My daughter wants to major in forensic science. She got into University of New Haven, Penn State (Altoona 2+2), Syracuse, University of RI, Duquesne and Mount Ida. She also got into a few SUNYs Stony Brook, Binghamton and UB, but they don’t have specific forensic science programs. She is a very well rounded, worldly individual who traveled a lot. We live in a large city, NYC. I want her to not be stuck in a low wage lab position after graduation with a huge debt. I don’t want to dissuade her from trying out this field of study as well. I understand that she will most likely go into graduate school. Any recommendations, suggestions for double majors or which school to go to?
@MLevin My friend who is very successful in the field majored in general chemistry, worked for a state crime lab a couple of years, then went to grad school.
Related to big fish/small fish…I want to share an experience D had.
The summer of 7th grade, D qualified for Johns Hopkins intensive summer session…she picked math logic or something like that. So two days into it, she called us and said she literally had the lowest qualified math SAT score there…she had 570 vs.550 qualified score. Some of her friends were in 700 range. I told her “hey, you will have more room for improvement than them”. At the end of session, D’s score on the final test was 2nd highest of the whole class.
What I am saying is there is nothing wrong, and something to be said about having chips on the shoulder and climb or swim your way to the top.
@sincerelove Your DD sounds strong, smart, and tenacious. 
@thermom Thanks for another good review on WPI! I am excited to see how our accepted student day goes there, and if it’s still her favorite.
It sounds like your daughter has a tough decision in front of her - they all sound great, and each one so different from the other.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Very persuasive points on UA, thanks! And I learned a lot - I actually had to google REU, although I probably should’ve known what that is by this point in the process.
Thanks @IABooks ! That does make me feel better.
@Ynotgo You’re son possibly thinking UCSB is too close to home made me gasp a little - if I lived near Santa Barbara, I don’t think I’d ever leave home, lol! (Can you tell I am getting sick of snow and cold weather?) But I do understand being young and wanting a new environment. He’s got some wonderful options.
@MLevin I have a relative who is interested in forensic science. She spoke with a family friend who is a state medical examiner. His advice was to major in a related science like chemistry or biochemistry as an undergraduate because a BS degree in “forensic science” doesn’t really prepare you for the field. Forensics is something one pursues at the graduate level. Given the source, I am inclined to believe him.
@mamaedefamilia that’s what my friend said and she’s a big wig, gets paid to fly around the world to testify even in important cases.
DS is wait listed @ Duke, so score moves to 10-2-1(2 WL and 1 R). Since Vandy is dandy, Duke is NFW anyway
*Your not you’re! (wish I could edit my last post )
@srk2017 still an impressive result so far.
Vandy is the front runner right?
@RightCoaster - Yes, Vandy is front runner for us (parents), but DS wants to wait for tomorrow and Friday to see if he will have more choices.
^^^
Might as well wait right @srk2017 ?? Been such a long process for you, no harm in a few more days.
Does he have s personal favorite he’s waiting on?
And, we’re done with this part.
D’17 was waitlisted at Vandy yesterday. After not winning Cornelius Vanderbilt, would have been NFW.
So, the final tally is 7-0-2. Of the seven accepts, 4 effectively NFW even with nice merit at 2 of the 4. D '17 has scheduled “college day” tomorrow after 12. I think the deposit will go tomorrow. I’ll post a more extensive summary later tomorrow.
Best of luck to those getting decisions tomorrow. Tiptoe lightly through the Ivy Forums tomorrow. It can be a bloodbath.
Onward and upward.
@srk2017 I do think “Vandy is Dandy”. To all those who have a decision congratulations! Your kids have selected some fantastic colleges! For those waiting for Ivy day decisions hope the news is good.
@RightCoaster - He is interested in H & S.
Best accepted-student swag so far: Kenyon might not have offered D17 any merit money, but they did send her (and all of their accepted applicants?) a hardbound copy of David Foster Wallace’s 2005 “This Is Water” commencement address.
Also, Smith sent a “Smith likes me!” sticker. My wife noted that they forgot to include the “…but not enough!” sticker to go along with it.
Lol @dfbdfb. Your wife has a great sense of humor.
Haven’t posted but read here daily. Very jealous of the experiences I read about - this trip down the road to college has been and still is hell. Didn’t realize how good we had it with S two years ago.
D has been accepted to Scranton with an invitation to their Jesuit Honors, Quinnipiac - BF goes there and the application was to appease, UVM, UNH, SUNY Binghamton, Indiana, Pitt, UDel. She was denied at Northeastern but didn’t show a speck of interest as she wasn’t. She was waitlisted at Lehigh which was our financial reach.
Based on financials it would be Bing, Pitt, UNH, Scranton, Del, Indiana, UVM.
Based on folks hot after her Scranton and Indiana contact her multiple times weekly, we can barely get admissions from UDel to respond, Lehigh is awesome with communication but the waitlist added to cost probably puts it out of the picture logically. Admissions at Pitt has been awesome to deal with.
Based on D it is Del, Del, Del, Del… D is, and has been, stuck on UDel since we first visited. It was the first college she saw and to be honest, if I knew it was the only college she was going to look at, I never would have brought her. I brought her to UDel on a college tour, at that point she was jut beginning to get flaky about the process so it wasn’t really particular schools we were looking at, it was types of schools, sizes, and locations. We saw UDel, JMU, UVA, Virginia Tech, Villanova, Lehigh and Gettysburg - mainly for big school/little school, city, country, boondocks locations.
From the get go this has been a disaster, she is a smart girl, had a whole list of college options prior to September. She comes from a small, private, Catholic high school - wanted a big school, big sports, greek life, lots of clubs, strong academics. Wants to study Psychology as an undergraduate with a Forensics Twist in graduate school. She freaked when it came to applying, she had started dating a kid in June whom she is still seeing; everything changed to schools close by with the exception of Indiana. She did mostly EA apps, acceptances started rolling in, I was concerned that she wasn’t really applying to places on her initial wish list or similar to them and I tried to convince her to add some places just in case - nope.
Applications are done with, she regrets not applying to many places. Of the places she has, she is only interested in Delaware. We have concerns about the location, the academics if she does not get into honors (still waiting and no clue why she wasn’t accepted initially - she is way above their top 75th percentile) and I am less than impressed with their admissions - not responsive, not organized. We went to an admitted students day, after all that I went to with my son, wasn’t impressed - they don’t seem very rah-rah over the students, unorganized, lack of focus, I’ve been to so many with my son that did s much more, so much better. I did like the set up of freshman housing and the Professor who led the Psych program presentation impressed me. Based on her personality, wanting to be active, involved, go to sporting events, I just don’t see her being satisfied at UDel for 4 years. Maybe 1, but not 4. She loves to wander around, she loves to explore - without going into Philly or Baltimore, there’s not many places for her. She loves art, museums, culture, concerts, sports - how long would that one street keep her interest?
We visited Indiana - what a fail! She came down with Strep on Sunday, got on antibiotics early Monday, we flew out Tuesday scheduled for a tour on Wednesday. She spent Tuesday and Wednesday in bed at the hotel, flew back Thursday and we ended up in the ER. While she slept, I got to get out, walk around town, talk to students, talk to people, I really like the cleanliness of the area, loved how friendly everyone was. Socially, I could feel she would fit. Size is a concern. We missed the tour, the academic session - the only thing we did was pick up pizza and drive around the outskirts. She thought it was big - yes, we were in a car driving the outskirts - never stepped foot on campus to see how it would be as a student. I see many things about Indiana that would work for her; her love of arts, the cool downtown vibe of Bloomington, the people were oh so nice and that’s what she wants. It has sports, clubs, but no clue what they offer academically, no clue what it feels like inside the outskirts we drove around.
We are at a standstill with college. She says UVM is too cold, she says Pitt is in a city, she says UNH can be cliquey and hard to fit in if from out of state, she says Scranton is too small, Indiana is too big. She feels college is all about her and a feeling. Hubby and I feel it is a group venture as we are footing the bill. We want somewhere that we all feel will be a good fit for her, not just as a freshman, but for all 4 years. She’s smart, we don’t want her being at the top of the ladder academically, we want middle so that there are kids a bit smarter than her to keep her challenged (this has been an issue all 4 years of HS which is why it is a parental concern). We have no set college in mind, we just want her to explore the options and rationally look at all each has to offer before putting down a deposit - she accuses us of being controlling. We don’t buy a dishwasher without researching and yet she expects us to pay a huge amount of tuition over the next 4 - 8 years without her doing proper vetting.
As I said, jealous of all I read here. I had a great time with my son, we checked out every school that was a possibility, some twice, one three times. Great times together over some great meals. He did end up at the one school he was adamant he did not want to visit because of where it is located. He loves it! This has been just horrible. To sit and watch your kid make so many mistakes out of what fear? Stubbornness? Rebellion? It’s crazy and makes me so sad. Pushing to your potential is a desire of every parent, I think at least. Each kid’s potential is different which is what makes the whole thing interesting. Hard when you see so much.
I think we are dragging her to Pitt next weekend, not willingly, I sort of feel it is a waste of our time, energy and money if she won’t look at it with an open mind. She’s seen pics - says it (expletive deleted) ugly. We were hoping to get her to UVM and UNH as well, but if Pitt doesn’t go well, I don’t think I will be spending any more money on her.
I can only hope things go better with the youngest who is a sophomore in high school. Any advice, words of wisdom, tidbits of information on any of these schools would be of great interest.