<p>When I went off to Ga Tech in 19-umphty-umph, I got off the bus in Atlanta, got my big trunk from the baggage guy and took a taxi to the school. No idea where I needed to be, who I needed to see, or what I needed to do.</p>
<p>I'm watching my son get ready to go off to school and what a difference. He's visited three times, he's talked with professors in his department (he got a call on his cell phone yesterday from the head of the program he's going into: his email had stopped working), he's met other students in the program and he's already exchanging emails with them, and he'll go to a pre-college orientation in June. By the time Fall arrives, this will all be old hat.</p>
<p>Seriously, the internet, IM, and email have changed things so much regarding going off to school (in positive ways). And, from the other side of the equation, he'll be better able to keep in touch with all of his friends. As a matter of fact, not much will change there. He can keep 20 or more IM chats going while talking on a cell phone and doing homework, all at the same time.</p>
<p>digi - It is totally true that the IM, etc, has changed everything for these kids. My D got into a little incident while driving her car to school (involving her calculus teacher, who was also driving to school :( ) which I didn't feel necessary to relate to her older brother, who goes to school on the opposite coast. That evening, he called to find out all of the details, as he had heard about what had happened (the story had been exaggerated of course!) through his network ! Kids still in h.s. talk to his friends away at college who talk to him, I guess! On the positive side, he keeps in touch with people from h.s, summer programs, etc. who he would never keep in touch with otherwise.</p>
<p>When I tell one of my good friends about school review trips (3) with my D, he related that the first time he saw Babson College was when he and another friend moved out there for freshman year. He also likes to tell about how shocked they were to find out that Babson was in a "dry" town. That first night they discovered that "Town Line Liquors", just across the town limits, delivered to Babson.</p>
<p>Digimedia, I missed it, where is he going? If you don't want to say give us 3 choices. The reson I ask is, he seemed really talented in his area of specialty. Was he 'recruited'?</p>
<p>I kinda liked dicovering college when I was actually IN college. And what all do these people have to constantly message about anyway--lives are not that interesting unless it's you. I know I hear many cellphone conversations on campus and it's just blah blah crap. Shut up and reflect a little. Go sit by the frikking lake and feed a duck while thinking about how good it is to be a duck.</p>
<p>Those are my thoughts sometimes too. We do a lot of caving and there are two ways to do it: With a map, you know where you're going (and how to get out) and what you should go see. Without a map, you may miss a few things and sometimes lose your way, but the thrill is in descovering something on your own. My wife and I like the "no-map" approach most of the time.</p>
<p>bhg:</p>
<p>He's been accepted into the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University in Athens. He'll major in Telecommunications (TCOM, nothing to do with telephones, but more media-oriented: video and audio production, communications management, and much more). The HTC approach is to do many of your courses in your major in one-on-one "tutorials" with your professors (the Oxford method). That's why HTC accepts so few people in each major (2 or 3 a year).</p>
<p>I don't know if "recruited" is exactly the right word since he went to them first, but since then, it's seemed like that. From the very first chat with the department chair last summer through the HTC interviews a few weeks ago, the faculty (and students) have gone out of their way to let him know that they want him to come there. He's also one of the University's Presidential Scholars (tuition scholarship).</p>
<p>Plus, we really all loved the school (the first campus we visited where his body language seemed to say: "This is it!"). Seemed like a great fit even before all this other good stuff happened.</p>
<p>I liked Ohio. Not as Stepfordish/pretentious as Miami of O. Reminded me a little of a mini-Madison with milder weather most of the time.</p>
<p>Caving is one place I might like to have a map--at least in my back pocket--don't people get lost and die sometimes?? But for the most part just going without having everything planned to the minute cetainly appeals to me. You find lots of interesting places after a "wrong" turn.</p>
<p>Barrons: How true! One hears the most inane commentaries, loudly broadcast, everywhere. It is stressful to the body, this no silence world of ours. And we wonder why people do not listen anymore.....they are too busy trying to ignore all the stimulus. I remember many years ago enjoying quite a nice meal cooked by a family friend, and when I complimented her on it, she proceeded to inform me about every dish she had dirtied in the preparation of it. I am reminded of that interminable recital when I overhear these cellphone ramblings and all the nitty gritty details of life which are best left unremarked upon.</p>
<p>hum..........interesting.So many folks here have been all over the country. Just as an aside, why would a university in Georgia call themselves, Ohio? And similarly, why would a university in Pennsylvania call themselves California or Indiana?hum............</p>
<p>haha bhg. The best misnomer is probably Miami--of Ohio. That is so NOT Miami!</p>
<p>dig; What about these kids digging into to the back files of 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's music courtesy of the internet. S2 gave my H two tickets to REM--so they could go together. Ss are constantly amazed that we know the lyrics to all the music they 'discover'.</p>
<p>I also think the access to so much information and so much contact prior to being on campus (or wherever) also takes something from the experience. I especially dislike one of the things that happens on these boards...the threads "whatever U 2009-- post your stats"- how revolting is that...the first thing you learn about your classmates are their SAT scores??? If this is one of the things that information can do for us, I can do without...</p>
<p>Beyond that, I think all the info creates a subcategory of people who think (wrongly) that through ultra-informing themselves they somehow "get ahead" and then they devote their lives to this mission- always being one step ahead of everyone else in everything..</p>
<p>Where is the spontaneity? Where is the risk taking? Where is the fun? Everyone so worried they will make a mistake and doom themselves to ordinariness is losing the chance to do the unexpected- to see the unpredicted- to enjoy the process...</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong, I think there are plenty of things in life worth optimizing..but I also think there are times when you are so much better off if you just roll with the punches...</p>
<p>There is a balance that needs to be achieved. You don't want to close any doors prematurely- but there is a huge life lesson to be learned in taking a chance, making a mistake, etc..and then learning you can live with it!!!</p>
<p>Robyrm, I don't quite see it the same way. While I generally agree with your assessment that people wrongly think that gathering information is the goal, I don't see anything wrong with finding friends before you get to college, especially if you have common interests. The people my son is communicating with are people in his major (some of whom he met on his interview trip).</p>
<p>The college was founded nearly 100 years before the city in Florida and named after the Indians native to that part of Ohio. The part of Ohio where the university is situated is known as the Miami Valley. The poor Floridians must have been suffering heatstroke, resulting in addled brains and loss of direction when they named their city "Miami." (Actually, I've heard that native Ohioans named the Florida city after the region of the country where they had been born, although I don't know if that is true.)</p>
<p>Digmedia,
I guess in today's world kids regularly meet and get to know each other better via the internet...fine and good. As for this issue, I am particularly put off by the "you tell me your SAT's and I'll tell you mine" thing...sure find people with common interests- it is nice to know someone (or a few someones) in the beginning--and then have the interest and desire to branch out from there...</p>
<p>Colorado Springs has three main local colleges: University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS), the Air Force Academy (USAFA), and Colorado College (CC). The Academy is... the Academy. UCCS is really undergoing a huge change and massive ongoing construction as Colorado has decided to really turn it into a major part of the CU system. The growth plans are phenomenal and it will be transitioning from a commuter school to more of a residential one.</p>
<p>CC is the LAC downtown. The campus is nice and it's known for small classes and its block plan and it seems like it would be a good school for people who enjoy the outdoors. It's ranked 33rd among LACs, not high like Carleton or Grinnell, but higher than places like Sarah Lawrence or Connecticut College or Reed or Southwestern or many many others. It has a reputation around here as an expensive school, but I don't think its costs are out of line from those of equivalent privates.</p>
<p>Its acceptance rate is 56%, more selective than Grinnell, and about the same as Scripps or Smith.</p>
<p>The chief hesitation with lots of kids is not the school, but the city it's in. Some people love Colorado Springs, others don't. Without a car, I can imagine that it might be a problem. CS is not exactly a college town with lots of cultural events and things to do downtown. But with a car (or friends with a car) and the availability of the mountains for skiing, backpacking, and everything else, it could be a great choice. This is one place that a visit would be really necessary to gauge the fit.</p>
<p>We should get a full report next week on Colorado College from ezduzzit. They're visiting CC even as I type this and I'll be extremely interested in her opinion (and her opinion of the restaurants I recommended).</p>
<p>Colorado College has a very different block plan schedule
[quote]
The Plan divides the academic year into eight three-and-a-half week segments or blocks. Students take one principal course at a time and professors teach one. Some courses may last for one block, others for two or three blocks, depending on the nature of the material.
[/quote]
My daughter has a friend who went there, and he got through it- but taking one course at a time is very different.</p>