@Parentof2014grad and @bjscheel Thank you so much. I needed that perspective. They are very smart and mature so I do wonder if they might make it. I appreciate your perspective.
My daughter had a long distance hs relationship and He really wanted Her to go to college near where he was. He was a year older and had started schools a whopping 30 minutes from his home. Money was an issue for us and there is no way I could have afforded a California school. He was fine with Her going to a community college in California, working for his father (who was also pretty controlling). The summer after she graduated the father had it all planned for her to travel with them most of June/July, and then work for the father. Um, nope. I originally, reluctantly, said yes but then it became clear the SHE didnāt want to do it. She went on vacation with them for 2 weeks and she broke up with him.
I was mostly worried that sheād spend her college time not making friends, talking to him on the phone all the time like she had in high school. He was devastated, she moved on. She had another boyfriend who lived in her college town but didnāt go to school. He was nice but had a lot of problems and no money. She had no money. It wasnāt a good combo. She now has another boyfriend and it is a better match because he is in school, he wants to do āschoolā things with her (her sorority dance, plays, movies).
Of the three, I liked the middle one best but he was the worst match. 6 years older and not a lot of ambition, but nice.
@twoinanddone That sounds really stressful. Iām glad she has someone who is invested in school. These are tough years and I naively keep waiting for it to get easier!
What kind of schools (specifics would be great to give me an idea) would be ideal for my daughter?
GPA: 3.41/3.77
SAT: 1230
Price is not an issue and she hopes to major in business or public relations.
Ithaca comes to mind. Emerson. Baruch perhaps, if you are in NY.
Part of the country, size of school, rural or urban?
If she would like a small, rural, catholic school (she wouldnāt need to be catholic) look at St. Bonaventure University.
I spent last night putting together a spreadsheet of all the schools on D19 current list, which now stands at 19 schools. I expect a few to drop off but wanted to get all the requirements on one page for her for each school. I put in all the deadlines (early action, priority decision, etc.), and other requirements (SAT, LOR, Essay, Supplements, etc.). I was includes the type of application (Coalition/Common/School). Looks like there is a quite a mix for her between the three types.
She has started working on some of the schools applications that opened on 7/1 (Alabama and Kansas). The only thing holding her back is getting a transcripts sent from the school, which may not be available until August. She is waiting to hear back from her guidance counselor. Also, still waiting on the June SAT scores before we send any to the schools.
I also updated Dās spreadsheet @DCNatFan and added in AP Exam credits for each school (now that we have her scores). She is starting to work on her essay and we know she has three other writing pieces she needs to get done. But having the deadline for each school is a big help. The list remains at 8 BAs and 7 BFAs but I sense some trimming will occur shortly. Earliest deadline is September and I would love to see her get things submitted by the 1st.
@Twinmom2023 my oldest did the exact same thing, but instead of transferring she just quit. 3 boyfriends later (4 years with this one) she is going back to school at 25yrs old. Better late then never, but āNot enough wine in the house for sure!!ā
Best wishes and good luck!!
D19 just heard back from her guidance counselor and her transcript will be available this Friday. Hopefully, this also means they will send out ones that the school needs to send directly to the schools.
@emptynesteryet I canāt imagine your frustration. Ugh.Glad she is going back though.
College visit review: Ursinus College (CTCL)
We did not take the admissions tour, but my D is an athlete and we met a coach who showed us around. Itās a lovely campus and bigger than I expected for such a small school. Lots of sculptures on the grounds, more than Iāve seen at much larger schools - a cool nod to an appreciation of the arts, I think. Though an LAC, it is known for science (especially Bio), and produces a lot of pre-Meds. It sounded like there is a great deal of academic support and professors communicate with coaches about student performance in class. Thatās a huge plus, but I am having difficulty finding good information about the quality of the academics. This small school doesnāt get a lot of write ups here or anywhere. Iād love feedback from anyone who knows this school.
Didnāt see inside the dorms, but dining hall seemed adequate. Most kids live on campus all 4 years and tend to stick around on weekends too. Nice small town, but surrounded by the greater Philadelphia suburbs, so hopefully there are things to do and internships to get.
The coach and athletic program looked great for my D and 40% of students are athletes, so could be a really good fit.
School offers $30K Merit for 27 ACT, so this last week of studying before Saturdayās test - pressureās on!
@Acersaccharum I donāt have a lot of first hand info, but a friend of my sonās just finished up his sophomore year there. Heās on the lax team and loves it there. Heās majoring in math and education, I think. Or phys ed? I canāt remember!
Edit- I see you already have the CTCL lives info! I do know this boy was a very good student in high school (and an excellent lax player), had his pick of a lot of schools. Gettysburg was his original first pick but the price was much higher than Ursinus.
@Acersaccharum not a ton of first hand info either but we really liked the school when we toured for S17. He sat in on a class, met with a professor (environmental science) and came away quite pleased. We ate there, food was very decent and the dorms were larger than many. He went into the tour with it near the bottom of the list and it ended up the last LAC standing and in his top 3. They do like test scores and he didnāt have high enough ones for the top merit, not sure that would have changed his mind in the end but we both really liked it and I think heād have been happy there and gotten a solid education. I think itās got a pretty solid reputation, especially as you mention, in the sciences and they are building a whole new science building if memory serves. Really nice theater program, for S17 thatās the college EC that got away and had he gone there, I know heād have stayed involved.
Now that D19 has come up with her list of schools, I have really started thinking about her and what schools might be the best fit. D19 is a little reserved and a little bit lazy when it comes to school work. I fear that given the opportunity at the larger schools she will just either skate by or fall of the cliff completely unless someone is not pushing her. She is fairly adamant that she does not want a smaller school but the more I think about it the more I think the smaller school might be the better fit. I think more interaction with the professors and less with TAās may force her to be more accountable and maybe the professors will give her the gentle nudges she may need along the line.
Am I making any sense? Any thoughts/comments/suggestions are welcome.
@DCNatFan I understand those concerns, we had them for S17 and for S19 as well. Iāve focused on class size, and more specifically class size within the major or the college. S17 ended up at a mid sized school, though we all felt that he would do better where he didnāt fly under the radar for exactly those reasons. His final two schools were both similar in size but one had all gen ed to start and larger (relatively) classes the first few years, whereas the 2nd started him in major classes right away within the smaller college for his major. That made a huge difference to us and I think really paid off (he went to the small college/program within the mid sized school).
Itās something I am tracking very closely for S19.
@DCNatFan I felt the same way for my S17. I really pushed Lycoming hard! But he was adamant he didnāt want that small. He ended up at Rowan, in state public, and it has been great. Itās pushing 20k kids, but no lecture halls or TAs teaching classes. He had a good freshman year (a couple of rough classes, but by and large MUCH better than he ever did in high school). If you could find a school like that, it would be great. I wish I knew of more off the top of my head!
A friendās son graduated from Lycoming in May, and will be teaching High School math in September.
@DCNatFan I have the same feeling about schools for my S. I would love for him to attend a small LAC but alas he wants a big school. He refuses to look at anything under 5000 and really wants bigger than that. I think a small school would be the best place for him to stay accountable and get interaction with professors. My fear is that at a large school he will not keep up with the homework at first, then fall so far behind that he canāt catch up, and when there are 300 kids in the class, the professor wonāt know or care. Of course his list is full of large schools. We will be looking at a couple midsize catholic schools so I am hoping he likes one of those but we will see.