@pantha33m is UVM on your list?
@eandesmom Yes. Haven’t visited yet but it seems like a good option. Feel like we probably should have gone in February to get the truest picture. 
@pantha33m we were there in Feb but not a drop of snow other than a few areas where it had been piled up. It was windy as all get out though! I kind of wanted it to be frozen so my S17 could see what he might be in for, but from a purely selfish travel standpoint (had a very tight itinerary visiting 4 schools) I was relieved. Burlington is flat out adorable.
@pantha33m U of Denver is D1, but no football (hockey, lacrosse, skiing all at championship levels) and about 8000 I think.
Mercer
Marquette
U of Delaware
Towson
Stony Brook
A lot of state schools that aren’t the flagship
@svcamom Must be something in the water around here, right? What major or area is your S thinking of? Mine says he’s going non-STEM humanities, but I think that’s his code for “I don’t know” (btw, did you survive the wind storm last night? Wow that was fun…)
@pantha33m Any preference for geographic area or major? If your son is working from his reaches on down, depending on ECs, etc, perhaps Boston College, U of S California, Miami Univ of Ohio, and Wake Forest could work. Some other different possibilities: for the right student, I think U of Miami (FL) is great for research opportunities, but I just looked that up and realized that it’s darn hard to get in… (according to one of those college books… CDS looks a bit more reasonable so perhaps its still in play)
@eandesmom Had the chance to visit Burlington several times on business. You’re completely right regarding the charm of that area. I wish I stayed longer.
@chippedtoof Thanks. We are East Coasters for the most part. Wake is on the list. Someone recently suggested Richmond but I don’t know much about it. For better or worse, no major (unless EA Sports is a major).
Phew! It’s amazing how much time one can spend researching colleges. I keep thinking – and saying – I’m done with the list, but it keeps growing. I have, however, booted a ton of schools off the list. It stretches, shrinks, grows. Fun stuff! We’ve got 5 LACs, 7 big publics with her specialty, 8 affordable all-arounds, 9 in Europe and 1 in Canada. I have absolutely no idea how to pare those US schools down to an affordable application season.
How 'bouts I just let it go, let her take her SATs and get her year-end grades and move from there??
I’m super happy at the moment that I’ve gotten Dd to consider the UK/Europe option much more carefully. I can really see her here/there but I really can’t see her, in my imagination, in the US. It will be funny to come back to this thread when she’s a freshman at the big state school having the time of her life!
@pantha33m, sorry I thought the D stood for daughter. Here are some other suggestions: William and Mary (easier admit for a male), URichmond, Lehigh, Lafayette, Case Western Reserve, Marist, University of Rochester, UVM. Good luck.
Hi everyone,
I’m so happy to have found this thread! My info: Mom in WI to a current Junior son who fits the grade point average (3.4) and we have had college on the brain since his ACT score came back (first time taking with zero prep) at a 26. It feels good to have a place to share ideas, college visit stories, and tips. Any other midwesterners out there? We’re leaning toward staying in-state, but there are some great schools in our neighboring states too! Just wanted to say hi and that I’m looking forward to the conversations!
Hi @MScarn! Welcome! I’m not a Midwesterner but my parents grew up there (KS but mom’s parents were from WI and she spent summers there) and I went to college – well, for three semesters – there (MO). You’ve got quite a choice in-state (jealous!).
I’d be really careful of picking a specialty so narrow that only a few schools have it. Some kids ‘know’ that they are going to study some subspecialty but things happen and they change their 16 year old minds. You see this in engineering all the time. The student wants to study aerospace, but college A doesn’t have that or isn’t accredited in it. Mechanical engineering is just fine. The student can do an internship with an astro company.
One of my kids is on her third major, but they are all in the same A&S school. The other goes to a tech school, and I knew that if she changed majors (shehasn’t) it would be from civil engineering to math or chem or something that school offers.
My friend’s daughter wanted to major in meteorology, but fell in love with a school that didn’t offer it. She will be graduating in May with a degree in supersmartkid math but she got to do an internship at NCAR and did some work in weather related stuff.
Hi @twoinanddone Yep, I agree. I mentioned the all-arounds and the LACs and I didn’t mention the five or six schools in her other subject of choice. Actually, she currently has three majors in mind – and I’m quite sure these will evolve because my kid is super curious about all sorts of things. All of each of these categories (LACs, publics, all-arounds, etc.) has a wealth of programs to choose from. All have been screened, so to say, for other factors outside of majors.
Dd keeps meteorology on the backburner at all times, and has since 8th grade. It will be funny to see if she ever pulls it out of her marble-bag of career aspirations
Thanks @Kardinalschnitt ! This is my oldest child so I haven’t done this before. And I’m pretty sure it is his least favorite topic of conversation, so it helps to have people to chat with!
I forgot to mention last night, not that anyone cares – or maybe some are curious – that here in Europe dd will have to choose a course (specialty/major), so that is the reason for locking into one now. It’s just how it works here. There are a very few liberal arts programs in Europe but dd is very far from wanting that experience; it’s only me who has added those few to her list. I’m not convinced that she wouldn’t thrive, eventually, in a more nurturing environment.
@MScarn Dd is my first to go off, as well. Mine loves chatting about it – a little too much. Yesterday during school (hopefully during her free block) she was sending me emails about essays and how JHU has a great website with samples. Get back to work! Stay in the here and now!
Our guidance counselor did a “Junior Check-in” last month and had us make two lists. The first is a list of target schools that accept the Common App and the second in our University of Wisconsin system list. Turns out we have 4 schools on each list and then, UW-Madison, which will accept either app. This summer, we hope to visit most of them and maybe then my son will get more chatty! Our GC is also doing a summer application “boot camp” in July so we hope to get most applications done early senior year. Feeling lucky to have such an active guidance department and also a good state system.
Sounds great @MScarn! I wish I liked our GC better. She’s new this year, so doesn’t know my eccentric dd very well. We’ve got that meeting coming up, but dd just told me she wants to handle it on her own.
The Wisconsin system is very affordable for OOS like us, it seems. A bit too cold for what dd’s hoping for. Just out of curiosity, because I have strong family ties there, what is Oshkosh like? Do you know?
@chippedtoof, My son says he wants to go into Engineering,( probably Computer or Electrical) definitely STEM.
That wind storm was something else ! Our front lawn was full of downed branches.
We are going on a new College tour next week, and hopefully he will see some schools he will like.
@Kardinalschnitt I do happen to know because I have the UW-system book in front of me!
Enrollment: 10,000
90% WI residents
Avg ACT of new freshman: 22.2
Middle 50% of admitted students: 3.09-3.66 GPA
That’s about all I know! Haven’t visited that one.
@MScarn Well, I’ll be following your UW visits. From watching some videos of Eau Claire and LaCrosse I got the distinct impression that they were very locals-heavy. 90% locals is indeed locals-heavy!