<p>justadog - A couple of ideas for strong engineering in rural/suburban locations: Lafayette and Lehigh in Pa., can be visited on same day. Both beautiful campuses. Lafayette is small LAC, Lehigh is small uni w. LAC feel. In California, Santa Clara University, beautiful Mediterranean style campus; again a small uni w LAC feel. Merit aid is a possibility for many kids at this one.</p>
<p>If small universities are of interest, I have other ideas.</p>
<p>Do tell, Jmmom! Engineering is one area where I never feel comfortable making suggestions, so I would love to hear yours for small engineering uni's.</p>
<p>uhoh - jmmom <em>quakes in boots being asked for college suggestions by The Master</em>: some will be obvious to you, carolyn: Rice, Tulane, JHU; also Hofstra (NY), Villanova, Trinity College (CT), Fairleigh Dicinson (NJ), Bucknell, Gonzaga (WA), Renssellear. These are the ones on my radar screen.</p>
<p>My niece and family were extremely impressed with U of Delaware's engineering program. Some good merit money and a top notch program.</p>
<p>jmmom,
Thanks for the suggestion about Santa Clara - that's one that we've overlooked up to now. There's a good chance that we will do a Lehigh/Lafayette/Bucknell/CMU/Case driving tour late this summer. </p>
<p>If the frat scene at Bucknell and Lehigh is as prevalent as the guide books say, that may discourage them. Neither one is a partier, at all. Of course, we won't see much visiting during the summer, but... </p>
<p>I think that the largest school they want to go to is about 15,000 students - they both liked Georgia Tech, and they'll probably apply to UConn as a safety, but they would prefer smaller, I think.</p>
<p>I don't mean to keep saying "they", but these things are common to both kids.</p>
<p>justadog - S is also not a partier at all and does not want frats. I hear a lot about heavy frat scene at Lehigh. We were there in April. A big frat week/weekend of some sort was coming up, with posters abounding. These events were not exclusive to frats (at least as advertised, I never know how that really works). Anyway, frat/sorority presence was obvious and yet, to our observation, not overwhelming. S was not turned off in the least, and he would have been if he felt it was too dominant. Of course, neither he nor we were there on a Fri/Sat night. But fwiw.</p>
<p>Screen name: eppsas
Is your junior male or female: female
Home state: Alabama
Preferred geographic location for college: South
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): small-ish - 1400-5000
Child's possible academic interests: chemistry
Schools currently on child's list of possibilities: Wke Forest, Birmingham Southern, Rhodes, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Furman, SMU, Baylor, TCU
Schools we've visited (whether or not child is still interested in going there): Emory, Vanderbilt, Auburn, UAB, Wake Forest, Furman, GA Tech (drive thru only), Birmingham Southern</p>
<p>Auburn's not a small school but has an EXCELLENT engineering program - lots of "ra-ra" (football team was 2nd in the nation last year) - I have an engineering degree from Auburn and I work for NASA.</p>
<p>Gee i thought I had responded to this post but don't see S listed so here goes:
Screen name:Cathymee
Student:Son
Home State:New York (suburban to NYC)
Preferred geographic location: Open at the moment,prefers "warm",suburban or urban but with true campus,
Specific things looking for in a college: larger rather than smaller(medium would be good but boy they are hard to find!), Div 1 sports or local pro sports to accommodate internships,no overwhelming frat scene but could wind up a frat boy in the end,service oriented EC's or the ability to form one(state officer in a specific service org and wants to continue in their college divisiion),diversity
Possible academic interest: S has zeroed in on Sports Management for at least two years already.Thinks he has his whole future mapped out,Mom knowing better (second kid..older D changed major) helping to pick schools where change of major would be possible..for example..Drexel has the major but if he wanted to change but not transfer..it's basically a techie school and he's not interested.
schools currently on child's list: Since he has such a strong interest we used the resource of the North American Society for Sports Management(nassm.com),which maintains a website with useful info including a list of colleges with the major and what to look for in a program.We compared their list with S's preferences and academic level and looked for some other variables such as the availability of an Honor's College or program at the school and the availability of merit money (S is a possible NMSF/F-score was 223 in NY,already in possesion of that "first letter").
List right now includes:Syracuse,U Conn, U Mass-Amherst,Rice (maybe too small and a reach) U Miami (his #1) U Michigan,U Florida,U South Carolina.
Schools visited:During a summer program at Penn State last year S visited Syracuse (liked except for weather) Ithaca (has the program.. he didnt like the location and lack of sports..I liked when visited with D #1..Penn State (liked the proximity of town-campus,doesnt have the program though)U Md (liked..program only on graduate level) Lehigh (didnt like..too small and isolated feel to campus). We've visited together-UConn..just last week..S loved it all except the locale..very rural..no town to speak of ("nowhere to walk to" he said) We go to ASU (Arizona) all the time,D goes there (he loves it all, no program).Will visit U Mass next (program highly regarded but lots of budget problems overall from what I hear) He's attending a program at Miami this summer so he'll scope that out himself. Will visit U. S. Carolina in the Fall and visit Michigan if he's accepted and visit U Florida in the Fall as well if the Semi Finalist comes through (they offer an almost free ride).We looked at the walking tour tape of Rice..impressive grounds for sure but he thought it looked "empty".Their Sports Management program is very small but has excellent connections to the Houston market so will keep it on the list for now.</p>
<p>Screen name: Wyogal
Is your junior male or female: Male
Home state: Maryland (MD)
Preferred geographic location for college: Not MD
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): He says small LAC, but upper limit has been inching up as we've been looking; does not want urban unless it is a very defined campus; coed; research opportunities; no TA's as primary teachers; challenge.
Child's possible academic interests: physics/chemistry/math, but also wants to continue his Japanese & creative writing
Schools currently on child's list of possibilities: Reed, Carleton, Pomona/Harvey Mudd, Bowdoin, Furman, Haverford
Schools we've visited (whether or not child is still interested in going there): Pomona/Harvey Mudd, Caltech, Bowdoin, Bates, Duke, Wake Forest, Davidson, Furman, Elon (drivethru) UNCch(drivethru), Haverford, Swarthmore</p>
<p>Other comments:
Schools parents want him to visit: Princeton, Stanford, U Chicago
Plan to visit since we'll be in the neighborhood: Macalester, St. Olaf, Grinnell, Lewis & Clark (this is how Furman got onto his possibilities list)</p>
<p>eppsas,
Thanks. My mom is originally from Alabama, and even though she's been up north for almost 60 years, she still has a Southern accent. I'll add Auburn to the list for them to consider.</p>
<p>Funny how most kids don't want to attend a college in their home state unless they live in CA. My daughter doesn't want to attend anywhere in MA. The grass is always greener .... I suppose.</p>
<p>wyogal - I thought from your screen name you were in Wyoming, but I see you are Maryland.</p>
<p>Since you are looking for small LAC's with strong programs in math, sciences, Japanese, and creative writing - have you looked into Bucknell? It's a beautiful campus, near a small but totally charming town. They are very strong in math and science - lot of pre-med kids. Interestingly, though, they have a very strong Japanese program. When my son, who was aiming for majors in bio/psych and Japanese lang & culture, was visiting Bucknell, we wandered over to the Asian dept. One of the professors heard us talking in the hall. He dropped everything, and spent 30 minutes talking to my son. They says something about the personality of the school! For a school its size, the Japanese program was truly amazing. It's known for its science, so that was no surprise. As far as creative writing, though, I have to tell you I have no idea. Good luck.</p>
<p>Screen name: Northstarmom
Student: male</p>
<p>Home state: Somewhere in the US</p>
<p>College features: Would like a diverse, liberal place with a defined campus and good academics, but that's not super intense. Merit aid is important! Community service also is important. Does not want a party school. Wants to be able to get to know professors.</p>
<p>Preferred geographic location: Away from home, preferably out of state and in a place that's not freezing cold like Maine or the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. Very flexible about size of city/town.</p>
<p>Academic Interests: political science, chemistry, secondary education, psychology, art. Wants a career in which he can help other people.</p>
<p>List of schools: </p>
<p>Visited: Johns Hopkins, Emory, Duke, University of North Carolina, University of Florida, Florida State, University of Wisconsin, University of Minnesota, Florida A&M, Loyola Marymount, University of Kansas, New College (Florida).</p>
<p>Considering: Rhodes, Earlham, Rice, Washington U, Emory, University of Florida (because it has more IB students than any other college in the world).</p>
<p>NSM, That's a fascinating fact about U of Florida that I didn't know. Do you have any idea why that is so? By the way, I just caught that Loyola Marymount is on the list. To be honest, they are not always the greatest when it comes to merit aid. You might also look at the University of San Diego if you're out this way - decent merit aid for kids in your son's stat range, EXCELLENT science programs (head and shoulders above LMU) and EXCELLENT political science program as well.they are anxiously recruiting URMs and trying to broaden geographic diversity beyond 35% so I think your son would get some merit money there.</p>
<p>Thanks, Carolyn for the info.
I think that UF has so many IB graduates because it gives free tuition to all Florida students who obtain the IB diploma. The large numbers of Fla. IB students attract IB students from elsewhere.</p>
<p>When we toured, our guide was an IB graduate from S. Carolina who turned down Davidson for UF. Money didn't seem to be the reason, since he was, I think, a doctor's son. It seemed a big attraction was the opportunity to be around so many IB graduate.</p>
<p>S did a summer program at Loyola Marymount, but isn't interested in it because what he seems to remember most of that lovely campus was standing on a hill watching the smog roll over LA.</p>
<p>NSM, My daughter has a friend who is going to transfer to an IB school for senior year (don't ask why, it's a long, convoluted story). I am not up on IB, but I thought you needed a certain number of IB classes and to take some tests in order to get the IB diploma? Yet, this girl and her mother are very insistent that she WILL get an IB diploma after a year in the program. If you get a chance, can you post here or PM me with any info. you might have or know about how IB works? Thanks.</p>
<p>Current tally of rising seniors:</p>
<p>DAUGHTERS: (36)</p>
<p>Anoel - NY
Audiophile - Florida
calmom - California
carolyn - California
Crabbylady - Alaska</p>
<p>csshsm - Louisiana
curmudgeon - Texas
dcmom3 - Maryland
echosensei - Michigan
eppsas - Alabama</p>
<p>fireflyscout - Texas
Flounderingfree - Texas
hayden
holycow - Asia
Juana -IL</p>
<p>ladylazarus - NJ
lalady - California
klmcpa - California
Marny - NY
mezzomom - Michigan</p>
<p>Momnipotent -Ohio
Motheroftwogirls - Mass
movinmom -Maine
musicmomic - Iowa
NCEph - North Carolina</p>
<p>nyc -NY
obesmom - NY
pyewacket -Europe
shojomo - California
smsmom - midwest</p>
<p>snorky - MI
SplashMom - Tennessee
taxguy - Maryland
theocmom - California
Thumper1 - CT</p>
<p>Yankeegirl49 NY</p>
<p>SONS: (30)</p>
<p>2sonmama - Kansas
3boysnjmom - NJ
ASAP - CA
Beacon - CA
Blizzard - MA</p>
<p>Cali - California
Cathymee - NY
debruns - CT
doddsmom & doddsdad - Germany
DrDrewsmom Idaho</p>
<p>deb922 - OH
Eagle79 - Rhode Island
Eulenspiegel - Oregon
gandert - Indiana
heidi - south</p>
<p>jmac - Idaho
Justadog - 2 sons - CT
kathiep - PA
Katwkittens - NC</p>
<p>Karyblue - CA
Kissy - midwest
Momofthree - Tennessee
MomofWildChild - Texas
Northeastmom - NJ</p>
<p>Northstarmom -
Rascal - VA
Shennie - WI
sluggbugg - CA
Wyogal - MD</p>
<p>Screen name: SouthJerseyChessMom
Is your junior male or female: male </p>
<p>Home state: NJ ( southern part :)</p>
<p>Preferred geographic location for college: Northeastern US</p>
<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): probably not larger than 6,000 - suburban- flexible on this</p>
<p>Child's possible academic interests: engineering/ business-
he is math/science- non reading type of boy-</p>
<p>Schools currently on child's list of possibilities:
Bucknell (double legacy there), Lehigh, Lafayette, </p>
<p>Schools we've visited (whether or not child is still interested in going there):
Senior Daughter attending Muhlenberg next year. So we have looked at a variety-and want to thank- TexasTaxiMom for her wise/humorous advise!
CC is the most wonderful site.</p>
<p>In last year have visited: Gettysburg, Dickinson, Bucknell, Colgate, strolled around:Hamilton, Ursinus, Elizabethtown, UPenn.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Will visit U. S. Carolina in the Fall >></p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>I'll be interested in hearing your opinion about U of South Carolina. We visited it last summer and DD LOVED it. The campus is very very nice. Programs are good. The town (Columbia) needs some "work", but DD thought it was fine enough. Our tour guide was a sports management major and he chose the school because of the strength of their program (he was also the best tour guide we've had ANYWHERE we've visited).</p>