@homerdog I looked at Lehigh when I was looking at schools and again when D18 looking. “On the side of a hill” is an understatement it is on the side of a mountain. I took one look at that and thought there is no way I want to deal with that everyday both ways. When we visited a couple of years ago still had the same feeling. There is also a very big and strong Greek life there which turned my daughter off.
Of course I must give the disclaimer that I went to Lafayette and Lehigh which is about 15 minutes away is Lafayette’s hated rival. When we play each in football (the most played rivalry in college football history) they have to box up the statutes on campus and have guards protect the stadiums during Lehigh/Lafayette week to protect from pranks/vandalism by both sides
@ChillyCow i have read that about the major also. The second choice is really only used for the auto admits. I have no idea what to expect this year. If you read “Your Ticket to the Forty Acres”, He goes into detail about the admissions formula and how the academic score is calculated from test scores, rank and GPA. I wonder how they’ll do it this year. That being said, D21 has a score to submit so she will. I hope it still helps her the way it would have before (not a CS or Eng applicant though).
@homerdog If you have any questions about Boulder, I can certainly help being a Denver native. It’s a great school and in one of the most beautiful settings. It’s a very typical college experience. The only drawback I would see for you is that it is very expensive for out of state and Boulder is also expensive, especially for off campus housing. If that’s not an issue, it is a great school and strong in a lot of areas. If she likes Denver, she may also want to look at University of Denver as a back up. It is really a gem and incredibly underrated. I know a lot of the professors there and the education is very strong in a lot of departments.
Oh my gosh. Everyone is so funny about the hill/mountain. We live in the flat lands and hills and mountains are so pretty! I get it, though. Getting to class is a hike I suppose. And, when it snows and it’s slippery, I could see that being yucky. BC is hilly too and I thought of that when we were there.
This adding of more options is happening mostly because of the TO debacle. I wasn’t planning on D throwing so many darts but, since we’ve decided not to use ED, I don’t think she has anything to lose if she applies to more schools. S19 applied to 13. She has 11 on her current list. Common App and six applications that require supplements are pretty much done so I think she will have time for more apps.
Thanks @kanfly Looks like Boulder is around $52k out of state and there might be a little merit money there too. Way less than the $73k at the private schools she’s considering! I’ll be in touch with questions if she applies.
U Denver seems a little less like the typical college experience. Strong in business if I’m correct but, right now anyway, that’s not in her wheelhouse of interests.
@mm5678 , I had not heard about the second choice major being for the auto admits. Interesting. Well, he is homeschooled so no auto admit there. That is helpful information to know. I’m thinking he should apply Electrical as the first major then. Thank you for responding. Best of luck to your daughter on gaining admission to her first choice major!
@homerdog Lehigh is close for us and it’s one we toured empty during the shut down. Campus is beautiful - reminded us of Colgate with the old stone buildings, though Lehigh had more ugly new buildings than Colgate. It really is built into a mountain - “hill” doesn’t do it justice! The Greek scene is what turned D off. Her friend’s mom is a prof there and her brother attends; we also know a couple girls who transferred out. Frat party stories she heard are definitely not what she is looking for.
We toured Bucknell earlier this week and she preferred it over Lehigh - still beautiful campus, but more open and spread out, and a great little town that (to her) was miles ahead of Bethlehem. While smaller student wise, the campus felt bigger. I did think of you because they emphasized their love of the arts there, and we know a dancer who is there also. Also big Greek life, so D plans to talk to kids we know there, but right now it bumped Lehigh off the list for a reach school. Bucknell would be harder for you to get to.
@homerdog D decided to add another safety last night (Roanoke College). I think she’s starting to panic about the amount of reaches on her list and although she’s not enamored, realized she’d feel better with an Early Action acceptance under her belt (and it has a great program for her intended major and her BFF is applying there). We had started to look at Lehigh, and may look more again. For us that’s north, and D really doesn’t want to go north, but it looks, on paper, like a good fit.
@Momof3B@coffeeat3 One of my daughter’s clubs had elections in May, but the way things look, Varsity Kickline is unlikely and where she would have made a run for a captains position in addition to the leadership role and EC’s she currently has. Ultimately, she is involved and committed to a few different things, but this would also demonstrate her leadership across the things she is passionate about.
@homerdog not to beat a dead horse but BC is like the wind blown prairies compared to Lehigh. But don’t get me wrong it is a great school especially for engineering. I just prefer the smaller engineering school a few miles down the road.
@ChillyCow I have no idea of what to expect from UT Admissions this year!! S21 is going TO, and applying to Moody for the Communications and Leadership major that he’ll pair with a minor in Business…second choice major will be Econ in COLA. The good thing is that he’s not 100% married to UT so if it doesn’t happen, he won’t be devastated, but we figure why not “shoot your shot” lol.
His EC’s really align well with the Communications major and his Essay is turning out to be pretty strong according to his college advisor/counselor he’s working with so we’ll see I guess!
@Rue4 We love Roanoke. D19 was accepted did an overnight visit and put her deposit down before deciding to try something different from college. S21 has it on his list too as it’s one of the few D3 schools that offers an Actuarial Science major. Beautiful area too. Salem is a nice little town and Roanoke is a cool city.
Do you all have an independent person review the essay? S had a couple of teachers review his essay and they like it, but I don’t know if they know anything about what an admissions essay needs.
D21 has her AP lang teacher reading her essays this summer. He knows the drill and understands that these essays are unlike what kids usually write at school - more of a personal narrative. I’m reading a few kids’ essays for them too but I don’t read D21’s since she won’t take my edits well. Lol. Maybe ask around your neighborhood and see if there’s anyone that reads them Have your S ask if his friends have anyone reading them? It’s not good to have too many cooks in the kitchen and he of course needs to write them himself so the AOs can hear his voice, but it’s also good to have someone read them over who can check for clarity, showing and not telling, and of course grammar and punctuation.
@Aguadecoco - If my S gets his act together he will ask his Eng teacher to review his essays for clarity and grammar, etc.
I read it once a few weeks ago, wasn’t too enthused (@homerdog I hear you)…and after another supplemental essay he showed me, I’m now reluctant to look at them. (Bc I end up telling him that I hope he likes the school we live near bc I’m not impressed with his attempts so far at OOS essays.)
For me, I’ve become so frustrated with the pandemic fallout that continues to worsen that I displace my impatience onto my S’s writing. Not healthy or helpful for anyone.
@123Mom123 LOL! Sorry but that part is funny about the schools near by.
I read D21’s essays and try to pretend I don’t know her and try to figure out if she’s getting across who she is. It’s not always easy to answer the question and do that. I think her personal statement is very much her but some of these supplements are harder to answer and have her digging deep to have something to write. In her case, I think an interview will help her so she will do those where she can.
@123Mom123 I read the first draft of S21s essay and I think it has the potential to be great, but needs work. I kept quiet since he doesn’t want my advice.
D typed up her first draft of the Common app essay yesterday -she was appalled at how fast 650 words goes! She was at about 850 when she stopped and she didn’t say everything she wanted to! But at least she’s got something. She’s sending it to an English teacher as well to look over. Teacher said they do spend some time on them 1st marking period, but now that she’ll likely only see her English teacher 1x week this year, I’m not counting on that!
