@DCNatFan I know the perfect midsize school. 
@njwrestlingmom We are touring Rowan in a couple of weeks for S19 (biochem) and D20 (psychology). Any thoughts you feel comfortable sharing on what you like about the school and area surrounding would be great if you have time!
@carolinamom2boys - toured College of Charleston a couple days backā¦LOVED it! Will have to post thoughts soon. Both kiddos applying. Only question I wanted to ask but didnt is why most students live off campus after freshman year, but I assume it is because Charleston is such an awesome city and students find better/cheaper places? If they wanted to stay on campus though, is it good housing?
@DCNatFan Also keeping an eye on class size/professor interaction. My own personal experience attending very large university as a daytime old fart student (graduating next semester yey!) in the 300 lecture classes - professors are very helpful but we have to go to themā¦they really want every student to succeed, and try to come up with in class ways to do this, but they definitely do not track or push. If a student is not proactive, or does not have a group friend thing going, I could see/have seen them totally get lost.
The TAs are very helpful in my opinion. I just finished a finance for finance majors class. This class had 50 students, and when it reaches that number, they are required to have a TA. This one had the extra recitation class. So much more understandable from the TA because they had taken the class and could help with the extra nuances. But they wont push or check up either, and the student has to be willing to go to the recitation as some are not required. There is no attendance taken and no one cares if you show up or notā¦either to finance class or recitation.
My D16 also attends same university and practically flunked out of freshman year - 4.5 HS GPA and by the end of college freshman year was on academic probation (without drinking a drop of alcohol either!). Learned really fast she had to go to every office hour and ask lots of questions - buuuuuttttt - sometimes it takes an hour to even see the professor because the line is so long (for sciences), and sometimes itās really late at night.
Definitely wish D16 did not have to learn that way, but itās all getting better. Her only main options were very large universities because of her majorāFood Science. I remember at the Stockton tour recently, the tour guide said the teachers are very on top of the studentsā¦they canāt sleep in class or miss it, etc. And the tour guide liked that.
My daughter attends a 10k student school, and she knows all her profs, TAs and many classmates. She had a few 125-200 student lectures, but all had a smaller (30) discussion group once a week, office hours, etc. Most of her classes are 15-25 students.
@cakeisgreat so glad that you had a great tour and experience. Many students stay on campus all 4 years, the ones that donāt are seraching for a little more freedom. After freshman year, housing priority is based on credit hrs with upperclassman having first choice. DS16 stayed in Berry the first 2 years (Honors dorm in a Living Learning Community) This year he will be moving into another dorm with 2 single bedrooms , bathroom, living area and a full kitchen. Housing in Charleston can be quite expensive , but CofC offers some good options including suite style, traditional style, apartments and historic houses. If you go on CofC housing page , you can view a description and pictures of each option.
@twoinanddone thatās been my sonās experience at his school which has about 11,000 students . Heās had only one or two classes with TAs, but they have mainly been there to assist the professor, not instead of one. The school also provides excellent opportunities for research as an undergrad.
D19 got her June SAT results and as expected (she did virtually no prep), there was no improvements. She is adamant about not taking again so she will go into application season with a 1290. Unfortunately I think this will put her right on the cut line for several schools, which should make for a stressful winter/fall.
@DCNatFan ā¦ as the mom of 2 B students and a high school teacher foreverā¦ it is what it is. That 1290 is a perfectly respectable score in the real world, even if it doesnāt compete here on CC.
There are so many schools where a 1290 is fine!! So donāt give in to the stress. Make those āseveral schoolsā absolute reaches. I would cut them down to only one or two-- Iāve never understood the mindset of applying to a whole bunch of reaches, virtually ensuring that the kidās ego will take a real beating when the expected results come in. Instead, Iām a big believer in a list thatās match and safety heavy, especially for kids who arenāt the top kids in their grade.
She only needs one acceptance that she loves and can afford. But, boy, itās a wonderful feeling when a bunch of schools want her and she has a real choice!! So I would spend this summer finding a list of matches and safeties that sheāll be happy to attend. Cut the schools where a 1290 wonāt get her accepted; there are other fish in the sea.
@bjkmom Thanks for the great advice.
As I posted on the other thread, Sās scores went down. He wonāt take it again so he will have a 1220 going into apps. He did get a 4 on his AP Gov test so we are happy about that. His list of schools wonāt change. There are only two on his list where the 1220 is below average so I think heās ok.
@DCNatFan If I recall her list accurately, that 1290 should be plenty good for several options. I have been biting my nails over test scores all summer, and itās upsetting to see your child put in the effort and still get minimal to no results. @bjkmom offers great advice, and after at least 7 college visits, I was glad to see big reaches come off the list. I think our āBā students can really thrive when they are closer to the top of the heap. I know my D has seen more opportunities for growth and leadership at schools where she would not struggle academically. Take those super high achiever students out of the equation and there is a greater chance our kids will rise to the top.
Rightā¦ who really wants to be the bottom kid admitted to any school? You know theyāre out there in every school-- the very lowest score that got in.
I want my kids to be middle of the pack, with a real shot at success. So, nope, no top schools for them. And thatās OK. Itās about learning and growth, not about bragging rights.
@cakeisgreat any specifics you want to know??? My son has been very happy. Heās an education major, so I canāt comment much on the biomed. Rowan is growing that area by leaps and bounds. I know the engineering students work very hard - I think itās a great bargain for engineering!
My son had the old dorms last year, but he was fine with it. He wasnāt big on the gender neutral bathrooms in HoPoCo, although those rooms are much bigger and have AC (although I hear itās not the best AC). This year heāll be in a brand new apartment thatās right by the Barnes & Noble - a bit of a walk to class, but a great downtown with everything the kids could need. And the apartment is nicer than my first place post-grad!!! so annoying! LOL
He attended frat parties, got a bid to pledge and decided not to because really just no interest in being a part of that. A lot of the time I think he and his group of friends just hung out in a HoPoCo room because there was more space.
They also have the Rowan After Hours (I think thatās what itās called?) where they have non-drinking events on the weekends. He did some video game comps with that. They have a bunch of different things they put on. Bus trips to Philly. He also joined the club team for his sport, which he really loved.
DD is on break from working at camp, now has a bad cold and so is doing nothing but lying around watching Netflix and researching/stressing about college choices. While she was gone at camp, I had researched more on one she liked previously and thought it might be a good choice. I told her what I liked about it, some of it piqued her interest but sheās now going back to the idea of a Parks & Rec major and they donāt have it. Sheās not sure about it but sheād like to have it as an option.
The frustrating thing is there is a school 2 hours away that has every major she is considering, good colors and mascot :P, affordable, good reputation in our area, etc. but she is dead set against it because āeverybody goes thereā. So there might be 15 kids she knows there out of 5000. But she wants to be the one who goes to a school no one else does so it sounds exotic.
Honestly with our budget she doesnāt have tons of choices so I think she needs to temper her expectations. She keeps trying to research schools further away to find that one perfect affordable yet awesome school. But after her experiences this year with several flights and living away at camp I personally think she would be more comfortable in driving distance and able to come home on a weekend now and then.
@bjscheel where in the country are you?
Iām enjoying reading all the updates and progress of our 19ers. Nothing to report except some mild disappointment that S19 didnāt have a stronger junior yearā¦ First, he didnāt do as well as he/we hoped last quarter. We are on a block schedule so four classes first semester and four second. He did okay first semester with one A (religion of course, not a major class) and the rest Bs, but two of them were low Bs so his GPA went down. Second semester, he did really well first quarter, even got a 97 in Physics. But then things went downhill second quarter, mainly on his finals so his final grades were 88s across the board. Obviously not terrible, but Iām not sure where his GPA is at the moment as itās not reported with his grades and always hidden away somewhere in the online portal. On the bright side, despite not finishing with a necessary 90 in pre-Calc in order to receive placement in Calc next year, when he got his schedule, he was put in honors Calculus (thereās no regular Calculus). He really needed to be in Calc for a couple of the schools he wants to apply to so we thought we might have to put up a fight at school to get him in so we were surprised when we saw it on his schedule. I know his math teachers have all really liked him so Iām guessing they figured it will be a challenge for him but that he does put in the effort, even tho he fell short in pre-Calc. Iām a little nervous how he will do, especially since he will be incredibly busy with practice for his sport. He is also taking APES, Forensic Science and weight training (I was hoping heād have weight training second semester when he has seniorityās). Second semester is English, Honors Art History, Religion and American Govt.
The college search has been a difficult process. I was thinking that having gotten through the process with D17, at least I was a little more knowledgeable this time around. However, he has decided on two things that make his search more challengingā¦one, he wants to play his sport, and two, he wants to do ROTC or, go to a service academy (that will only be possible if he gets recruited for his sport and most likely would have to go to prep school due to grades). His position is mostly considered a walk-on, meaning heād be lucky to get any scholarship money. Heās been going to a position coach for a while. Dh and S19 talked with him about the process and he feels S19 should be looking at D1AA/FCS and D2 schools. He also told him unless he felt extremely confident in how heās playing at the moment, that he should skip school camps and instead focus on fine tuning and then getting good film done in August. He thinks S19 is a late bloomer and feels he is definitely recruitable but probably wonāt be getting any offers until December time frame. So of course, I have no idea how to attack the fall application process. He has about 20 schools on his list - of those, one is Towson, an in-state school for us which also be a decent financial and academic safety should he end up not playing sports.
In mid-June, dh did take S19 to a showcase out in Indiana (turned out to be a waste of money as there were only a couple of coaches there tho we were led to believe there would be more). However, it was a good opportunity to do some unofficial, self-guided tours at some different types of schools. I forced S21 to also go. He very begrudgingly did but in the end was glad he went. A bit of a detour on the way, but they visited VMI where they were able to have a brief chat with the coach (coincidentally, they were in Lexington the same day as The Red Hen/Sarah Sanders controversy!). They did a quick drive through of Washington and Lee as well. W&L was too small. VMI moved low on list mainly b/c S19 heard they have no access to electronics first two years (I.e. no cell phones, iPads, etc). Not sure if that is true-itās definitely not the case at the Naval Academy.
From there, they drove straight through to Indiana. The showcase was at Indiana State in Terre Haute but opted to stay in Bloomington. The son of dhās coworker went to Indiana University and said the campus is amazing. They didnāt arrive until super late Friday night and next morning drove to Terre Haute. Showcase was okay in terms of my sonās performance but the lack of coaches was disappointing. He had no desire to go to Indiana State so with that coach and only one other present, it was a bust. Dh said the campus was old and tired. They headed back to Bloomington where they toured Indiana U-S19 loved it. Dh said it really was a beautiful campus. However, itās D1 and honestly, I donāt think S19 would survive at such a huge school. Stayed the night there, then the next day, before leaving Indianapolis, they stopped at Butler University. My boys are huge basketball fans, so this was a fun stop. S21 loved it, said heād love to go to school there 
From there, they started making there way back to MD. They stopped and looked at Univ of Dayton. Liked the campus but didnāt say too much about it other than they got to see a wedding party making their way out of the chapel. They then did a drive thru of WVU since it was along their journey home but too big and rural for them. I should mention, aside from VMI, none of these schools were on S19ās list - the visits were more to get a feel for what different campuses look like and to see some big and medium schools (and make the long drive a bit more interesting/bearable). It did accomplish that S21 realized a large school is not for him, which Iām glad he realized b/c he has a LD and I really want him to go to a small/medium size school.
In the end, not much progress for S19. Dh started a spreadsheet but I think I need to get more involved as dh is not quite as organized, plus I have more time to devote. And Iāve come to realize that despite having some experience under my belt with my first one, itās not going to get any easier except for maybe when I get to D23. She wonāt be playing a college sport and does not have an LD, and she is probably the smartest of my four so her search process will be more straight forward, focusing on fit and merit money.
oops, sorry.
Same thought process with my kids as well. None would qualify for a top school anyway (well, #4 possibly but not yet in h.s. so it remains to be seen how well she will continue to do academically). My oldest is a good student and definitely above average intelligence, but in h.s., she always called herself the dumbest of her friends. It was happenstance that her friends were the brightest in the class (one was valedictorian and ended up at Brown). D17 was certainly not dumb but I think it did annoy her that no matter how much she studied, she was never going to do as well as her friends. One has a photographic memory. D said she wouldnāt take notes, would sometimes watch Netflix movies on her iPad in class and then ask D to borrow her notes, get an almost perfect grade with little studying while D paid attention, took the notes, studied like crazy and still would not score as high.
The nice thing about college is that she has a different major than her friends, so she isnāt feeling that constant comparison. One thing that really stuck in my head was how some of this was not even imagined in high school. D was one of 5 students/girls in her Latin 4 class. That was the class she regularly called herself the dumbest in the class, even tho she had an A. She got inducted into the honor society and that night, her teacher stood there in the classroom and continually praised two of the five girls, seriously nonstop raving. It was no wonder D had a complex in that class! I told her afterward I could understood why she felt like the dumbest one when the teacher clearly had her pets.
@bjkmom Weāre in Iowa. Iowa State and U of Iowa are way too big. Looking at places like University of South Dakota and Northwest Missouri State. Visited University of Central Arkansas due to excellent merit but itās inconvenient travel wise. Would like Concordia Nebraska if it were cheaper.
@DCNatFan I went to a huge school (UF) and I fell off many cliffs and was invisible. Both of my girls are only allowed to look at smaller schools because of that very thing. I skipped class all the time. 
Brag alert. DS19 had his Eagle Scout Board of Review and passed. Itās official, I am now the mom of 2 Eagle Scouts.