Last summer DD21 looked at Miami of Ohio, UMD, UDel, University of San Diego and University of Washington. Going to see how PSAT and SAT testing goes this fall before mapping out next spring/summer visits.
@Curiosa I felt like ruling schools out was even more helpful than finding schools that are liked!
@burghdad what did she think of Miami?
Hi @TXRunningMom ,
My D21 is taking two CC classes and one four-year-college class this semester, as well as three year-long online AP courses through PA Homeschoolers.
She has papers due up the wazoo, especially for her cc English Lit class. She took AP English Language last year through PA Homeschoolers and did very well, and she is also a published author (regional magazine) and sheâs won multiple keys from the Scholastic Writing Awards, so she is used to having to write a lot and relatively quickly.
She LOVES her college classes, mainly because this is the first time she has had to work with groups every single week. Sheâs always been a social butterfly and enjoys working with all kinds of people. Of course, that comes with its own issuesâŠa major Spanish presentation that is due today is now all on her shoulders as her partner dropped the class at the last secondâŠbut sheâs the kind of person that is very type A and enjoys last-minute stress and challenges. She loves her group discussions and debates in her English class, and she gets a kick out of the fact that her Economics professor seems to always meander away from the topic of economics and into subjects of his own personal life (ânot relevant but entertainingâ is how she puts it). Itâs all been a new adventure for her.
Itâs also been a bit of a shock with English - she wrote her first paper, and I looked at it, and though it was very well-written, it didnât address the professorâs topic in a way I suspected it shouldâŠshe didnât listen to me when I suggested she rewrite itâŠand she got a 50 on it. Sheâs a good writer and her grade on the paper floored her. I suppressed my desire to say âI told you soâ - instead, I told her to read his comments and then go to office hours to talk with him so she could be sure to understand exactly what he wanted in terms of content. She is allowed a rewrite. All of this will make her a better writer and a better student, and hopefully never afraid to talk with a professor about anything she doesnât understand. Also, it may teach her that sometimes Mom knows what sheâs talking about. 
Anyway, I highly recommend dual credit (in-person) for homeschoolers once they are ready for the rigor.
My daughter has visited UNC-Charlotte, UofSC Columbia, College of Charleston, and UGA and just went to the local Tulane admissions program last weekend.
Sheâs smart, but does not identify as a high level intellectual. I think she feels she and her Big Brother, Say Yes to the Dress, Netflix, YouTube and TikTok habits would make her feel out of place at âtoo smartâ of a school. Sheâs just on the nerdier side of regular teenager.
She seems to want a âstate schoolâ feel, but yet sometimes feels these schools are too big -UGA for example was too big in her opinion. UofSC was perfect (she literally had a Say Yes to the Dress âthis is the ONEâ moment when she visited) and and is the main front runner. It will take something very special to top UofSC.
I love college visits, and she is happy to look at some more in case they do top UofSC, so at this point (pre PSAT and ACT), the plan is to visit Alabama, LSU, Tulane, Clemson and UofSC (again) over break.
None of these are academic reaches - Tulane is a financial reach pending aid and is an admissions crapshoot anyway, though itâs my undergrad school and they consider legacy status, so thatâs helpful. Sheâs her own person, but I know what she likes and what she doesnât and I have a feeling Tulane will give UofSC a run for its money even though sheâs currently giving it the side eye because itâs so small.
But the rest of the schools (pending test scores), sheâs well in range and should be a contender for Honors/Merit Aid.
@3kids2dogs sounds a bit like my D - what did you think of College of Charleston? Weâre debating a trip down there, but not sure the south is her thing. I have friends in the area, but itâs a hike to make if she wonât like it. I know itâs a city, but when D thinks city, she thinks NYC. Is there a contained campus?
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@3kids2dogs My S19 is a freshman at UofSC. We visited all those that youâve already done, plus Duke and UNC Chapel Hill (plus some northern reaches). Son is now a freshman at UofSC, and it is perfect. Despite being large - 20,000+ - it âplays small,â in part because he is in the Honors College which is a college unto itself. Even during our visits, it felt nothing like UGA or UNC, which felt big. And the school spirit is quite amazing. I follow UofSC on Twitter now and catch myself talking about âour teamâ and âour school.â
I donât believe a reach is an academic fit. If youâre in the bottom percentile then the school is not one where you are amongst peers. Our goal is not to get into the âbestâ school possible. Iâve seen too many kids go to the brand name because it was perceived as âbetterâ, only to find themselves in the wrong place. Now, we will likely have high-low matches, but a true reach is not in the cards.
Thanks! OWU has been on our list, so this is good to know.
I think this is very sage advice. Sometimes the best college you can get into is not the best college for you.
Interesting. We consider a âreachâ school both one where there is a low acceptance rate (but D21 may still be well in the median stats-wise) or if there are very few merit scholarships so itâs a âfinancial reachâ for us as we are full pay.
So far weâve done official visits at:
George Washington: this was a NO because of the lack of a defined campus
Smith: D21 loved this school. Probably her #1 choice but definitely in the âfinancial reachâ category.
Mount Holyoke: staying on the list but she wasnât really feeling it
Rice: Itâs our hometown school and another financial reach. Probably not applying
UCLA: Another one she loved. OOS cost would come in about 12K less than Smith
Occidental: Hard NO. We had a bland tour guide which did not help
Have done drive bys through UMASS Amherst, UT Austin and Clark University. Clark came off the list but UMASS moved up.
Thatâs so great to hear! If her preference stays where it is, I may have to pick your brain about a few things in the next 12-18 months. My Dâs biggest and favorite activity is marching band and she would love to continue in college, especially at an SEC like school that has huge school spirit and is all about the pomp and circumstance/traditions that a marching band is part of.
What did your son think of Clemson? It seems like a good size, and also to be full of school pride/spirit. Biggest difference is that itâs a college town, unlike UofSC, LSU and Tulane. She liked that part of UofSC (being attached to a city in its own right)
@eb23282 I was defining a reach as a school with a low acceptance rate. In S19âs case, he was above the 75th percentile for 99 percent of colleges for gpa and scores. So we would take him to a place like Carleton or William and Mart because the acceptance rate is above 25 percent but not to schools with single digit acceptance rates.
Of course, visiting a reach that a student has a zero percent chance at doesnât make any sense. We donât have scores for D21 yet but I certainly wouldnât take her anywhere where she (1) doesnât fall at least in the top 50 percent and (2) where the acceptance rate is lower than 25 percent.
She liked College of Charleston quite a bit. It has a campus, but it is not contained or well defined. There are some entrances that are well defined, but other areas where one side of the street is campus and the other is Charleston. Many of the buildings - esp faculty offices look more like Charleston city buildings and not like a university academic building. Itâs very pretty and has more green space than you would think a city school would have. She said it felt larger than it was, but obviously smaller than Columbia and I think she prefers a traditional campus. As a city, Charleston is small - nothing like NYC, but for kids who prefer to not be tied to all things college 24/7, it will definitely fit the bill, plus it has such close access to recreational activities - the beach, etc.
My D has aspirations of being a doctor and they have a unusually good relationship with the Medical College of South Carolina in that regard. I think because College of Charleston doesnât have that many pre-med type majors as compared to other liberal arts type majors so the group is small and gets involved with the faculty and staff of the Medical School right away.
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S21 went on all of the visits with S19. And we did a few more this summer. His distance parameters are the same as his big bro and his profile is very similar.
Right now, the only re-visit he wants to do is Mr. InfiniteWavesâ and my alma mater, Loyola U Maryland. Itâs the current favorite. So we are heading to the open house in November for a deeper dive experience. Big bro was accepted but opted for Penn State instead.
S21 likes city schools with actual campuses, wants to stay within two to three hours of home, and no NYC area. We live in central PA. Which leaves us with Philly, Baltimore/DC, and Pittsburgh. Along with Loyola UMD, he really likes Pitt and Saint Joeâs.
Still mulling over where else to visit that we didnât with S19. Richmond maybe. Heâs ruled out Scranton. We did such a thorough job with S19 (thanks CC!), Iâm over here twiddling my college planning thumbs. 
We are looking in essentially the same areas as you. We want to visit St Joes, Temple, Drexel, West Chester, Penn State, Dickinson, Gettysburg, maybe Lehigh. We visited George Washing, American, Elizabethtown.
Think she is wanting to stay in the south and has 7 schools picked out. KSU was in her original Top 20 but now we are down to Top 7. She is very good academically and on the ACT test, so will be likely in the 90% in those schools and will probably be accepted to all. Decision will be which one can offer the best financial package. We will see. Curious, your son was in the LA program and is going to Vet school there. Did he change his mind in pursuing LA?
@3kids2dogs Marching band? School spirit? Could not go wrong at UofSC. And S19 really likes walking off campus into a city - because Columbia is the capital (campus is adjacent to the actual capitol), there are many shopping/food/entertainment options that arenât just college focused.
Our first Clemson visit was almost great. Good general info session, excellent tour guide, and thenâŠwent to the Business School breakout session. Deadly dull and uninspiring. Still, applied, accepted into Biz School and Honors program. Returned for accepted students day. An even worse Business School breakout session. And started realizing that a college surrounded by just a college town seemed stifling.
Huge school spirit - S19âs 2 best friends are now attending so we hear a lot. Great research programs for STEM kids - one friend is already on a bioengineering research team. But a no-go for S19.
@frostymom West Chester is S21âs actual state school on the list. We made sure both boys applied to a PASSHE school as there are no guarantees with the state-related ones. My niece went to WCU. Great college town. Close to Philly.
Gettysburg, Dickinson, and Etown are all great options. S19 really liked Etown but once he decided to do AROTC, it came off the list. S21 really wants to be in or very close to a city so all of the great smaller town schools in PA are currently getting passed over.
Have you considered Susquehanna? When S19 decided to attend Penn State University Park, I had a hard time breaking up with Susquehanna. 
They offered him a merit scholarship that brought COA down to between PASSHE and Penn State. He is an English and Writing major. Susquehanna has a great writing program and itâs such a nice school. A good friend of his from high school just started there in the creative writing program though, so I get to hear about it. 
S21 did like Drexel and Temple, despite the lack of actual campus. We should probably check out the DC schools. What are your thoughts on GW and American? Another niece went to GW and still lives in DC.
Last weekend we had the choice to visit either ETown or Susquehanna open houses and she chose ETown. We really liked Etown but I will try to make a point to check out Susquehanna as well.
Washington DC is D21âs first choice. She loved GW despite it having no campus at all whatsoever. It was right in the middle of everything and the city, at least right around it looked fairly clean and bustling with professionals with some cool historic buildings thrown in.
American has a more traditional green campus and is located out of the downtown area by Embassy Row, which is cool to see. She liked that as well. I believe they get a bus pass that they can use to get to the city. Both GW and American seem like great places, especially if you want to be involved in government but I donât think they will be generous with merit aid so that may be a sticking point for us.