Sorry–I’m just bitter and I think it’s a horrible direction for the school. Bigger bigger bigger. Where’s the quality there? I’m not convinced it will happen (the quality part). They are promoting the Blinn team program like it’s an amazing experience. umm, no. They already do not have room for all the engineering students on campus.
I spend my life teaching people how to create some balance within their life. I’m sure D will have points in her life with no balance. She already tends towards the workaholic mode–I can’t imagine her at a school that envisions and encourages that behavior.
I’m just super curious to see if she is accepted into engineering.
@nadotenmom - We’ve never found coin tosses to be particularly useful. Weighted pros/cons lists seem to shed more light on what often seem to be impossible choices. In comparing Haverford vs. Pitzer, for example, things like the importance of particular programming/majors, honor code, student body, location/weather, etc. can matter more or matter less, depending on individual needs and preferences. Has S17 looked at both?
@carachel2 our family wrote off both Texas A & M and UTA for engineering early on in the process due to many of those concerns. It just wasn’t the environment we wanted for S17. Which is how we ended up at Bama. Back at the beginning of the process we just assumed he would go to one of those flagships and definitely would have the GPA, rank and test scores for automatic admission. Alumni spoke so highly of both those schools and I worked with many people who loved their time there. But, investigating engineering and hearing some horror stories and also hearing so many who could not finish without additional time it didn’t make sense to keep pursuing those schools. We strongly considered UT Dallas which I have heard great things about but S17 wasn’t sure about the “commuter” reputation. The Presidential and engineering scholarship and the friendliness of Bama sold him. It’s not the right choice for everyone but there are many families like ours that are souring on the atmosphere in engineering at our state flagships.
I vary between being super antsy for D17 and D18 (psat), and being completely overwhelmed at times with all the stuff I have to do to graduate. I try and take it one day at a time (which reminds me, I need to cut the lumber and put together a FIVE FOOT CANVAS FRAME because my professor evidently hasn’t heard of this nifty place called Michael’s and their 50% off coupons, grr), and just keep swimmin’…
Last time D checked the portal the one place she had an interview still hadn’t shown the interview as being there, two weeks later, so we’ll check it today. Plus I need to look at UMD and see if there’s anything we’re missing, scholarship-wise. I’d assumed they’d tell me if she was eligible for scholarships, but you know what happens when you ass…u…me…
@LoveTheBard Funny you should mention pro/con list. DH convinced (with not too much trouble) DS to do a pro/con analysis. Yes, he has visited each school (Pitzer multiple times as we’re a so cal family). He loves Ca, but is very open to experiencing a new place. Both schools offer the programs he’s interested in. Pitzer might have a bit of an edge with the 5 school consortium, giving it a bigger campus feel/experience for days that it seems too small (although small is very much what he wants). For Haverford, the honor code is what attracted him. He would definitely like to be surrounded by peers who place a strong emphasis on an honor code and HF has that in spades. I am anxiously awaiting his analysis. Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.
@pokerqueen - We’ve visited UTD recently and it’s a serious contender for CS, if my child don’t get into to UT or Texas A&M. My son, with top 8% and 32 (33 super score) ACT, didn’t show any interest to go to BAMA. He is not a football fan and prefer UTD over BAMA for CS. BTW we (my employer) recruit many college hires from UT and TAMU and they hit the ground running quickly with solid education.
@ACT2017 —if he’s not a football fan, how did he feel about College Station—legitimately asking, not trying to
berate A&M anymore. D is not a football fan either and we were both pleasantly surprised at how active the honors program is at Alabama—at A&M it seemed a bit token. The engineering honors program may be different and we have not specifically explored that also.
We made D visit Alabama–at first it was because of $$ and the scholarships and then as we got more into the engineering process it became more about the programs, how they are offered and the undergraduate experience. Has your son visited Bama?
D would pick Bama precisely because she is not a football fan but she felt there was much more to do outside of football there and felt the honors program offered enough activities for her to get involved.
In the past three days alone I’ve had at least 3 private messages from current A&M engineering parents and well…they are not flattering. Their kids will graduate I’m sure. They will have jobs I’m sure. But was it $25,000 a year well spent? Was it a school that went all out making sure the kids were engaged, collaborative and learning? Their messages were not convincing.
Trust me, I WANTED A&M to be a contender. I would LOVE it to be her first choice. I could drive down for the day, have lunch with her, take her to Target and Costco and load her up and spend a great day and be back in my house by 9 pm.
I’m a former student and still a fan. I agree that A&M and UT are still probably the best value options in Texas. If some Ds OOS options it will have to stay on the table and we will have to make it work.
I was just blown away at the different feel it has now—the “we want to be bigger and bigger and your child will be just a number” feeling was just palpable. I couldn’t believe that the article came flat out and said it. And to create a building where the intent is to encourage the worker bee mentality and to be so up front and honest about it–well, that just confirmed my “gut feeling.” I have no doubt the students graduating from there will be more than capable. But I’ve seen what else is out there now and it is an experience I want for my kid.
I’ve come full circle on the review admit process. I now realize it is a good thing and is helpful in weeding out some of the top 10% kids who achieved that status by loading up on the AP “lite” courses. It will be interesting to see how D fares in the engineering review. She’s IN at Clemson Engineering, Pitt engineering and Purdue FYE–so I think her chances are pretty strong. We will see though…it’s going to be competitive!
I am trying to find a thread with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign EA Class of 2021 info. Any of your children applied there? Are you following a thread? If yes, what’s its name? Thank you!!
@nadotenmom I’m sure you know this, or your DS does, but Haverford has some of that consortium benefit with BiCo [with Bryn Mawr] and TriCo [add Swarthmore]…and maybe can take classes at UPenn too?
@nadotenmom good luck. I can’t imagine choosing ED over a coin toss. If it’s that close I am not at all sure I would think ED was the right answer but I wish you the best of luck (and your S!) in figuring out which way to go.
@carachel2 -In our case, we did compare BAMA to UTD as a safety. We lived in the neighboring state (Florida) but I’ve very limited knowledge on BAMA. We are only looking at best in state options for CS.
Thanks @kt1969, yes you’re right that Haverford offers a similar consortium experience, but I get the sense that since the Claremont schools are all together that there’s easier access to the social aspects. @eandesmom The coin toss is now officially off the table. I have definitely thought that perhaps he should just do RD, but the allure of potentially knowing where he will go by Dec 15th is very strong (and his college counselor has strongly encouraged ED). The apps are ready to go, reading his essays he has a strong connection to both schools. He will sleep on it, review his pros/cons in the morning and decide.
@nadotenmom To be honest, if there is not an absolutely clear favorite between the two, I would be hesitant to apply ED. Pitzer gives some merit (but not much). Are finances a factor? Are they matches or reaches? GCs often encourage kids to do ED; don’t let that be a factor.
Hurray!! 3 more applications submitted for 11/15 and 3 more to go for 12/1 and 1/1. My daughter dropped Tulane off the list though I’m not sure why. She has a day or so to change her mind again.
My son wrote a 2 page honors essay that he didn’t need, oops. We are shooting to have all applications sent by next Sunday. Even reading CC for a year didn’t quite prepare us for the time needed to apply to schools times 2!
I’m looking forward to heading out of town for Thanksgiving with the applications behind us! Is anyone else traveling this Thanksgiving. Hoping for colder weather/snow in Colorado.
@twoforone99 Sorry to disappoint you. This has been the warmest fall in Colorado. No snow in sight. Usually we don’t have good snow even until Christmas break. Many ski resorts may not be open by 11/23. March is the snowiest month in Colorado and best month for skiing. Have alternate activities in mind. Mountain biking, golf, hot springs, zip line, sunbathing…
@LoveTheBard At this point I really believe he would be happy at either. The plan is to apply to one EDI and if he doesn’t get in, there’s time to apply to the 2nd EDII. HF is a reach (because SAT math is in the 25%, it CR is in 75% and GPA is very strong). Pitzer is a match, as it is test optional. Based on NPC, the costs are pretty similar. We feel like there is a slight advantage to applying ED in terms of % admitted (even taking into account recruited athletes). The good thing is he has a few safeties that he is also very happy with. Maybe he’s just so excited to go to college, that everything looks great. Of the 7 campuses we visited, he only said no to 1 of them. I appreciate your thoughts. He is our one and only, and helping him make this decision is tough.
State flagships. Ugh. Ours is UIUC, which is great in many areas, but funding is an issue and even in-state tuition is quite high. We are not applying to any IL state schools. Hopefully have found better deals elsewhere, and D kind of wants to experience another area, preferably urban. We have about 50 kids/year attending UIUC from D’s HS.
Glad we didn’t wait until the final day to upload D’s videos for the Case Western arts supplement. Holy mackerel, it’s slow. I’m babysitting them until they’re done tonight. That will be it for that. She also finished a boatload of other essays for 11/15. Good weekend.
Strategically speaking, he might be best off applying to Haverford ED as it would probably provide more of a boost (especially since it’s more of a reach). So unless he had a compelling reason to choose Pitzer over Haverford, you probably have your answer.
We also have an only; she’s not doing ED anywhere - she did SCEA to an ivy and is fishing for merit.
