<p>@5boys: It is great to hear about your experience at St. Lawrence. I have heard a lot of great things about SLU. It is a little out of reach for my D but it is one of the few LAC’s she considered looking at.</p>
<p>We leave Saturday for our last college visit, this time to to see University of Kansas (KU). D started the college search thinking she wanted a smaller LAC like her older sister but has evolved to prefer a larger OSS in the Midwest. KU, on paper and in reputation from some of the alumni’s we know, seems to be a great fit. We will see how it feels in person. We are both looking forward to this trip. After this visit, it will just be a matter of choosing which ones warrant a revisit.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the correction on FIT not offering bachelor degrees. I apologize for the error. Hmmm…trusted guidance counselor, when I should have just done the research myself…</p>
<p>Well, we’re off tomorrow on our 11-day 1,500 mile air/road trip. Back 9/2. I’ll try and provide updates and observations of the six colleges we’re visiting in the Midwest and NY. Hoping for dry weather and a reliable rental car :-).</p>
<p>Day 1 of our road trip was a success. Surprisingly was able to get a comfy larger hybrid rental car for only $7 more than our expected mid-size. Kudos to Alamo. Will save way more than that per day in gas $$$. D is thrilled because it has an mp3 jack and lots of USB ports. D’s happy, mom’s happy. A good start. Will report back on Monday after touring school #1. Visiting relatives through the weekend.</p>
<p>School starts in NYC on Monday, 9/9. It usually starts a day or two after Labor Day but the start of the Jewish high holifays are Thursday and Friday, 9/5 and 9/6.</p>
<p>Greetings from the very hot and humid Midwest! These two Pacific NW women are wilting on our college road trip, but trying to stay positive and are enjoying our air conditioned motel room. </p>
<p>We arrived at U of Illinois yesterday in plenty of time for our 1:00 tour. At the suggestion of many, we grabbed some gyros at Zorba’s for lunch and joined in the excitement of the first day of classes. We felt right at home with all of the lost freshmen. The campus hasn’t changed much since I was there last in 1984. Our tour only had four prospective students, all from out of state, as high school’s in session in Illinois. Our guide was friendly and tried to keep us cool by ducking in air-conditioned bldgs whenever possible. Some audible groans could be heard when someone asked if the dorms, I mean residence halls (must be a dirty word as both the tour guide and admissions person who gave the power point never used the word “DORM”…hmmm???) were air conditioned. Answer: only half. Also, no wifi in many dorm rooms was a big turn off to D. Stopped in the bookstore and bought some t-shirts then headed out of town to W. Lafayette. U of I got mixed reviews from D. Nothing especially bad, just no wow factor. </p>
<p>Today’s tour of Purdue was in jeopardy for several reasons: 1) Way too humid and hot to stay focused, 2) All of the buildings look alike and there were no directional signs welcoming visitors or pointing us in the right direction. We arrived at the slide show presentation 10 min late and very hot from desperately trying to locate our starting point, but finally settled in and enjoyed the A/C. We weren’t going to stay comfy for long as our 90, yes, 90, min walking tour followed the slide show. About six students were in our tour today, again all from out of state. Pretty campus in the middle of the endless Indiana corn fields. D liked Purdue, but still not a home run. Weather may be playing a factor, as it’s hard to be positive when you’re miserable and hot. We visited with a student from our hometown who answered some questions on the good, bad, and ugly of Purdue. It was a nice break from the “our school is the best in the world” slide shows and tours led by students being paid to be enthusiastic and positive. Grabbed a few PU souvenirs and hit the road.</p>
<p>Weather tomorrow looks like more of the same…sigh…but we’ll soldier on and try and make the best of it at Indiana U.</p>
<p>Growing up, I seem to recall that it was a week after back then. But I could be wrong.</p>
<p>The school year then lasts to the end of June instead of the middle of June but so what.</p>
<p>A few days or a week after is great and much better than the day right after Labor Day or, god forbid, a week or two before.</p>
<p>The number of school days will always be the same. 192 for example. It never made any sense to me to start on Tuesday right after LD. That requires families on vacation to drive back on Labor Day in order to be home in time for the start of school.</p>
<p>A few days after or a week after makes much more sense. Time to travel. Time to unpack. Unwind. Get on the new sleep schedule. Etc.</p>
<p>I am fairly sure that NYC, Westchester and Long Island public schools are starting on Mon, Sept 9th this year. Growing up, we always started school on the Wed after Labor Day, and I think that is the usual start day in NY still. Rosh Hashanah is Thurs after Labor Day this year, so the schools will not open until the following Monday. All local public schools here in SW CT started three days ago. Since we all seem to have a week off at Christmas, for Feb break and April break, I never understand how CT schools don’t let out all that much earlier than NY schools.</p>
<p>I know of one Westchester school where only the 6th & 9th graders start with Orientation on Mon, Sept 9th with everyone else reporting on Tues the 10th. We had orientation on Fri, Aug 23rd here with pre-season sports before that. Summer ending far too early.</p>
<p>BTW, I think the school calendar has to include 180 days, but I may be wrong. I haven’t verified, but I have that figure in my head.</p>
<p>It’s 180 days here ¶ and I MUCH prefer an August start with a May graduation to what I grew up with in NY… going to school so late in June was horrid - kids who went to military academies or out of state summer programs usually had to skip graduation! By August we were ready to go back. My guy was eager to get started on senior year and will love a May 30 graduation.</p>
<p>Labor Day is a nice 3 day weekend near the start of school - a nice break - not a “trip” event.</p>
<p>It’s all what you get used to, I suppose, but my vote is definitely for starting earlier and ending earlier.</p>
<p>Considering that very few public schools in NYC have air conditioning, it’s much better for the kids to attend through most of June than to attend through most of August.</p>
<p>Have found this board as well as the 2013 board very helpful as we dig into the college search for my 2.96 youngest son (Eek! Had practically a straight C report card in his sophomore year! Thank goodness he did much better last year). At a very competitive nationwide top 100 public school in NJ (same town as an Ivy U). No APs, more due to his his lds (low processing speed and borderline Adhd) than prerequisites… his homework tasks take forever. He is a nice kid (very laid back) with a good work ethic and consistent (interest wise) ECs (music mentoring for elem, band two years, founded a music performance club, composes electronic dance music, ran 3 yrs XC, camp counselor and freshman mentor at his hs). SATs were meh. Will be retaking in Oct. as well as the ACT for the first time. </p>
<p>Only colleges on his list are:</p>
<p>Loyola NOLA (semi reach)
Tulane (definite reach)</p>
<p>Was adverse to going to school here in the Northeast (cited cold weather and didn’t want to be in the same sort of competitive atmosphere as his high school) but as his senior friends leave one by one to their mostly NE LACs he is rethinking this. We are looking at schools with minor music programs as well as exercise science or nutrition. His dream job would be to be a popular music producer and/or Crossfit instructor!</p>
<p>College search is very different from S1 (10 years older) who wound up at a top 10 LAC then onto an Ivy for grad school. Didn’t even have to choose which colleges to visit or apply as he did all the work—we basically drove him and wrote the checks. So in a way, I feel we are doing this for the first time. Not sure if we are looking too high or too low this time around. Want to find a good nurturing school for S2 but still challenging.</p>
<p>Next week, we are going on our first Northeast tour (a bit late, but he has spent an entire lifetime on NE college campuses due to my profession, so visits are more about meeting professors and other students than figuring out if he likes the dorms or food):</p>
<p>College of St. Rose
Ithaca College
Susquehanna U
Albright College
St. Josephs</p>
<p>wanted to visit Hampshire but they are not having visits next week.</p>
<p>Any good smallish schools (diverse student body a plus) in those areas we may have overlooked?</p>
<p>Hi There, S will look at St. Joes U. We know that for his GPA 3.3/3.4 and SAT 1910 that $$ in merit is possible
. In the smallish school area is Siena. Up in Albany. Wasn’t terribly keen on it until we got there. Had a great tour guide. He was accepted at MIT and Fordham and chose Siena. Small side but lots of internship possibilities with the state capital region. Merit $$ at Siena too. Heard great things about Ithaca. S not interested but know student that got a great package for this fall.</p>
<p>Njmom- maybe St. Lawrence University? or St. Michael’s in VT?<br>
Siena is a nice school (it is nearby and my D- who would have fit in this thread her year- applied and got accepted there in '11). She ended up at Hampshire, and while she likes much of it, it is not for the faint of heart or for those whom organization is a problem. So it might not be a great fit in actuality.</p>