@HiToWaMom --excellent reports! Two schools not on my son’s radar but I enjoyed reading your informative reports.
Can’t remember who asked about Willamette and Lewis and Clark, but D15 (and us parents) visited Lewis and Clark, Willamette, Reed, Whitman & Puget Sound. We all LOVED Portland. I found visit notes for Willamette, but not Reed or L&C. By memory…
All of our favorite was Lewis and Clark. Partly because the campus is gorgeous and partly because the curriculum fit D15. The school had a welcoming feel. There is a distinct residential and academic side to campus. A bus runs from Campus to downtown Portland, so no car really needed. The surrounding neighborhood is upscale and safe feeling. S17 liked L&C so much that he is going to apply, even though he doesn’t really want a liberal arts education. He’s a techie.
D really didn’t like Reed, although intellectually, that school and Whitman probably fit her best. She was put off by the fact that they were trying to “compete” with the eastern LACs and Ivies. One of the things their guide told us was that a local philanthropist gave the school money to be used for fun because the Reed kids were so serious that they needed more fun. Turn off for D.
She liked Willamette more than expected. Willamette has a small campus, about 60 acres, but it didn’t feel as small as it is. It is located smack in the middle of downtown Salem between the State Capitol and the main hospital. They have an off site farm and forest area that are used for research and studies. I was a little put off by the campus location. It really felt sandwiched in; however, it has a creek running through the campus and it is big enough that there are academic and residential sides of campus.
To note, L&C, Willamette, & Puget Sound all gave D automatic merit money for her stats that equaled ~half tuition. Reed and Whitman gave no merit money. Too bad because Whitman would have been an excellent fit. FWIW, half tuition still was not enough to make these schools affordable for us.
@2muchquan , since CMU is so close to us, I don’t consider a visit a true campus tour. But in our session, in which we attended with our MN friends, the admission guy said that for each visit, you get a point,and if you have 5 points, you get admission. We all laughed, but our friend’s son honestly believed that!
hi everyone! I have been reading, just not posting. DD has toured UNC-Chapel Hill, Stetson, High Point, Elon, and Alabama (where my other DD is a freshman). Of those, Bama is the only one still on the list. She really likes Elon, but when a school doesn’t have what you want to study, it gets marked off the list. She is interested in microbiology (or molecular/cellular as an alternative or possibly Biology with specific research topics). We have had to really research, as she is specifically interested in medical research, so doesn’t want to end up in a program with heavy emphasis on plant or marine biology. I have become very adept at finding professor’s research topics on college websites. It makes for a very short list of possible schools.
Anyway, we will be touring two schools over spring break, likely Univ. of Utah (NO CLUE where that one came from) and Texas Tech. I’m hoping to do the outliers geographically, then a possible roadtrip in August for the schools that are in contention but closer. DD is a finalist for Governor’s School, which may eat up most of her summer. The only monkey wrench in all of this is that she plays volleyball. If she decides to try out for the school team for her senior year (right now she is leaning no), then I have no clue when she will finish touring.
To top it off, hubby just got transferred to Atlanta, where I grew up. No big deal except we, the kids and I, haven’t even been here in NC a year. We stuck behind in MN for a year after the last transfer so that older DD could finish high school without going to a third school. Now we have the same situation. So DD17 is likely going to graduate after fall semester. She is not attached to this school, but doesn’t want to deal with the hassle of transferring to a third school in a third state with different graduation requirements, etc.
So, that’s where we stand. She does have some very specific requirements beyond major. She has some sleeping issues, so a suite with private bedrooms is almost a necessity. Food is important and a Chick-fil-a on campus is as well. You should see the little chart we have.
@2muchquan if a school lists the level of applicants interest is important and it’s at the top of your list, I would visit. I know that WashU wants their yield to be higher to compete with the ivies so they are trying to only accept the kids they know will ultimately go. Also if there are scholarships from that school you should apply for them too. And like their Facebook, follow on Instagram and Twitter because they actually do track those things.
I get the Chick-fil-a thing but WOW 
For those considering waiting to visit after acceptances it really is tough to do that. Most of the RD acceptances come in mid to late March with accepted student visit weekends in early to mid April. Next year Easter is the weekend of the 16th which means a bunch of schools will all have their weekends on the 8th meaning you can’t hit them all then. If your kids are taking AP classes you can’t just take weeks off to go on visits right before the AP tests. If they are going to be in the running for any big merit scholarships they frequently have the final round on their weekend. My son is already going to have to choose 1 school over the other without knowing which he might have better odds on unless he picks a 3rd school where he got less of a scholarship but seems like a better fit. At least visit a few very different schools like urban vs rural, huge vs tiny, south vs north, etc. My daughter thought she didn’t care about size until I forced her to visit her biggest and smallest schools on her list and she realized as I already knew that the huge school was WAY too big and the small felt perfect to her. That let us knock a bunch of schools off her list without needing to visit.
@SincererLove She did not do Scholastic this year (because I forgot the deadline lol). Just too many birds on my antennae! Hopefully she can next year! Thank you for your kind words. She’s pretty excited! (well, we all are!). We are planning right now to visit schools in Chicago in April. I’ll be there anyway for a conference, and might as well take her since there are a couple of good options for her there! And my work will pay the hotel bill, which makes it a no-brainer!
@HiToWaMom What great reviews and recaps! Thank you so much. I was completely cracking up at your Reed synoposis, I can absolutely see that. DS has a close friend who attends, Absolutely loves it but does say it’s hard. Which I’d expect. I had wanted to do junior day but it conflicted with other things. I’m not sure if S would be irritated by the Hermiones or not but he’d be all over the theater and pun aspect, even down to the Hozier comment. His close friend, is a fellow theater tech geek (though that is not his intended major) and DS is the “president” of the HS pun club. Which he started. Sigh. He’d fit right in in that aspect. However, though it is is dream school in concept I think his chances of getting in are slim to none (though his friends stats do give hope…allegedly it’s all about the essay) but as importantly it really is not a good program fit. It would require him to do a 3-2 , or completely switch gears. Not to mention it’s out of our price range though they are noted for offering a fair chunk of change. We will tour and he will also likely spend a weekend with his friend at some point, we just haven’t had a free one to stick him on a train to do it.
As for Evergreen…that is about what I expected. I am not pushing for a tour. If DS wants to, fine, it’s not that far and won’t kill me. Downtown Olympia is nothing to be excited about for sure and the school is in the middle of nowhere, the Twilight reference is pretty apt. S thinks that is cool but I am fairly sure for him, it would get old fast. What else is your DD looking at that isn’t state? S will likely not apply to UW, he has no interest in attending but Western is high on his list, good program fit and the price is right. He has expressed interest in looking at Central but I cannot see him living in Ellensburg, I think it’s more conceptual interest based on the fact there is a program that would fit and the price is right. NOt the right reason to go as much as I appreciate that from him.
@mtrosemom I am not sure if it was me or not but those are some of the schools on DS’s interest list so I really appreciate the insight, especially on the financial piece. I am a bit surprised to hear that about Reed, heaven knows their literature advertises the opposite. Location is one of my concerns with Willamette. I’ve been to Salem. I am not sure if we will tour Whitman or not, the price tag and likely lack of merit kind of knocks it out of the running and unlike the Portland Schools, that’s a bit of a further haul for us so unless S really insists, probably not. I think there are better program fits, L&C being one of them.Portland is a great town. S is very drawn to it. Close enough with a similar feel and vibe but still away from home.
@disshar have you looked at Cal Poly (SLO)? They have a microbiology major as well as a concentration under the biological sciences degree. DSD is in their Biological Sciences program now and that is one of the concentrations she is considering (Molecular and Cellular Biology). She’ll have to declare at the end of this year. Yes, they do have marine and wildlifebut DSD is very much interested in the same type of thing as your DD. She plays club soccer for the school team and absolutely loves it there. Not sure on the Chik-fil-a though but DSD had her own room in a suite freshman year through campus housing. Just a thought.
@dcplanner, you are right. We can’t wait until after acceptances! Some will just have to happen during the summer I guess. Our must-visit list includes MichSt, Pitt, Emory, and Tulane I believe. Too bad they’re so spread out.
@disshar Our daughters have similar interests. You can look at one of my threads for information regarding having a kid who wants to do medical research. It has some good suggestions from people here on CC: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1819170-what-ug-degree-for-career-in-medical-research.html
Do you think UofA has a good Biology program for your D? I know they have the worm shack, but I wasn’t finding a lot of detail of research other than by Prof. Caldwell. Frankly, I think their website is lacking, or maybe I just failed. I’m interested in what you see in UA for your D. I’d love to convince my D to go there…I just wish an airport was closer.
For those who may not have seen my earlier post, we are 5 min from Northwestern, so if we can help at all re: a visit, PM me.
@2muchquan – Tulane may have changed in two years so don’t just take my word on this…but they were the quickest acceptance I have ever seen with large scholarship offer to follow via US mail a couple of days later. My son applied EA while applying ED elsewhere. Tulane turned the acceptance around in a week or two, IIRC. They seem to offer money to students with high SAT (or ACT, I assume) scores, at least around here in CT. My son attended a local info session held in hotel on a weekend and the 30 minute school day Tulane rep visit at his HS, but that was about it. Never visited the campus.
The ‘Why Tulane’ essay is important but they have an excellent website and very responsive regional/local reps. Bottom line: I don’t think you need to worry about visiting Tulane, unless trying for the full scholarship (with separate long essay requirement). If accepted with scholarship and honors college, they host special weekends in Feb & March, I believe.
Fallen Chemist (I think that is the name) is a prolific and most informative poster on the Tulane forum.
@SincererLove – funny about CMU and points. Flights out of NYC area are $700/person but the thought of a seven hour drive is killing me. I had planned to fly to Pitt via Boston (only $200/ticket), but was shortchanging the Boston school visits in order to get to Pittsburg for the one day that CMU is offering info session during our April break. So I knocked CMU off the visit list and will think about it for summer. (When it will still be $700/ticket.)
@2muchquan I would suggest having her contact either Ms. Batson (CBH) or Dr. Sharpe (CBH and honors college dean) http://honors.ua.edu/contact-us/staff/ and ask for contact information for research opportunities in biology. I know nothing about their bio dept, but kids in CBH have given presentations on their bio research. This link has a couple of bio topics. http://honors.ua.edu/computer-based-honors-program/cbhp-presentations/
Thanks @Mom2aphysicsgeek. I will make note of that, and continue to try to convince my D that we should seriously consider UA. She is the girl who’s first college search criteria was: “I don’t want to have to wear pants”
We are going to Boston for spring break and visiting some area colleges. BU, Emerson, Bentley and Babson. We may go over to BC if we have time. My S thinks that he might be interested in business which is why we are looking at Bently and Babson. UT Austin will probably be his best bet if he can keep up his class rank. I do want him to choose a school with lots of majors in case he changes his mind. I know many do. Any suggestions for others to add? I think this is going to be the only trip we can manage with his spring show and test taking and drivers ed until May.
@Ynotgo I’m sorry to hear about your dad. Hugs to you and your family.
@eandesmom , President of the Pun Club??? No kidding!! He is perfect for Reed! Also, if he is into theater, that’s another plus point. Too bad the program really doesn’t work. Your S sounds like a great social fit for Reed.
I heard WWU attracts lots of humanity/artsy kids whereas UW is bit leaning toward the business/engineering/STEM side. Western might be a good fit for your S.
My D doesn’t know what she wants to study but she is definitely a humanity kid. She is interested in psychology, social justice, counseling etc. But she is also interested in fashion, makeup, music and all the trendy things.
She is all over so far. She wants city, she wants nature, she wants to be near home, she wants to go to east coast.
Since she is interested in women’s college, we are planning to tour Barnard, Bryn Mawr etc in the northeast. We need lots of aid so we are focusing on need-meet schools and in-state schools.
We have visited Central once for music competition. The town was too small for my D but it has the automatic admission for GPA above 3.2 or so and that is attractive!
You all might be interested in watching/DVRing Wednesday’s night Nightline. It is about Consent on Campus. They will focus on Penn State.
@eandesmom thanks for the suggestion on CalPoly. I don’t think she has any desire to go to California, though. I will definitely suggest it
@2muchquan Alabama is more of a well rounded option for her and does give a great opportunity to head to UAB and their strong medical program. My other DD is pre-med at Alabam right now and their advising is excellent. To top it off, their med school acceptance rate is VERY high. Even though my other daughter goes there, DD17 hadn’t been until right before Thanksgivinng. She really liked it, but I am not sure I see her ending up there. If it becomes a serious contender, she will probably go back for a one on one visit with the biology dept.
And someone on the last page commented on the chickfila. It’s not an absolute must, but DD has some issues (medical and otherwise) and that is one place she likes that she knows she would eat regularly. Kind of hard to explain without getting too personal.
@jedwards70 – you might want to add Northeastern to that Boston visit list.
I believe their business school was given $60 million a few years back. The university has cobbled together a campus and its reputation has risen tremendously since ‘back in the day’.
http://www.damore-mckim.northeastern.edu
They used to offer full tuition to NMF but I believe the award is now up to $30K. See info here.
http://www.northeastern.edu/financialaid/aid/ugtypesofaid/
Babson is small. It struck me as having a more monied, international population than some schools, but that could just have been my perspective after hearing our tour guide discuss that students are allowed to keep two cars on campus.
Both Bentley & Babson offer interviews and while it would be a very long day, it is possible to do tour, info session and interview at both on the same day. Or at least it was a couple of years ago.
BU’s campus is strung along two miles of Comm Ave, with school buildings intermingled with print shops and delis. No campus per se.
Yeah, President of the Pun Club. UGH for me. LOL. He’s relentless. It really isn’t a great fit program wise as cool as it would be. Western really has a nice variety of options both liberal arts and sciences, it’s a top contender due to their Huxley School of the Environment. I personally think that the UW has it all as well. Yes, heavy on the STEM side but I was a liberal arts major there and had an absolute blast. Loved it, proud Alum. And while most of my friends were business majors, they were definitely into fashion, makeup etc lol. . If your D is interested in the greek system at all, it could be a great fit on the social side while delivering the academics. It is too big, in my opinion, to have a great experience in the dorms or commuting, or at least the full college campus experience and really meeting folks. I believe their Psych program is good. I was a Poly Sci major but started out in Communications/Broadcast journalism. For someone like your D, having lots of options is good as she won’t need to declare for a while.
DS definitely knows what he wants, at least school type and location. In the PNW/West but not in Seattle. Trees and Rain, no dessert or too hot, no SoCal. LAC feel. Ideally near urban area or cool college town. Non religious affiliation. Hipster preferred lol (he hasn’t said that out loud but it’s pretty obvious) Environmental Studies, Environmental Science or Environmental Engineering. No “big” state schools that are super into sports as he puts it (so no Pac12 lol). Which shortens the list pretty fast. If the school has a strong music and theater program that’s a plus as those are his peeps and offers an opportunity for theater tech work.
So, his list right now is: Western, Humboldt State, Montana State, Lewis and Clark, Willamette, Reed, Portland State, Colorado State, Central, Evergreen. Really though the first 3 are the most viable with program options.
Portland State has the programs but I think it’s going to turn out to be too much of a commuter school vibe for him. I don’t know that we will visit all, some may come of the list fairly soon. There are a few other LAC’s that would work but geographically they are a bit of a stretch for him and I just don’t see him getting the merit aid to really push for him to consider those and they don’t have the variety of options that some of the ones on his list already do.
@eandesmom, I’ll suggest UC Santa Cruz too if you’re considering Humboldt. (Go Banana Slugs!) It is a beautiful school, very environmentally minded, engineering and environmental studies, a fun town, close to major metro areas, etc. Plus the campus is divided into 10 (I think it’s 10) colleges that give the school a smaller feel.
@CT1417 , just know that you are missing some awesome beverages… Our MN friends went to some powerhouses schools in Boston, and nothing was provided… They were so moved by CMU with variety of soda and coffee, tea, water :). We even went with them to Case Western (last Easter weekend. Their son was a junior and we tagged along) now that was the top. Free parking and free meals at Cafeteria for the whole family 