<p>Other than that, they all seem to pretty much equal out. If one of them has a huge negative, it also has a huge positive to negate the negative. </p>
<p>I could see myself at each one of the schools, and I've visted them all twice, with the exception of Kalamazoo, which I'm seeing later this week. Hopefully I can make a decision after looking at Kalamazoo, but I'm afraid the choice might just get harder.</p>
<p>Does anybody feel strongly for or against any of these schools?</p>
<p>Agriff, congrats on four very nice choices. I know of a number of people at Geneseo and everyone seems to love it there. Plus you get a great education at a highly ranked school for a great price. I have also heard very good things about Ursinus from both friends out in PA and from people who have looked at the school. I know it is pretty close to Philly. What major are you considering? You really can't go wrong with any of these schools. Best of luck!</p>
<p>there's a long thread posted by college freshman - over and over they say:</p>
<p>how much they regret being far from home
how much they regret spending a lot of money</p>
<p>I'd rule out Kalamazoo based on money and distance
I'd rule out Ursinus and the nerve-wracking drive</p>
<p>That leaves Geneseo & Hobart.</p>
<p>Geneseo is a fabulous school, lovely campus; the only drawback may be that it's a bit far from an urban setting. Great price. Easy travel</p>
<p>EDIT: I just read your other posts and see that you are possibly pre-med. I would DEFINITELY go for Geneseo! You'll need every penny you have for medical school. And, if you don't go into medicine, the money will be there for what you do need. My dd knew that if she were going into law or medicine, she would be attending a state school.</p>
<p>I don't know anything about Hobart, but I don't see any justification for spending the additional $9000/year</p>
<p>I'd take the extra money ($9000*4 = $36,000 at least) and deliberately save it for graduate school, or a downpayment on a house, or towards a car.</p>
<p>Worse case scenario? You spend a year or two at Geneseo, and decide to transfer.</p>
<p>To be honest, the debate with my parents I'm having right now has largely come down to money. Everybody always says how much of a "great deal" SUNY Geneseo and Binghamton are, but I almost feel like I'm cheaping out by attending one of them. Am I really just sacrificing the new buildings with air conditioning and awesome food, or is it more than that? By attending a place like Hobart, is the extra money also buying me a more intimate LAC education, with fantastic career counseling services and a phenomenal study abroad program? Or by cross-examining those facets of a private college am I skipping over the most important aspect of college: the professors, which could very well be of a higher quality at Geneseo than at Hobart.</p>
<p>If you intent to go to medical school, please note that it is going to put you about $150k to $200k in debt. You should at least consider what's being set before you. Do you want to pay more just because it is a more intimate private school, with potential fantastic career counseling services and a phenomenal study abroad program?</p>
<p>If you believe that you'll be happy at Geneseo, then I think it's a no-brainer. But some people, who are incredibly smart and driven, may resent to the fact that they got "stuck" at a state school. They will feel miserable, and end up not caring about schooling. They could end up with poor grades - sabotaging their own dreams and future. If you feel like you might be headed down that path and Hobart might help you to avoid that disruptive path, then maybe that's where you should go. I think only you can answer this question.</p>
<p>I live right down the road from Geneseo, but if you are Pre-Med Ursinus is the place to go for the $4K extra per year - placement rate great, it is well-known for its program, particularly in the research end, and close to medical facilities/med schools in Philly...JMHO</p>
<p>I just got back from visiting Kalamazoo yesterday, and it was awesome! This makes my choice so much harder. Kalamazoo has the small, tight-knit community feel that hobart and ursinus has, but it's campus isn't as squeezed together as Ursinus's and it's less expensive than Hobart. Overall it is my favorite school but I don't know whether I should compromise over the distance and eliminate it as an option. I personally am not too worried about the distance but my mom would be heartbroken if I went there; she's practically begging me to go somewhere else. I don't know what to do!</p>
<p>Agriff, you should have a good talk with your Mom about the distance factor and why that is important to her (and perhaps to you). Presumably it's because she wants to see you once in a while. But let's put it in context. My son actually is a freshman at Kalamazoo this year, and we are 4.5 hours away by car, just like you are from Ursinus and Geneseo. We thought "Hey -- that's drivable, we'll get to visit often." But apart from the Winter and Spring breaks, the only other time he came home was for Thanksgiving, and even that was really just a two day visit once travel time was factored in. We went to visit him once -- on the parent's weekend in October. But we probably won't do that again. It's not that we don't love seeing him, but even 4 1/2 hours is long enough that it's just not practical to visit more than that. For one thing, the kids at K'zoo and similar schools study hard and have a lot of activities when they're not studying. So what I'm saying is, 4 1/2 hours or 12 -- it really doesn't matter much. You probably won't go home any more often, or get visited any more often, whether you go to Kalamazoo or Geneseo, and your Mom probably needs to understand that. It's a learning process for parents too, as we found out.</p>
<p>Here's a tip that might help in calming an anxious Mom who wants to see her son more often than that (no matter where you go): get a laptop with a webcam, make sure Mom's computer also has a webcam, and schedule a web video chat once a week or so. We do that and it has worked out great. Just that ten or fifteen minutes a week of seeing each other makes the absence a parent feels a lot easier to handle. And if she's worried about emergencies (and every mother is), Kalamazoo has an airport should it really be necessary to get home quickly.</p>
<p>As for Kalamazoo College itself, our son loves it and is anything but lonely despite his infrequent visits home -- and he didn't know another soul there when he arrived. It's a great school with a real sense of community.</p>
<p>Good luck with your choice -- you have some excellent schools to choose from.</p>
<p>Kalamazoo is strong in the sciences. We sat in on a Bio class and the prof was very good. The pre med advisor peered out of her offfice, invited us in and spent 40 minutes talking to us. She was helpful, forthright and exceptionally smart. The school has a good academic reputation. Many go on to PHD's in the sciences and they do get people into med school.</p>
<p>S chose to attend elsewhere but the personal touch in his acceptance letter sure made him feel wanted. Without a doubt, the best acceptance letter he received.</p>
<p>Another plug for Kalamazoo here. S is a sophomore and K is less than a 2-1/2 drive from our home. S even has his car on campus, but do you think he comes home more frequently than MilwDad's S? Nope. He's simply too busy with classes and extracurriculars, and loves being on campus for weekends. He's currently away for study abroad so we didn't even see him for spring break this year. Sure, it's a long stretch from Jan to June, and the thought of it would've had me freaking out like your mom when my S was your age. But, things change and she WILL adapt as we all do. </p>
<p>The webcam suggestion is a good one and something you should invest in ASAP. They're fairly inexpensive so go get a unit for both you and your mom's computers. Get it set up and installed and test it out with your mom right away...BEFORE you make your college decision. Let her see how cool it is to have a conversation with you where she can see your face. We use it with Skype which works well, especially while my S has been overseas since calls are free. </p>
<p>Also, get her started using other forms of communication like text messaging, IM, e-mail if she isn't doing these things already. Having access to your kid goes a long way with parents, even if it's not in person.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the support. I sat my mom down and we had that talk, and she ultimately said she's happy if I'm happy. I sent my deposit to Kalamazoo in this morning =)</p>
<p>I think you made a great decision on choosing Kalamazoo. Thank God you didn't go for Hobart & William Smith. They're very careless and reluctant to reply to mails. SUNY system is good and affordable. You know what even I applied to K, HWS, and SUNY and several others. Right now, am having a hard time to choose one but am more inclined toward Kalamazoo. I'm just waiting to hear from them about my credit evaluations and financial aid. And you know what, you were worried about 12 hours away from home; I'll be about a day's flight away.</p>
<p>And congrats to you to too Svelte for choosing K. I hope it'll be a great college experience!!</p>