone would get upset at being the only person in a large room who opposed gay marriage, he would not be happy at Swarthmore or Haverford.</p>
<p>As between the two of them, I have the impression that Swarthmore is more noisily political, in every direction – just lots of political debate there, lots of kids who want to talk about politics and get engaged in politics at all different sorts of levels. Haverford is quieter, and may be more congenial to a kid who is truly not interested. But part of that impression may come from Haverford being smaller than Swarthmore, or just from the fact that the kids I know at Haverford recently have been quiet and serious.</p>
<p>I attended Lafayette and many of my friends were Jewish. We have several friends with children attending Muhlenberg and have not heard much positive feedback on their experience. Lafayette, Lehigh, Bucknell, Dickinson and Gettysburg are all better academically.</p>
<p>frankur - I also attended Lafayette (in the 80s) and am puzzled by your negative comments on Muhlenberg. We are planning to visit this fall and I have always heard good things about the school. Would you please elaborate on what your friends and their children did not like about Muhlenberg? I am willing to allow that it is slightly below Bucknell and Lehigh academically - maybe a touch below the others you mentioned - but I have always thought it had a fine reputation. Would appreciate it if you can expand on your comment.</p>