<p>My daughter took the ACT last spring and got a 27. She had one session with a tutor in July, and did a timed practice test from the Red Book and got a 31.5! She said to me yesterday, ok, now I know I’m going to college! But of course I am concerned–it’s certainly not an official score. She’s scheduled to take the test again in September.</p>
<p>@oldmom4896: A 27 is an extremely respectable ACT score, roughly a 1210-1240 SAT. (Math and Reading only). Congrats!</p>
<p>BobbyCT, I know that and thank you. But her average was awful last year, leading to an overall GPA of 84.5 (73 in English, 70 in Chinese last year). She goes to a gigantic test-in high school in NYC that doesn’t rank and is known (at least among NYS college admissions officers) for tough grading. If she does get an ACT score over 30, it could change her chances at several schools she’s interested in.</p>
<p>Trust me, I am not complaining!</p>
<p>
Depends on the breakdown.</p>
<p>My son (who wrote the ACT ‘cold’) also had a composite 27 score, but his math and English subscores were distressingly low – fortunately, he writes well, reads better & knows his science.</p>
<p>Like oldmom4896’s daughter, my boy is scheduled to rewrite the ACT later this month.</p>
<p><a href=“4896%20–%20%20modem/router%20speed?%20%20recording%20sampling%20rate?”>size=1</a>[/size]</p>
<p>Hi.
Just wanted to give a quick update on the rest of our long road trip.</p>
<p>Indiana U.
OMG! Everything about our visit here was perfect and welcoming. From the easy parking/shuttle service, to the bubbly and fun tour guide, it couldn’t have gone better. Props to admissions for offering bottled water and snacks on the hottest day of the year. D felt right at home and could easily see herself going here. Very different vibe from Ill and Purdue which are both big engineering schools. </p>
<p>Syracuse
Initial impression driving into the town in the early evening was not good. Dilapidated and somewhat sketchy downtown was off-putting, but I convinced D to keep an open mind for her tours/interviews the next day. Glad she did. The campus was very nice and our tours were informative and interesting. D said she could definitely picture herself attending. She was very impressed with the Whitman School of Mgmt’s fashion/retail programs. </p>
<p>Ithaca College
D was not impressed with the campus and it didn’t feel right for her, although Ithaca is breathtakingly beautiful. A friend who attends Cornell gave us a private tour of her school. One word–WOW! Not an option for D, but for those who have the stats…what a school!</p>
<p>Bottom line–so glad we visited schools when students were in session (unlike all our previous visits which were in the summer or Xmas break). It really was helpful to see the student population, eat in the cafeterias with students and faculty, talk to students who attend, etc. If you can swing a visit during school, I highly recommend it. It made a world of difference to D.</p>
<p>Our formal tours are done, and now it’s up to D to make her final decisions, get her LORs, and apply. This will be an interesting six months. Can’t wait to see how everything unfolds.</p>
<p>@momofwon: Thanks for the summary. Do you think Indiana is her top choice at this time?</p>
<p>Bobbyct: IU is in the top 2 as of now. D has a great shot at getting in there based on her stats, but I don’t want to assume it’s a sure thing… they have early action where if you apply by 11/1 (non-binding), you are assured an answer no later than 12/13.</p>
<p>Thanks for the report. I wish her well with her apps… Did you end up getting to Niagara?</p>
<p>We’re officially doing apps after our October visits of FL schools. My guy met with his guidance counselor and everything on that end is all set. It’s just worth it to us to be sure he wants to go to a school before applying and there’s no rush for the schools he’s interested in. Apps in by late Oct will be fine (first deadlines are in Nov).</p>
<p>Morning all</p>
<p>I hear you on the ACT SAT thing. If K2 had been motivated to use the materials we had…or take the tutor opportunities offered, I would have pushed for a last sitting this month.
The SAT and ACT scores from K2 (Feb/May SAT…May ACT) pretty much aligned. </p>
<p>Is anyone doing any last minute trips?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.act.org/solutions/college-career-readiness/compare-act-sat/[/url]”>http://www.act.org/solutions/college-career-readiness/compare-act-sat/</a></p>
<p>@fogfog: My D has said that she does not want to see any more colleges. I think we hit that threshold of the visits going from helpful to confusing. She may want to revisit one or two colleges but no new visits. I think she has already made her decision but feels like it is too early to declare the process over.</p>
<p>Creekland–YES! We stopped in Niagara Falls on our way to Syracuse. Both D and I agreed it was well worth the 2.5 hour detour. In order to make that day manageable (it was originally going to be a 10-hour drive–Mason, OH to Syracuse), we drove 5 hours after our IU visit the day before and stayed in Ashland, OH. BTW, a very nice small college town!</p>
<p>We didn’t have time to do the Maid of the Mist at Niagara, but still enjoyed taking lots of pictures from the US side. It was also really educational to drive through Buffalo and witness a small sample of the “rust belt” with its defunct steel mills and dilapidated buildings.</p>
<p>We also stopped by the Fashion Institute of Tech in NY and D agreed that a truly urban college was not was she was looking for. While window shopping on 5th Ave, we chatted with a Michael Kors saleswoman who co-incidentally is an unhappy mktg student at FIT. Says she misses the traditional college experience her friends are experiencing (dorms, sports, Greek row, etc.). She did say she’s getting an excellent education there, so no complaints academically. That sealed the deal for our “big school/small town” D. She has no interest in attending an urban campus.</p>
<p>My D has a 3.18 GPA heading into her Senior year, her school bases GPAs on a 7pt system. She took the SAT back in June for the 1st time (CR + M = 1010). She will only entertain schools that have a gymnastics program, doesn’t matter D1, 2 or 3. Schools that seem to work for D and she interested in are:</p>
<p>Temple University (her #1 choice) - She is darn close to merit money here. Their base scholarship is SAT 1150 & GPA of 3.0. For OOS, that would be $5k Next tier up, SAT 1250 & GPA of 3.0, OOS is $9k. Temple OOS is somewhat costly, but if she can up her SAT this Oct and get one of these scholarships and possibly coupled with something athletic, it could make it reasonable. When we went there for the their tour, Admissions guy said they are looking for a solid B student with SAT around 1010, which is exactly what she currently has.</p>
<p>Eastern Michigan University. Her she would qualify for thier OOS scholarship of $14,400, which basically brings the tuition costs down to in-state costs. GPA 2.75 and SAT of 950.</p>
<p>Southeast Missouri State Univ. She definitely gets into the school, but for merit, she would need higher GPA and slightly higher SAT. Cost at SEMO though is fairly low compared to other schools and they talk highly about their book rental program, so the costs for books is crazy low. I know that you do get a discount/scholarhip, like $800 toward housing if your GPA is a certain number or higher, but I can’t remember what it is right now, but know it’s on their website.</p>
<p>West Chester Univ - Should probably get in, but she lacks Chemistry, which they list as needing to have taken, but her school has other lab sciences that she took. SAT and GPA should get her in, but probably nothing in merit. Cost for OOS tuition, room & board are about $23k a yr, so for OOS, it’s not that bad.</p>
<p>She also checked out Central Michigan Univ. They have a similiar OOS scholarhip as EMU does and she would qualify for it, but she didn’t care for the HC of their gymnastics team, so it’s a no go.</p>
<p>I’m learning that there are quite a few schools that offer the OOS scholarship to bring the costs down to in-state rates and the requirements seem to fit the B student with ok SAT scores.</p>
<p>momofwon - Glad you got to see the falls!</p>
<p>Fogfog - our college visit trip is in Oct. I’m not sure if that’s last minute or not, but it’s when it worked out in our schedule to see schools in FL in session. If he’s not satisfied with those (looking at 4), then he will also apply to some “maybe” schools and we’ll try to visit those after application and/or acceptances. We’re also still on the fence about HI schools. If he opts for those, he’ll apply and we’ll visit in Jan.</p>
<p>Fogfog, we have one visit left, to SUNY New Paltz. Otherwise, D wants to overnight at a couple of favorites, definitely Allegheny and maybe Goucher. She also has a couple of off-campus interviews and a Skype interview coming up. She added two schools back to her list, Warren Wilson and Evergreen State, but we won’t visit.</p>
<p>I will be happier when the essay and recs are in place! Then there are the supplements…anyone else feeling overwhelmed?</p>
<p>St. Lawrence
An upscale school. Really, really, nice facilities, in the middle of nowhere (e.g. - a little over 2 hours to get to Syracuse. Or Montreal, but then you’ve got to deal with whatever the border delay is.) A somewhat ‘barren’ campus (i.e. - few trees, not unlike reclaimed farmland).</p>
<p>Campus more spread out than I’d personally like – don’t imagine it’d be fun getting from A to B on a cold winter’s day. But then, my boy has thick, maple-syrupy Canadian blood, and he’s already thriving at a cold New England boarding school. Sadly, too early to get to see the campus with students, or sample the food.</p>
<p>Admissions reception struck me as, well, not relaxed. Still, a lovely chat with the admissions officer after she interviewed my son. Charming, energetic international student tour guide. S didn’t have an immediate reaction to the school, but after we’d seen more schools a week or so later, he said SLU was on his ‘High’ list. Works for me.</p>
<p>Wheaton College
Again, really nice facilities. Enthusiastic returning students. Awesome brag wall with many Fulbrights. Really didn’t care for the food. Nice wooded campus, better designed for a New England winter. Overall, a little small, tho’. Other than the food, can’t fault it. S may apply, but I wouldn’t bet on it.</p>
<p>St. Mary’s College
A gem. Whole greater than the sum of the parts. Extraordinary river locale for studying biology. Yes, my boy, it’s in the middle of nowhere. But it’s less than 2 hours from D.C. for your International Relations internship. Serviceable dorms. Excellent facilities. Really nice rock wall (my son was a climbing instructor this past summer). Liked the faculty we heard speak at a panel discussion. Had a lively lunch discussion with the head of the Environmental Science dep’t. Most excellent food. Down-to-earth students. This school knocked Clark from S’s First Choice to ‘High’.</p>
<p>McDaniel College
For me, the whole was less than the sum of the parts. Lovely campus. Excellent facilities. Wouldn’t let us see the dorms. The line to enter the dining hall was too long by half (I don’t think a student should have to budget an hour to get lunch). Not blown away by our tour. Lovely, quaint town. S won’t be applying. YMMV.</p>
<p>Goucher
I liked it more than my son (maybe too small?). Like most of the schools we saw, excellent resources, mostly new. Lovely wooded, nicely-sized jewel of a campus, belying its proximity to Baltimore. The best food of the tour. Accessible faculty. Enthusiastic students. Really energetic tour. Somewhat crunchy granola vibe. S may apply. </p>
<p>Ursinus
Architecturally stunning, suburban campus. Excellent facilities. Nicely-sized campus. Terrific 1:1 tour, tailored to my son’s interests. Food was pretty meh. Dorms beginning to show their age. I don’t doubt that this is a terrific school, but it didn’t grab either of us.</p>
<p>Arcadia
A lovely campus, if a bit small. Nice castle. We crashed an introductory session for first year IR/Political Science majors; liked the faculty very much. Liked the overall vibe. Terrific, energetic tour guide. But, at the end of the day, not a school to which S will apply.</p>
<p>Muhlenberg
Mostly excellent facilities; some showing their age, but nothing problematic. Lightly-treed suburban location. Dorms serviceable. Austere and (to me) off-putting admissions office. Energetic tour guide. Good food. I got a distinct sense of privilege here, tho’ not over-the-top. Not a fan of Allentown. All that said, son will apply, but given the temporal logistics, probably only if he doesn’t have a result which he likes by the end of January. (And I suspect that he’ll have that result.)</p>
<p>Susquehanna
Surprise #1 of the trip. Son was expecting to like it based on his review of the website. Beautiful, remote wooded campus. Wonderful, forthright discussion with the admissions officer. 1:1 tour, during which the heavens rent asunder. Son held a large umbrella shielding the enthusiastic, attractive, female sophomore tour guide (she had a dislocated shoulder and an arm in a sling). With the rain pelting down on my umbrella, I couldn’t much of what they were discussing, but S seemed engaged. :)<br>
Decent dorms. Passing through a residence common area, S was swarmed by some very jazzed freshmen, introducing themselves, wanting to know where S was from and what he (and I) thought of the school. Palpable enthusiasm. Didn’t get to see or try the food. Some excellent facilities, including a brand-spanking-new science building. On the ‘High’ list.</p>
<p>Allegheny
Lightly-treed suburban locale. Attractive campus, if a little austere – perhaps a bit too spread out? Many extraordinary resources (the environmental science building stood out for me). 1:1 tour from (I think) a junior. Nice, clean dorms. Didn’t get to see or try the food. Clearly an excellent school, but S not sure if he’ll apply.</p>
<p>Wooster
The facilities here are other-worldly. Truly, a cut above. Somewhat intimidating. That said, the general vibe was one of smart, open kids who are keen on pursuing their education as best they can. The admissions office was friendly & relaxed, and the admissions officer took the time to engage my son.</p>
<p>Overall, I was really impressed - tho’ not by the food, which (IMHO) earns a solid ‘C’. S undecided at the time of this writing (tho’ I think he should bloody well apply! :)) </p>
<p>[Aside – had dinner in Wooster at the Broken Rocks caf</p>
<p>Expat, great review! I’ve been curious to hear your impressions since D and I visited several of the same schools. Sounds like your trip yielded some gems for your S. </p>
<p>So funny…you captured my feelings about COW. I found it a bit intimidating as well, but stunningly beautiful. My D got turned off by a giant cross she spotted during our drive through. Of course, this part of campus didn’t make the tour, so my D didn’t get to ask about it.</p>
<p>I had considered having D look at St. Mary’s and Susquehanna but thought they might be too preppy and not diverse enough for her. What was your impressions of the type of students attending those schools? After hearing your thoughts, I’m sorry we didn’t check them out when we could have.</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing!</p>
<p>Thanks for the great post, expat. </p>
<p>SMCM is right now my daughter’s favorite (and my financial safety) - she’s currently a junior so we’re just starting this whole college thing. We visited during an Open House last spring and she really took to the location, school, students. It’s nice to hear someone has a good impression because it’s been pooh-poohed by D’s friends. I think being in the middle of nowhere is the sticking point; although, in D’s case, that was a major selling point.</p>
<p>That said, it was great to read about other schools because she’s not sure where else to look. She has picked Allegheny, Hendrix, Marlboro, UNC-Asheville and New College of Florida as possibilities. I’ve also gotten CTCL for her to peruse for possibilities.
.
Oh, D also liked the climbing wall.</p>
<p>
The students who we met at SMCM & SU were very down to earth, and the antithesis of preppy.</p>
<p>IMHO, diversity is somewhat wanting at both schools. Looking at the Campus Life tab on CollegeBoards’s bigFuture site, one can see that last year’s SMCM population was 89% in-state students – understandable, tho’, since it’s a public school.</p>
<p>Susquehanna is 51% in-state (and OWU, for that matter, is 53%) – not horrible but, all other things being equal (and they never are), I’d prefer to see a majority from out of state.</p>
<p>Good to read the reviews.</p>
<p>Ironic and disappointing to me to read some comments on “preppy” and “diversity”…
…as K2 feels comfortable with a population that’s preppy…as K2 is preppy</p>
<p>and here people write about preppy students with such a pejorative tone.</p>
<p>Are the students who don’t like “preppy”…“preppy” themselves…or are they not preppy and see it as too “conformist”.</p>
<p>Often on a campus while there are many bohemian/birkenstock students all looking to be “diverse”, really in the end they are all trying hard to stand apart yet still have that same look…and the same struggle…</p>
<p>If one were to write that they didn’t like all of those bohemian/birkenstock students it would be considered narrow minded.</p>
<p>I think we use the word “diverse” really to mean “our” definition of diverse.</p>
<p>For example…K1 was seriously looking at MIT for the 3rd visit (…it was a top choice with Yale…)
While on campus I noticed that I could spot K1 a mile away for being taller and blond…K1 was The diverse student moving through the student union building both in dress and genetics.</p>
<p>My K2 is looking at schools outside of our region…and for a couple of the schools K2 would be from an under-represented state (according to the admissions officer who interviewed K2).
I have wondered if it will be an issue since a large number of the kids are all from the same 3 states, and often the same “feeder” schools.
Admissions told K2 would be diverse by being from our state etc…and K2 is "preppy. " </p>
<p>Go figure</p>
<p>My son has been at a ‘prep school’ last year & this. It has had some truly wonderful benefits, and we’ve been delighted overall. Still, the dress code is something he abhors, and I get that. </p>
<p>It will likely be a while before my son wants to wear anything other than a t-shirt, worn jeans & dirty running shoes.</p>
<p>Most schools discussed on CC will provide a very good education; some truly excellent. Ultimately, I think it depends on the student/professor interaction. Still, the social norms of a given campus will impact, likely significantly, a student’s experience. If preppy is the prevailing standard, my son will be less comfortable. YMMV.</p>
<p>While perhaps discussed in the same postings, diversity is (to me) an entirely different subject, and unrelated to preppy. I want as much diversity (politics, viewpoints, culture, ethnicity) in a school as possible. So does my son.</p>