From these Schools, which one or two should I add?

Parents Forum
21

<p>I agree with Cheers about your list. This will not be a minority view. You really really need to get clear about what you are looking for re geographic diversity, religious and political scene, racial diversity, urban vs quieter setting, sports rules or campus activism etc., fratty vs granola, arts offerings.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.jbhe.com/preview/autumn06preview.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.jbhe.com/preview/autumn06preview.html&lt;/a>
If you can get your calendar out and manage yourself with great care, you will also be offered flights to URM recruitment and/or general merit recruitment weekends to compete for the big full rides. The trick is to conserve your energy and not run yourself silly by over booking..but to truly plan out every weekend till early December with great care.
I personally think it is very wearing on a guy to appear to be sincerely excited about 8 schools at one time...feels like trying to take four girls out in one week without making any promises. But you must keep your mind and heart open, and DO NOT rank your schools yet. Put that off till after the applications are filed.
My son is at Duke, which is consistently ranked as a top option in the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. He chose Duke because he wanted full geographic, religious, and racial diversity in a student body and he has not been disappointed. If you have questions, PM me. </p>

<p>However, we are also Vandy grads and LOVE LOVE Nashville. Have also lived in Atlanta four times and worked on the same street as Emory. Love Atlanta.
Did I mention that my spouse has a strong New Jersey accent? </p>

<p>Because you are going to have more choices than most students and you need to really look to your social/emotional needs when constructing your list. It can be dizzy producing because so may US colleges are worthy of our respect. You will get your academic challenge and fun peer group and great faculty regardless in the top 30-40 colleges...so look to campus culture and go with your gut. Don't stress on getting this right before New Years..just get a set of at least 8 schools selected. You have March and April to rank, rate and debate where you want to matriculate. Don't put the cart before the horse.<br>
I would have to hear more about your particular personality before making suggestions. However, as a military brat, I would not be thrilled to go to school at UNC Chapel Hill because it is 85% NC only by charter and I feel more comfortable with a very mixed peer group. On the upside, UNC CH does a very good job with their extraordinary OOS students..they get a more personalized experience than instate students. They have a very good program for OOS. Still, I would prefer UVA, with Charlottesville also giving Chapel Hill and Berkeley a run for the money for great college town, because UVA has 30% OOS and all the DC kids are from every corner. UVa is really quite a melting pot for a state institution.</p>

<p>You don't need safety schools in my opinion if your recommendations and essays and rigor of high school prep were decently related to your test scores. Don't let SATII requirements stop you from applying anywhere. In some places, you can take SATIIS as late as next month or even early December and still have them considered. </p>

<p>You do need financial safety in one school you like just in case you are not offered merit money...so find out your family EFC and ask yourselves if you would hand that over to your top school if admitted. If you don't want to pay your EFC, you can make sure your match schools are generous merit money givers. </p>

<p>In my opinion, UNC Chapel Hill and Vandy, Emory and even Georgetown are match schools for you, not reaches. </p>

<p>Your reaches need to include at least one Ivy/Stanford.</p>

22

<p>UF, as someone else mentioned, is very tough OOS-though your SAT's are in range. The campus is HUGE-so if you can live with survey classes in the 300+ you would probably enjoy it. The weather, IMO is the pits-they don't call the UF Football stadium "The Swamp" without reason. FSU is IMO a safety-match for you. Tallahassee is totally different environment that GatorLand.</p>

<p>Have you thought about Washington University, or Miami Of Ohio's Harrison Scholars program? My D is probably going to apply for honors there. </p>

<p>Re Stanford: BF daughter is national merit scholar living in Norcal area. Salutatorian in D's class was denied at Stanford last year and everyone was shocked- 1580 on SATs 4.3 GPA, stellar EC's etc. Admissions met with parents and child and explained the school is pushing for a more diverse representation around the country and trying to lower number of Norcal students. Use that to your advantage and good luck!</p>

23

<p>Alot of people seem to really think I should apply for Stanford. Looking at U chicago and with Cheers advice, I'm 99% sure I'm going to apply there, but as for stanford I'm gonna wait another 2 1/2 weeks and see the SATs, if thats the case I'll try to make it in by SCEA, and if not then all is well that ends well. As for chicago/stanford/etc, I'm going to start working on their essays or at least trying to get some ideas down now.</p>

<p>This thread helped more than I knew, even though like three of the schools weren't on my original list heh.</p>

24

<p>hyakku - I know something of Stanford (and the rest of the Bay Area). I wouldn't describe it as Bohemian --- UC Santa Cruz might fit that description but not Stanford IMO. And I find UC Berkeley and UCLA to be much more diverse than Stanford. By all means visit, but with California schools USC and Los Angeles is a hard combination to beat given the selection criteria you've presented.</p>

<p>I agree with other posters who suggest visiting Chicago (UChicago and Northwestern) and Washington DC (Georgetown and George Washington). I've found that once a person gets comfortable in a large urban area like NYC that it's hard for a place like (forgive me dear relatives) St. Louis to match up.</p>

25

<p>^^^I grew up in St. Louis. I think very few St. Louisans think their dear city has much in common with NYC. What many people don't realize is, they LIKE that fact. </p>

<p>hyakku, one thought about location: While the idea of being in a vibrant urban area is very appealing to many students, I have discovered that most have rather little time to actually partake of the advantages of city life while school is in session. Juniors and seniors often get very busy with classwork responsibilities, jobs and perhaps research on campus. Depends on the student, the field of study, and the city of course, but city life can be quite a distraction from the task at hand: getting the diploma with a good enough record to give you lots of options upon graduation.</p>

26

<p>Whoa, whoa, Hyakku, I want to echo Faline's advice. Give some thought to atmosphere, social/emotional well-being. You began this thread sounding as if you wanted big schools with big time sports, or at least a great deal of school spirit. Univ of Chicago is a great school in a great city, I really wish my D had looked at it harder, but one of the reasons she didn't was her desire for more traditional "school spirit".
I agree that you could have a dizzying array of choices, have you done any visiting?, even low key visits might help you with issues of atmosphere. Something else that might be a big help to you is to get online with students from very socially different schools. You could try Facebook, but many schools have students available for chat through the school's website - there are advantages to both approaches.</p>

27

<p>hyakku, while you are trying to get a feel for campus culture and your own emotional/social needs being and hopes from ages 18-22...may I also ask that you weigh seriously your ability to achieve a decent GPR and to learn well in the settings you choose for your final list. This is a very personal decision. Can you learn in classes with 150 people and TAs? Stanford and Duke have some classes this large. Vandy has some large classes, too...but this is the Big School/LAC combo list. Can you compete with students who come from stronger high schools than yours? (yours may be tops, my son is at Duke but only 50% of the students in his high school even graduate...most drop out. His high school education was much weaker than his peers' at Duke who seem to have attended top publics and privates and to have breezed through a score of AP exams and rote learning practice settings....big stretch for him but he managed.)<br>
Do you want a laboratory science set up with full profs or TAs running the show? Do you want mentors..in our family for instance, there were few college graduates. Therefore close relationships with full professors were compensatory, not only at first but for life, and for your alum years and job and grad school search. (see the NYT's article today calling Oddysey years the twenties decade of your generation.) Do you have people who can guide you in your twenties or are you looking for touchstones from college to be there for you? I will again say, that at Duke, many of my son's peers come from families with many generations with high education. However, since Duke offers a great deal of your education in small classrooms of 25 or less, he is getting the best of both worlds..lots of fun school spirit, social life is great, he can manage the large intro classes because he has more small than large classrooms. He might have done better at a LAC. But he seems to have made his match.
This is a very individualized choice. Because you are likely a top candidate who will have choices, try to sort things out. Look carefully at the student interviews online at each site. You really can learn in any good setting and you can compete, so ask yourself the more subtle questions of which setting will bring out your best academic outcome, where will you struggle to concentrate, and where will you strive to impress teachers who know if you skip a class? Which school will have you in a place for more open doors for grad school, meet your needs for mentorship, and provide you with the social life you feel fits your personality (our son likes to be with outgoing sporty people, but he also can be introverted and musical..Duke met his needs best in the end of the schools where he was admitted.) He initially was not very much inclined towards Duke..it was not in his top five. He was waitlisted at his crush school and then realized that his social/musical needs were best met at Duke....you will find that this sort of thing will tease out for you in the coming year. Don't worry about not really having the answers, but by all means get a list going now for 8 Great Fits.
If sports are a must, forget Chicago unless you adopt the city teams. Look at Northwestern if rooting for your teams matters to you. Dartmouth is very fratty but their school spirit is pretty exciting in sports...and it is a small undergrad focused college, without the distractions of massive graduate schools all around it.</p>

28

<p>I completely disagree about not using the city because of school work. Both my H and I went to schools in great cities and we used the cities MORE as we got older, not less. My older S is in a great city and now that he is 21 he is using the city MORE not less. He also found an amazing part-time political internship this term--an internship that does not exist in Nashville, St Louis or Ann Arbor. He loves, loves, loves that city life. He's getting as much education from that city as he is from the university. My H and I had the same experience.</p>

<p>My son also loved big classes. Mind you, he wasn't taking organic chemsitry, but he like the anonymity of large lectures in freshman year when he was busy making peer friends, not adult friends. In his large university, he was able to take grad level courses with fewer than 10 students starting in his junior year. there are plenty of scholarship opportunities at large universities. My younger son is in a smallish mid-size school and he has a couple of classes with hundreds of students. It doesn't bother him in the least. </p>

<p>h, I still like the three you chose for the reasons you chose them. Is Penn State your financial safety if you don't get the money you want from the other schools?</p>

<p>Asfor visiting, you can't travel around every weekend. You'll have no time to craft those apps. Do you have your essays in hand?</p>

<p>why not pick three schools and aim for a visit. Personally, I'd recommend you swing out to Calif for a USC/Stanford hit. USC loves it when their applicants show them some rah-rah Trojan love but they will be pleased they are in the same group as Stanford. Might get them to show you the love right back. ;)</p>

<p>Then, depending on the funding, you could fly to either: Chicago or Miami. UChicago is quirky so you might want to lay eyes on it. Miami is actually in SAmerica so you might want to lay eyes on that. Your choice but you can't do it all.</p>

<p>In the meantime, don't get me wrong. I am not a 'fit' maniac. There are 50 schools which will make you happy, challenged, a pig in poo basically. If you tell yourself you will be able to bloom where you are planted, then you will, mate, you will. My husband, my older son and I went to universities sight unseen. I've moved to two foreign countries sight unseen. </p>

<p>Call Stanford admissions office. Talk to an adcom officer (look up a name on the net). Ask them about sponsored opportunities to visit the schools. Explain your financial situation. Tell them your stats and your interests. Ask them if they are interested in you. You are doubting yourself, and you shuoldn't be. Hopefully, mini will weigh in with his stats-based knowledge.</p>

<p>Do the same thing with Chicago.</p>

<p>If you are nervous about those calls--try calling a school you don't care about as a practice run.</p>

29

<p>Cheers its like you know me lol, I just got off the phone with Miami. I've actually been in contact with their admissions office a decent amount (talked to admissions offers about various things like class rank and all which I have a question about). First to respond:</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
I agree with other posters who suggest visiting Chicago (UChicago and Northwestern) and Washington DC (Georgetown and George Washington). I've found that once a person gets comfortable in a large urban area like NYC that it's hard for a place like (forgive me dear relatives) St. Louis to match up.

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>I definitely want to visit U Chicago, I don't wanna "jump the gun", but the more I hear about the school, the higher its climbing up my list. The student body sounds PERFECT. I'm one of those kids in school that is a self professed nerd, but still keep a social group of people no one would expect me too. Most people find it hard to believe that I can sit down and enjoy reading Siddhartha or Gilgamesh over going to a house party, but then again, I've had my fair share of those. That's why I'm not worried so much about not being able to maintain my social life with my academics. Had you asked me in freshmen or sophmore year if I could handle balancing it, you would have received a resounding no. I think though, that being a socialite in the beginning of my high school years kind of got that "itch" out, I can enjoy parties but I don't ever feel forced, and my friends know that once I say no, it's going to stay a no. </p>

<p>Back to Chicago though, what I've read sounds great, students who have that balance of social life while still being quirky nerds and being totally cool about it. I've got friends who try to hide their intelligence, and then I've got friends who try to act TOO intelligent, but the crowd at UC seems very similar to me and really interesting. Their essay question (although strange) really piqued my interest even MORE, because it really seems like a school where being an individual is what makes everyone so similar, if that paradox makes sense to anyone.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
hyakku, one thought about location: While the idea of being in a vibrant urban area is very appealing to many students, I have discovered that most have rather little time to actually partake of the advantages of city life while school is in session. Juniors and seniors often get very busy with classwork responsibilities, jobs and perhaps research on campus. Depends on the student, the field of study, and the city of course, but city life can be quite a distraction from the task at hand: getting the diploma with a good enough record to give you lots of options upon graduation.

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>I grew up near and around cities, but I think that's helped me tremendously in learning to balance. Although suburbanites like myself like to complain about being bored, we always have huge cities we can go into and explore, and knowing that I've become confident in my abilities to know when to set out and explore the city, and when I need to relax and focus. I've got friends throughout Harlem, queens, brooklyn, and even though most people have that stereotype that thugs or gangsters may not be intelligent, many of my friends from Harlem encourage me to go places and do big things, and for that, I wouldn't allow myself to fail not only me, but my friends who are still caught in a struggle that they were born into. The city, in an odd way, has become like a father figure, showing me what can happen when people go wrong, and how it can affect their young. I wouldn't allow my future son or daughter to be raised somewhere where they have to worry about living till tomorrow all because I wanted to have fun in college. Not saying you are asserting that that's what I will do, just putting that out there.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
Whoa, whoa, Hyakku, I want to echo Faline's advice. Give some thought to atmosphere, social/emotional well-being. You began this thread sounding as if you wanted big schools with big time sports, or at least a great deal of school spirit. Univ of Chicago is a great school in a great city, I really wish my D had looked at it harder, but one of the reasons she didn't was her desire for more traditional "school spirit".

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>I understand when I entered the thread it sounded that way, but although I do enjoy sports, its not a make or break decision for me. Diversity, student body, academics, surrounding area, location, interesting classes, these all take precedent over sports. I can get drunk or party on any campus, that's not my goal for college, so although sports doesnt come with just that, "woooo lets party tonight" vibe, it's a large part of it, and either way I won't mind because I'm sure anywhere I go I'll always be able to find a good party or people to just go have a cup of coffee and hang out in the city with (again, something Uchicago seems to stress).</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
may I also ask that you weigh seriously your ability to achieve a decent GPR and to learn well in the settings you choose for your final list. This is a very personal decision. Can you learn in classes with 150 people and TAs? Stanford and Duke have some classes this large. Vandy has some large classes, too...but this is the Big School/LAC combo list. Can you compete with students who come from stronger high schools than yours? (yours may be tops, my son is at Duke but only 50% of the students in his high school even graduate...most drop out. His high school education was much weaker than his peers' at Duke who seem to have attended top publics and privates and to have breezed through a score of AP exams and rote learning practice settings....big stretch for him but he managed.)

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>This, to me, was why I wanted to ADD more reaches or at least high matches. I feel that humans thrive in competition in challenge, it's what our minds and bodies were designed to do. Anything I have never understood, I have self studied, period. If I have a desire to learn something I'm not the type of person to be in class and not raise my hand, or not go for help. Alot of my friends find it strange when I ask questions in class or go for help because I'm supposed to "know all this stuff better than we do", according to them, but again, if questions aren't asked, then answers can never be given. Like cheers' son, I wouldn't mind at all the big lecture classes, in fact, I've been looking forward to some of them. Coming from a small school, having the population of 1/3 of my school in a class excites me, more people to meet, more girls to talk to (hey, I'm still a teenager :p), and more opportunities to learn from people around the world. My mindset is this: Anyone from anywhere can teach you something. Like Confucius even says, even a thief or just a general dirtbag can teach you qualities that you should root out of yourself. In this way I can constantly better myself by connecting to more people. (paraphrased, I don't think confucius would use the word dirtbag lol). As for needing guidance and all, my entire life I have been kind of introverted, though most people would consider me an extrovert. I sometimes feel kind of bad towards my mom because she may think I'm angry or trying to exclude her from my college app process, but it's not that I don't WANT her helping, its that I feel like my life should be one that I can look back on and say to myself, "I have accomplished all I wanted, with my own two hands". Maybe a very ancient greek type of philosophy, but that's the way I've always felt. Having something handed to me always seems to lower its value for some strange reason, and hard work, though annoying, allows me to truly be proud of my accomplishments without having to boast or brag, my actions will speak for themselves.</p>

<p>Penn state is more or less my financial safety, but I wouldn't even consider it a safety, because even going there I would be totally happy. Why I'm making threads like these is that slowly but surely I'm compiling a list of things that I truly feel FIT me, and I think that thats what the college app process should be about. Safeties, matches, reaches, all worthless if I don't like each and everyone one of them, which is why I'm paying such meticulous detail to this process.</p>

<p>So far though I want to take a trip out to cali (I've always wanted to), and if I had to NOT go to one, then U Miami would probably be it because I've been to florida, I've been in (or very near) miami, and I'm familiar with alot of the culture. Although I would like to go to the campus, that's the one I'm probably LEAST worried about visiting. Penn state is only a 3.5 hour drive, plus my girl goes there so I'll just visit her one day and have her take me around campus.</p>

<p>I'm off to call chicago, ciao.</p>

30

<p>I can see my worry about your essays was for naught.</p>

<p>Where's your mum? Man oh man, she did a great job raising you. What a winner you are.</p>

31

<p>Ironically, my mom is looking over my shoulder now if you wonder why she hasn't posted, I figure that she might as well just keep her account for questions when she's actually got them, I don't want her becoming addicted to the internet like me :P.</p>

<p>As for my essays, this thread has actually done wonders for a ton of ideas for essays, so I guess just another benefit.</p>

32

<p>Good news, USC has interviews coming up in NYC, definitely gonna try to get over to one of those, and I now officially have a USC Id. That leaves finishing up USC, finishing my Miami essays, and applying to chicago and continuing to research other schools</p>

<p>Any parents have any tips for interview process? I'm sure there's a thread up here though, I'll look.</p>

33

<p>For USC, wear the gear--show them the school spirit in a creative way. they are over the top about all of that--just ask The Dad who gets annoyed because alumni stick Trojan flags in their Orange County lawns! :eek: Take that with a grain of salt and enjoy it.</p>

<p>Have you inquired about sponsored visits???? USC and Stanford could split the airfare....that would be a great trip for you.</p>

34

<p>USC loves to be loved. Make sure you know why you want to go there and talk about it. Make the regional rep your advocate. Be causal and enjoy yourself. Be sure to send a thank you note. Stay in touch with the rep, but don't be a pest.</p>

35

<p>Hyakku, I hope you come back and let us know your outcome. I am so impressed with you on so many levels, but most of all for your gracious, open and engaging demeanor. I wish you all the best in the college process, and I bet your mom is going to miss you terribly when you've gone off.</p>

36

<p>hyakku-
I saw that you list Penn State as one of your financial safeties. I would suggest that you investigate the Schreyer Honors College. Your stats are competitive and Schreyers offers a $3500 (I believe) a semester scholarship to its students. Here is the Schreyer's link: <a href="http://www.scholars.psu.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.scholars.psu.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Also, what are you intending to study? I know PSU also has numerous diversity scholarships that are listed on the PSU engineering website: <a href="http://www.engr.psu.edu/mep/Current%20Students/escholarships.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.engr.psu.edu/mep/Current%20Students/escholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I am sure other PSU colleges have similar lists.</p>

37

<p>I'm not really an engineer guy, too logical and straightforward lol. I'm thinking of majoring psychology or in international business to make contacts across the world. If I do the IB route then I'm definitely minoring in psych, if not then I'm going to go for P.H.D for psychiatry.</p>

<p>Penn state decisions come out next week too I forgot :).</p>

<p>I certainly will zooser thanks for the encouragement.</p>

<p>To cheers and Tsdad, I wasn't planning on bringing a resume as I kind of find it easier to talk to people instead of kind of having a script if you know what I mean. I was thinking of wearing USC gear, but then I noticed it says business casual. So I'm not sure what to do about that.</p>

38

<p>BE sure to get on the USC website and research the course possibilities and the study abroad opportunities in their business school. Find a way to incorporate some gear. Business casual in California means no flip-flops or shorts. You could put a t-shirt underneath your button down.</p>

<p>Skip the CV. </p>

<p>My H went to USC architecture school but his three best frat buddies graduated from the business school. They have had amazing, dynamic business careers--absolutely at the forefront of their different industries (software, investment banking and telecommunications) and tax brackets, haha.</p>

39

<p>Whats the CV? And its good to know that about USC. Their international program is particularly strong I hear.</p>

40

<p>It's like a resume--you do sound like a great candidate and an all-around great guy. Chicago is a wonderful city. Are you looking at any LAC's?</p>