As an aside. If your daughter is going crazy and needs to dance many dance companies are holding classes online. Just Google. I know my competitive dance teams have their instructors go online and the kid goes into their basement to learn routines etc.
Also many yoga studios are having online classes for pretty cheap. Even if their not one’s for dance like floor bar, yoga is such a great thing for dancers…
OK… Now back to our scheduled programming… ?
@Knowsstuff She’s on it. Been doing a different ballet barre every day at our kitchen counter. And Core Power yoga classes. I wish we had a place for a barre in the house. We could make a space but it wouldn’t be anywhere very private. We’ll see how long this goes on!
There are a lot of discussions around this in the higher ed community. Believe me, we are certainly not already writing off a whole semester of residential college this fall. Colleges are going to wait until the last minute to make the decision. You have to remember that R&B is a MAJOR part of our budget. If we have to forfeit that money in the fall we will have a significant deficit. Yet, they will still need to find a way to pay faculty and staff. (My salary hasn’t been reduced just because I now teach my classes remotely.) No one is more concerned than us. For non-elite colleges, this is a matter of survival. There are only so many cuts you can make.
This is standard across higher ed. Colleges are refunding room & board, and moving to C/NC course options. If you find a college that is not doing this you should run in the other direction. It’s considered unthinkable.
@ProfSD So our S19 is at Bowdoin and it’s exclusively C/NC for the semester. I think that’s the best move but it does seem like many colleges have decided to give kids the choice. It’s been debated on so many threads at this point but I think C/NC for everyone is really the most fair way to go. I don’t think any of the schools are D’s list have gone that way. We have loved everything about Bowdoin’s reaction to this situation. Their communication has been constant and honest. Virtual town halls for parents, students, faculty, staff…all online for all to see. Letters twice or three times a week from the president. Of the schools on D’s list, it seems that Richmond and Davidson seem to be communicating the most. All have returned room and board. Richmond and Davidson also have the highest endowment per student on her list.
D has done a lot of virtual info sessions this week. It’s going well! Some are a regular power point and then a virtual chat with AOs or students. She “saw” Davidson and Colgate yesterday and today and both were just one AO and one student talking casually about the school, hitting what they think prospective students want to hear, and then taking questions. She really liked that format and was super impressed by both of these schools as was I. These two presentations were more personal than seeing some pat power point presentation. She’s been to info sessions when we were looking with S19 and they all say the same thing. This more laid back format allows the presenters to be more nimble and just talk about what the kids on the call want to know.
Right now, I’m remembering why we loved Davidson so much when we were considering it for S19. The AO was lovely and friendly and the student was sharp and helpful. They talked a lot about how the alumni are helpful in finding internships and jobs for the kids and how they also helped kids in multiple ways during the virus situation - offering to store students’ things, giving up frequent flier miles to help kids get last minute expensive flights home and more. Love all that. D liked that there was Greek life with traditional sororities but also the “eating houses” because it sounded like she could find the social life she’d like without the stress of some other Greek systems. This coming Monday, she’ll do a live virtual tour of the campus with a student rep.
At the beginning of the Colgate info session, I didn’t have a lot of hope. The student they chose was a sociology major who liked to Latin dance. But, after a short time, I realized it was brilliant that they chose this student. When I think of Colgate, I kind of think of a bunch of mainstream econ frat guys and this student was not that - in fact he was interested in so many different things on campus, wicked smart and interesting, and well traveled. D was smitten. Thought he was great. Maybe the school wants to make it clear that there really are a mix of students there. They also did a good job selling the town and the neighborhood and all of the activities on campus. Their study abroad seems really well-thought out and they gave a very clear picture of how their career center helps the kids. They also talked about some cool traditions and, apparently, D is way into having cool college traditions. This I did not know. Lol.
She also did virtual info sessions and virtual tours of Richmond, Tulane, and Villanova. Wake sent an email and said they will have events ready next week to sign up for. We are both very curious about Wake and are looking forward to those virtual info sessions and tours.
So, now she will email the reps to find out if their supplemental essays will be the same. We will wait to see if the June SAT happens and, if not, get her signed up for other dates. And then we need to visit schools as soon as possible. She will have to decide where she wants to go and we’ll make it happen before she applies anywhere.
Remote school is going well. Her high school decided to go with grades and not pass fail for this semester. They are guaranteed their grades as of March 18th and she just had one B at that point which she’s already brought up to an A so her grades will be good this semester and will likely get her to the top decile for her class for GPA.
When we visited Colgate, they mad it sound like the only extra question was about your experiences with diversity. It’s a beautiful campus; the only small school that’s caught D21’s attention.
The Colgate University remote info session illustrates one reason why on-campus visits to LACs are very important.
@Publisher Are you trying to say that the remote info session was inaccurate?
More concerned about one getting the full picture as I have never thought of Colgate University as a hotbed of Latin dancing sociology majors.
I have relatives who recently graduated from Colgate. They are most certainly not Latin dancing sociology majors.
They grew up in a wealthy household and attended an affluent high school in NY. One will be attending medical school and the other is working.
Now…can students who grow up in this environment be Latin dancing sociology majors? Yes of course, but my guess after speaking to their mom is that this is not the overall vibe at this school.
Well, give us some credit here. We are clear that Colgate is not a “hot bed of Latin dancing sociology majors” but it did show us that (1) the school likely is making a point that someone like this student could thrive there and (2) that this student chose to do the session and speak highly of his school.
So, even if the prevailing vibe of Colgate is preppy or work hard/play hard, the college does well by other types of students too.
Would you mind clarifying this? I’m not sure what you mean by “the only extra question was about your experiences with diversity.”
Oops - Edited to say I get it now. You’re talking about their supplement. Yes, w saw that they have a question about how a student has demonstrated commitment to diversity. Interesting question.
@twogirls We know a student from our high school who goes to Colgate. He’s a recruited football player. Another football recruit will start this fall. Yes, they are from wealthy families as that’s our town for you. I’m clear on what Colgate’s overall vibe likely is. I will talk to both of these boys’ parents, too, to get their point of views. They are wonderful families who care a lot about education and I trust them. I just put off talking with them up until now because I wasn’t sure how interested D might be in Colgate. Still not sure, of course, as she is still figuring all of this out.
I actually believe that many schools will “do well by other types of students.”
Many…certainly not all.
Maybe I’m putting too much emphasis on who the student was. Even without that detail, Colgate’s presentation was a good one and much of that they had to say was what D and I both want to hear from a college.
Wake Forest has always sent daily information to parents in an “opt-in” email as well as well as posting to a daily blog. Link below:
https://parents.wfu.edu/communications/daily-deac/
We have been receiving them since we put our deposit in last year.
@UGG2023 Thanks so much! I couldn’t find those messages when I searched myself. Super helpful.
Loved the comment about the Latin Dancer at Colgate. I think @homerdog meant to compliment the adcoms at Colgate - choosing a non-stereotypical student to represent them risks turning off some students in their traditional market. I like the choice by Colgate, and now I might suggest Colgate as a possibility for DS21 (although Davidson is the favorite right now), DD23, or DS26. Thanks, Homerdog!
I also work in higher education (grad level) and we are making contingency plans for either a late start in the fall or a delay to January for the new class. The logistics are quite challenging because none of us know what the future will look like.
Since you can’t predict with certainty what will happen, the best you can do is talk to people who have firsthand knowledge of a college and pick up the school’s vibe, in real life and online. If travel is possible this summer, I would still recommend visiting some of the empty campuses your D hasn’t seen yet. It’s better than nothing and it might give your D a fuller portrait once she speaks with students and participates in online webinars etc.
D20 never had the chance to revisit the schools to which she was admitted, but two schools in particular made a nice attempt to acknowledge our new virtual reality. Barnard (her chosen school) and Colgate, which we too had nearly written off as too preppy/entitled (all on account of reputation and not first-hand knowledge). In the end, I’m glad she applied. Colgate’s an interesting place and a great LAC.
D20 was impressed by the acceptance materials she received from Colgate and was touched by the thoughtful personalized note the admissions office sent her along with her acceptance package. It made us think highly of the school and will likely play some role when we get around to looking at colleges for S24.
With respect to which potential choices might be most worth their costs of attendance, Colgate received recognition from Forbes under this consideration:
(Note, however, that the article was written by a Colgate graduate.)
Hi @homerdog I’ve been a long time CC reader although I don’t generally post. If possible, I’d love to make contact with you to exchange information about schools. My older daughter graduated from Wake last year (loved it there!) She was also accepted to University of Richmond and Colgate (among others). My younger daughter (current high school senior) has been looking at SLACs, and from her choices she is down to Bowdoin and Davidson (+ 3 others). Since I haven’t posted enough, I can’t PM you – but was hoping you might be willing to PM me.