<p>fifty and momrath – thanks very much for the suggestion of cornell. With the location of the Namgyal monastery so close to campus and cornell’s Asian studies department, he is definitely interested!</p>
<p>padad – he is going to check out the Echols program and see what it offers and what it takes to get admitted to it.</p>
<p>It looks like we are going to do some thinking this weekend and try and reevaluate the list – you guys have given us some great ideas! This is what he is thinking:</p>
<p>First – list what he really wants/needs in a school (yes, we have done this a couple of times – but it doesn’t hurt to reevaluate based on new info).</p>
<p>Second – see where his safety (University of Colorado, Boulder) falls in comparison to what he is looking for in a school.</p>
<p>Third – eliminate schools on his list where he can’t use the Davis Scholarship (they would end up costing him alot more – even if they were cheaper to begin with)</p>
<p>Fourth – compare the remaining schools to his safety. If he would rather attend his safety, it gets knocked off the list</p>
<p>Finally – rank the remaining schools in order of where he thinks he is a best fit.</p>
<p>He is rethinking Harvard – it does offer what he wants in terms of programs, etc but the thought is if he gets deferred from Columbia ED and Chicago EA would he really have a chance at Harvard?</p>
<p>Two things I am supposed to research – financial aid at University of Michigan for out of state students (anyone know if it is any good?) and the five college consortium. It looks like a bigtime Tibetan scholar teaches at Smith (which is a women’s college – so he couldn’t go) so he is thinking of adding Amherst to the list (the other two coed schools that are part of the consortium are not Davis Scholar Schools).</p>
<p>He did look into a number of state schools with excellent programs: UCB, University of Wisconsin, University of Indiana, University of Washington, UCSB, etc – but with FA for OOS limited and the fact that they aren’t Davis Scholarship Schools, he will have to cross them off the list.</p>
<p>He is also going to try and give me some concrete info on what he wants in terms of Tibetan Buddhism. I tried to explain to him that he really isn’t going to be able to take more than 1, maybe 2, classes each semester on Tibetan (language, history, culture, religion, etc) with a typical class load of 5 classes/semester and other requirements to meet. So if the school offers some classes that suit his needs, it should be ok. Access to weekend retreats seems to be important, also.</p>
<p>I would advise him not to focus so narrowly on Tibetan Buddhism, but it is definitely his passion and has been for several years. In fact, if he had a choice, he would enter a 13 year program in India where you earn a degree in Tibetan Buddhism – but he made a deal with me to at least get his BA at a school in the US. I am hoping to broaden his knowledge base – which will be good no matter what he decides to do. </p>
<p>I will let you know what 5 schools he ends up putting on the list later this weekend. I am sure we will have more questions!</p>