Honestly the more you talk about what she’s looking for the less the push for a LAC makes sense. There’s always trade offs, but I think she’s letting a few bigger intro classes scare her off schools that probably make more sense from both a diverse academic offerings and school spirit fit.
@roycroftmom totally. I would love for her to go somewhere with one flight and a short drive. Believe me, that will come into play. I’m going to talk to my friend whose son is at Colgate and see how much of a pain the travel is.
When we visited WF the girls were not dressed up. They wore jeans. Granted…we were not there for a game so I can’t speak about that.
Colgate is a great school and I do think your D will like it. I have relatives there and agree that there is a lot of partying (but again…all schools have partying for those who want it).
Dare I suggest Syracuse? Yes, it’s bigger than what you are looking for but I think it’s another one your D may like. It has the social piece that your daughter wants and I know many kids there who are similar academically.
@Darcy123 it’s not just big versus small classes that is keeping her from loving a big school. It’s the pure size of the school. Walking around big campuses, she just doesn’t like it. Wants a campus that looks like W&M or Davidson or Colby or Bowdoin. Had a gut reaction to Madison and said just no, too big. Even the high rise forms in the “city” of Madison got a negative response so I showed her the cute ones out on the lake and, as we walked back to where classes were she just said no. Too far. Too big.
I know her current checklist of what she wants is nearly impossible to find with her stats. I have a gut feeling that she will choose a school based on vibe. So I need to put her on campuses so she can start accessing what’s most important to her.
I know you don’t want more suggestions ?, but I second Syracuse…if you go to Hamilton and Colgate, it’s easy to go there too. That campus is great and does not seem too big at all, it’s easy to get around. No warm weather but huge school spirit!
Based on your daughter’s interests, likes & dislikes revealed, Wisconsin, Bates, & St. Olaf do not make sense.
P.S. With respect to OP’s spouse’s preference for Illinois or Wisconsin, it seems as if the father prefers a lower cost option.
Brings back thoughts of Southern public honors colleges/programs which offer merit aid. Warm weather, school spirit, close knit community, small classes, special advising, special housing, priority registration, & opportunities to dance at major sports events.
Ok @Publisher if she can get her ACT wayyyy up then maybe she should consider USCarolina. I think their honors program is the real deal with small sections for most classes for the honors kids plus a bunch of other perks. I think maybe she can live on campus for at least two years if not more.
I know that Bates and St. Olaf don’t make sense! But I want her to visit and tell me she doesn’t like them. I want her to consider what schools like that would be like for her. She is making these comments about what she thinks she wants but hasn’t spent hardly any time really thinking about it much and I hear a ton of stories about how kids change their minds over time and after visits. And she’s never been to a place like Wake. She could want to leave after five minutes. We don’t know! I love the experience S has had to far at Bowdoin and maybe she could see herself at a more rural LAC in a year and a half. I’m willing to let that go if she doesn’t like them when visiting. It’s her deal in the end. I just don’t want her to close the door on those types of schools until she is SURE they aren’t for her. I’m willing to throw out the big schools for the most part because I’m not a huge fan myself. Yes I am biased. Please don’t start posting about how big schools can be awesome. I spent a LOT of time on S19’s search and I just love those LACs!
And duh yes. H would like to spend less. You know what would be perfect? If she loved Miami OH and did the honors program. Or she loved Denison or some other LAC and gets merit. All she feels like she’s ruled out so far is super big university so there could be places that they could both like. I am just holding firm in that I do not want to sell her short. I think she could get into some of the higher matches on her tentative list. They just happen to be expensive.
If still looking, Dickinson and Gettysburg are worth a look. Have Greek life. Have academics, not as difficult to get in as some of others. Some merit possibilities too
@cptofthehouse Yes. Davidson could be the ED. In the end, S19 narrowed it down to Bowdoin and Davidson and we were ready to bite the bullet for full pay at either. D liked it when we visited. Easy to get there. Great school. The only tiny thing that worries me is that I’ve heard it’s really intense academically. It’s hard to know what that means. S feels like the rigor at Bowdoin is insane but mostly because he was placed very high into a math class with no other freshman and, even without taking a Physics AP, was moved into a higher class via a placement test. He is grinding out there. He would say, though, that his non-STEM friends seem to have more free time than he does and D will not be STEM so I wonder if that alleviates some of the intensity since she’s no premed or STEM. Good questions for us to ask.
@cptofthehouse Ha! This list will be evolving for a while I think. I should have her look at both of those. Thanks. Not sure how easy it is for us to get to them…
As mentioned before, S was accepted to Dickinson but, honestly, we didn’t look at it that closely. I heard good things on CC. He wanted a LAC safety. He liked the rep who came to school. I’ll look at it more.
Has your daughter had the opportunity to spend much time on the Bowdoin campus with her brother to get a feel for small LACs in general?
@doschicos No. She did go with us when we visited a year ago when he had his interview but couldn’t go to drop off because she had started school and then couldn’t go to family weekend because she had another commitment here at home. We plan on her going out there to visit him this April. I agree that it could be enlightening and go either way.
@homerdog: Re: Your post #266.
I just took the lead of you & your husband. Your husband prefers Illinois, which has a total enrollment of 42,400 students of which 32,200 are undergraduate students, and you speak highly of Wisconsin, which has a total enrollment over 38,000 including 28,600 undergraduate students.
I did not bring up big schools, nor did I bring up Ole Miss. I just responded. And I think that what you are doing is admirable, yet tough. I wish that you were poor because it would be much easier to reach a consensus on target schools.
Sure, I love Texas, Ole Miss, Georgia, Michigan and some other large public universities. Doesn’t mean that they are right for your daughter.
In my view, it is almost unnatural for a mother to want anything other than an elite, beautiful LAC for her son or daughter. Very easy to understand if paying full price & not set on an engineering or technical degree.
But your daughter wants some things offered by big schools & she doesn’t need to pay anywhere near $75,000 a year if she achieves an ACT score in the low 30s. (She actually could attend tuition free at many schools.)
Warm weather schools tend to be in the South, Southwest, & in Southern California. Those in the South & Southwest tend to be large publics.
You are doing a great job, but you are struggling which means that you are open-minded.
Rather than visiting cold weather, midwestern LACs, consider a visit to some schools out of your & her preconceived comfort zones.
I am a mom who really preferred LACs for her kids. Didn’t happen with most of them.
My neighbors have daughters and Gettysburg , Lafayette, Dickinson , Colgate, Bucknell, Lehigh, Muhlenburg, Hobart William Smith, F&M, Union all schools in heavy consideration for them. Some money forthcoming from Gettysburg, Dickinson, Muhlenburg. Nice money from Ursinus and St Lawrence. All have thrived with their choices. None of them eligible for financial aid,; all had multiples in college , and yeah that $10-20k a year was much appreciated. We got some for the one child who did go to a LAC and it was a breath of fresh air.
I have heard that Sewanee, Elon, also good for merit. Rhodes seems to be big money or none, but can check it out. It was one of my kids’ second choice school.
BC, Fordham very popular here and though, Catholic, not heavy duty. I can see someone with a strong aversion to religion, Catholicism , uncomfortable there, but, really, for most, not a big deal. In fact, a greater tolerance for differences than many very vanilla schools of no denomination, IMO.
@Publisher not bad advice. I have considered the fact that maybe some public universities could have fewer acres than UIUC and Wisconsin. And maybe some of those are warmer so walking less distance in better weather does sound better than standing in a foot of snow waiting for a bus in Ann Arbor. I’ll need to look a bit.
One thing that I’m worried about when it comes to big schools is job placement. It seems to come down to kids competing with their GPAs to get interviews. And I don’t think big schools do a good job at advising undecided students and guiding them. At a small school, there are a lot of eyes on the kids and a lot of opportunities. And those alumni really step up to help the kids find internships and jobs. Not to say the kids don’t have to put themselves out there and be assertive but these LACs seem to have pipelines to jobs for all majors.
Typically, honors college / program students at large publics receive special advising & offers of internships & job interviews not open to the rest of the student body. Of course, students majoring in technical areas are in high demand and also get lots of internship & employment opportunities.
There will be much less stress once your daughter receives her ACT score.
We went through the whole analysis regarding Southern schools. I originally thought that Southern culture might be a good fit for our S but in the end I had the feeling we really wouldn’t understand what we were getting into until it was too late, particularly with an Asian kid. (Have you looked at the dorm room Instagrams?) Davidson was on the list for a while, as it does not have that same vibe, but eventually he decided he did not want an S1 school. If she likes warmer weather, have you looked at Trinity University in San Antonio? She might not like the architecture, which is more modern, but it’s a strong, well-funded LAC in a very interesting city.
It would be interesting to hear from those with students at LACs regarding the thought that “LACs seem to have pipelines for jobs for all majors.”
My understanding is a bit different. Many elite LACs, such as Carleton College, are great at preparing students for graduate school, but less effective at job placement.
Large public universities get lots of recruiters due to efficiency concerns. Of course, high GPAs get interviews, but isn’t that one of your daughter’s strengths ?
Regardless, I have no preconceived idea as to your daughter’s best fit. I try to react to posts & to introduce my thoughts & impressions based on those posts.
There are almost 200 Religious (priests, brothers, nuns) who live at BC. It is their assigned home, so of course they are going to be walking around the campus, teaching courses, running organizations, hanging out on the sidelines of football games.
Religion isn’t forced on anyone at the Catholic colleges, but it is THERE and it is the foundation of the school’s mission. If one can’t accept that, and doesn’t want the religious presence, don’t go.
@Publisher I’m just worried that a psych major or history major is a dime a dozen from a big university. One of those from Davidson has the stamp of Davidson behind her for the rest of her life. Seems different to me. I know really smart kids who had pretty employable majors and are definitely go-getters and are working two jobs just to not have to move home. In their cases, their big universities didn’t do much to help them past resume services and leading them to Linkedin. I know Bowdoin does a big outreach to alums and many many kids get their internships and jobs that way.