Geneseo Not What I Expected

College Search & Selection
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<p>My son is very different from your daughter, but I've still had to monitor, cajole, keep track of applications deadlines, SAT admission tickets (#2 pencils, the right calculator) etc. etc.</p>

<p>Or at least thought I had to. Either way, I did it and he came to rely on it or slack off a bit knowing that I was. (Heck, maybe he did it intentionally for me).</p>

<p>But the point is, your daughter is not that different from many kids here. For some the prospect of college is more daunting than others. Given all she's gone through and the recent (in her mind) change in weight she may not or may not think she is ready yet for facing another challenge amd starting all over again meeting people, putting herself out and challenges of college. You will need to be supportive, but also little by little, prod and encourage get her to accept more of the responsibility. Otherwise it will become more and more daunting and scary. </p>

<p>Did you say she's only 16? I started college at 16 and turned 17 during my first week there. For me, going away and to a big city was a very unwise choice and may be too, for your daughter. If she is only 16 and given her personality as you describe it, you should definitely look for a small supportive school. And maybe one nearby. </p>

<p>Perhaps more trips to more schools will help her "get her feet wet" with the process, and become comfortable with it. Perhaps you can arrange overnights at a few. Perhaps if you don't voice your thoughts as much about where you visit, she will be "forced" to face and talk about her feelings and preferences more.</p>

<p>I again suggest Wells, which although is now coed, is still small and supportive of young women. And given your daughter's stats, they may very likely offer merit aid (they did a few years ago for mine). What about Hobart and William Smith?</p>

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<p>We toured 12 schools with our son. At the start, we had 'high hopes" for Geneseo. Looked great on paper. Unfortunately, we had very similar concerns after our tour. No students in sight, dining rooms closed, gym very depressing (my son thought it looked like a run down YMCA), and the classrooms really need renovation. Tiny desks, dark halls, broken window panes. Even the new computer lab looked tiny and unable to accomodate the number of students who would need it. We we shown a "fake" dorm room although the guide didn't mention it was fake until someone asked. I have heard great things about the teachers and academics...just wish the campus was nicer.</p>

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<p>Have you considered RIT? It could be a good chice for dealing with your daughter's auditory issues. I also second Hartwick (good report froma friend whose daughter is there) . I also have heard good things about the University of Hartford if it's not too far for you.</p>

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<p>Take a look at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts - it's small and it offers reduced tuition to New York state residents (it's in North Adams, Mass.) </p>

<p>Also, you might try asking on the financial aid forum if other parents have had success getting colleges to accept that the other parent has never contributed. It can be done and it sounds like you have a strong case to present.</p>

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<p>My children did change their names. They had hypenated names and then changed to my name. This was done in a fully legal way. They have experienced no difficulties. We just have to have the legal documents on hand for some things, like applying for a passport, for example.</p>

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<p>I think you may be right about college being a "shocker" for your daughter. Not everyone is mature enough to go away to school and be successful with new academic and social challenges at age 17. Has your daughter considered staying home for the first year or two and then going away. You may find she will be much more successful at age 19 than age 17. If that's not her choice then I'll add my 2 cents about the SUNY schools. My oldest daughter graduated from Geneseo in 2006 and absolutely loved it there. We visited many times and saw none of the problems you encountered, but of course, things may have changed. My second daughter is a sophomore at SUNY Oneonta, which I believe a few others have mentioned. She LOVES it there. The campus is quite lovely; I think much nicer than Geneseo. She has made quite a few friends there, loves her professors for the most part, and seems to really be happy there. We live on LI and I can tell you as several already mentioned, Stonybrook is a suitcase school. Lots of kids during the week and empties out on weekends. The Southhampton campus, which houses the enviornmental programs also mentioned above, is quite a distance from the main campus.....at least 90 minutes away. It is small but I've heard the kids there really like it. Good luck to your daughter.</p>

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<p>Peachy, could you tell us some more about Oneonta? I am interested in learning more. Has your D had professors who don't speak English well? How are sizes of 101 classes? Do they use a lot of TAs? How is living there in the winter? How is the public transit? How does she get home from there? What are their strong departments? How are the dorms, and the food? I know I have a lot of Qs about that school, LOL. We visited Hartwick (across the street). I believe Hartwick kids can attend Oneonta classes for credit if the class is not offered at Hartwick. I had heard that some Hartwick students decide to transfer to Oneonta (I assume that this is true since the Hartwick freshman retention rate is not too great). If you could answer a few of these questions, it would be helpful to a few posters on this thread, myself included. Thanks. Oh, and I see that you are a new poster, so welcome to CC!</p>

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<p>SUNY Geneseo may suffer from it's meager endowment and therefore may not be able to easily upgrade its facilities. According to USNWR, their endowment is $5.3M, which would rank it 754 out of 765 schools nationwide on this</a> NACUBO list. (It's lumped in with "other" SUNY schools at #748).</p>

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<p>Northeastmom, I'll try to answer your questions the best I can. My daughter is a soph, majoring in Family/Consumer Sciences with an eye toward some type of counseling job after grad school. She started out as an education major, which I believe is the strongest program there. Her largest classes so far have been ones that are required like bio and chem. The lecture sections were large (125 or so), but the associated lab sections were much smaller (20-30). This semester is the first time she has mentioned having a professor whose first language was not English, but I think that happens more in the math and sciences. My friends son is a Math major there and has had issues with a few professors who were difficult to understand. My daughter has never mentioned a TA teaching any of her classes.
You can't have a car till junior year, so the kids use OPT, Oneonta Public Transit to get to town, Walmart etc. It's free with your Oneonta ID card. The buses run through the campus frequently and even late at night on weekends.
Winters are colder and snowier than here on LI, but my daughter doesn't seem to mind. She wanted to take part in the FYE... first year experience last year, so her room was in a typical freshman dorm. The building was all double rooms, corridor style. Everyone was a freshman. If you choose not the participate in the FYE, your room could be corridor style, suite or quad style. She tells me the food is pretty good... typical college type food. They always have pizza, hamburgers etc and there is a great salad bar. She's had friends visit from other schools and they've all said the food at Oneonta was pretty good compared to their school.
For vacations and long weekends, there is a bus that leaves directly from the school and stops in Rockland County, Nassau and Suffolk County. There is also a bus station in Oneonta. Most of the kids find rides with others living nearby or their parents come and pick them up. We've had to do that several times since my daughter is on a sport and has had to stay later and go back to school earlier for practices.
My daughter chose Oneonta over 4 other schools she had been accepted to. I think the main reason was they seemed interested in her. We received some sort of brochure or letter nearly every week after she was accepted outlining some program or telling us something unusual about the school. As I mentioned before, my daughter plays a sport and she received letters, post cards and calls not just from the coach, but from members of the team, too. And my daughter is not the most gifted one on the team by far. I think she like the fact that they seemed to really want her to go there and that made her want to go there even more. Another thing I thought was even more telling was that my daughter decided to change majors over this past summer. She emailed one of the professors in the program to ask a few questions and ended up corresponding with her via email all summer. The prof answered all her questions about switching majors and met with her the day before classes started to help her switch her schedule so she could get the classes she needed. My daughter and I were both impressed with how willing she was to help a student who wasn't even in that major.
Hope that helps you.</p>

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<p>Peachy, that is very helpful. It sounds like Oneonta is very good fit for your D, and even though it is large, it still has professors who really give some 1:1 time. Thank you.</p>

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<p>Thank you all for your responses. Last night was not pleasant. Today the friend called and wanted to take her out for ice cream, and there was a lot of foot stamping, but she did the right thing and told him that it is not a good time. It is really unreal when your kid is thinking of applying to 9 schools and realizes that each one wants a short essay of their own, aside from the common app one. </p>

<p>I called NC Asheville, and the assistant answering the phone was pretty adamant that she wants everything sitting there tommorrow for EA. So I told my daughter that she can do the online app, I will pay for that and to have her SAT scores sent, but that she should not expect the school counselor to rush out the transcript or for me to pay the extra to rush scores because she wants to bury her head in the sand. I already paid last week to rush them to Geneseo for this weeks deadline. I do like the school, but the more that I think about it, the more I am thinking that going that far away is not going to be a good thing unless she has a major reality check between now and acceptance deadlines. We could not afford to bring her home other than for breaks and we will not be flying down there because she does not like her roommate. So I am supporting her decision to apply, but we'll see how that goes....</p>

<p>She looked at Wells, I thought it sounded nice, but she thought that it was too small and too many females. </p>

<p>It looks like Geneseo is still her first choice, and I can live with that. I will cross my fingers. She got a beautiful letter of rec today from her social studies teacher that was just unreal.</p>

<p>Otherwise, she is also interested in:</p>

<p>Suny's: New Paltz, Plattsburgh, Purchase, Binghampton, UB.
Non-Suny: NC Asheville, Grinnell, Juniata</p>

<p>I was surprised but she eliminated SUNY ESF because she does not want to be restricted when she doesn't know what she wants. She eliminated Reed because they do not guarantee housing all four years. She liked Haverford, but is now adamant about not taking SAT subject tests, so that it out. I do not remember why she eliminated Bates, she liked that school. </p>

<p>I welcome any more suggestions and advice.</p>

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<p>I also recommend Ursinus which gives merit aid to practically everyone. All freshman take two semester "The Freshman Experience", which is a mini-mini core, so they are all reading the same books and actively talking about them. They are close to Philly and to King of Prussia Mall so the kids have something to do. Has great med school placement and wonderful teaching.</p>

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<p>whata-
I pmed you re. allergies, slightly off topic ,I know.
jacdad</p>

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<p>As someone previously suggested, check out RIT:</p>

<p>Effective</a> Bibliographic Instruction for Deaf and Hearing-Impaired College Students</p>

<p>Good luck!!!</p>

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<p>I would really take a look at Bryn Mawr or Smith or even Vassar . I know a girl who fits your daughter's profile who is very happy at Vassar .</p>

<p>My music school S is finding that Potsdam kids are transferring to Fredonia for some instrument ( Fredonia has more full-time tenured Profs.) . He almost went to Geneseo but we noticed that slight suitcase atmosphere too . Their campus is definitely in need of structural improvements . He is in Honors at Fredonia and quite happy - many good teachers , so far . There is a Greyhound depot on campus for trips to Buffalo's college row of shops, theatre , ect . </p>

<p>Can I also recommend Alleghany College in PA ., and Hiram College . We have been very happy with these colleges for different reasons . They are great on aid ( Hartwick is not , isolated ) .</p>

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<p>Hi all, I'm back, I was kind of bogged down with work.</p>

<p>I noticed that Fredonia was mentioned. I am not sure what to think. I told her that I had read that a lot of kids who don't make it into Geneseo go there, and it certainly is about as close to home. I thought that my daughter would put that on her list, but she is concerned that Fredonia is not good in any academic area but music. </p>

<p>Another thing that I noticed at Geneseo-- they showed us an auditorium with golden velvet-like seating. But I noticed that there were seats with lots of fraying and strings hanging off, and it was really a small, dark theater. Seemed smaller than the high schools. Didn't know what to make of it, I wouldn't want to major in theater with that. Although I didn't see it, I think they have another theater.</p>

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<p>easydoesitmom, I am not sure what you meant about Hartwick. Are you saying that they are not good with merit aid, and that they are geographically isolated?</p>

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<p>"I attended and have taught at Stony Brook and really do like it, but I guess that's a minority opinion. Shirley Kenny has done a lot to make it beautiful, which it now is. It has world class departments, but is a bit of a commuter school which can be demoralizing."</p>

<p>I have toured a few of the SUNY's and I agree that Stony Brook looks the nicests of the few I have toured. I visited Geneseo and I thought it looked pretty good too. I know a few people there and on our tour we met many others. These were nice, smart kids who were double majoring and some even triple majoring. I liked the school and so did d.</p>

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<p>I would like at College of Charleston, York College, Mary Washington, Virginia Tech and James Madison. All reasonably priced. MW and JM are wonderful schools; I've visited both. Several of friends' kids fell in love with CoC when they visited. Also the smaller Pa state college are not horribly expensive. Flagler in Florida is a good buy too.</p>