@amom2girls … I just saw your question about restaurant suggestions in Harrisonburg… a little late. Sorry!!
@DoDEAMom18 Sounds like you and your daughter had a great trip and were able to visit many schools. I’m a little sad that VWU didn’t make a good impression. I agree that the campus doesn’t have that typical college look. When my kid initially visited, it was during an overnight athletic recruit visit. I didn’t do the campus tour or even meet anyone in admissions. My first visit was during the Batten Honors College competition and the school was definitely making an effort to put their best foot forward. You never know…that’s why college visits are so important. Best of luck to you and your DD as she makes a decision!
@GoingGrey … DD’s most certainly have similar college lists. First off… DD1 is a Junior at Flagler College in St Augustine, Florida and looooooves it. Studying Coastal Environmental Science, Math and Data Analytics. Professors are wildly involved and helpful, fabulous internships and study abroads and a great town! Plus the beach.
Roanoke Vibe was great… just what DD2 is looking for. Brick and stately buildings, lots of student interaction, involvement, liked the overall location. Fabulous tour guide really helped too and a very personal sit down with admissions staff. I am sure the lovely sunny fall day helped to set the tone too. She is waiting for her acceptance which feels imminent as the admissions office has been in contact with her every week via email (not a mass mail). Esp if it would come before Dec 9 when she is scheduled to take the ACT again!
On your list Allegheny and College of Wooster round out DD2 top three. Waiting to hear from them sooooooon.
Received Acceptance Packages from Urinus, Susquehanna, WVU, Juniata,Kenyon, Denison, Lynchburg, U of Dubuque (random app), refuses to apply to Muhlenburg since they were so very rude to her, Guilford, and a few others. But of course she is waiting on Roanoke, Allegheny and CoW.
It all seems like so long ago… it will all work out for her. I am so glad we had the luxury of time (and apparently money too!) for the trip- not only for the college tours and the experience of the admissions visit/ interview, but to have 12 days of easy driving. lots of singing, explaining what “Only The Good Die Young” by B. Joel means, chatting about all things teen life, sharing stories that she had not heard before including a few “don’t do what I did”, and sneaking in a visit with college daughter, and of course last minute great tix for Hamilton. “We will never have this time again” were the wise words of my husband as he sent us off exploring!
I’m glad your D likes Lynchburg College. My D went there for three semesters, leaving a year ago for a larger school. I was sad because I really liked it. It has a gorgeous campus and gives very good financial aid (my reason for pushing the school in the first place), with both merit aid and the scholarship competition with the essay and interview. The new student center is gorgeous, too. Ultimately, she decided it was just too small and Southern and didn’t like the area right around the campus (which admitedly isn’t great). Good luck to your D. Let me know if you have questions.
New mom posting over here for the first time (have been mostly on the pre-college forum). DS has applied to a number of mid-Atlantic schools, including Roanoke, Lynchburg, Gettysburg and DIckinson. He heard back from Lynchburg and Roanoke about 2 weeks ago - acceptances. Both included surprisingly nice merit packages. DS really loved Roanoke, for all the reasons you stated, @DoDEAMom18 .
@hellomaisy Thanks for the info. Right now it seems that her top three are the only three she is still waiting for… Roanoke seems to be at the top from what I can tell. They have everything and have emailed back and forth a bit… so she keeps checking and waiting. Reminded her that back in the day we did not hear until April !!! Looking forward to seeing what the package will look like if / when… Is your DS thinking to accept Roanoke?
I just read this entire discussion! DODEAMom - what did your D decide??
Thank you everyone for all the great info. So many of the colleges my D is interested in were included - Susquehanna, Juniata, Lynchburg, McDaniel. A few years ago we visited Lynchburg and Roanoke with my older D. She loved Roanoke (so did I!) My now junior D liked Lynchburg back then (so did I!), so we are going to visit again. Hitting the PA schools over spring break. Also visiting York for kicks. And we may need to add Elizabethtown to the list.
My D is a good student (4.95 weighted, 130 PSATs); sports, community service, NHS, ski patrol, etc (her schedule exhausts me!) so I feel like she could get some good merit aid at some of these schools (because we certainly can’t afford $50,000 a year!)
She has NO idea what she wants to study and would like a small school (which I agree with for the student-teacher ratio and being able to get to know your professors…but that U of MD in-state tuition is tempting!)
She has no interest in Greek life.
I don’t want her at a school that I’ve heard described as “white, rich, entitled kids”. She is NOT “preppy”. She is sporty. And a rule follower. And a champion of causes.
Trying to find that balance of community, nice kids, a nuturing environment, along with good academics!
@RookieCollegeMom, McDaniel’s offer to our son, who has good test scores but a GPA around 3.0, makes the cost the same or a little less than MD in state. Now if we can just convince him to accept it…