<p>Muhlenberg College ¶ is a school that engages in preferential packaging and is very up front about it on their website. For those in the top of their applicant pool, a higher percentage of gift aid, for those who just squeak in or at the middle of the applicant pool, more loans and less institutional grant money. </p>
<p>WWW.muhlenberg.edu/main/admissions/realdeal.html</p>
<p>My D will not be attending Univ of D e n v e r. We sent a withdrawal letter with a gentle suggestion that they need to update their NPC so other families in the future will not suffer disappointment like we did.</p>
<p>I will put my plug in for a school for this thread…Iowa State University. My son will be a freshman there this fall, 2 of my brothers graduated from there, as have numerous HS friends; many of which now have their kids attending. Most of my HS friends have degrees in engineering or ag business. All are just as successful as my engineering friends from my undergrad school, Northwestern. Ag business major is one of the best in the nation, 100% placement with average salaries in the $40,000+ range.</p>
<p>Avg Act… 25
ACT 25%-75% range… 22-28
Freshman Retention Rate… 86%
6 year grad rate… 70%</p>
<p>About 55% of the students graduate with a STEM degree. Strong traditional STEM programs in chem, biology, math, and engineering. Also very strong in agronomy, meteorology, geology, and statistics. Kinesiology program is one of the best in the country. Social science and hmanities programs of note include Econ, rural sociology, history of science and technology. Humanities are a little weak although history is a large major. College of Design is quite good with programs in studio arts, architecture, landscape arch, industrial design, and urban planning. Also, lots of applied majors in advertising, hotel and restaurant mgt, business, ag business, fasion design, etc.</p>
<p>Career services area is fantastic. Best of any school we visited (better tHan U Iowa and U MN). They have huge career fairs. Engineering and ag career fairs are the biggest in the Midwest.</p>
<p>Best residence life system of any school we visited. About 10,000 undergrads live on campus compared to only about 6,500 at U Iowa and U MN. Res Halls are very active on campus. Lots of school spirit.</p>
<p>Price is very reasonable for OOS…about $28,000 per year for tuition/fees/room/board. Merit probably not available for those outside top 20% although they have quite a bit available for female engineering prospects.</p>
<p>We are visiting in two weeks. Daughter is Hispanic and they have invited her to breakfast before tour starts. She wants to study Psycology and so far her number one choice is the U of MN but I want her to consider some other schools. In the summer we will visit Truman State in MO and would love to hear of some others in the midwest we should look at. Thanks</p>
<p>Just a heads up to you parents that in recent days parents in the 2013 3.0-3.3 thread have been adding to a list of schools that have accepted their kids. Great opportunity to find schools to consider. Lots of great news there to encourage you!</p>
<p>Re: Muhlenberg. Info above on their financial aid is correct. And they are refreshingly honest about it! My d will be starting there in the fall if anyone has questions. </p>
<p>Good luck to all of you!</p>
<p>Joisymom… Muhlenberg is a school my DS is VERY interested in. He is a theater kid and he actually just got an email from the head of the theater dept… Charles Richter letting him know if he had any questions he could call him, and then preceded to give him his telephone#…WOW!! This really impressed me and my son. We haven’t visited yet because he wants to audition for their theater scholarship next fall, and we live in CA, so 2 trips across the country is out. I am sure I will be in contact with you with questions soon:)</p>
<p>Wow 5boys - that is impressive! By the time you visit, I will be a much more informed parent so that should work out great!</p>
<p>SLUMOM
My daughter has been accepted to Alfred University. Since it is not currently her first choice we are debating whether to drive 6 1/2 hours to the accepted student day. She applied because Alfred it seemed like Staint Lawrence University, but not so much north. We both loved SLU. My question is how much do Alfred and SLU have in common?</p>
<p>Coincidentally I have a child who graduated from SLU and one that will graduate from Alfred University. (But you probably knew that!)</p>
<p>SLU is an LAC, highly regarded, co-ed, small classes, great academics, Greek Life has no impact on the social scene, merit aid, need based aid, research opportunities etc. Very outdoorsy oriented as well. My child had a wonderful experience at SLU and participated in several research projects. A bit isolated as it is located in Northern NY and is about 2 hrs from Syracuse. SLU does not meet 100% of need. </p>
<p>Alfred University is a regional university so offers Art and Design, Business, and Engineering in addition to the Liberal Arts. About the same number of undergrads as SLU, small classes-difficult to fall into the cracks at Alfred. AU is not as selective as SLU, and the COA is much lower. AU also has some master degree programs. My child has really thrived at Alfred, and she will be going into teaching. The location is somewhat isolated, but AU publishes a monthly booklet of activities. D has attended concerts in Ithaca, Rochester, Syracuse and on campus, went on a field trip into Canada. </p>
<p>Alfred makes Canton look like a metropolis in regard to size of both towns!
They are both good choices in my opinion!</p>
<p>Well here is an endorsement for SLU… as I don’t know much about Alfred, SLUMOM is the expert there. My DS lives in So Cal… ON THE BEACH. He is a beach kid, but his heart is with the mountains. He applied and was accepted to many similar schools… i.e. in a rural location, near the mountains so he could climb and hike, active outdoor club, small classes where he could be in engaged discussion based classes, and be able to develop relationships inside and outside of the classroom with his professors. ,good environmental science program and pre-med. He was admitted to 9 schools, with all levels of selectivity, deferred and then rejected from his ED school Colorado College.</p>
<p>He went to the accepted students event at SLU with no expectations. When he came back from his visit, he had a look on his face which was a mix between extreme happiness and “I’m Done, send in the check!!”. He absolutely LOVED SLU. He said that is was the most inclusive, active, friendly, fun,happy kids he had ever met. They included him in some sort of crazy costume volleyball game at 2 am. The food is amazing, the outdoor club is one of the oldest and most active in the country, their student union looks like a ski lodge, their FYP is also the oldest and best, and one which has been copied by many schools. 92% freshman retention rate and rabid alumni that put their students and graduates in internships and jobs all over the country with VERY impressive results.</p>
<p>He received a VERY generous merit scholarship and they came very close to meeting full need… Happy kid, happy mom and dad. He will start their in August after an incredible gap year. Can’t wait to be a SLUMOM:)))</p>
<p>I will also add there is a personal touch at both schools.
When my D was diagnosed with mono at SLU, I emailed her advisor. Five minutes later my phone rang and it was the advisor, who was in the process of cooking her family’s dinner. We discussed options of taking incompletes, extensions etc. D was able to finish the semester. Another time our dog had to be put to sleep due to cancer. D talked to her professors and missed her Friday classes, she came home on Thursday night with her boyfriend. (7 hour trip) She said they completely understood about the dog.</p>
<p>At Alfred, the D needed certain medical test/innoculation for working with children, so I just emailed the Director of Residential Life to ask where this could be done and she offered in a joint email to take D to get the test done at a local hospital, if D did not have transportation. D was able to get ride from a friend. </p>
<p>You just do not get this kind of personal attention at all colleges/universities.</p>
<p>On move in day at Alfred for freshman year, we took a well known short cut through an academic building to get down to the lunch/cookout. My H stopped a professor who was coming up a flight of stairs. H asked him all kinds of questions about how long he had been there etc… They talked for 15 minutes or so. Yet all the staff, professors, etc at Alfred university are like that.</p>
<p>Hi. Got back yesterday from our whirlwind tour of 2 colleges (a little sarcasm). We were going to visit more, but real life got in the way. We went to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo on Tuesday, and DePaul University yesterday. Both days were frigid cold (barely made 20 degrees).</p>
<p>My son liked WMU, which is good. I see it as an in-state safety that neither one of us would be unhappy if that’s where he ended up. We were the only two people who showed up for the information session and the tour, so rather than go through a planned presentation, we just sat with a graduate student who talked about the school and answered any questions. We then had a private tour from our tourguide, who was able to cut out the areas my son had no interest in seeing, and focus it a bit more on us. Because it was so cold and snowy, the campus seemed pretty quiet, but I was assured that this was very unusual, and the weather was impacting everyone. Despite its reputation as a “party school”, I got the impression that my son could get a quality education, and just as important, resourses to assist in getting a job afterwards. It’s a medium/large walking campus with academic and social aspects that appeal to my son.</p>
<p>We drove on to Chicago, where we spent the night at a hotel in the south loop area, which just so happened to be across the street from Columbia College (0ne that we looked at briefly, but rejected because the majors were just too limited). My son hated the idea of going to school in a high-rise in a big city, so it’s a good thing I haden’t tried to get him too excited about it. We could see the buildings for Columbia College as well as Roosevelt University and Robert Morris U (I think)…all in high-rises in the same area. DePaul also has their loop campus in that area, but we didn’t see the building. Some students who primarily attend that campus can share a dorm w/ Columbia College and Roosevelt U students. We went to Lincoln Park the next morning for our information session and tour. One thing I learned about my son, is that he really doesn’t like the idea of a city school. Even though the Lincoln Park campus is more “campusy”, he didn’t like it, and hated the idea that he would have to take the train to the loop for occassional classes (or most of his classes depending on his major). We didn’t even bother with the tour because he said there was no way that he would have gone there. </p>
<p>I, on the other hand, thought DePaul looked great. I loved the Lincoln Park area, and felt that the school had so much to offer my son. They are somewhat foregiving of lower GPAs in the application process and really seem to work with students to get the most out of them regardless of where they are starting. I already went to college, though. So if it’s not right for my son, at least we learned what he doesn’t want. He also declared that he definitely wants a school with a football team. The fact that he held the weather against the Chicago experience, and not the Kalamazoo one also spoke to me.</p>
<p>I talked to him about Alfred, and we both agreed that it would be a good place to visit. A real campus (that has a football team) where he would get more personalized attention. Although I think he likes the idea of being able to “hide” in a larger school like WMU.</p>
<p>Thanks SLUMOM and 5boys. My daughter & I will be heading to Alfred tomorrow. We got the last room at the Saxon Inn. I agree with everything you said about SLU. I have visited SLU twice. Both kids loved it, but my son did ED somewhere else and my daughter decided not to apply b/c the area seemed so isolated. It will be interesting to see what she thinks of Alfred. Having another school across the street may make the area seem busier. Thanks again</p>
<p>@umich8790, no, you can’t hide at Alfred University. </p>
<p>At the Parents Orientation on Freshman move-in day, the President, Deans, Security, Student Life personnel all spoke in their area of expertise. </p>
<p>One thing stands out, there is a weekly Monday morning meeting and academics, security, residential life, deans and so on get together. One thing is if a professsor reports a student is falling asleep in class, cutting class, seems ill, seems depressed, etc. that professor reports it to appropriate personnel. Then typically student is called in for an appointment so he/she can get help, whether it is academically, mental health, or maybe even substance abuse! So this weekly meeting is not just about security reporting who had a wild party over the weekend… </p>
<p>The point was, at AU they want every student to succeed, they want everybody to graduate and they take it very seriously there. </p>
<p>@bholden, let us know how the Accepted Students Day went at Alfred University! </p>
<p>Yes, it is a village, but there is plenty to do on campus and in the surrounding area.
There are wineries close by in the Finger Lakes region, Corning has the glass museum and a great downtown area. Ithaca, Rochester & Syracuse are places my D has visited for concerts etc. The PA border is not that far away, D has gone hiking in PA.</p>
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<p>There is another thread which asks why campus tours are important. You just expressed it. Sometimes you get there and just know it’s the wrong place. My D knew it was the place for her just as quickly!</p>
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<p>In the words of Liz Lemon, “I want to go to there.”</p>
<p>Fun week at our house. Because D wants to go to a big OOS public (or Syracuse–her #1 choice on paper), we have been following March Madness very closely this year. Daughter’s personal “college selection bracket” still includes Ill, Wisc, Syracuse, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, and Oregon. Gonzaga was a scratch from her bracket a few months ago as was Marquette.</p>
<p>slumom…you’re making me like Alfred more and more</p>
<p>missypie…I couldn’t agree w/ you more (both of your comments)</p>
<p>SLUMOM
The Alfred accepted students day went well. We stayed at the Saxon Inn which was very impressive. I loved AU, but unfortunately my daughter did not have the same connection I had. Either way, it is a school I would recommend to others.</p>
<p>Glad that someone has started this thread. I had started the threads for 2011, 2012 and 2013, 2013 being the one I was interested in as my son is graduating this year from HS. This genre of threads becomes almost a home for interested parents as there are many good kids who are not at top of the class and there is a school for them. In about 3-4 months, I am going to suggest that 2013 thread die down and all the interested parents can migrate to this thread. This is almost a support group for parents.</p>
<p>Good luck to all parents who are going to camp out here for the next one year</p>
<p>@beholden, that is why you visit, of course…
For me, the “one that got away” was Hobart & William Smith, S did not like it, so did not apply.
I just really felt he would love it, but no…We have visited so many schools for the four children but our policy was to keep our impression of school to ourselves. If they did not like a school, then we just moved on to another visit. H really liked Skidmore as I recall and was disappointed when that D did not.</p>