Colleges you never heard of before

Parents Forum
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<p>In the last few years, I have been trying to learn more about colleges in the U.S. It is entertaining to me that I think I know a reasonable amount about what colleges are out there and can be reasonably helpful to my son when he is choosing colleges but then, fairly frequently, I hear of a new college I really did not know about, had never heard of before. </p>

<p>When I hear of an unfamiliar school, I tend to search for it on CC and sometimes so much information pops up that I can't believe my memory is telling me that I never heard of that school before. There is always something here - it seems like there is a comment somewhere on CC about every college in the U.S.A.</p>

<p>I tend to agree with one funny insight from the author of the Cool Colleges book (forgot his name but the book is entertaining): on the average, we think about colleges with names from the beginning of the alphabet more often than colleges from the end of the alphabet because so many lists of colleges to consider are alphabetical. I think this explains why my brain "knows" much more about Amherst than Williams, even though neither is/was a college likely for my Midwest 2 Kids.</p>

<p>Just learned a friend of my daughter's is at Bridgewater College in Virginia. Bridgewater? Say what? and a quick cc search showed it to be a an easier to get into school with some of the characteristics of Elon. Ok. Add one more to the list of "schools in my brain" and keep going. </p>

<p>It would have been easier to learn a new language. :)</p>

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<p>Just wanted to make sure you've seen this terrific thread on cc.......</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/370873-brag-about-your-lesser-known-school.html?highlight=lesser+known%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/370873-brag-about-your-lesser-known-school.html?highlight=lesser+known&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>"... on the average, we think about colleges with names from the beginning of the alphabet more often than colleges from the end of the alphabet ...."</p>

<p>Wow, bet that bums the admission officers at Yale, Williams, Wesleyan, Wellesley, Wake Forest, Whitman, WashU, Washington & Lee, Vassar, Vanderbilt, Trinity, Tufts, and Tulane -- not to mention the many fine public universities in Virginia!</p>

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<p>That is so true. Until I joined cc, I hadn't heard of a lot of colleges that people on here seem to hold in very high regard. Now, when ds gets mail from one, I can say, "Oh, I read about that on cc!"</p>

5

<p>I went to a homeschool college fair in Northern NH several years ago and was amazed to learn about a lot of colleges in New England that I'd never heard of. They were tucked away in all sorts of places. It kind of gives you an idea of the scope of the college business.</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
Just learned a friend of my daughter's is at Bridgewater College in Virginia. Bridgewater? Say what? and a quick cc search showed it to be a an easier to get into school with some of the characteristics of Elon. Ok. Add one more to the list of "schools in my brain" and keep going

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yep. My son's at Elon, but Bridgewater was easily his second choice, above several other higher ranked and more well known schools.</p>

7

<p>Same here, because of what I've read here, we are going to have to look at a lot more colleges for D than we did for S. </p>

<p>We thought we 'knew' the ones on the West Coast that would fit... There are way more than we thought.</p>

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<p>--Wow, bet that bums the admission officers at Yale, Williams, Wesleyan, Wellesley, Wake Forest, Whitman, WashU, Washington & Lee, Vassar, Vanderbilt, Trinity, Tufts, and Tulane -- not to mention the many fine public universities in Virginia!--</p>

<p>lol. I bet they aren't bummed out!</p>

9

<p>I am sure that Yale is on all every "short list".</p>

<p>Here's a link to Cool Colleges with the intro pages.
Cool</a> Colleges: For the Hyper ... - Google Book Search</p>

<p>Use the arrows to advance to page 9 to see the section "Why are some listings in this book in reverse alphabetical order?"</p>

10

<p>My older son applied to some schools that are not hidden gems, but are not household names either. I got such puzzled looks when asked where my son was applying. I don't blame kids for feeling badly when they tell people that were accepted at small LACs. Many people have never heard of larger schools like Towson, Kutztown, or George Mason University, etc. I guess we cannot expect those people to know Beloit, Guilford, Albion, or Marietta College.</p>

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<p>My second daughter is a senior at a college I had never heard of before she was sent info in the mail. It is a very tiny school in NC and most people around here have quit asking me what school she goes to! They just know it 's down south.</p>

<p>Bridgewater? Yep - I pass it everytime I go to NC! Right off I-81 where there are a plethora of colleges.</p>

<p>My third is at the United States Military Academy - a mere three hours away and many people have no idea that a.) it's Army or b.) that it is indeed a 4 year college and yes she will earn a college degree!</p>

<p>BCEagle91 - New England has many fine small colleges, for sure!</p>