Good gravy, 175?! I dragged our oldest to a college fair when he was a junior----learned from that mistake lol
@2muchquan Believe it or not - that was not the gcâs advice. She said ignore the ones on your list unless of course you have specific unanswered questions and look at the ones on HER list for the child - i.e. ones she thinks might be a really good fit but we are oblivious to. The difficulty to me for these things⊠how does a child sound intelligent when speaking with an admissions officer without asking questions that they could just google?! âSo⊠do you have neuroscience?! (well, google it?!) An honors college (google it?!) merit scholarships etcâŠâ Think weâll definitely visit U Mich, U Pitt, Carnegie Mellon, Amherst, TCU, Wash U St Louis, and WakeâŠ
175 schools? Dear me. Godspeed @crazym0m! Let us know how it goes.
Does this spring seem to be flying by? Or is it just me? My baby is going to be a senior in less than 2 months. Ach!
I sent my D with a list of colleges to visit with. (I could not attend due to work and I also wanted her to do it on her own). She was nervous at first but then found them really informative. Since most of the colleges on her list arenât particularly popular with students at her school, she got to spend plenty of time talking to the ones that were on her list. She did, however, allow a friend to drag her to a (long) Ivy line even though she had no interest in the school. Definitely donât waste time at schools not on your list.
As for whether they are a good ideaâŠthey can be. At least for smaller schools or schools that donât get a lot of applicants from your childâs particular high school, making a good impression, showing genuine interest in the school, and keeping in touch with the rep afterwards can help with admissions and scholarships (based on my experience).
@itsgettingreal17 Thanks - thatâs good info! Iâm definitely hanging in the background. Last year when he was a sophomore, I hung in the corner and held all his flyers and free stuff⊠oy
@crazym0m thatâs a good question. What questions to ask that are not easily found on the website? Here are maybe a few?
[ul]
[]Did anyone from our school attend last year? (just to get a feeling of who youâre talking to)
[]How popular is my major? Do you admit to a major?
[]What do kids do on weekends?
[]Do you recommend interviews?
[]What are the top 3 things your school looks for in an applicant?
[]What the best freshmen dorm?
[li]Country? Or Western?[/li][/ul]
D has not been excited about recent college fairs. She doesnât think Pitt is on anyoneâs radar from school and doesnât want them to see her at the Pitt booth because she doesnât want them to learn about it. Doesnât matter that itâs all online lol.
@crazym0m Rather than having a long list of questions, what I think works best is to tell your child to try to strike up a conversation with the rep. They are genuinely interested in your child. Most of them are very enthusiastic about their schools and want to share that with the students. So, for example. Iâm interested in X, Y, Z, do you think I would be able to pursue these interests at your school. Or, find out if they are alum (not always the case) and if so, find out why they chose the school and what they like best about it. Or, if not alum, what do they think makes their school special. I think its best to really get the reps talking and read between the lines and ask follow up questions based on their responses.
@carachel2 Haha! My D would totally think like that as she doesnât want to go to school with too many others from her school, even though she has lots of friends there and loves her high school and her high school experience.
My dd got a really nice reply to an email that she had sent to U of OK. It has gotten her excited to visit there. They have 28 students majoring in Russian and told her that is sounds like she will be able to place well above the intermediate level. Believe or not, 28 is huge compared to some of the depts we have visited. 
Now to plan a summer trip to OK.
S and H are going to visit OU in June. They have a great NMF scholarship and S will be looking at their honors college.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek My D recently emailed them about their Arabic program and also got a very thoughtful and enthusiastic response. Iâm a big fan of choosing schools that know how to court their prospective students. I think your D will like OU. It is now back on my Dâs list because it has an Arabic Flagship program. It will probably fall off again though if she doesnât make NMSF.
For a STEM kid, what to consider if one were to choose between College of Engineering and College of (Arts and) Science?
DS would happily fill in Undecided (that migh work at Liberal Arts Colleges) but larger schools accept students into specific majors or colleges.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek hey thatâs great news!!! I know finding a good match with merit + Russian is challenging!
@itsgettingreal17 I completely understand. Dd is lucky that we moved before her jr yr. If we were still in VA, I think she might be on the bubble. Here, otoh, unless every state is incredibly compressed toward 220, she should not have a problem making NMSF.
BTW, in case anyone is interested in OU, their scholarships can also be used toward specific study abroad programs. That was a huge draw for KY and a question we didnât get clearly answered for USC. If this dept visit goes well, OU might very well move to the top of her list.
FWIW, this dept did not discourage her at all from her personal language goals. In fact, they were encouraging! That is an absolute firstâŠencouragement w/o any âbuts.â
@paynforward Engineering can be very hard to transfer into later on, even if the school doesnât make it difficult to switch into engineering. The engineering course sequence is tightly regimented. If you get off sequence, it can mean another entire yr+ to graduate.
@itsgettingreal17 I agree, having a school actually act like they LIKE your kid is pretty cool. Maybe I already said this, but the school we visited over spring break, where the regional admin hand-wrote(!) an actual thank-you noteâŠturns out sheâs an alum from Dâs high school! Thatâs crazy! Itâs a school that is topping the list so far, but I keep reminding D that there are still a few more schools to visit.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek 28 sounds like a good amount to me!
@payn4ward Thatâs a hard one. Some larger school donât actually require a major to be declared. Some do. Some just want you to declare (as an FYI), but wonât make you declare until end of sophomore year. My advice would be to do what makes sense for your kid, and not what you think will give them the best chance at admission. What is the statistic I hear at all the info sessions: 70% of students change majorsâŠ
@2muchquan When ds received his acceptance letter from CWR, there was a really nice hand-written note from the admissionâs officer telling him how much he had enjoyed dsâs essay. It mentioned actual parts of the essay, so it was not generic. Sincere or trying to hook the student, I donât know, but I do know that that letter made a huge impact on ds. (Me, I am pure skeptic. 
I was happy, however, for my ds to feel validated about his essay!! :D/
Thank you for the responses.
So yes, considerations are
- What makes sense for the child :
- When tour guides asked which majors are you guys thinking of?
DS answered math, chemistry, engineering, undecided, each at different colleges. :))
I can see him majoring in all that plus music. LoL.
- Difficulty in switch into Engineering, while it may be easy to switch out.
- (my addition) Strength of the program.
At certain schools, Engineering seems stronger than Science. Stronger motivated peer.
(Texas A&M? DS may make it into Engineering.)
Iâll keep collecting thoughtsâŠ
@payn4ward From what weâve seen, it seems like publics admit to the college and sometimes the major within the college, while privates admit to the university and let you wait longer to declare. Several engineering majors and some science majors (physics is one) have a long sequence of required courses that have to be taken in a specific order, and getting a semester off can mess you up because fewer sections are offered in the âoffâ semester/quarters.
Computer science varies in its placement. It might be in the college of Engineering or it might be in L&S. Berkeley, oddly, has CS majors in both Engineering (EECS) and in L&S (just CS), but the CS courses are the same.
Itâs a consideration for DS, because he probably wants to major in physics with some significant amount of coursework in CS. At some schools, mainly publics, CS is so impacted that it is difficult to get classes unless you are a CS major. So, that might mean youâd need to double-major to get the classes you want. And, if the CS major is in the College of Engineering and you initially were admitted to L&S for physics, it can be really hard to add a major from engineering.
Some universities have separate Engineering tours, but no separate science/math tours. So, if we tour UCLA and USC sometime soon, I might sign us up for the Engineering tour, even though his #1 major choice is not in engineering.