" I am not sure my daughter would be happy if the big activity for the weekend was floating down the Susquehanna in an inner tube."
Suggest she do some legwork to scope out what those “big activities” really are, typically.
The reality my D2 experienced at her first school was that actually “the big activity”, nearly every single weekend, consisted of going out to bars near greenwich village. Which was both expensive and,very quickly, boring. Sadly, the budget of a college student did not permit her to get tickets to “Something’s Rotten”. Given the budget of someone who is a student and not an investment banker, she found she actually had more to do, that she could afford, at the college town she subsequently transfered to.
The biggest difference was in NYC everyone lived in dorms where it was hard to socialize; high security, no room to spread out. At the subsequent school, many upperclassmen rented private apartments nearby but unaffiliated with the school. They socialzed by visting each other, off campus. No need to go out anyplace, necessarily, and waste lots of money, Often. they threw dinner parties in their apartments. Very different social scene. And they had bars there, too. If desired.
@Ohiodad51: I remember floating down that same river many years ago! Couldn’t get my two kids to look at Bucknell either. Too isolated, too small. My second child likes Brown very much - found the enclosed campus more inviting than others. And Chicago’s campus is pretty consolidated for a city school. Definitely a campus feel as opposed to a spread out feel.
@Ohiodad51 Like you, we took our older D to many of the same schools mentioned on this thread beginning the summer before junior year. She was interested in music and theatre and was a top student. So our initial trips included Vassar, Tufts, Brandeis, Wesleyan, Skidmore, Yale and Brown. Vassar, Tufts and Brown stood out as initial favorites.
Then we ran our EFC and it changed everything. We were in the category of parents whose EFC showed we would be full pay, yet we did not feel comfortable paying upwards of $60k per year especially with a second child who would enter college right after older D graduates. We realized then that there was no use continuing to tour schools until we had more of a financial plan.
My word of advice is that all parents do the same. Use financial calculators and figure out a realistic college budget before you continue touring. If you have financial need, concentrate on schools who meet full need or close to that. If you are paying a lot out of pocket, begin to look at the price tag of certain schools. Do your research on merit aid schools.
For us, our final list included Brandeis (15k in merit), GW (15k talent award), American (22k in combined talent/ merit), Muhlenberg (19.5k in academic/ talent merit), NYU (11k in talent merit). She was also accepted into Barnard and a SUNY school (financial safety). Off the list were all schools that would have been full pay except Barnard (which is commuting distance if she chose to go there and we could no longer afford room and board.)
She chose to attend NYU and was very happy with her choice. She graduated with a BM in vocal performance with a concentration in musical theatre (Steinhardt). She had a minor in the Business of Entertainment, Media and Technology and another in English lit. It was not an inexpensive option, but less than the schools on our initial tour when finances didn’t enter into the equation.
Good luck!
Just wanted to put it out there that, having visited a whole host of LAC’s with two kids that were both interested in theater, Wesleyan’s theater scene for non-majors is second to none. Their Second Stage student-run theater group puts on a new show practically every week. It’s amazing. So, if you can find the time, it’s well worth a trip up from New Haven.
I’ll agree with several others on this thread, however, that, in our experience, college visits when there are no students around to provide a sense of the “vibe” of the student body are of limited utility. Without that, it feels like you’re mainly just evaluating the physical campus and the setting, neither of which, in my estimation, are among the most important indicators of the true character of a school.
@monydad- my D goes to school in NYC- and rarely pays more than $30 for bway shows (including "Something Rotten, twice). Sites like Tix4students and Hiptix let college kids (from any school btw- just need a valid ID) get phenomenal deals. It was often less expensive for her to see a show (where she could often get tix under $20) than it was to see movie in NYC
Agree that Wesleyan is worth a serious look for @Ohiodad51’s daughter.
Also, if visiting Haverford, make sure to visit Bryn Mawr as well. I know the OP’s daughter doesn’t want all women’s colleges, but given the close interaction between the 2 schools through the Bi-College system, and the fact that Bryn Mawr houses the theater program for the 2 schools, it should be part of the visit.
Re #224, that is good information. I only knew about tdf . When D2 was there she said even on discount the Broadway shows were over $70. (or at least the ones she wanted to see were). And the “hot” shows mostly never showed up at all.
Other things were discounted, but she didn’t necessarily want to see those things.
But that was a number of years ago. The situation indeed seems to be a lot better now than she described previously, looking at those sites. Tix4students seems to have many choices, now at least, ranging from $34 to $50 mostly. A movie there is about $15 IIRC. (in most cases, + transportation costs, usually subway or shared taxi).
Also its possible to get more lucrative part time jobs than my D2 had. She had a great part-time job, but it was on-campus and did not pay enough to cause her to feel that she had sufficient discretionary funds there. No doubt some people get much higher paying part time jobs.
Both d’s did a lot of socializing in their dorm rooms at NYU. D had a common room and kitchen beginning freshmen year and the kids squished into the space. Older d had an enormous suite in Broome street that had a full kitchen and common room that was the size of a large living room. By sophomore year, kids begin to move off campus (not mine) and that allowed them plenty of space for parties and spreading out. I’ve actually quite surprised by how little money d is spending for her social life. Plenty of free food and drinks at gallery openings. Inexpensive concerts, free museums and discounted theater. Inexpensive restaurants and bars all over downtown and Brooklyn. D’s hardly went to any bars in the village freshman year because most of their friends didn’t have (phony) ID.
That certainly sounds better than D2s reported deal, uptown, back then. She said they had free museums, yes, but how many times did she really want to go to a museum? And the concerts she favored were not inexpensive. But my main point is to check. The dorm situation certainly seems quite different, from what D2 reported and what I personally observed at her school. So evidently not everyplace is the same,.
FWIW, we did ask at Fordham about student discounts. If I recollect correctly, the botanical garden is free one day a week for students and the zoo has a ten dollar student ticket. It could be the other way around. Also, we were told that the school sponsors reduced Broadway tickets (I think twenty five bucks) fairly frequently.
A 3d movie (as so many of them are these days) was $22 at the 14st/union square theater complex D and friends typically attended. NYU students could get tix as cheap as $10 for bway/off bway shows. (Though those were not always the “hot” shows D wanted to see) She saw at least one show most weekends- but then again, she is a theater major