@snoozn Congratulations to your D!
@CA1543
Also, University of Miami in Florida?
@snoozn ā Huge congrats on Gonzaga!! Great news.
@snoozn thatās funny on Gonzaga. Would honors offer any additional monies?
@MACncheez I agree, parents ask the worst questions on tours. Sometimes I wonder if they just feel the need to ask something because their DC is not.
They remind me of the public school parent āinfo sessionā meetings for any class trip / extracurricular/ orientation ā my wife and I dread attending these and often bargain to be the one to stay home or drive the kids to their activities instead. Itās usually a 60 minute meeting with five minutes of relevant content in a 30 minute powerpoint, followed by 30 minutes of the most dreadful questions imaginableā¦
Congrats on Gonzaga, @snoozn! Iāve always liked that school, mostly because they have a cool name and a good basketball team.
@xaviermom2017 I agree that we enjoyed the tours far more that went into dorms, dining halls, etc. BUT as the mom of a college student now I have more of an appreciation for colleges that donāt disrupt the current students lives on a daily basis with tour groups walking through their dorms, dining halls, etc. My older son lives in a dorm that is one of the ones used on tours and he is OK with it but heās outgoing. My 17 kid would hate having tours in her space all the time. One of the best tours we went on had very little time inside buildings but they did a great job of having the guides give extensive information about what was happening inside. Itās not really seeing 1 dorm or dining hall since most campuses have tons of options itās more about how the students live on that campus and getting that across.
@snoozn Congratulations! <:-P <:-P
I remember seeing the bear photo. The comments were hilarious too. 10 out of 10 points for jumping skills on the trampoline. etc, etc.
Unfortunately, the released bear returned in a few weeks and was killed on freeway 36. It must have been a pretty harrowing experience for the driver too. 
@CA1543, I think you have some good suggestions. Emerson sounds right for your son. BU is interesting because they have both a strong advertising area, and a decent film school as well. Chapman U. in Southern California might also be perfect for him. They have a hot film school, and a rapid rising business program that might compliment the marketing thing. And perhaps most different but best of all is University Texas Austin. They have a phenomenal Communication school. I have been most impressed with their programs and the kids who come out of it. They have amazing advertising department, as well as a top film school. His ACT scores make him competitive as OOS. If he can get his grades up, or they understand his school, he could get int They like NY Area kids right now. A less academic program you might look into as a safety is Ithaca. I am not to well versed, but I know they have a good semester program in LA.
@Ca1543,
I typed above before I read the rest of thread. While I like the experience some of the schools mentioned, not all of them are as strong in film and advertising/marketing. Pitt has good business, but not known for communication side. Miami and Tulane offer lots of great stuff, but not big feeders to the entertainment industry, new media, or advertising world. Syracuse is a much better option for a similar type of experience. Just my humble professional opinionā¦ I have lectured at many Universities for Media, and I am judging by my experience at some of these schools, and seeing who is getting hired. I donāt mean to sound authoritative, just trying to be helpfulā¦UCLA film school does not offer a great under grad experience. I would not highly recommend. USC is much betterā¦ I have been hearing Florida State has an improving film program. Cant speak to the business advertising marketing side of that schoolā¦ Again, strongly suggest Texas.
@ca1543 My DS plans to double major at UT Austin to study film and Plan II. I would say the program that was my sonās other favorite was Boston University. Their Communications department was great and we loved the tour and info session. He looked at Emerson but didnāt feel like it was academic enough. They have a great film department but he didnāt think they had enough other stuff that he wanted like languages. We have a friend at Chapman in LA and she loves it. Iām not sure if that was mentioned yet.
I agree with BigPapi that he should consider UT if he has high ACT scores. The program has a lot going for it and many different options if film isnāt the main focus.
University of Kansas also has a good program and Iāve heard Lawrence is a fun college town.
@carachel2 we JUST watched Tucker & Dale vs. Evil and it was great! However, it was filmed in Vancouver, not North Georgia, and looks nothing like the Deliverance landscape. I can say that with authority because I actually attend the university that is in the same town that Deliverance was filmed in! 
The North Georgia mountains are absolutely gorgeous, and most of the terrifying rednecks have been driven deeper into the Appalachian mountains, lol. Thereās even a Starbucks on campus :D. The landscape coming into Tuscaloosa (from Atlanta) is startlingly beautiful-even D commented on it as we drove over there in the morning. Iām more of a beach/ocean person, so the mountains are beautiful, but I donāt love them. My ears pop like Iām on an airplane every morning and every evening on my drive to and from school going up and down those suckers.
Having problems with the UMD portal again. D and I checked it on our weekly college chat, and itās showing as ānot completedā under the recommendations, even though the recommendations show a completed date on them, and last week it DID show as completed. Iām going to have D call in to admissions today (and listen over her shoulder). Sheāll have to get good at dealing with annoying stuff like this sooner or later, may as well be sooner.
Itās really aggravating, though, and is making her mistrust the quality of the comp sci department-sheās like, why donāt they help the admissions people make a better portal? My answer was that big companies and big universities arenāt always as connected to each other as they should be.
I started the 2018 3.0-3.4 thread and itās pretty quiet over there. Oh well, it makes sense. Not a lot going on with D18 yet except for studying for the Feb ACT.
@snoozn yay for D on Gonzaga! Yes feels good :).
@MotherOfDragons although I was hopeful D applied to UMD, Iām glad she dropped it, so many issues with them it sounds like! Also, I saw you started the thread last night, I know it will pick up very soon! I might have to follow just with all my new āfriendsā on here.
QOTD: With most of our apps in now, is anyone focusing on outside scholarships? AND, is there a handy list somewhere of schools that donāt offset their award with these? I guess the best way to find out is to call the fin aid offices but a handy list would be great!! maybe in my spare time lol
@MotherOfDragons I know you donāt really think so, but thereās no correlation between UMDās portal and their CS department. :-B
That was likely outsourced to some smooth-talking consultant. I always attribute issues like that more to lack of proper requirements (what should it do?) than anything else. Tell your coder-kids to never āguessā how something should work. Ask. If it seems stupid, it probably is. I have fired many devs for repeatedly doing what they want, or taking short cuts.
@MotherOfDragons I expect your 3.0 thread will pick up as folks start to think about pres week and spring break trip tours.
@CA1543 depending on what kind of filmmaking yours likes, take a quick glance at Philadelphia U. not much info here on it, but i was more impressed than i expected to be (and maybe more importantly, my PITA liked it). its a nice campus even though its not in the heart of the city. its not crazy expensive, not ridiculously competitive, and they do have meritā¦however, probably not prestigious if thats important to yours.
one of the more interesting things about them is a new partnership with thomas jefferson and what the convergence of media and medicine may become.
I was intrigued.
and after umpteen boring tours, thats sort of saying something
Thanks so much for all the suggestions and insights you all have shared. Extremely helpful as we embark on this new journey. DS18 seems clear he wants a well-rounded school that also offers film/video and possibly business. So I am going to check into many of the schools you all have suggested (particularly in Northeast & mid-Atlantic region) and weāll plan to take him to several on his Spring break and hopefully heāll give us some useful feedback!!
Good news-D called UMD and sheās fine, all stuff is in and sheās in for the priority deadline stuff (phew!), and the lady she spoke to was āvery niceā according to her. So while UMDās portal may stink, their people are good 
Yes, we know thereās no connection between cs and the portal, but we think as a gesture of humanitarian aid there should be, lol.
QOTD: With most of our apps in now, is anyone focusing on outside scholarships? AND, is there a handy list somewhere of schools that donāt offset their award with these? I guess the best way to find out is to call the fin aid offices but a handy list would be great!!
I sent DS17 out the door today to start his final semester of High School. How did that happen so fast? He went, reluctantly. He definitely has Senioritis, but Iāve asked him to be smart about it. āPlease donāt let everything fall apart.ā Luckily, he is very competitive and I donāt think he could stand not having one of the top scores in the class. He WAS excited to go to his Calc BC class today where the teacher will have the final exam results up on the boardā¦ heās confident that he has the top score and not by just a little. Again, I ask āHow did that happen?ā I took Calculus in HS and college with the same textbook and couldnāt pull out more than a C- in college. I just didnāt get it, never wrapped my brain around it.
Everyday I send him off saying this: āBe a good person, be a good citizen, be a good student, be a good friend. Drive safe and have a great day.ā This has evolved over the past 18 months since DD15 went off to college. And, now, he actually waits for me to say it. Heāll come looking for me in the house before he leaves. Itās really very sweet and Iām going to really miss him next year! As much as I say Iām looking forward to being an empty nester, I will miss my kids a lot!!
Iām feeling especially sappy todayā¦ some friends of ours lost their dear 6 year old to an inoperable brain tumor yesterday. It was a 9 month battle that took them to Germany monthly for immunotherapy. Throughout hearing about their journey, I found out that only 4% of money spent on cancer research goes towards pediatric cancer. How can that be?
All of you out there with kids who want to āCure Cancerāā¦ get on it already. 