<p>We found D's college at the NW College Fair. It is one we'd never heard of--we are on the west coast and it is a small state school in Maryland. While other schools were mobbed, the St. Mary's rep was sitting there by himself so I started chatting with him. While other schools had admission reps, St. Mary's sent an actual faculty member to the fair. He told me about the college and I went off to find D and said "you have GOT to talk to this guy."</p>
<p>Mombot - </p>
<p>One of my kids ended up applying to the University of Montana the same way (went to a college fair in PA, nobody talking to the Montana rep, my kid went over to be polite, thought the rep was great and ended up being really excited about the school). </p>
<p>That kid ended up at another university closer to home, but is now looking at Montana for grad school. I don't know what will happen, but those college fairs can be surprisingly influential.</p>
<p>I had heard of Macalester before, because my cousin went there years ago (graduated in 1997), but that wasn't what put the idea of applying in my mind--it was more of an afterthought: "Oh yeah, that's where _____ went" after I got some mail from them. I didn't actually consider Mac until I got something in the mail (typical college junk mail) from them that emphasized their focus on internationalism/multiculturalism. Since I'm interested in International Studies, that caught my eye, and after further research, I ended up applying.</p>
<p>agree that fiske guide can be a little too positive sometimes -- it is very infromative though. i'll often read through fiske's for info about the college and then check the princeton review guide for perceived negatives. :)</p>
<p>I like the Fiske's Guide the best. I suppose it might not be helpful for the kind of student who easily falls in love with everything (since it does not tend to say overtly negative things about schools), but for the critical reader, I think it gives a pretty good idea if a school might be a fit for you or not. For example, it because extremely obvious to me from Fiske's that neither Amherst nor Williams, despite their overall excellence, was the school for me. Even further than that, I found that when I visited schools based on a list that I compiled from Fiske, the reservations that I had had about certain schools from reading Fiske, were magnified. I thought Swarthmore might feel too small for me, and it did. I thought Haverford might be a little too heavy on the family/community feeling for me, and again those feelings was intensified when I visited. And so on. So I'm really quite fond of the Fiske's Guide. </p>
<p>I think the Princeton Review one was good and straightforward, but I didn't quite get the same feeling for whether the school was a fit for me or not. As far as big college guides go, I would give PR second place.</p>
<p>I'm from western NY and at my junior conference, I said that I didn't want a school that was 2 plane rides away. However, my mother worked for a company based out of Houston and told me to look at Rice. I went in the awful heat of July and fell in love with the school. It's far but I don't care!</p>
<p>Isn't Fiske the guide that rates quality of life, social life, as well as academics? That's why I like it.</p>
<p>A school I had definitely not heard of: Lincoln Memorial University, a small school in a very small town called Harrogate in TN. I went there for my first year; I will be attending Cornell University in the fall.</p>
<p>UPenn - my parents encouraged me to apply, actually. I found LSM and tried for that program--now I'm in MLS instead and I have to admit that it's a better fit.</p>
<p>I had never expected to attend it--I was pretty set on JHU or ASU.</p>
<p>But then I visited all three and UPenn (despite being a little trashed after spring fling) called out to me the most. (:</p>
<p>A couple people on this thread mentioned first learning of their college on CC. So here's a question for everyone:</p>
<p>How often do people first hear of a college through an Internet source (CC, search engine, unsolicited e-mail, etc.)?</p>
<p>My goal here is to help colleges and students find each other but without driving the students and families nuts along the way. :)</p>
<p>My daughter recently toured at McDaniel. What did not work out for you there?</p>
<p>I didn't learn the names of any of the schools I applied to through Internet sources but I've gotten practically all of my information, post-acceptance from the Internet. My two sources have been CC and the Princeton Review website. I haven't looked at the Fiske guide but I know that the Princeton Review profiles of different schools and their great rankings and lists have been invaluable. </p>
<p>It's great to learn some of the negatives and to see perspectives on things that are crucial to the college experience but which more traditional guides tend to leave out. I love how straightforward, honest and conversational the tone is. It's just like getting an insider's perspective from a friend who's a student at the school in question.</p>
<p>In answer to the original question, I've gotten lots and lots of unsolicited e-mail from colleges I didn't know existed but I haven't chosen to apply to any of them.</p>
<p>It does seem that the Web is a big plus when it comes to "follow-up"--that is, getting more information about a college you are already familiar with. </p>
<p>But maybe I feel that way because I came of age in an era when Al Gore was still too busy playing high school football to be inventing the Internet. ;)</p>
<p>For today's students and parents, is an Internet search often secondary, as it was for sw_haldar01, or do some folks actually start in Cyberspace?</p>
<p>My guide of choice was the Princeton Review 365 Best... It doesn't gloss over any negative aspects. </p>
<p>For the internet, I looked at College Board a TON, and CC was also a huge help- especially if current students are easily found. Probably about half my list came from CC info, and talking to current students makes those "Why _____" essays a lot easier to write.</p>
<p>My daughter is attending Rose-Hulman for engineering. Never head of the school untill we started the search in US news. The school is ranked No 1 for engineering for 9 years in a row.</p>
<p>She will be a Soph this year and loves the school. As she said it is her dream school.</p>
<p>I'll be headed to Swarthmore College in the fall. I've never heard of Swarthmore until I read Looking Beyond the Ivy League by Loren Pope (such a great book). At first I was a little hesitant about Swarthmore, because of it's Quaker legacy (I'm not a Quaker), but I liked the idea of a small, liberal arts college, an academically rigorous program, super-bright students, and a general love of learning for its own sake with a sense of ethical intelligence.</p>
<p>I went to Quaker school from kindergarten through 12th grade. I'm not Quaker either, and, although there was a strong Quaker presence at the school, the majority of other students weren't either.
But a lot of folks don't seem to understand what Quakerism is all about. When I was growing up in Pennsylvania and told people I went to a Quaker school, some of them confused it with an Amish school. :confused:</p>
<p>I think you'll find that the Quaker influence at Swat is very low-key and also all positive. Quakers value education, tolerance, equality, non-violence, equality between the sexes (even before it was fashionable) ... all that fine stuff. (Although my husband might tell you that my Quaker-school background makes me a good sport in situations where I might do well to be a bit nastier. ;) )</p>
<p>There are many excellent Quaker or Quaker-founded colleges in this country, and non-Quakers shouldn't shy away.</p>
<p>We traveled to Marist College in the spring of my D's junior year. She was somewhat interested in as a safety school. After the info session and tour, my D was not interested in the school at all - "too much like high school"<br>
On the way back home, we passed a sign for Vassar. We decided to drive through the campus and that was it. I'm a graduate of a women's college and knew of Vassar but had not thought about it. It was definitely a reach college for my D. She eventually applied ED and just completed her freshman year and loves it.</p>
<p>Sally, I know you asked for stories from incoming freshman but I thought the way S found his school might be interesting to you (hes going to be a junior)
He had throughout HS a burning desire for a Sports Business type major so we researched and he attended a summer program at a certain University geared to kids interested in that major.While there,the professor in one of the classes he took recommended that he apply to his current college b/c of the reputation of its program, a place we hadnt even considered.
Once we researched and found out the fabulous merit scholarships a/v to out of state kids with excellent stats,plus an Honors College, plus Div 1 big time sports, plus the programs rep plus relative ease of travel by air,plus a successful visit,it became a slam dunk. The school is the University of South Carolina.</p>
<p>Thanks, Cathymee. I don't know why I directed my initial query just to freshmen. Luckily, a lot of folks ignored me (just like at home ;) ).</p>
<p>We visited U. of South Carolina last year. It's a beautiful campus. Very uplifting to be there in February for us New Englanders! Also uplifting is the fact that that prof in the summer program took the time to offer a suggestion to your son. </p>
<p>Thanks for sharing your story.</p>