<p>You've got some fun trips ahead of you. Enjoy the cuisine (<strong>mouth waters</strong>) and the scenery. We did the west coast trip @ end of soph year (lots of relatives in CA), midwest during junior mid-winter break, and east coast @ end of junior year. Enjoyed them all immensely, and wished I was the one making the decision. Wisely kept my mouth shut at each visit, but took notes of her comments to be reviewed at a later time. I think we saw about 25-30 schools (some drive-bys) which must have been about 25 more than we visited with S 6 years prior.</p>
<p>BTW, it was a chance visit to Whitman during spring break of D's soph year that turned her focus to LAC's. Fabulous school, not enough exposure (shhh!). She determined it was a school she'd be happy to attend. She visited 3 times total (friends there) and it was a match/safety for her (although one can never be so sure).</p>
<p>concerneddad, I will be waiting to read your write up about your trip. I trust it will be very thorough. I am actually curious about Drew, because it has the UN, NY Arts and Wall Street programs.</p>
<p>Wh have am ambitious list of schools for our trip, which include: ST. MAry's MD, Goucher, Haverford, Swartmore, Bryn Mawr, Drew, Princeton, Barnard, Skidmore, Colgate, Hamilton, Amherst, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Brandies, Wellseley, Brown, Conn. C. and Wesleyan.</p>
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<p>Concerneddad - just a note but the travel time between St. Mary's and Goucher is about two hours. It looks/seems closer on the map. Don't plan on seeing both in the same day...not possible unless you and your daughter's have extreme stamina and you are good at driving very fast on boring 4 lane highways. Frankly, I might plan on seeing one or the other, but not both.</p>
<p>Looking at your list, it seems that you don't have many solid choices for your one daughter - the one who is interested in pre-vet.The majority of schools on that list are going to be reaches for her - I'd drop a few of the reaches and add one or two matches for her, safeties for your other daughter. Just my opinion - discard if you like. Possible suggestions for her: Dickinson, Muhlenberg, Franklin & Marshall, LAfayette, Wheaton (Mass), Hartwick (NY).</p>
<p>Carolyn, I was thinking the same thing. The list is a little top heavy given both daughters. Wheaton, Clark, Simmons? Even a few safeties for D2, like Salve Regina, Wells, Hobart & William Smith, etc?</p>
<p>Thanks Carolyn & SBmom, we will be fine-tuning the list for the next several weeks, and I will look into some of the other schools you have suggested.</p>
<p>SBMom - I was trying to remember Hobart & William Smith but my mind is having serious lapses this evening and couldn't dredge it up so thank you! Very nice school, not to far from Colgate if I remember. But seriously, Concerneddad - trying to fit in upstate NY schools with the Marlyand/PA and MAss schools is overly ambitious. Think of this as a scouting trip, not the be-all and end-all trip. Also, it occurs to me that you may want to add in a few universities/larger schools --- just on the off chance that one of your girls finds them to her liking. You could easily add in Syracuse, Johns Hopkins or Boston U on a trip to upstate NY, Maryland, or Mass.</p>
<p>Concerneddad, Sounds like a fun trip. You should get the full gamut of weather as well, some places it will be spring, some winter. It seems a shame since you're in the neighborhood both geographically and ambience-wise not to stop by Williams. . . Great for the esquestrian, especially.</p>
<p>I wanted to ask you a question about the IB program in the US. My son did the full IB diploma and benefited greatly from it, especially Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay. Because 2/3rds of his high school are non-American the IB is very well known and accepted and the exam score weigh heavily in college admissions, but among Americans there still seems to be a kind of misunderstanding (or even mistrust) of what IB is all about. Even among selective colleges it seems to be viewed as a kind of European version of AP. In giving credit or acceleration they seem to try to fit the round IB pegs into the square AP holes. I wonder how the kids at your daughters' school are finding colleges' reactions to the IB program. Or what Americans in general feel about the IB versus AP?</p>
<p>Concerneddad,
I just have to ask, are you planning on visiting all these schools (I believe I see 19) in one week and visit NYC? I'm sure I missed something; please set me straight. My brain is aching just thinking about it!!</p>
<p>momrath: our high school has had the IB program for many years, and the impression I get is that it is very well received by the selective schools -- providing you go the full course, which is optional. Kids are routinely accepted into all of the most selective colleges from out high school. Of course kids get into those same schools following the regular circm. and Aps.</p>
<p>Pokey318: I honestly do not know how many of those schools we will actually visit, but we are taking more than a week on this trip: it will be more like 11-12 days.</p>
<p>We did RPI,Bowdoin,Colby,Tufts,Conn College,Brandeis and MIT in 8 days, starting out a bit east of Cleveland. We also walked through Harvard and said, oh, what a nice place for grad school. I cannot imagine averaging more than one school per day.</p>
<p>Momrath, interesting question about the IB program.....It's very big where we live, and the parents do think that the IB is the "ticket" to the most selective colleges....But when I posted the question on CC several months ago, I wasn't exactly flamed, but many, many people said that in the U.S. its not the golden ticket any more than the AP program.....we'll see what other posters say here on the thread....</p>
<p>Would it be useful to "divide & conquer" in a few towns? If nobody got offended?</p>
<p>For example, Boston: D1 sees Wellesley, Tufts, Brandeis while D2 sees Emerson, Clark, BC? Might be useful way to see more schools. (Some of the schools will overlap, of course, and would be good for both Ds to see.)</p>
<p>I mention this because it is very difficult to see more than one school-- two max-- in a day unless all you are doing is a "visual scan." In a half day you can do a tour, eat a meal, and have an interview (not a bad idea while you are there.) if there is minimal travel time, like between Haverford & Bryn Mawr, you can do this at two places in a day. Most schools have tours about 10-3pm hourly or every two hours. Some only have info sessions 2-3 x per day. </p>
<p>There is a great book called Visiting College Campuses that has all the maps, directions, and travel times, as well as the info about vacations schedules, etc. Very useful!</p>
<p>For your equestrienne, you may also want to check out whether or not there are any practices or competitions she can watch at any of the schools. That is a great way to see the athletic level, and could inform your visiting order.</p>
<p>SB, yes, we may do a bit of that. And we will whittle the list down a bit before we head out. We have already made contact with the equine coaches at Skimore and Goucher, and they are just waiting on us to tell them what days and times we will be visisting.</p>