@Gatormama thank you, we did look at them. Their strength is in classical ballet. And while my daughter is classically trained, she wants to major in modern and contemporary. Plus, she does not want a conservatory style program. She really wants a program in a school with sports and a social life that can include people other than dancers. She’d like to dual major or at least minor. This all through me for a loop because all of my research had been for classical programs and I had to pivot and quickly find modern programs;)
@amom2girls have you looked at UC Boulder? Pricey but it may hit all of the other items, has sports, activities, big School, BA/BFA. Not sure if Cost is a factor or not for you.
@amom2girls Not sure if I’m repeating someone else as I haven’t read back through the thread, but one of my best friend’s dd is looking for something just like your dd and I know they have University of Utah pretty high up on the list as one of her dd’s teachers studied there and is nudging her strongly towards it. Other schools they seem ot be looking at right now are U of Arizona, Suny Purchase (conservatory), and Point Park University.
@eandersmom I haven’t looked at Boulder, will google today.
@Kardinalschnitt we did look at Utah when she was looking for classical ballet focused schools. Really nice program but not as much for modern. Purchase and Point Park are also really good programs but are conservatory style schools. U of Arizona is an amazing triple threat school. It is on the list but she is worried about distance. We are looking at Rutgers and Temple and VCU, JMU, Towson, and Elon. Fordham, U of Arizona and Florida State are on the list but not as high. Having a double major at the last 3 is difficult and with UoA ansdFlorida State have really large programs. Going to UoA and Florida State would cost thousands of dollars and I’d really like them to be higher up on her list before we spend that money on maybe schools.
@amom2girls So nothing new under the sun! 
Interesting because I though this girl hadn’t been doing classical for quite awhile now, so I thought Utah would be modern. Admittedly, I don’t know that much about their search. Maybe she is veering back towards ballet.
@Kardinalschnitt no, Utah definitely has a modern department. It just fell off of her list when she moved away from classical. I think it’s mental for her. It’s also when all of the conservatory programs came off. I’ll be honest and say that we hope that she stays in our geographical area. We’ve researched the air fares to some of these schools and logistics are really difficult and expensive. I would hate to miss all of her performances.
We were shocked at how much she loved the program at Elon. We stuck it on because one of the seniors last year is attending. Loved the program and the facilities. The director met with us for 45 minutes to discuss the program and how Claire could fit in. Really personal. It offers great internships and their study abroad for dance is amazing. Did not think she would like the rural location at all, but she did.
I actually appreciate that people are tossing out schools. A few on our list are because another CC poster pm’d me with their information. So very helpful.
Heh, we went to Temple last week just because one of the seniors from last year is going there. I honestly didn’t thin my kid would like it, but the personal touch elevated the school from ‘maybe’ to ‘yeah, I could see myself going here’. It’s amazing how seeing someone they identify with being comfortable somewhere can bring up a school.
@ninakatarina so very true. My daughter said “no” to Temple all through high school (we live in Philly) because it’s home. A few kids she knows started this year and really like their experience, so it’s now on this list. Going for a dance visit on October 6th.
Hey you all, I’m getting zero tuition on an NPC I ran today – just the basic FAFSA-style NPC with no GPA/test score input. Is it a glitch do you think? I ran it twice. I mean, I know you can’t know for sure, but would you be inclined to think it a glitch? Maybe I should email admissions?
Another question I have…It has been three years since I’ve been home to the US so my only window on current trends right now amongst the youth is looking at college websites. I have to ask: Are there really that few girls with short hair right now? I very, very rarely see pictures or videos of girls with short hair. I find it odd. Is it something any of you have actually noticed?
My kid has very few female friends with long hair, but my kid hangs out with kids of alternative sexualities so I don’t know if I would call them standard. Thinking about it, my kid has more male friends with long hair than female friends with long hair.
You can barely tell the girls apart at my S’s hs. They all have the same hair, very long and straight. When my D was in sports it was hard to find her in the crowd. I have noticed. I even pulled out my high school yearbook thinking maybe I remembered more variety than there actually was. Nope, there is definitely a specific look that is much more uniform than in my day.
I’m going to guess that at least 75% of my class ('86) had short or above-the-shoulders hair. And, of course, it was mostly kinky/curly. I can’t wait to go back to the US! My hair is about 1/4" long, dd18 too, and then my little one has alopecia universalis. What a sight!
@ninakatarina Cool. Where are they going to college? My dd’s friends are almost all alternative sexuality too. I think everything is covered besides the letter G, oddly enough.
I’m just not seeing a wide spectrum of people on college websites. It disturbs me.
@Kardinalschnitt my kid is class of 2019, I’m lurking here to absorb the wisdom of you guys who are further along than I am.
We see a variety of hair styles. My nieces who are more into mainstream beauty trends all have longish straightened hair as do their friends. I’m stereotyping, but it seems like this type likes shopping and going out drinking. My kids aren’t very comfortable with this kind of crowd but it’s more about lack of common interests than appearance.
I’m sure they think my own family is quirky because of our (lack of) fashion and choice of pastimes.
Also, the blonds seems to have become blonder. So many have $$$ highlights. These same girls where a lot of highlighter on their cheekbones, etc.
My kids and their friends have messy long hair or bobs without a lot of styling going on. Usually hair is pulled back. All the girls wear leggings like uniforms.
There are many guys and gals where we live who don’t fit into any stereotypes. There are girls with very short hair and androgynous clothes and guys with makeup. I see a variety of interesting hair colors, too, everywhere.
Ok, what did I miss that we are talking about hair, lol? And, yikes @MACmiracle you really are stereotyping. I am actually surprised! My daughter is a dancer and I’d say everyone of her friends has long hair. Mostly straight but some wavy. Usually up in a sloppy bun for school and a nicer bun for dance. They do tend to enjoy wearing make up when they go out. If they wore it for dance it would sweat off. They can also do amazing stage make up. I’m sure that looks crazy when they leave the theater. My daughter has, gasp, blonde highlights. She may even use highlighter on her cheeks. I did not realize any of these things are a moral failing? She also wears black leggings. Is that ok?
It makes me really sad and a bit angry when moms have to denigrate and stereotype girls in order to justify decisions that their own children make. I can promise you that my daughter and her friends do not judge other women/girls by their clothing, hair or make up choices. They are all about girl power and honoring choices other people make. We live in a large city and my children attend public school with every socio-economic, gender, race, etc. She did an internship this summer at a camp for gender non conforming students and loved it. She was invited back for next summer. I guess her long blonde hair and make up did not keep her from fulfilling her role and being a generally nice person.
@amom2girls I believe the question was asking if long hair is trending in the US because all the college websites seem to show students with long hair.
@amom2girls I’m sorry for being offensive or seeming judgmental. I didn’t think my post seemed that bad. I just meant to describe the trends in hair and fashion that @Kardinalschnitt was asking about. Kardinallschnitt’s D will be coming to a US college from Europe and is concerned about her D fitting in comfortably. We also made an international move so I can relate to those feelings.
For what it’s worth, my girls sound the same as your D. They have long hair, messy buns, wear black leggings, and put in make up when they go out. I’m certainly not judging that.
And I didn’t say anything was wrong with blond hair, just that it’s trending and pricey, in trying to answer the question about the hair of American women.
I will say that while we all make our own choices and I appreciate the opportunity to do so, I feel sad for girls and young women who feel obligated to fit into a certain style. I know those people in my own family who will go into debt for the right hairstyle, clothes, and accessories. The girls I’ve had the experience to spend time with over the last year truly are pursuing fashion and a certain lifestyle to an extreme because it’s fun, yes, but also because they desperately want to be accepted and feel like they are good enough in the eyes of others. Obviously not everyone is like this, but yes, when I see it, I feel sad.
I teach high school seniors in a Catholic college prep high school.
Right now there are two trends: long straight, parted in the middle, and more girls with cornrows than I’ve seen in ages.
It has nothing to do with “shopping and going out drinking.” It’s the style. Just about every girl we inducted today into NHS had one of those styles, as did every girl on each varsity team at last week’s pep rally, and every girl at detention the last time I worked it.
Spirit gear is a big trend, too. My S’s public hs doesn’t require a uniform, but the unofficial one would be skinny jeans (leggings were banned a few years ago) topped by a school shirt of some kind (swim team, band camp, math competition). If the kids aren’t actually wearing their sport uniform or warm ups on Fridays as part of a team they are wearing a pink out, black out, etc. school wide theme. I think group texting makes this mass coordination possible. The themes are generally accomplished with items on hand and there isn’t pressure to conform so much as an invitation to participate. It’s these rituals as a means to participate that help them to connect to one another.
I’ve read that some people are bewildered that students show up as Freshman at college and are still wearing their high school themed t-shirts. That’s 95% of my kids’ wardrobes, so it’s probably practicality and habit rather than any homesickness or unwillingness to let go.
@bjkmom My kids also attend a Catholic high school and I haven’t noticed the long straight hair parted in the middle style so much. I checked the website in case I was missing something and I don’t see so much of it there either. Some but there’s a lot of variety, though usually long.
The drinking and shopping women I got to know are not in high school. They are all in the 21-25 range. And I really did not mean to say that it’s everyone with that style, but I did get to see an extreme version of it. But I better stop here because it’s clear I’ve made a mess of this thread. :">