Hello, my DD got into several schools, with Muhlenberg big envelope being the last to arrive
We will be visiting her 4 top choices: Muhlenberg, Brandeis, Babson, and Binghamton.
I’m looking for advice what kind of things we should be looking for and what kind of questions we should be asking during our visits.
Out of those 4, only Muhlenberg accepted her with a scholarship. Binghamton is still the most affordable (but still very expensive as out-of-state).
She also received scholarships at Eckerd college and Eugene Lang, but for reasons not known to me isn’t much interested in them.
DD wants to take a gap year (it is a credit granting program). She is interested in colleges that allow transferring credits (we already know that Binghamton does!)
She loves music theater and singing.
She is thinking about law, non-profit management, and Jewish education as possible life paths after college (although all this may change!).
My D is also choosing among several LAC, but Muhlenberg is vying for first place due to the strength of the Theater program. (My D auditioned to 11 BFA schools for Acting and was not admitted to any that she wanted to attend at the end of a long process.) Many candidates for BFA’s in MT also apply to Muhlenberg for the strong theater training as well as being able to take excellent voice and dance lessons. Muhlenberg invests a lot into the arts and has really nice facilities. What surprised me when we visited was how small the campus is relative to other small LACs we’ve visited. Other than that, it is a really pretty campus, again with a really nice performing arts complex. The people we met were exceptionally nice-seeming. I spent almost 2 hours in their student commons sort of area, near their small Starbucks, while my D attended a scene study class (she really enjoyed it) and was surrounded by a variety of students just hanging around. The conversations I overheard helped reinforce my impression that these are a bunch of really nice kids. I also overheard two professors having an intellectual discussion over coffee, which was also interesting. In my opinion, the biggest down side to Muhlenberg is the tiny campus and the surrounding not-the-nicest-college-town Allentown. (Another school my D is considering is Skidmore, and Saratoga Springs is just lovely.)
Good luck with the decision - I hope your D lands somewhere that makes her a happy kid!
Thank you @LuvsLabs. I’m really struggling with me D’d eclectic choices. It is not apples-to-apples decision! I personally think Muhlenberg offers everything she is looking for. But obviously can’t force her decision.
You are correct - Allentown is not a small “college town” - it is a city and metro area (Lehigh Valley) is about a million people with 7 or 8 great other colleges including Lehigh, Lafayette, Moravian, DeSales etc. So lots of urban and college activity with Muhlenberg located in the affluent west end of Allentown. All about what you are looking for.
No… My kiddo didn’t want to hear about any small LACs initially until she heard about the partnership between Muhlenberg and List College (JTSA). This was her hook to apply.
For the context, List (JTSA) was her #1 choice she applied to ED and didn’t get in.
Thanks for responding! My daughter’s tends towards the compassionate teacher/ community music, theater, writer, artist archetype (kidding). Her most enjoyable visit was at Oberlin (Liberal Arts, not Conservatory). She’s not on a pre-professional track, wants to be an alternative educator (Waldorf, Quaker, possibly Montessori). Muhlenberg has not really piqued her interest, but no hurry or anything, we do have ten days left to decide everything… We liked Ursinus and McDaniel from the “Colleges that Change Lives” book. She really wants a strong, affirming community.
By the way, I went to Binghamton, and I hope you look at their student:faculty ratios. They get good reviews, but I don’t see how they can compare in terms of attention to individual students. Maybe an assertive kiddo can get things to come together there, I don’t know. One of my friends transferred into Barnard back in the day and she loved it there.
@friendbullwinkle, where did you daughter end up? Mine decided on Babson college. Even though it was much more expensive than Muhlenberg, I’m happy with her decision. She is a competitive type and wants a real business environment experience as early as possible, so Babson is a very natural choice for her.
