<p>Don’t you need to apply to the ones you are still considering, given that it is now the 9th and many if not most school’s deadlines have already passed???</p>
<p>All the one’s remaining on my “considering” list have regular decision deadlines Jan 15 or later.</p>
<p>I suggest visiting RPI before making a decision to attend. It’s got a good reputation, but is in the “Arm pit of New York” and the student experience is supposed to be awful. I have yet to meet anyone from RPI that didn’t bash it. </p>
<p>I’ve heard very good things about WPI. I supervised a robotics competition this past September at Maker Faire and a really nice bunch of kids from WPI were competing. They spoke very highly about their school.</p>
<p>I also suggest using the payscale.com rankings as a filter. The USNews rankings are very subjective, full of opinion driven numbers, which tends to favor a school’s exclusivity rather than the success of it’s graduates. Payscale.com tells you exactly what you want to know: “How successful are the children who graduate from this place?” In my humble opinion, it’s the primary ranking scale to look at.</p>
<p>Good collaborative effort with son this evening. We winnowed the list down to 3 reach, 3 match, and 3 safety schools. Dropped several schools from further consideration and added one in thanks to ConfusedMominMA suggestions.</p>
<p>Applied - </p>
<p>University of Maine - EA - awaiting notification
University of Maryland College Park - EA - awaiting notification
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) - EAII - awaiting notification
Purdue University - EA - Denied (Program Competitiveness)</p>
<p>Still being considered - </p>
<p>Due Jan 15
Northeastern
University of Connecticut
University of West Haven
Due 2/15
University of Massachusetts - Lowell
University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Rolling Admissions
Western New England University</p>
<p>No longer being considered - </p>
<p>Alfred
Clarkson
Lafayette
North Carolina State
Renssalear Institute of Technology
Rochester Polytechnic Institute
Stevens Institute of Technology
Tufts
University of New Hampshire
Vanderbilt</p>
<p>Oh… never mind the comment about RPI. I see you’ve already rejected it.</p>
<p>Heard good things from Northeasten grads.</p>
<p>I appreciate your insight maikai. RPI, RTI, and Clarkson all failed to make our cut for much these same reasons. Especially in the case of RPI and RTI, we were letting the program reputation override our instinct about what was actually a good fit for my son. I doubt he would have a good experience at those schools. Clarkson just is not a good value nor is it in a good location for us. Much better choices are available.</p>
<p>WPI is definitely our top choice but we realize it is a reach school. Hoping for the best but making sure we have other options.</p>
<p>I do hope you keep us posted! I’m rooting for WPI of course, but I know all too well how expensive it is. Looks like you will have some very good options no matter what.</p>
<p>We visited Northeastern University and University of Massachusetts - Lowell this weekend. We are going to apply to NEU but are not going to apply to UMass-Lowell.</p>
<p>Northeastern has very modern facilities set right in Boston proper. It has a well regarded Engineering program and is known for its extensive co-op programs. The campus lacked the traditional campus feel that we were seeking. Its buildings are all set very close togther and without any real green or common spaces. It is still a good place to go to school and has easy access to all that greater Boston has to offer. I am not quite convinced that this is the best fit for my son but it remains in the running. Despite the schools good reputation, I would still rather he attend one of the several other schools (WPI, UMCP, UMaine, UConn) with more traditional campus settings that are in the running. This will be his choice though.</p>
<p>UMass - Lowell was easy. I absolutely hated the campus within minutes of setting foot on it. I kept quiet and let my son make up his own mind. He very quickly felt the same way. The campus is set in three dispersed locations (e.g., North, South, and East campus) that are not close and seperated by some areas that seem a bit rundown and seedy. The campuses were all in very close proximity to or intersected by heavily trafficed roads. Many of the campus buildings were rundown. I think one of the buildings may even have been an old high school that has been converted for reuse. The best part of the campus was the very new engineering facility. This was not enough, however, to make up for the many negatives. I would rather send my son to a well regarded community college with a pre-engineering program than put him in the UMass-Lowell college setting. There are some very ambititious projects being planned for the campus but I cannot see how they could possibly change the big negatives of the location and the 3 separate campuses.</p>
<p>Husband and I always kept quiet & never said anything on campus tours for our four children. It was up to the child to make up his/her own mind about the school. We were pleased with all their choices & they have done well. One of our children is a UCONN alum & we do miss visiting UCONN, although we could do so on our own! :)</p>
<p>Lowell is not too far from us, so I know exactly what you are talking about!</p>
<p>SLUMOM > We are also applying to UConn. We have not yet been able to visit but will visit if he is accepted there. I would be interested in heaing your opinion as to student life at UConn.</p>
<p>Our current applied list is -</p>
<p>Northeastern - RD - awaiting notification
University of Connecticut - RD - awaiting notification
University of Maine - EA - awaiting notification
University of Maryland College Park - EA - awaiting notification
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) - EAII - awaiting notification</p>
<p>There is really no Greek Life at UCONN, they have on campus housing for the Greeks so it does not impact the social life at all. Unless things have changed I believe you can only live on campus for six semesters. Many seniors live off campus, there are many apt. complexes surrounding the campus. Parking a car can be a problem if you are a freshman or sophomore, however there is private property where you can pay to park a car for the school year. The name “Farmer Brown” comes to mind! </p>
<p>Buses do take the students to East Hartford for the football games (very cheap) and when basketball games are held in Hartford, same thing-cheap buses or go with friends. </p>
<p>I believe they did away with “Spring Weekend” (a big drinking weekend).
Academically UCONN is number #26 in USNWR’s Public Universities. </p>
<p>Everybody we ever talked with at UCONN was very helpful, very professional, very friendly, there is just no place like it! This even includes the maintenance staff in the dormitories! Just everybody, professors, deans, financial aid, medical center etc! </p>
<p>[Dairy</a> Bar › University of Connecticut](<a href=“http://www.dairybar.uconn.edu/]Dairy”>http://www.dairybar.uconn.edu/) The Dairy Bar’s Ice Cream is to die for! </p>
<p>(once my D & her class had a professor from Italy, and so it was a nice sunny spring day, the class conned him into going to the Dairy Bar to have class there) The kids kept telling him “this is America, we can have class at the Dairy Bar, eat ice cream etc, sit outside…” funny story! </p>
<p>My mother & father are also UCONN alum, so they have that connection with my D.</p>
<p>Update</p>
<p>Applied list - </p>
<p>Northeastern - RD - awaiting notification
Perdue University - EA - denied (program competitiveness)
University of Connecticut - RD - awaiting notification
University of Maine - EA - awaiting notification
University of Maryland College Park - EA - awaiting notification
University of Massachusetts - Amherst - RD - awaiting notification
University of New Haven - EAII - awaiting notification
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) - EAII - awaiting notification</p>
<p>Still being considered - </p>
<p>Western New England University </p>
<p>No longer being considered - </p>
<p>Alfred
Clarkson
Lafayette
North Carolina State
Renssalear Institute of Technology
Rochester Polytechnic Institute
Stevens Institute of Technology
Tufts
University of Massachusetts - Lowell
University of New Hampshire
Vanderbilt</p>
<p>SLUMOM - UConn is my son’s 1st choice. Thanks for your insights. I have been to UConn twice and made sure I went to the Dairy Bar both times!</p>
<p>One question, you mentioned taking buses to football and basketball games. Are any of the football and/or bball games on campus?</p>
<p>All the football games are in East Hartford!
There was not enough room to build a large stadium on campus for football… Rentschler Stadium is in East Hartford… Buses go there (very cheap) and students go with friends in their cars… </p>
<p>Some Basketball games are in Gampel Pavillion on campus, and some in Hartford… Gampel does not hold that many people!! The XL Center in Hartford, students must be aware they will not be sitting with other students… there is no student section at the XL Center… The UCONN students will be surrounded with other fans… (this was one of my daughter’s complaints)…</p>
<p>I was in Gampel at an open house in September and it seemed pretty big to me but I guess not when you are such a basketball power. Do you think that the lack of spectator sports right on campus affects “school spirit” negatively?</p>
<p>Update - Admitted to University of Maine, removed Western New England University from considering list</p>
<p>Applied list - </p>
<p>Northeastern - RD - awaiting notification
Purdue University - EA - denied (program competitiveness)
University of Connecticut - RD - awaiting notification
University of Maine - EA - admitted to College of Engineering
University of Maryland College Park - EA - awaiting notification
University of Massachusetts - Amherst - RD - awaiting notification
University of New Haven - EAII - awaiting notification
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) - EAII - awaiting notification</p>
<p>No longer being considered - </p>
<p>Alfred
Clarkson
Lafayette
North Carolina State
Renssalear Institute of Technology
Rochester Polytechnic Institute
Stevens Institute of Technology
Tufts
University of Massachusetts - Lowell
University of New Hampshire
Vanderbilt
Western New England University</p>
<p>Glad you finally heard from UMaine. Congratulations!</p>
<p>My son heard from Umass Amherst. He got admitted to UMass but not to the College of Engineering. He has been admitted as an Undeclared student. Either he has to do really well senior year and submit his grades and have them reconsider the admission or he can go in as a freshman undeclared and do well his 1st year and transfer into Engineering. Glad he got in but don’t like that it still unsettled. When he got the big envelope in the mail had high hopes that if doesn’t get into UConn and/or WPI or that they turn out to be financially un-doable that we’d have Umass in our back pocket. Oh well. We shall what happens.</p>
<p>I think there is plenty of school spirit at UCONN!
Maybe it will work out for your Son at UMASS…although I realize it is not his first choice & he wasn’t admitted to College of Engineering.</p>
<p>SLUMOM - Glad to hear that there is lots of school spirit at UConn. Here’s hoping my son gets in, and we can afford it, so the whole UMass situation just doesn’t matter!!</p>
<p>I hope my S gets admitted at UConn just so that we can visit the Dairy Bar.</p>