True but there are just those Michigan alumni EVERYWHERE! While not my favorite school, even I have to admit that you cannot beat the alumni connections of Michigan. My oldest had a lot of kids from his class go there (nothing new with our hs which fees about 20+ kids each year) and a good chunk of them wound up in NY. Probably more there than on the West Coast, but plenty of on the West Coast too. UVA is much smaller than UM too so I think that’s part of it. In visiting UVA we were told many more end up in DC and also more tend to go to law school so that is also probably part of it. With my son going into Engineering, while UVA has a huge career fair that is pretty good, most of it more than likely will be using his own connections I suspect in finding internships/jobs which is fine.
Count me in as another fan of Evanston from Noo Yawk. In the before times we visited family there a few times a year, and until we got Waze, we had the Dempster vs Golf debate on every trip. My D always lobbied for Dempster so we could stop for hot dogs at Poochie’s.
That is so funny, although Golf is faster but I won’t tell 
I live in Evanston. It’s a great town. There are two big parking garages on campus and more in town and plenty of street parking. There a free app that you can use to pay the meter.
And NU has their own beaches 
Those beaches and view are the hidden gem there and gorgeous part of the campus!!
Beach? Hmmm. 
Lake Lagunita?
@momofboiler1 That’s a gorgeous view of the city from the beach!! But sister, anything that is near Chicago has frigid cold written all over it and this wussy west coast girl is getting a jacket, looking at this!!
Too much credit. I was thinking more like a large koi pond in one of those fancy estate houses in Atherton or Woodside.
Are there schools notifying tomorrow? I’m not a religious person but other than sending good vibes to a couple of kids appealing the waitlist, I need something to send good vibes to on Friday!! Who’s up this Fri?!
A few random thoughts based on some recent posts. I’m born and raised in CA and attended a mid-tier UC, UCB/UCLA are great colleges but be aware of overcrowding in both dorms and classes and the UCs in general have had financial difficulties of late. Great value for in-state residents but at the end of the day, smaller private colleges might be a better option for some students with much better student/professor ratios, less demand for finite resources (student advising, internships, research oppos, clubs, etc) and more endowment dollars and related resources per student.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how great a college’s reputation is if it’s not the best fit (financially, socially, and academically) for the student. Some students will thrive in an environment like UCLA but others might be best served attending smaller, private colleges that are well financed and arguably, more supportive of its student body.
When doing tours of dozens of colleges the past several years for D20, it became crystal clear the similarities and stark difference in the various colleges we saw.
Good luck to all of your students, exciting times for sure…
When I look at S’s friend group and who is most successful, it is the kids who know what they want and set out to get it. That can be building relationships with professors, getting leadership positions in clubs, or finding internships. None of those are hard to achieve, but no one will force you to do them either. It’s not like a small college where arguably there may be more than enough clubs so that everyone can have some position of responsibility.
The difference is pretty clear now coming up for the end of junior year and looking at what people have planned for the summer in a year where COVID has made finding things more difficult: a passive kid can easily flounder, while the proactive kids still have amazing opportunities.
Beyond that I don’t think the living conditions are enough to affect the choice: Georgetown’s dorms seemed only marginally better (and at least at UCLA they didn’t tell you about rat infestations on the tour) while UCLA has better food than almost anywhere.
Don’t know about tomorrow but UW-Madison has their RD on Saturday and while not relevant for us, I think a ton of people must be waiting for them.
Well, this UW (Seattle) will send good vibes to the UW (Madison) kids!
No such thing as cold weather. You just need warmer clothes
This is “my beach” on the north side of the NU campus. Not CA coastline but it’s on campus and opens before the end of the quarter.
Ok I went to NU and the only time I was on that beach (in the summer beachy way in an actual swim suit) was the very end of spring quarter and that’s when you should be studying for finals!! Of course, it’s nice to walk along the beach in the warmish fall weather too but LMU it is not!
I see NU students on the beach all summer. A good number seem to stay on campus for summer session, plus all the Fall athletes come back at the end of July.
For sure. And I used to take our kids to Evanston beaches in the summertime. Super fun. And no beaches in our neighborhood! It’s a perk of the north shore!
My D was told that CS/engineering is very competitive and tough, but the rest of Cal is normal hard. She was warned there is no support like at top privates.
I hope that helps.