<p>wow. I am really going to have to put on an act now - the more I hear, the more I am convinced Earlham is the right community for my son. For the last two years, he’s worn the Hitchhiker’s robe and towel to school on Halloween. </p>
<p>I also really like that some classes are tough - their biology program sounds top-of-the-line. Somebody in this thread or another talked about the writing assistance and other follow-up - I really do think this would work well for my uneven student son. One really nice freshman we met reminded me that there are usually only about 900 students on campus, with about 200 or so away on foreign study at any one time - I like that too.</p>
<p>The baking-the-cake thing is so great. As I think I said before, the dorms really blew me away, and I’ve seen lots and lots of dorms in our 20 to 25 college tours - simple, clean, but the kitchens are just key. Very pleasant, lightfilled, spacious, not fancy, but clean. </p>
<p>Now if only Earlham would let him take his dog and two cats with him, that would seal the deal.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to worry you! I’m sorry! This is probably a location thing- it’s likely that the United States admissions officers sent decisions out but not the international ones (this happened with the College of Wooster as well, except it was vice versa) I’m sure you’re fine!</p>
<p>My son was accepted at both Earlham and Goucher. We live at such a distance it’s almost impossible to make a rational decision. He’s a gentle, smart, funny, quiet kid and well traveled, notwithstanding the wilderness where we live. He was largely home-schooled and not much interested in sports, but very interested in the world, politics, history, and ideas. Does anybody have any advice?</p>
<p>smithgold, sounds like you’re describing my son. Gentle, kind, smart, funny, quiet. How does your son like to spend his time? My son’s a reader, a casual musician (drummer) though I doubt he’ll do lots of it in college unless it’s a drumming group. My son’s not a partier, likes gaming, laughing, hanging out, movies, backpacking and wilderness stuff. All of which fits well with Earlham. Don’t know enough about Goucher to say, but my initial reaction is that your son would be happy at Earlham.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply. Does your boy go to Earlham? I can’t say my son cares much for the outdoors. Boy Scouts cured him. What do you know of Earlham? Is your son there?</p>
<p>smithgold, my son had a short tour with scouts too - but afterwards he did learn to like rock climbing and backpacking, but he is equally an indoor guy. No, not at Earlham - high school senior, accepted to Earlham, and it’s #1 on his list I think. If your son isn’t into that kind of thing, no worries - its definitely not a school of jocks - there are athletes, but not jocks as such. One kid we met said the most athletic thing he did all year was spend a Saturday climbing trees in the woods on the back of campus.</p>
<p>Is anyone planning to go to the admitted student’s weekend? Glad Earlham is not a “jock” school. My son runs XC but his 5k was 5 minutes slower than his sister’s (in fairness to him, she is quite fast for a girl). He loves to run but would only add a good attitude to the team (which I value more anyway). I hope there is opportunity for “sports fot fun” kids.</p>
<p>S was/is allergic to Boy Scouts. Interestingly, the thing he hated was earning and wearing badges, achieving the different ranks, etc. If it had been simply an outdoor program, he would have stayed. He’s pretty much that way about all forms of perceived competition. He has no idea what his SAT or GPA is and finds any kind of ranking of humans offensive.</p>
<p>Does anyone know Earlham’s policies about being on sports teams? I love the policies at my daughter’s school, Grinnell. Anyone can be on the team though not everyone gets to go to the bigger events. The swim and XC teams have 80 kids on each and the kids have a great time.</p>
<p>D is interested in EArlham for next year. Anyone receive merit aid offers yet? Trying to figure out if D would get merit aid and a ball park of what she might receive. First try on SAT 1300 (not counting writing). Will retake in spring. GPA is about 3.8/3.9 W. intensive EC of theater and Odyssey of the Mind. We can only consider Earlham if she gets a decent merit package. Any ideas of what she might get based on your student?</p>
<p>Anyone, especially a current student, please say something about earlham that helps us to sketch the college in our minds…as some of us can’t visit.
I’m a senior year international student and i’m really intrested in the school(recently noticed that there aren’t any good satisfying threads of the school. A student’s say threads ought be started.)
have SAT score of 1620 and TOEFL score of 607-do you think I have a good chance.
I have an average grade(we do not use GPA’s).
Thank You</p>
<p>I was a little bit surprised that DS did not get a merit award, but he did get a very nice need-based financial aid award. The award included loans, work study, and a grant. The grant was 74% of the total package amount.</p>
<p>The notification came to DS in an email. Neither DH nor I got a separate notification. Is that the norm, that prospective students are notified about financial aid awards but their parents are not? (That’s a bit of a problem for us, because DS is all about Facebook, but checks his email only about once every five days, and only because I push him too. When did email become old-fashioned??)</p>
<p>To be more specific about how DS received notice: a little over a week after receiving his acceptance letter, DS received another letter by snail mail that gave him a user name and password for The Heart, a web portal for admitted students.</p>
<p>The email which he received from the financial aid office directed him to The Heart, where he was able to log in. Once logged in to the portal, he found a link to a “Self Service” page, which in turn led to a page that laid out all the details of his financial aid award.</p>
<p>Mystery solved: I emailed Earlham’s Financial Aid Office to ask whether parents receive a separate notification about financial aid awards. I received a reply saying that their system changed this year, and that aid awards are now delivered only via the web. In addition, only students are given access to their data, and the person who answered my email said that he cannot send the information to parents. He suggested that I ask DS for his username and password to access the information, which I had already done. DS had no problem sharing that information with me; I assume that is the case with most, if not all, students.</p>
<p>Well DS didn’t get a merit award, but he did get an email this morning about the Fly-In Program. The email says he is “among a select group of students we would like to offer an opportunity to visit Earlham at our expense.” (Emphasis in the original.)</p>
<p>We haven’t followed up yet to find out the details, but I think they would pay only for DS to fly out there, not for DH or myself. Of course we could pay our own airfare, but we are thinking of letting DS go by himself, if he wants. Has anyone else done that?</p>