@twinsmama Were their applications near identical? It would be interesting to know what made the difference. Or if maybe there was only one specific “slot” to be filled and they flipped a coin.
We visited University of South Carolina because we were actually staying with friends in Columbia while visiting other schools in that neck of the woods. We figured…why not…
We were all very taken with the campus and the programs. It helped that our tour guide was fabulous. It became a top contender for our kid…and after acceptance, they won the prize for reaching out and making her feel welcome.
If she hadn’t gotten accepted at her number one choice…she would have happily attended SC…and with a huge scholarship as well.
I think U of South Carolina is the “sleeper flagship” in the southeast. Everyone thinks of UGA, UNC,
UVA, but not South Carolina…and really…it’s great.
@thumper1 It must depend where you live. Univ of SC is very popular with kids in MD, at least in my area. From the southeast schools you list, Univ of SC gets the most applicants (and attendees) from my kids’ small h.s. (Grad class of about 110-120).
@4kids4us we live in New England. Plus I should,add…we did our U of South Carolina tour in 2004 summer. I’m sure the school has upped its popularity since.
My point was…this was a school that was not on our radar screen at all. And we all really liked it…a lot.
Pomona - we really didn’t think that the campus and area would be so pretty, or that a Southern California college would really have such a strong old-school intellectual college vibe. This was after we visited USC which was, in our opinion, exactly what you would expect from a South California school. My kid fell in love, and it leaped to the top of her choices - she even bought a sweatshirt. It’s been supplanted since, and the sweatshirt has been gifted to a good friend who is going to Pomona (after it was replaced with a sweatshirt of our kid’s new love) but it retains a warm spot in our kid’s heart.
Northeastern in Boston. We’re in CA but D1 wanted to go to a LAC school in the northeast, she likes a little more formality… had planned on Dickinson for years! She was not looking at anything urban, nothing over 5,000 students, etc. we had an extra half day flying out of Boston and were near it, so decided to pop in to see a different school. Even sharing one umbrella on a 40 degree miserably cold rainy day, we both came away super intrigued by it all… the fact that it had a campus of its own within the city, great programs, super engaged students, the coop program (of course) and lots of opportunity for international study/travel. She left saying that she “could really see herself there” which was a big surprise. She applied, got in and graduated 5 years later with her BS/MS, literally travelled the world, got a great education and took on every opportunity offered! She ended up choosing NEU over Dickinson and may other LACs and never looked back. I recommend that folks look at and apply to a couple of schools that might be out of the norm of what your child might be interested in bc you just never know… (they also change a lot over the 9 months of senior year…)
Also a big Lafayette fan. Went there to visit with my daughter 8 years ago (she ended up elsewhere), and then again this fall with my son. Lovely, manageable campus, nice facilities including a very attractive library. Still fairly early in the process for my son, who’s a junior, but he really enjoyed the visit as well.
Fordham surprised us in a good way. The schools is close to where we live, was right in my S’s wheelhouse academically, it was the size school he wanted, it had a good business program etc. but we didn’t visit for the longest time. We expected Fordham would be a run down campus in a bad neighborhood. Fordham sent our S a mailing and we decided to go on a whim. Boy were we shocked!! The campus is absolutely gorgeous, the campus was gated and felt very safe, the students we met were wonderful, and we quickly became comfortable with neighborhood (by Arthur Avenue). We had no idea this was a half hour away! And as things turned out, he is a happy and proud Fordham alum right now! So grateful that we gave the school a chance.
FWIW my D went to Lafayette and we love that school as well (she had a fantastic 4 years there) - it was just not a surprise as we expected to like it when we visited.
@akin67 , we felt the same about U Richmond! Just couldn’t believe how perfect and meticulous it was! @happy1 so glad to read that about Fordham, DS has been accepted and we haven’t visited yet, it was a late find and addition to the list. Waiting for merit aid info to decide if it is a contender.
Our happy surprise was LMU…it was a safety (Theater major) for my DD, we visited the day before her UCLA audition and loved everything about it, campus, people, students, staff, etc. She had already been accepted there and this took all of the pressure off of the UCLA audition. After a couple of weeks of thinking it over she accepted to LMU and withdrew her other apps/auditions and is incredibly happy there.
Colorado School of Mines
It felt like we were at a really nice liberal arts college, but for science. Kid got in, chose someplace much larger.
Iowa State U. The out-of state COA is compatible to most instate COAs plus they give load of $$ to bring the cost to their instate level. Moreover, the Engineering Dept is very good too. The students/staff at the schools are very nice. Iowans are very nice, friendly and down-to-earth people.
Was driving through Oklahoma & checked out both Oklahoma & Oklahoma State. Both among the most beautiful colleges I’ve seen. Nice business districts right across the street from their campuses. People are always looking for safeties with good merit aid they would be happy to go to…these two fit the bill.