<p>adviceplease - what did your D think of UConn? That's virtually the only school w/a 2+4 pharm program my d is interested in - cuz she'd love to skate on their synchro team! (Tough to find pharmacy and ice at the same place, ya know!) One of her friends is interested in the Penn State BS/MD program. Any pros/cons that you know of? </p>
<p>Albany Med is right next door to, and loosely affiliated with, Albany Pharmacy (all part of Union University, along w/Albany Law). Have several relatives and friends that went thru Albany Med and they loved it there. D's also considering radiology, and ACP offers an early assurance with Albany Med - with a 3.4gpa you can apply at the end of your sophmore year and they'll waive the mcats. I know Union College also has an 8 year program w/AMC.</p>
<p>We have Duquesne and Philadelpia College of Pharm on the list as well, but she'd like to stay a little closer to home and Albany is only 90 miles away. Stony Brook is a long way away - we're near Syracuse - and doesn't offer a 0-6 program, so it didn't make the cut though I've heard it's a good school too. I believe only ACP and St John's in Queens have 0-6 in NY. She'd have alot more (and less costly!) choices if she went the 2+4 route but she doesn't want the headaches and stress of taking pcats, doing applications and interviews again and generally scrambling for a spot two years down the line. We've heard some horror stories recently from kids who thought they were "assured" a spot (like SUNY Buffalo), maintained very high gpa, and didn't get in after 2 years!</p>
<p>We really liked our visit to UConn. I can't remember what the cost of OOS is but I think it was high. (The SUNY schools are very reasonable OOS and less than our instate schools -- I don't know if any of them have a PharmD program though.) Did you visit Wilkes? We haven't but it's fairly close to upstate New York.</p>
<p>One of my best friends went to Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. She attended the school in the early 80s and loved it. It's in West Philadelphia and is very close to the UPenn and Drexel campuses. We haven't visited yet because it's so close and can visit anytime. We also have to visit Temple but we can do that anytime and my daughter will be attending a summer program there.</p>
<p>As for the Penn State program It's very competitive but I'm sure it's a wonderful program. The accelerated program is affiliated with Jeffereson Medical College but the school also has a separate Medical School at Hershey. </p>
<p>We're going to visit Duquesne and Pitt sometime in the Fall</p>
<p>West Coast parents have you done any new tours this summer? Next week we are going to LMU, Oxy and Scripps. I'll do visit reports but come here and report on our findings too. Anyone with advice on places to eat while we are there?</p>
<p>Looking forward to the reports, historymom! We're leaving on our NE college tour tomorrow morning. Looks like rain, which I'm kind of grateful for, since D has a tendency to focus on the aesthetics of the campus & surrounding area.</p>
<p>Hello- I'm brand new here, this is my first post (but I have certainly been reading the information for awhile!). S is class of 2009, interested in arch/design. He tests fairly well (710M, 680CR, 680W, 33ACT), but academically lazy(ish) in school (maybe top 15% of his class if he is lucky- his class is over 600). We looked at Cornell, Penn State, Carnegie-Mellon, College of Wooster, Hobart, UPenn, Colgate, UBuffalo last summer (one big, long college tour trip!), and will be looking at WUSTL, MiamiU(Ohio), possibly Knox and Macalaster this summer.
I suppose architecture would be an iffy major for a kid who is inclined to be lazy. He's a football player, and that figures into the search. He is also looking at design/business programs. Or, maybe I should say, I am. It is difficult to motivate a 16 year old.
My question to any veterans of this process: how much effort should the kid be putting into this search process vs. the parent? The parent has to pay, but the kid has to go...is a 17 year old equipped to make the right decision, based on all of the factors involved?</p>
<p>overwhelmedma - not sure if it was my post about Jewish studies you're referring to, but yes, Brandeis is on her list and we will visit in the fall. if you have any knowledge/advice about Brandeis, please share! (btw, love your name - that's how I feel most days!)</p>
<p>historymom - eagerly awaiting your Oxy and Scripps reports! (and LCU too, although it's not on D's list simply b/c from our Midwest perch somehow the PNW <em>seems</em> a lot further away than CA.......?)</p>
<p>ChiSquare - have a great trip and report in from the road if you can :) </p>
<p>pageturner - hi and welcome :). I've been asking the same question about parent vs. child involvement in the search process, as my D has been less engaged than I would like. my feeling is that this is a time-sensitive process, meaning it has to happen now, this summer/fall, whether she is completely ready or not. certainly, if she is not ready to GO to college next year, that's a different matter and then we'll look at a gap year. but the SEARCH and APPLICATION process has to move forward. so I've tried to engage her on her terms - taking her on a few visits, invoking the only-on-Sunday rule for college discussions, and periodically handing her the Fiske Guide with a few pages marked, saying "look these schools over and tell me what you think." it seems to be working. while I wouldn't say she is leading the process, she is definitely more engaged than when we started a few months ago. hope this is helpful.</p>
<p>It was a couple of years ago that we made the visits, but D and I visited LMU, Oxy and Scripps. LMU was pretty but left us both with a pretty sterile feeling. Our tour guide was local and both of her parents had gone there. There were no kids (spring break) which may have added to the feeling. The next day went to Oxy and had just set foot on campus when we both noticed a difference in our attitudes. This was a place we both liked. It was sunny at LMU but raining at Oxy. Lots of kids as school was still in session. Great campus guide who was from another state originally, lots of friendly (and very polite) kids - never had a chance to open a door ourselves - beautiful and welcoming campus. Ate at the cafeteria (great food) and wandered around a lot on our own. D asked to buy a tee shirt at the bookstore. Left with a great impression of the school. Next day did the Pitzer and Scripps tours with a class visit and overnight at Scripps. Pitzer did not impress D though she thought of several friends at home who would like it. Tour guide was more or less "this is who we are and if it isn't you, then fine, you probably need to look elsewhere." More impressed by free ranging chickens than anything else. Scripps is absolutely gorgeous. Guide was extremely enthusiastic about the school and did a great job pointing out all the pluses associated with the school. D had a good overnight but was not enough to convince her to consider a women's college (despite the consortium and the fact that Scripps was known to have the best food so you did see lots of guys in their cafeteria). In the end only Oxy stayed on her list of the final 4. She got in but even with great aid it still came out the most expensive of her acceptances, so she went elsewhere. However, fwiw, Oxy was my favorite.</p>
<p>Pageturner, check out Virginia Tech's program. I have a co-worker whose daughter went to VT and got her arch degree from there. It's an excellent school. And since he is into football, does he has a chance to be a recruited athlete? VT's football program is pretty sweet.</p>
<p>Momreads- only if this year is particularly impressive(football). He's good, but again, a bit lazy. Otherwise, he's looking at D3 schools (not that it's a cake-walk for that, either). I just looked at the Virginia Tech site (thanks for the suggestion). It's the "tech" part that is going to be the problem. He's tech-minded, but also very involved in arts- he sings tenor in choir (and might minor in music), interested in photography, graphic design, journalism, etc. He's going to need a school with a full component of arts choices, I think.</p>
<p>JPR-it sounds like you have found the balance that works for you and your daughter. I'll give it a try.</p>
<p>Pageturner, my son tells me (this is the son who is not interested in VT but has lots of friends who are) that there are ample opportunities for the arts at the school. We had a former student who participated in various musical groups while attending VT. He just graduated. The marching band is one of the best. One of my son's friends would like to attend VT and the band is looking for her to play. She plans a career in nursing. One of the TV news anchors in D.C. is a VT grad and has a degree in journalism. So there are all sorts of opportunities there beyond the arch school.</p>
<p>pageturner, For undergraduate architecture the student should 110% certain that architecture is his/her vocation. Otherwise any all purpose liberal arts degree that includes some art studio classes will suffice for admissions to a Masters of Architecture program. Some colleges have specific "architecture studies" programs, some just offer architecture as part of art history and art studio.</p>
<p>Some colleges that are especially good for art studio and other arts related extracurriculars -- like music performance -- and appeal to sporty, active kids are: Williams, Hamilton, Kenyon, Skidmore, Wesleyan.</p>
<p>csleslie: Our DDs have similar tastes ;) On paper and in my opinion which doesn't count for too much in this case. Scripps and Oxy are custom made for one of my DDs. My parents are Oxy alum so the rebellious part of me was not so interested in putting it on the radar of my girls but once several CC posters made the recommendation, I looked into it and fell in love for her. Lips will be sealed regarding my feelings but we will see what happens. Both my Ds loved the school your D attends. It is right up there in their top 3.</p>
<p>I think maybe the whole point of liberal arts education is to "change their minds"--or at least to expand them from the judgemental adolescent state. Mine took a first semester science class to "get it out of the way" (distribution requirement) because he "hated" science....now is an astronomy minor and a social science major (and has taken some classics, music, literature and political science along the way). I know there are kids who take a linear path that is right for them, but for the majority of kids, I think they need room to roam in those first two years and choosing a school because of a fixed major can be hazardous.</p>
<p>
[quote]
pageturner, For undergraduate architecture the student should 110% certain that architecture is his/her vocation. Otherwise any all purpose liberal arts degree that includes some art studio classes will suffice for admissions to a Masters of Architecture program.
[/quote]
I agree with momrath 110% here. Architecture is a hugely time consuming professional program - you will not be able to do much else. I can't imagine playing football and having time for studio work. I did a major as an undergrad that included architectural history, studio art and one architectural design course, and then went on to get a Masters degree in architecture. It takes a little longer (7 years vs 5) but you end up with a much less limited education.</p>
<p>There are a number of schools with undergrad architecture majors that are not professional degrees such as Yale and many who go to grad school for architecture have degrees that aren't related to design at all.</p>
<p>Don't want to seem presumptuous - I know you're not all interested in our views of our NE college tour (we got back last night) - but a couple of you have asked, so here are some quick takes. When I get a chance, I'll do official trip reports with more detail.</p>
<p>Middlebury - we expected small, picturesque, and green (in both senses of the word). We were right on 2 counts. Small, it is not. </p>
<p>Amherst - I was surprised by how tiny the downtown is, albeit with a funky vibe. If you're reading in Minnesota, think Dinkytown.</p>
<p>Hamilton - Clinton makes Middlebury seem like a metropolis! Very quaint, and Hamilton campus is lovely. However, one gets the feeling that the school and hamlet are an oasis in an otherwise economically-challenged area.</p>
<p>Superlatives we learned on the college tours:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The free bus service among the 5 colleges in/around Amherst is the 2nd largest in the US - second only to Disney World.</p></li>
<li><p>The booking venue for concerts in Amherst is the 2nd largest in New England - second only to Boston.</p></li>
<li><p>The science building at Middlebury is the 2nd largest building in Vermont - second only to a teddy bear factory.</p></li>
<li><p>Morgan horses have one fewer vertebra than most other breeds.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>OK, perhaps that last factoid was from our tour of the Morgan horse farm in Middlebury. </p>
<p>I'll let you know when our tour profiles are posted!</p>
<p>Regarding Amherst, my intern from that school told me (I did not independently confirm so maybe he made this up but I was appalled if true) that despite their consortium of schools they would not permit him to take an accounting course at another school for credit because it was not deemed to be consistent with a liberal arts degree--too commercial. He took Indian music appreciation instead. (He interned for me two summers and I had asked that he try to take an accounting course because I knew he was coming back the next year.) His other comments on the school really soured me on this particular small liberal arts college, although he generally liked it (majored in English).</p>