My impression is that “big school spirit” is a quality sought by OP’s daughter which may not be found at the current frontrunners. But, of course, that depends upon how one defines “big school spirit”. Is it heavy attendance at athletic events or just a campus that doesn’t empty out on weekends or “I know it when I see it” type of feeling.
@Publisher My estimate, from the list in post #716: there’s big school spirit at BC (huge!), Wake, Villanova. And spirit levels maybe one notch down for Richmond, Tulane, Santa Clara. Not sure about the others.
My friends niece is from NJ and is transferring out of Emory. The reason? If she wanted to be with kids from the NY/NJ area, she would have gone to school there. She says Emory is filled with “rich kids” from the northeast and she wants out in the worst way.
That being said… Emory is a fabulous school and these words are from a student who is barely out of high school. It’s obviously a poor fit and she will move on. There is no perfect school…
Emory does not have big school spirit. The students watch games at Georgia Tech.
@NJWrestlingmom yes Elon is off of the list. I mentioned reasons why a few weeks ago.
@twogirls I understand about Emory. I don’t even think they have a football team! But it likely checks other boxes.
I am very familiar with Emory. Based on my understanding of this thread, it is not an appropriate target school for OP’s daughter for a variety of reasons.
I seems like the University of Richmond, Wake Forest University (WFU), Colgate University, Davidson College and, possibly, the University of San Diego & Loyola Marymount University (LMU) are appropriate target schools so far.
An understated, but important development during the course of this thread seems to be the advice from the brother regarding that small LACs can feel small. Coming after just one semester at an ultra prestigious LAC , these words are significant.
well, easy to do a Wake-Richmond-Davidson-W&L college tour trip, and I guess that would help settle some things, although the time might be better spent on SAT prep.
@roycroftmom i feel like you’re always a negative voice here. Of course she can take a five day break from SAT studying to visit four schools she’s interested in. And she will have just taken an SAT right before we leave for the trip.
Not trying to be negative at all, OP, and if she has just taken a test prior to the trip, then of course a break is needed. I just know too many people who spent time at schools their scores did not match and were disappointed; maybe those people would have been better off postponing a trip til they had matching scores in hand. But that may not be the case for your family, and each student is different, so I wish you and your child luck.
@roycroftmom Agree with not visiting schools that are too reachy. Wake is test optional. I feel confident that Richmond will be in play. Davidson and W&L could end up in reach category but I want her to see them so she can start making a determination about smaller LACs. She’s already seen Davidson but can now look at it through her own eyes and not with S19 in tow and W&L is on the way to Richmond and will, I think, feel different than Davidson. Seeing two LACs will hopefully help her figure out if it’s the size of LACs that she’s unsure about or if she could see herself at one depending on the vibe.
We will have scores in hand before she visits anywhere else. The only tentative plan after this trip would be to see BC on her way to visit S19 just for fun. (She’s not considering Bowdoin.) We know the academic profile of four kids currently at BC from our school. They all went RD. So we should have a decent idea of her chances by then…although I don’t know how ED versus EA will affect BC’s RD admissions since this is the first year they offer it.
Last thing I will say about the list for now is that the only school that seems to check every single box is Wake Forest.
BC is Jesuit. Not ideal. Split campus with freshmen not all on main campus. Friends say the food isn’t great and you have to buy meals ala cart. Maybe a small thing but D seeing photos of Bowdoin’s food has her wanting a little of that amazing food action. I’m also a little concerned about the partying.
Villanova is Catholic, I believe, not Jesuit. That could be an issue. Plus, I sense from a lot of posters that it just doesn’t compare favorably to a place like BC.
Santa Clara Jesuit and the real chances of going all the way to California are small.
Richmond isn’t really that rah rah. I think it’s second in line, though, to being best fit on paper.
Davidson, W&L may be too small
Colgate is a reach and only athletes have been accepted from our school…also hard to get there. Dance program really not what she would do. Maybe she would just do dance team (poms).
Tulane could be a reach and I’m not confident at all that she could get in without going ED after seeing the EA info on CC this year. And it’s even more expensive than Bowdoin! Just looked that up yesterday. Yikes. Not sure we could get behind that.
Denison and Miami OH will only be seriously considered if D’s SAT scores end up lower than we hope. She’s not thrilled about either since both schools take kids from our high school who don’t take any honors classes. I’ve mentioned this in the past. Safety schools are going to be a pain to find.
If she finds herself in a situation where she needs to consider less selective schools, I honestly think she would visit Wisconsin again. Not that it’s terribly less selective but I think she would get in. If she is considering psych at all, it has one of the best programs in the country and, if she’s thinking political science, she’d be right there in a state capitol. Lots of bright kids from our school choose it so I think she could go back there and find reasons to like it. That’s why this is called a journey. Things could change over time.
Yeah. Picky picky I know.
As a Wake Forest parent I can confirm the following:
-option to live on campus for at least three years-Yes-Wake requires 3 years on campus (semester abroad is included)
-big school spirit-Wake has D1 athletics, big school spirit for football and basketball
-small class size-My DD19 has has 15-30 students in all classes so far
-compact campus-YES, Wake’s dorms, academic buildings, gym, food all 10 min walk from each other
-dance options as non-major-yes, here’s a link: https://theatre.wfu.edu/programs-of-study/dance-program
Also:
Wake is Test Optional
Wake is 30 minute drive to GSO airport, and has direct flights to Chicago
Wake is one for which the enrolled SAT composite in the 2019-20 CDS will be interesting to see. (It’s not posted yet.) I wonder if the CDS includes enrolled students who applied test-optional. My hunch is that this D will end up with SAT scores that are sufficient to report to Wake.
Also, I have toured several on your list, DD applied to some, and here are my thoughts/impressions:
Wake Forest-current parent-comments above, rolling ED 1, also have EDII, RD, kids are from all over, Boston, NY, NJ, Philly, Chicago, NC, SC, Fla, Tx, CA
Richmond-I loved it, beautiful campus, Small classes, DD19 thought it was too small, lots to see and do in Richmond-good restaurants (more so than Winston-Salem)
Boston College-also beautiful campus, Close to Boston, DD19 applied-waitlisted (got 20 apps from our HS, accepted 3), was DD’s 3rd choice
Villanova-it’s Augustinian, slightly different from Jesuit, DD19 did not like the crosses on almost every building, did not seem to allow taking classes between schools, felt too religious for her, also it’s far out in the suburbs (not a ton to see, do)
Tulane- interesting campus, great merit aid, they have EA, lots to see, do, eat in Nola, DD19 did not like that they put 3 people in double rooms in the honors college
Not to be critical at all, but I think the only true safety is probably Miami.
Are Penn State and Indiana out? She could find all she wants there, tbh. She has to compromise if she wants to have good choices.
What about West Virginia U and Gonzaga as safeties? Both have active dance teams and tons of school spirit. Gonzaga is not too large, with about 7,000 students. WVU is bigger with about 20k.
IMO, the religious vibe at BC is noticeable, though not overtly so.
In my opinion, it is important to visit as many schools on the list of possible target schools as is feasible.
Few families have both the time and resources to do so. This is a wonderful gift to your daughter & a significant investment of family resources.
Agree that Boston College should be given serious consideration based on the stated preferences.
^I agree. And for those who can afford visits, it seems imperative to do so before applying ED. (Mulling over a spring break trip in the direction of Wake…)
Penn State and IU are no’s for so many reasons. Honestly, like I’ve said now in many of my posts, she will get into a Denison and Miami and almost 100 percent likely into Wisconsin with a 30 ACT equivalent. I know it’s not a popular way to do things but we are not focusing on safeties yet. Waiting for scores. I know we could come up with a ton of safeties if she needs them but they will be (1) not $80k per year and (2) easy to travel to.
Ok, I didn’t see Denison or Wisconsin in your list in post #716.
There’s also UIUC. We prepaid tuition there. She has friends there. She could be Greek there, dance there…option as safety. Hopefully she would make the most of it.
@homerdog , I’m in similar place with D20. We looked at similar schools. Wake’s been #1 from start. Applied ED1 and Pres Scholarship. Deferred so still waiting. S19 is at Tulane so if you have any questions, let me know. It’s been great for him. They took 50% of the class this year in ED and only take about 2% from regular so if it ends up being a leading choice ED is the way to go.