@snoozn – excellent reports!
I visited a couple of these with my older son but none are on younger son’s list. I am impressed with your note-taking!
@CT1417 I wish I could remember who, but taking a notebook was suggested by someone on this thread – thanks someone! It especially helped on a big trip like this because all the schools start to blur together after a few days.
Two really nice days in North Carolina for our visits so far:
First day in the morning was Duke. I really had no preconceived notion, but boy was that campus pretty spectacular. The info session had people wait-listed, and they made sure to tell us that they did not care we were there. They don’t care about showing interest in them :). They get 2 points for handing out water bottles. The campus tour was well done, although there’s a bit of construction going on…what we saw was to be complete before our kids would be attending. The campus vibe was pretty loose, and lots of Dukey-wear. They seem to provide a ton of different supports for students…they almost won’t let you fail. Lots of talk of lemurs and basketball and the usual stuff (research, study abroad, personal librarians, build your major, waffles). D fell in deep like. Ehh, it’s Duke, you know all about this place. We will hope to win the lottery.
Twenty minutes later we were at UNC-CH. We had to walk for what seemed like forever to get to Admissions, probably because we just walked all over campus at Duke. Info session was not quite as good at UNC, but not horrible. Our tour guide was quite a talker. We didn’t realize until later how little she actually ‘said’ though. UNC suffered from our tour of Duke, and looked a little ‘tired’. It’s a much older campus, with lots of nice green space. Lots of active student organizations near the union in an area called ‘The Pit’. They mentioned the ‘quota’ on OOS students, but said it wasn’t a quota…but had to do with 82% of admitted students to ALL NC schools had to be from the state of NC, so each individual school varies. Only 2% of admitted students receive merit aid. You don’t declare a major until 2nd semester sophomore year. They guarantee housing all four years. No engineering, of course, except for the BioMed Engin that is partnership with NCSt. Campus should have looked great on a great day, but looked a little tired…and didn’t really see the energy we saw at Duke. Maybe everyone was tired from the team making the Final Four the night before?
Day 2 took us first to Elon. Elon had been on and off the list a few times, but we were in the neighborhood so I scheduled a visit. It’s a small D1 LAC. It’s pretty strong in the sciences, and has a Neuro minor, and they can put together a Neuro Major…and are working to add that soon. They are building a new Sciences building that will be complete in 12 months. The place blew us away. Beautiful campus, more suburban-y. They have a little bit of everything as far as academics go: Business, Communications, Education, Fine Arts, Hard Sciences (PT, PA), and Natural Sciences. The dorms were awesome…a double was twice as big as the triple I lived in freshmen year. They have a Tuesday coffee every week, where 1000 students and faculty get together to chat and get coffee and refreshments. No classes during this time. D really had never heard of Elon, and doesn’t know anyone who has gone there, but really loved it. I was surprised as well. Our tour guide took a liking to D, and is going to find out some details about the Club Lacrosse team, as my daughter would like to continue playing if possible. They exchanged email.
So, we were doing pretty well so far. The afternoon of Day 2 took us to Davidson, and that’s where our luck ran out. The info session was lacking the energy we are used to, and there were no visuals. None. Then, our tour guide was, um, not very good either. Students were on Easter break (why have a tour then? I didn’t know this when I signed up…and I checked the academic calendar…I think.) So it was not very busy. Granted, a lot of students stay for such a short break, but there were no classes and campus was kind of dead. D thought it was going to be too small (half the size of her HS), and the lack of activity made it seem even smaller. She did not like the experience at all. I think Davidson does a really bad job marketing themselves (no reminder emails or “Can’t wait to see you!” emails, unlike every other school), and they lost a potential applicant today. I think it’s a great school for the right kid, they have some very impressive faculty in the sciences. I think it was the perfect storm today: No kids, poor speaker for the info session, and a poor tour guide.
Next three days we only see one school per day, so we should get a chance to dig a little more.
@2muchquan It was so nice to read your report of the visits. Thank you. Any mention of merit aid at Duke? I know whatever they have will be ultra competitive
@Hades321 Duke does offer some merit aid. And yes it is super competitive. Take a look at their financial aid website.
@2muchquan wonderful recaps! I admit, your review had me googling Elon, I’d never heard of it either. Looking forward to the rest of your trip!
Does anyone have an opinion on what 2 math classes my D should take next year (concurrent enrollment at CC)? Her options are Calculus III, Linear Algebra, and Differential Equations. And if she can only take one, which one should she take? We’re considering having her take 1 semester math, 1 semester micro econ, since micro econ is a pre-req for her major and her school only offers macro (she’s taking that in the spring).
So I am sure many of you are getting a flood of emails, letters and brochures, many from colleges where you child is obviously not a match. But what about phone calls? We have gotten three in the past month. They say they are from the Admissions Office of X university, but the background noise sounds like a call center. So far they have all been in-state schools with low-end academics.
One said they were calling based on my D’s academic record and one mentioned her PSAT score was the reason for the call. My D’s PSAT score was good, but not stellar, however when I checked the Common Data Set for these schools it looks like she would be in their top 1-3% statistically A couple of these schools have a mid 50% SAT range down into the 400s, one had the top 25% ACT range start at 22, one had over half the incoming freshman class with a UW GPA under 2.75.
Really strange that my D can get a letter from Harvard and a call from Tier 2 U on the same day, both based off her PSAT data from the CB.
@itsgettingreal17, I’d look at the schools she is most interested in going to and see what their requirement is for Math. S is going to take Calc 3 fall semester next year and then possibly stats or Dif EQ spring semester. But he is a STEM kid and will need these classes anyway. If your D is interested in Econ as a major, then she’d definitely benefit fro the micro econ. Stats may be a better fit for econ than calc III or dif EQ. That would be my suggestion.
@mtrosemom She is already taking AP stats and AP macro econ next year. We’re just trying to figure out her one unfilled period. Her school doesn’t offer micro econ, so she’d have to take it as dual enrollment/concurrent enrollment at the CC. She is also out of math so needs to take stats at the CC as well. She will probably major in accounting and finance in college, both of which require both economics classes, so we are thinking it would be great to knock out both before college. At some schools, the accounting major also requires calculus. And a lot of colleges want to see 4 years of math during high school, so that’s the other consideration.
@CaucAsianDad Well that is new! My D has not received any phone calls. She gets mail daily. As we narrow her list, we separate the snail and electronic mail into two piles: “recycle” and “keep.”
@CaucAsianDad My D was home alone for a few hours one day last week. While I was gone, she got phone calls from 2 different colleges. She was sitting upstairs away from the landline, so she missed the calls, but they left messages that had the same distinctive background noise you mentioned.
I have to wonder about the cost benefit analysis of these phone calls. Do students really consider the school based on some pretty sketchy calls? It seems like it must require a large workforce and be pretty expensive, wonder if it is worth it.
@CaucAsianDad We have gotten the phone calls as well. I just find all of the mail to be a waste of money and time. I don’t bother with any of it, it goes directly into the recycling bin. Even if she was interested in the school, why does she need a flyer, pamphlet, letter about it. She was already interested. I wonder how many people are swayed by it.
D received a call from a mid-tier LAC admission officer in charge of our region encouraging her to consider the school. There have been many mail and emails but I was a little surprised with a personal call.
Hint: do not check the want to receive info box. I think you can go on CB’s website and change the selected option. Our dd has received no emails, mailings,or phone calls. (Thank goodness!! Btdt and learned.)
We screen all of our calls, and I get an email transcript, but so far I haven’t seen any phone calls from colleges. I am fairly aggressive about staying on as many “don’t call me” lists as I can find, so maybe that helps.
I keep waiting for HGTV to call me and tell me I’ve won their Dream House, though. That one I’d answer 
I agree going thru college mailings is waste of time. My S competes in CA speech event called Original Advocacy. May be he should advocate for banning deceptive practices by colleges 
One topic I recommended for next year is overhauling US election process. Which one does this group favor?
I love caller ID because we know whether to answer or not. We do not. S appears to get many phone calls from “College Admissions”. I don’t know if it is one or many colleges. Perhaps one night I will answer one of the calls.
@itsgettingreal17, sorry, didn’t know that she was already taking some of the classes. I’d go with Calc III and “wrap” up the basic calc series.
@itsgettingreal17, as a former accounting major I would suggest a different path.
Many Accounting programs do not require traditional calculus , but offer business calculus (some times called Applied Calc) instead. However having Calc I and II in HS is great in case she ends up in a program that has those requirements. Calc III or DE are not likely to be helpful unless you are going for HS course rigor.
For an Accounting major I would suggest a class with a lot of writing like AP LIT or something with critical thinking like APUSH over an advanced math (she will have Stats as a math, correct?). Seems counter intuitive, but these are the skills to build on in HS that will give students an advantage in their business and accounting classes.
The math in accounting, even cost accounting and auditing, is rather straight forward. The reading comprehension needed for the FASB Standards and the Federal Tax Code is off the hook hard. If you help your D be a better reader, writer and “thinker” she will be a better Accounting major.
Since the caller ID said ‘University Admissions’ I answered, just in case it was her top school calling!
Here is funny part, during the summer before my S’s senior year I get a call from from Texas A&M offering him an OOS tuition waiver and a spot in the Corps of Cadets. The caller said if he would apply early and attend their recruiting weekend he would likely get a full scholarship on the spot, with no ROTC commitment. I thought it was a prank, but it turns out it was real as he was recommended by his Civil Air Patrol Squadron leader. Long story, but he did not go that route.
So yes, I answer all calls that say ‘University Admissions’ just in case!