<p>As promised, here is a quick overview on our Mizzou/Truman State visits.</p>
<p>Mizzou was the first stop. S loved it; we’ve done a couple of other visits and this is the first one where he lit up and stayed that way throughout the visit. He wants a large school with close proximity to some off-campus activities. He doesn’t mind the idea of large lecture classes at all, and isn’t interested (in fact has claimed that he is disinterested) in developing close relationships with professors and getting lots of personal attention. So - the campus is lovely, the tour guide was enthusiastic, the adjoining town is great for him (bubble tea, Thai food, several interesting-looking coffee shops). Very nice vibe. And a stunning rec center with a lazy river (a little over the top in my opinion, but I’m not a college student) and whatever fitness thing you may be interested in, mostly all free. So we were just about sold - then did an afternoon journalism school tour. Amazing facilities, pages of awards won by their students just in the last academic year, lots of really interesting options (S is undecided, but thinking of something in the advertising area. He is a strong writer, so even if he moves around in what he pursues, the writing skills he could polish would be very helpful). S hasn’t committed, but it would be hard to top this for him.
Truman State - I will repeat what I’ve heard from several others on CC - this is truly a gem. I fell in love with it. Unfortunately, my S did not - it was just too small for him (he described it as “quaint”. I thought that not only were the physical facilities top-notch (the nicest dorms we’ve seen) but our guide was quirky/funny/charming which I suspect is not an unusual representation of its students and it has so much to offer people who are looking for things my son is not (i.e. small classes, close relationships with professors who have you over to their houses for dinner, nice study abroad options, close and supportive environment, strong academics). Anyone considering an LAC for whom money is at all an issue should really check it out. It is an amazing deal - I kept thinking that it was too good to be true. A student would really not be making any sacrifices to go there over a far more expensive private LAC. I would go there in a heartbeat. Kirksville was as less-than-optimal as I’ve heard, but the campus is truly an oasis with tons of activities so there really is no need to leave campus. I am going to spread the word about this school in my area, where I don’t think enough people know about it (our counselors seem to push the same (private) schools.
So - all in all a very good visit. Maybe one more visit (his dad wants to take him somewhere) but otherwise I think our visits are done.</p>
<p>cooker–Truman is high on our kids’ list too. I just LOVE the campus. I agree, the town is your typical small Missouri town but the campus is lovely and the notice boards around campus were filled with information about all of the things to do on campus. Our tour guide spent WAY too much time “fixing” her hair but she was very knowledgeable and friendly. What stood out to me the most was that she said hi, by name, to at least 50 kids while we were on the tour. At the end we walked around a bit and got turned around and looked lost…for about 30 seconds until a couple people came up and pointed us in the right direction. I just loved that school.</p>
<p>Today was senior portrait day and guess who missed them? I saw a checklist the school gave DS to help make his senior year “less stressful” today, on the list was “make an appointment for your senior portrait with MS. blah blah”. DS had no idea what that meant so I called another parent to inquire-she told me that the photos were today at the HS! One sitting in May and one today and if you missed both you were “on your own” to get them taken…Sigh…one more thing on the “to do” list.
Good News…he found his missing math book in the work out room at the HS ($75 saved)
Bad news…he lost his wrestling shoes ($75 spent)</p>
<p>I bet half of us on this thread are here because our kids have ADD, my sister calls it “absent minded professor syndrome” and our kids have ADD because they got it from Mom/Dad.</p>
<p>Place your bets now on how many college application deadlines DS & I miss :)</p>
<p>Haha…my son forgot to pay his sitting fee when he took his pics and left his running spikes that he used as a prop in one of the poses. I remember all the dates/appointments. S still manages to miss something like requesting transcripts :)</p>
<p>Ruby, had I found this thread a few years ago, I’d have been here with my ADD DS… oh so familiar! He still has challenges getting to thing on time, following through etc., but he’s doing well in univ, so it does get better.</p>
<p>Hello- sorry if this has been addressed already. I’ve done a few searches and not much coming up. </p>
<p>My son will be a sr this year. ADD, 2.8 GPA. 1720 SAT. Second time he took the SATs. </p>
<p>Any advice? He seems to be more laid back, doesn’t want to push things, or take honors classes. Doing the minimum. Plays 2 varsity sports, but doesn’t want to play in college. Would be very into club sports. </p>
<p>We live in New England. Should we shoot for a bigger school? I was originally looking at smaller, private schools. Worried he would be lost in a big school, especially with the ADD component. He may be interested in computers, specifically IT. Or maybe business, but never sales. Too self conscious. I love the idea of IT-specifically with a security aspect- something that would make him marketable. I’m also suggesting accounting because he does well in Math-it’s pretty easy for him, but he doesn’t want to challenge himself with an honors class. Would like him to consider accounting, but he is resisting. </p>
<p>Or will the discrepancy work against him? A likeable good kid. No evidence of partying so far. Lots of nice friends. Only other EC- he volunteers at church. </p>
<p>Any advice appreciated. Thank you for this thread- know he’s not a 3.0, but have been lurking for a while with wishful thinking. You guys are great.</p>
<p>Hi Green
Your son sounds a lot like mine! We didn’t know where to start in the college search, we went to junior college planning night at his HS and they recommended going to 1 large private university, one state school and one small college. That turned out to be a great suggestion. We went o Northeastern, Umass Amherst and Merrimack. On paper he was very excited about Norteastern because of the Co-op program-he wants to go into business or economics. After the tour DH was very impressed, NEU has changed a lot in 20 yrs, they have a nice residential campus now but DS did not like it-off his list-too big, too urban, too overwhelming for him. UMASS brought him to tears-even though the price is right for us-again too big and overwhelming. Merrimack-he LOVED it, they made him feel so welcome and the small class size is the best way for him to learn with his ADD-in HS his classes are 25 to 30 kids-not working out too well. After the initial tours DS knows he wants a small college that is not in a city but close enough to one he could visit on the weekends for fun. We have subsequently been to Stonehill-his favorite so far, Union in NY-liked it a lot but a reach and St Mikes in VT which I liked a lot but he was lukewarm-I think the fact that we toured when classes were over and it was very hot made the campus look deserted.
Bottomline: DH and I think that with the ADD and distractability DS would do best at a small school-DS seems to have come to the same conclusion. We are heading to MD, PA, & western NY in late Agust to look at more small LACs.
What schools have you toured and what did you think of them?</p>
<p>I completely agree with Bridgewater --have heard wonderful things about this school. Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Randolph are others to consider in VA.</p>
<p>So we’re heading up from our home in SW Virginia to visit Rochester Institute of Technology in a few weeks. Out of the blue this morning daughter says she wants to swing by Manhattan College too. I think she might just be angling for an afternoon in the city, but I don’t want to discourage college excitement. It will add 5 hour of driving time to the trip - with two teens in the car. It is a school she’ll apply to either way, but not at the tip top of her list (probably around 3-5 out of 7). I had originally planned on visiting only if MC moved up in her choices. Should we add it???</p>
<p>I do not know much about Manhattan College, but I can well imagine an afternoon in Manhattan giving the kids a nice memory of the trip. Just avoid the enormous traffic coming out of the city at 4-7 and search online for discount parking coupons–in most parts of the country, you can get a hotel room for less than the posted 6 hour parking rate in Manhattan.</p>
<p>If we did it, we’d probably leave VA at lunchtime on Tuesday, drive 8 hour to Yonkers/White Plains. Get up and tour Manhattan College early in the morning. It’s actually in Riverdale (last stop on the subway line) so we could leave our car there and take the subway in/out. It’s about 6 hours from Riverdale to Rochester, so we’d actually need to leave around 3 in the afternoon to make it at a reasonable time.</p>
<p>Decided against touring Manhattan College for now. The Duckling has identified 6 colleges, but we haven’t started the applications yet. Four are rolling admission, and I’d like to get those under our belt. Trying to decide between going the Common Application route versus each school’s application. By the time a supplement is done, I’m not sure it’s a whole lot easier to do the Common App. Any words of advice?</p>
<p>Common App we found the easiest. The supplements quite often overlap in questions so if you save the answers on your hard drive, with a little tweaking then you’re done. Also, some of the supplements are just background info, no additional essays. There is a real sense of progress as you see each one completed and submitted.</p>
<p>Glad to see this thread bumped, as I’ve been holding my tongue most of the summer although <em>did</em> talk to DS about maybe getting going on <em>something</em> August 1st. Don’t really care what it is–maybe enter demographic info into common app, or draft an essay, or even look more closely at the tentative list of schools and pencil in a few visits.</p>
<p>Re: common app vs. school’s own, if there are <em>any</em> schools on your list that use the common app, I’d go ahead and complete it. Once the applications are finally <em>all</em> out the door (be that September or January), it’s nice to know that if admissions end up being a little disappointing, you can toss another couple of schools in easily if they’re common app schools.</p>
<p>(BTW–DS’s hs is holding a college application “boot camp” for a few days in early August–the kids will fill out common app, draft (or even complete!) their essays, . . . . Of course DS is refusing to go. Oh well. . .)</p>
<p>Sharing a dirty little secret for those whose students are looking at the Common App and blanching. In past years I know a number of parents that did data entry for their kids- especially inputting resume stuff like activities and honors taken from a resume or brag sheet already put together by the students. Took a bi bit of the pressure off and then the student only had to look a majors, interests and the essays. If you make the same choice, you will not be alone. (FYI- even on this site, this practice engenders a lot of debate as to whether it is too helicopterish/interfering, or exceeds the permissible bounds according to the Common App rules. So it is a matter of personal conscience.)</p>
<p>Oh I’m a <em>very</em> good secretary, and have been brave enough to fess up to entering demographic info for my kids on common app/other application web sites. ;)</p>