<p>Warrior–congrats! Nothing better than seeing your child realizing that you actually helped him! At our school, there is a vast gulf between the college prep activity of the honors kids and the average kids, with me having to tread the fine line of avoiding making “insulting” comments about those of my son’s friends who are frankly are just lazy/scared into inertia/not wanting to seem nerdy by revealing the work they have actually done/applying to state schools where they are a lock.</p>
<p>To the folks pointing out the suitability of Kansas, etc–this is a potentially major help for the many Eastern kids who want big sports, but do not look off the coast and have made UConn, UNC much harder to get into. As there is no NY flagship, and only Uconn among New England publics plays major football, those kids have flooded the nearest options. GCs and parents would really benefit from remembering the Big 12 schools.</p>
<p>Are Kansas, etc so receptive to B/B- OOS kids because they have excess capacity or because the OOS tuition is a financial plus?</p>
<p>re: Kansas; very curious about the religious culture of the school; on one hand I have heard that Lawrence is the liberal hub of the area and, on the other, I have heard that most of Kansas is heavily of the “Christian Bible Belt”…with an Hillel population of close to 2,000, something doesn’t gel here…feedback from those in the know please? It would be a terrific safety for 3.0 kids ( like mine)…</p>
<p>Rodney, I have done a lot of investigating into Kansas, because it is so out of left field for us in Southern California. Not one person I’ve talked to, from alumni to current students, has mentioned anything about religious overtones. It is indeed a very liberal atmosphere and quite a party school, which goes hand in hand with the big sports scene and popular greek life. I was also concerned about the jewish population, just to give my son the option to connect with the jewish community, and there’s quite a large number of jews at the school. There are 2 jewish fraternities, also. One thing I’ve found to be kind of interesting when looking at schools with my son is to go to the fraternity websites and look at the pictures and names of the members, and even in some cases where they’re from. It can be quite enlightening. When all is said and done I don’t think my son will opt for Kansas if he gets into one of his higher choices, but I REALLY like the school and think it’s a great choice.</p>
<p>Tx, elizabeth…yes, I saw the two fraternities you were referring to; in fact ZBT was just established last year…As the mom of a girl, I also saw that SDT was on campus…still trying to figure out what’s the catch? Continental offers 6 daily flights to KC from Newark; $250 round trip, 45 min from airport…and what large public is not a party school? It will definitely be on our list for large public safety (since Indiana no longer is; a “safety” that is…)</p>
<p>Are ZBT and SDT automatically always Jewish?</p>
<p>My college (large state school) had ZBT, SDT and Sammy too, and a Hillel. Yet, I was the only Jewish kid on my dorm floor and actually met kids who had been taught bizarre things about Jews. So I guess I don’t know if having those organizations on campus necessarily gives you the whole picture, although it is reassuring.</p>
<p>RTR: excellent point…no, it doesn’t give you the whole picture; only a visit could do that and talking with other Jewish students on campus…but it’s a starting point…If there is no Hillel, or if there is an insignificant # of students affiliated with the Jewish religion, no need to continue exploration (we had a number of those early reads in both the south and midwest already)…</p>
<p>Surprisingly, though, Kansas has similar #'s as Ucolorado@Bolder, yet many, many Jewish kids around here have Colorado on radar but not Kansas…that’s why further investigation may be in order…</p>
<p>Colorado is on more radar than Kansas because of skiiing and Boulder having a very cool reputation</p>
<p>Lawrence has always been the liberal center of Kansas (state university towns have this rep in many states).</p>
<p>I did find it odd that the Hillel site has a vastly higher % of Jewish undergrads than grads at Kansas.</p>
<p>An interesting comparison is that the state of Kansas is not known for having a sizable Jewish population, while Pennsylvania is, yet Hillel.org believes such good schools as Juniata, Sussquehanna and Moravian have only 30-35 Jewish kids each.</p>
<p>ya: may be a function of the actual size of those PA schools? or the fact that there are so many options for kids in PA?</p>
<p>I actually do not trust Hillel’s #'s in all cases; in the case of Kansas, I looked on the KU Hillel site for info…if this school becomes more of an option for my daughter, I will eventually contact Hillel peeps on campus…will all depend on testing later in the year…</p>
<p>The other thing about KU vs Boulder is that KU is much easier to get into. As you mentioned, Rodney, many of the safety schools like Indiana (Ohio State, San Diego State for CA, Penn State) of previous years have become much, much more difficult to get into than before. My D was admitted to Indiana in October of 2007 (graduated 08) and it was most definitely her safety, as well as many of the kids from her high school - and my son, with a 2.9, has to consider it a high match/reach at this point. It’s really amazing to me how quickly things have changed!</p>
<p>Thank you Rodney! Dos the University provide transport between the school and airport, even if for a fee? Kansas is a new one for us and dd is filling out her application now.</p>
<p>Not sure; daughter is a junior so you are waaaay ahead of us…I think there’s alink on the KU website though…there is another parent on this thread whose son is there from the northeast so I’m sure she would know (maybe she’ll see this!)</p>
<p>KU does not have a shuttle, but there is a private shuttle from the airport (MCI) to Lawrence- $63 roundtrip, that runs 8 times a day. S has also gotten rides to the airport with kids heading to Kansas City for breaks. The shuttle can be booked online and is very easy. Southwest does fly into MCI which is great.</p>
<p>S has never mentioned any religious overtones at KU and yes, Lawrence is liberal although there is also a sizable conservative student sect.</p>
<p>Although we are pretty much done with our visits, I would like to find one more match/safety school. My son likes campuses that are cohesive ( in that it appears that an effort has been made to keep the original appearance of the school) and intellectual. He’s not into a big frat/party scene and sees that as a negative. Do any of these schools fit the bill - Endicott, Sienna or Elmira???</p>
<p>warriorboy6448 ~ We visited Siena three times (twice for D and once for S). Both of them (and us) liked it very much. It ended up second on D’s list. S really liked, but it did not have the major he ultimately chose so he did not apply. There are no frats and probably no more parties than any other college.</p>