I’m going to put another plug in for Binghamton. My D is a senior graduating with a double major in Biology and Spanish. She’s an OOS student (from MA and actually passed on UMASS/honors college) and has really enjoyed her time there–so much in fact that she is staying in NY (NYC) after graduation. She received a top notch education there and has already accepted a job at Cornell Weill medical school–so clearly Bing is recognized by employers.
Happy to give you more info if you are interested.
I’m curious if you are religious at all? Just asking because you have Holy Cross and Fordham on the one hand, and Brandeis on the other. If you might feel more comfortable with one or the other, that may be something to keep in mind.
My son is also considering the mid year start at Brandeis. If he does it, he would go to Florence first semester. We have lived abroad in the past though, so that sounds fun to him and doesn’t make him nervous at all. He is also interested in the strong Jewish life at Brandeis (even if it’s not a Jewish school). Do you think you might enjoy a semester abroad? I think there is an info session tonight about study abroad for midyears.
I would definitely give serious consideration to your “discounted” options --Fordham, Conn College and Kenyon are all amazing schools. Do you prefer urban, suburban or rural?
Honestly, i would be looking at umass and binghamton very very closely. You can get a great education at either of these flagship U’s, and save your parent 80k to 200k over the 4 yrs. That is a lot of money. I dont think that any of your other acceptances are worth the added expense. BTW, U Mass does have excellent support thru their office of disabilities.
I have a young adult very close to us - someone we’ve supported financially and otherwise - who graduated from Skidmore who had accommodations. Feel free to PM me about their overall experience, both generally and with student support.
I assume you and your family can work out what is or is not worth spending money on, so I won’t have much to say about that topic.
Worcester is definitely urban. We stayed overnight twice / yr. for four straight years for athletic competitions. Worcester is a small city with an interesting history, and while it has a few redeeming qualities I would not score it as having the charm that you can find elsewhere in western MA. I do really like the Holy Cross campus. It’s quite nice. But we found Worcester to be kinda dead and lacking in good restaurant choices for a city of its size. This was an almost school for our soccer player, who almost chose it because it has somewhat of a LAC feel and D1 athletics. We also liked Conn - campus and location near the waterways - and are big, big fans of Saratoga Springs. We did not like the Brandeis campus or Waltham, but you’re in Boston so … Not as familiar with Fordham, which wasn’t on our list for whatever reason.
OP has some solid choices here.
Wanting to transfer after one year seems to suggest that you do not “really love” any of the colleges.
It does not seem to make too much sense to spend a lot of money for a college that you will stay for one or maybe two years and transfer away. Community colleges are typically better suited for transfer preparation as well as being relatively inexpensive compared to private college list price.
Transfer to…where?
I am not particularly religious; I was raised Hindu, but neither me or my parents are really devout and it was moreso a cultural thing, and I don’t mind a Jesuit education at either Fordham or Holy Cross as they don’t seem particularly imposing besides taking some theology courses, which do not necessarily have to be Catholic and could be about a variety of religious concepts, which fortunately interests me anyways. I am also looking into the London option as I won’t be eligible for Florence, unfortunately 
. I have never lived abroad for an extended period, so I feel as though I won’t know if I’ll like it till I’m there, which isn’t too convenient… I prefer urban, but suburban is also fine if it’s more like a small city (I quite liked Saratoga Springs).
Have you made any progress towards a decision? Any schools you have definitely taken off of the list?
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