<p>252525: the whole athletic recruitment thing baffles me. My daughters are athletic but their athletic aspirations for college are limited to getting on a competitive IM team. I have no advice.</p>
<p>re: Pitzer's admissions...they are perhaps the least numbers driven of any selective college I have heard of. that's not to say that GPA and test scores aren't important, they are and those kids accepted are strong students. What I mean is that they are hard -core holistic admissions people and it is one school where you know that a strong ap, interview and/or essay can get you further than perfect scores.</p>
<p>SCU is a great school. I wouldn't really call it suburban as it sits on the border almost of Santa Clara and San Jose. San Jose I think is the 3rd largest city in CA. I do love Santa Clara but my girls were luke-warm. It is worth a visit for anyone who is coming to the bay area to look at any of the other schools.</p>
<p>Sarsfield: there is Mass every week at the 5 Cs. There is a chapel where all the religious groups are able to hold services.</p>
<p>I don't think that the city of Santa Clara has an urban feel (nor does most of San Jose), but as with all colleges, it's best to for the applicant to visit and see what they think.</p>
<p>4Giggles, just read all the posts on this thread. I think this group of parents has visited or will visit every LAC on the East Coast! Tropical studies, hmmm, does that involve drinks with paper umbrellas?</p>
<p>chintzy, have you been to Richmond or St. M yet? We head there in two weeks. I keep adding to the list. Our heads will be spinning. We are excited!</p>
<p>We've been to the U. of Richmond twice -- and my son has it on his list. Likes the leadership program, along with a strong science program. The science is relatively new. The business school is strong, too. They are doing lots of renovations on the dorms. It's a nice place, and freshmen can have cars, but my son says if he gets in and goes, he'll wait until his sophomore year.</p>
<p>We've also done Wake Forest, Duke, TCNJ, Princeton, Franklin and Marshall, Millersville, William and Mary (just interviewed there today) and the U. of Rochester. Some are still on his list, some are not. </p>
<p>momreads-what were your s and sons impression of sciences at Franklin and marshall?</p>
<p>chintzy- I am certainly up for anything with an umbrella! D's science interest are in ethnobiology/immunology plus developmental economics of all those countries where one might catch all those tropical diseases! (she is off to Tanzania this week!!)</p>
<p>252525--haven't been to Richmond or St. Mary's yet, so am eagerly awaiting your report. D has a school trip to Italy and a Leadership Conference in Indiana in July, plus she loooooves to work, so scheduling has been tough. I've been hearing so many stories about how remote St. Mary's is I've started to picture it like a jungle outpost! Maybe 4Giggles daughter would like it!</p>
<p>The only thing I'm worried about my D catching in Italy is an Italian boy!</p>
<p>My son really liked what he saw at F & M. The new science building is awesome. The programs are strong. Lots of individual attention. Still, he was concerned about money, and the school does not offer much in the way of merit money, so he crossed it off his list about a year ago. He said that he also saw excellent science programs elsewhere. It is a nice school. The new apartments that they are building look great from the outside.</p>
<p>As for St. Mary's, it really is not in the middle of nowhere. It's about an hour from DC. Now, if you're looking for city life, yes, it's in the middle of nowhere. But the education that it provides is excellent. One of my fellow teachers raves about the place. He did his undergrad work there.</p>
<p>St. Mary's has a lot going for it! I'm not here to say anything negative about it, or to be contradictory, but if you're planning a visit, note that the college's website acknowledges that it's 75 miles from DC, and the roads you end up traveling on make that into about a two-hour trip, on a good day. Even for my H. :D</p>
<p>ok, well we will officially time the road from D.C. to St. Mary's and will report back on the timing! She is anxious (me too) about the AP and SAT scores that will come out in the next day or two.</p>
<p>252525, I hear you. It's our trifecta week: report cards yesterday, AP scores probably today (though I'm still on the fence about waiting for the paper version), and SAT subject tests tomorrow. Part of me would rather continue not knowing. :)</p>
<p>Harriet! they can gt their AP scores today!!!! I have been hearing "July" since May. </p>
<p>You are a patient woman. I have been checking collegeboard 2 times a day for a week just to be sure they didn't leak the June SAT scores early. I am shameless</p>
<p>Not promising - I just know that in, let's see, 2005 and 2006, it was several days earlier than July 1. We knew we'd be away when the paper grades came, so we did relent and let D call, way back when.</p>
<p>Thanks PRJ: It's always good to have someone willing to infiltrate the ranks of the "other side" ;) esp someone who doesn't have "mom" as part of their user name</p>
<p>Ugh! She has gone off to run and I am sitting here reading reading reading which I should not do. Tomorrow she gets SAT scores, hopefully AP scores, and is waiting to hear about a school essay scholarship (if she won). It could be a glorious day or NOT. If things would fall into place, we could cut the trip short and just head to her favorite (for now!) which is Richmond. Let's see, it is 3PM, so in about 15 hours......</p>
<p>252525, here - have a nice, icy gin-and-bitter-lemon. I know it's early, but hey, it's summer.</p>
<p>I have a full, frosty pitcher here for anybody else who's thinking too hard about scores. Seen any good movies lately? ;) Is anything coming out soon with Daniel Craig in it? I find he takes my mind off just about anything else.</p>