Congratulations to your son on deciding where he’s heading next year! Was CSU the school you thought he was leaning toward?
No! It’s a bit of a surprise. S23 was pretty committed to attending the University of Minnesota or Michigan Tech and talked about it for over a year. We visited UMN this summer and he loved it. He kept saying he could picture himself there and it was his first choice.
(Full disclosure: DS23 has a higher GPA than this thread but has a learning difference and his ACT scores were in the toilet so there is a lot of overlap in the colleges he was looking at. DD22 was in this range and I found that thread so helpful that I followed this one).
Both his college counselor and I put CSU on his list and he crossed it off - TWICE! Mid junior year my son decided to switch from looking toward an engineering major (which we did not think he would have enjoyed, but kept quiet about it) to being sure he wanted to be a Wildlife Bio major (which fits his personality and learning style perfectly). As CSU is so well known for Wildlife Bio, he eventually added it to his list (everything has to be his idea with this kid). We visited in early October and we were able to get a really good sense of the School of Natural Resources. They took a lot of time with him going over majors, courses, opportunities, etc. After that, he couldn’t get it out of his head and kept coming back to it.
He decided to go to two accepted students days (Michigan Tech was ruled out as it is impossible to get to from where we live). Our first was CSU. Again, everyone in the College of Natural Resources was so gracious and willing to spend time with him. The day before the Choose CSU event started we took his girlfriend (also looking at CSU for Wildlife Bio) over to the building that houses the Warner College of Natural Resources and just happened to run into a bunch of student ambassadors that spent over an hour talking to them. Both my son and his girlfriend have been on research trips and the ambassadors were shocked at the things they had already done so were able to really get into detail about the program. He loves that it is so hands-on and that they learn by doing. He also loved that professors were always posting opportunities for students to get involved in their research.
CSU was really good about communication, whereas UMN was not. UMN only recently released the one day that they are having for an accepted students day and even with that there was very little information. We have also become concerned with the crime surrounding the campus. After coming home from CSU, DS said that we shouldn’t book our tickets for MN yet as he was trying to decide if he even needed to go back to UMN to make a decision. A couple of days later he asked us to put the deposit down on CSU.
There were so many things he liked about CSU (the environment, the town, the students, the rec. center, the non-snottiness), but it was Warner Colleges of Natural Resources that won him over. Natural Resources is usually housed under the College of Agriculture or College of Natural Sciences at other schools, but at CSU it is its own school. They also just so happen to be reintroducing wolves in Colorado, which is what he wants to write a thesis on, and CSU houses the Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence. There really couldn’t be a more perfect school for him.
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Thank you so much for sharing! I absolutely love the detail in your post and it shows why CSU looks like such an amazing fit for your son. Wishing him lots of happiness in Colorado!
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Thank you! I realize most kids are probably looking at different majors, so much of my post won’t apply, but I did find it telling that everyone in the department was so willing to engage with a prospective student. YMMV in other departments (and I keep hearing the Chemistry Dept is pretty bad, so if DC is a prospective Chem major, proceed with caution).
Really, there really isn’t anything not to love about the campus and Fort Collins. Great college town. Nice campus. People say it’s huge, but I found it quite manageable. I loved that Old Town has the quaint town/fun vibe feel with a really friendly mix of college students and families (I went to UVM and it reminds me of Burlington and Church Street), but just a bit removed from campus, you can find any big box store or chain you’d ever need. There are over 700 restaurants in FoCo and for someone that has dairy and gluten allergies, it was so easy to get a good/safe meal. My son’s girlfriend’s mom told me she was worried about sending her to Fort Collins because it’s the kind of place people never want to leave and that she was afraid she would stay there after college and not come back to the east coast. 
For a kid that likes the outdoors, they have a great rec center that runs trips and rents equipment. My son, who was a 3 season varsity athlete and has no desire to play at that level in college, is really excited about their huge intramural sports program. There is something for everyone ranging from athletes to those just wanting to float in an innertube in the amazing aquatics center.
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S23 received his first acceptance… into UW-Stevens Point. This would be a fine fit for him. He’s not that excited but it’s OK.
This weekend I drove my youngest 3.5 hours to a hockey tournament in Chippewa and you know, I am not in love with long drives to/from campus but it would work. S23 did not love the Stevens Point campus but I am sure he could make it work.
Hopefully, the other schools will respond soon, too. S23 also applied for a summer camp counselor job and had an hour Zoom interview. Kiddo is growing up!
Looking at Stevens Point they have a Roleplaying guild (D&D), Board Games, and Video Game enthusiast clubs, and they have a big climbing wall. All good things that could be selling points for S23.
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Congrats to him on his first acceptance! I went to UWRF many moons ago. Do any of the schools he’s looking at participate in Wisconsin in Scotland? I did that program and LOVED it. Highly recommend it if he goes to a UW school that offers it.
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Yay!
And your S23 sounds a lot like both of mine - camping, gaming (Magic the Gathering is king here), climbing, scouting are all the big things here!
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Thanks for mentioning the Wisconsin in Scotland program. This is the reason why I like online forums, for learning gems like this! S24 (the middle child) has been talking about taking a gap year after high school. I made it a point to mention Wisconsin in Scotland on our drive to school the other day and said that a semester abroad might be a great option for him to look into. Our middle kid seems to want that kind of adventure, and Scotland sounds amazing. Many of my college friends did international study.
Other updates - S23 seems to have been accepted into all five schools - I did not see the letter from Parkside but the others are all in. He also received a job contract for summer employment at a BSA camp to be their office assistant. This will mean living at camp almost the entire summer. He will have a few weeks off in August before college.
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One of my twins was a counselor at a BSA camp in WI last summer, and will work there again as the dining hall director this summer. He will get back literally 3 or 4 days before having to head off to college. I’m crying already 
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What was extra special about WIS, at least in my day, was that the professors went with so they were UW courses (maybe not from your specific school but within the UW system) which means transferring them back to your school was pretty easy. I took a light load (12 credits) that term to allow me time to focus on the experience itself as well as my studies. We all lived in a large building (building has changed since my day but it used to be Dalkeith Palace which sounds fancier than it was but it was amazing). Professors took their families. The program did loads to help with tours and such but lots of time to do your own thing too. Plus it was pretty close to standard UW tuition/room & board. Definitely check it out.
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That’s great! I am now a little worried about the camp to college switch and move in day and all those things. My co-worker said that kids need a lot of things for their dorms, but the dorms are so small (and she has mostly girls). I have seen move in videos where it looks like kids come with a bit of bedding and a laundry basket and that’s about it. Still some time to figure it all out and there’s always the option for a Target run on move-in day or shortly after.
Right now it looks like S23 has gotten all acceptances except Parkside (his first choice, and closest to home). Have to wait for it. Hopefully if he’s gotten in all the others Parkside will be a yes also. He is not that interested but has agreed to sit down and look at all the college materials this weekend.
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D20 has brought less stuff every single year. She’s been studying abroad this whole year and is managing just fine with 1 checked bag, 1 carry on and 1 personal item worth of stuff.
She’s planning on taking about the same amount of stuff to school next year for her senior year (plus bedding) that she took on study abroad.
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My kids are low-maintenance. If it were up to them, they would go with a backpack with some hoodies in it and that’s it. 
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My D21 admits she brought way too much stuff her freshman year. She said in hindsight “I’ve realized it’s more like packing for camp than packing to move away from home.” She lightened the load considerably her second year.
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Like the other parents have commented, my son has taken less stuff every year. His room at home has about 70% of his clothes and stuff, with the other 30% with him. He’s a junior now and says he could have done with even less than what he took this year.
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My son goes to boarding school. His first year he bought the basics with him as we had no idea what size his room would be. The plan was that we were coming back in 2 weeks with “everything else” once he figured out what he wanted/needed. Well, it turned out, he decided he didn’t want anything but the basics. He found it so much easier to keep track of his stuff and keep his area conducive to studying with less stuff around. He watched his roommate really struggle to stay organized and spend a lot of time dealing with all of the extra stuff he brought. He is now a prefect (like an RA) and his advice to incoming students is to always bring less/just the basics.
My daughter goes to college 40 minutes from home, comes home every weekend, switches out her clothes (she’s never worn the same outfit twice as she is a big buy/seller on one of the resale sites) and raids my refrigerator. While she’s done a lot of decorating, I don’t think she’s added anything but a fan to the basics that were in the room. She rents a microwave/fridge combo. It wasn’t the cheapest option, but it means we won’t have to move and store it over the summer.
It sounds like he will be close to home. He can always add more over Thanksgiving break or whenever he is home. You will see kids bring things like gaming systems. That’s a definite NO in my book. Most of the kids that have run into academic trouble in both of my kids’ schools were gaming too much. Let your son game in other people’s rooms and use his for sleeping and studying. Not having every comfort of home will also force them to get out into the world a bit. Something like an additional chair is always nice, but again, let them really use the room first to figure out what will work best.
Things that are always needed are additional chargers and outlet strips, somewhere to store laundry (we’ve found a bag takes up the least room), a place to hang wet things (we have always used an over-the-door hook rack that we modify with zip ties if needed to hang from a bunk bed if there are no doors it will fit on), and a shower caddy. My son seems to go through at least 7 rolls of duct tape a year. It’s usually the only thing he restocks on when home. He also swears by a doormat as a “must have”. He’ll sleep an entire semester on dirty sheets, yet feels a doormat is a must to keep his floor clean (we have a long mud season in New England). In terms of bedding, I find a couple of washer safe blankets are better than a big comforter. Dorms tend to be either too hot or too cold so layering is key. They are also easier to wash than big comforters. Again, not that my kid washes bedding often, but spills happen when you do a lot of things on your bed. Also make sure they have some cleaning wipes, a few dishes/utensils, Tupperware containers and some dish soap. (I’ve shown both DS and DD how to clean everything from a tub to clothing stains with dish soap).
For anything else they need, there is always Amazon. I never feel like my kid will be stranded without something he needs. Check out how his school deals with packages and factor that into delivery time.
The IKEA large blue zip up bags are great for moving. They fold down to nothing so you can store them easily and they are good to have on hand at school in case they ever need to pack to go somewhere. (They came in handy when DS’s roommate moved out for a week with all of his bedding when DS had the flu). Order a 6 pack now as they will sell out closer to move in time. DS travels a lot, so he keeps a good backpack with him.
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My daughter has been planning and designing her dorm room since 6th grade! 
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We had a very good visit to Endicott College in Beverly, MA for an accepted student academic major day. D23 had applied on someone’s advice - she wants a school that values internships and at Endicott they require 3 to graduate and it’s a big focus. So she applied without having visited, was admitted with nice merit, and it became a top contender. We drove up Tuesday and spent the night since the day began at 9am. They have a hotel adjacent to the campus, so we stayed there. Beverley is beautiful! Someone on this board said they live there? What a gorgeous area!
It snowed and that made me really happy as we have not had snow in NJ at all. We drove around the campus Tuesday night. I don’t think we were supposed to do that, to be honest - I think it might be a walking campus? But wow - the campus and buildings were just gorgeous at night, all lit up against the snow. The campus was bigger than I expected.
We went to a pub for dinner and felt warm and cozy and happy to be there.
The next morning their sessions started early and it was all very nicely done - overview of the different majors in what would be D23’s school. Intro by department chair and then a student spoke about their experience.
Then we broke into groups and the kids went off with their major cohorts and the parents went to seminars on financial aid and student life. She really liked what she heard from the students and professors in what would be her major and it sounds like they went over the required classes and some electives and all of that made her feel very comfortable.
Then we came back together for a presentation on the internship program. Then free lunch voucher for the cafeteria and tours.
D23 really liked the school. It has a very warm feeling. Lots of enthusiasm on this day. Lots of kids out and about, so a good lively atmosphere. I was also really impressed. I think she would have a good experience there. I told her it is the kind of school that will really work to build her strengths, it wouldn’t be all on her, she would have professors who actually did know her and give her good advice on how to develop professionally and intellectually. Which I think is pretty big.
It’s also another one of those small schools like Bryant University in RI that seems like they really used the pandemic to create new curriculums and build new buildings and move forward. I like that.
The school is right on a beach - and the weather was not really conducive to visiting the beach but we checked it out from the car and it is certainly gorgeous and would be a great thing to have access to in warmer weather.
And then when we were driving home, she found out she had been accepted to University of Denver! At this point though, I am not sure how/when we could get there to visit, if it could really be a contender. She still has two more schools to hear from.
Also, I drove up there and my eyes were tired coming home so she drove back - across NYC’s George Washington Bridge during rush hour. My pride knows no bounds. She did a great job navigating some stressful roads.
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It is very nice. I grew up there and went to Point for a semester. Many in my dorm were natural resources majors (Water, Soil, forestry)
The communty is very much a part of the university so there are a lot of perks, like hiring students to work for the city parks department, community music (band, orchestra), plenty of student teacher positions.
The Senior US Open will be there this summer, so the town will be buzzing.
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I live close to Endicott and my son goes to Landmark HS which is right next door.
Endicott is a great school and an amazing location! I have a friend who teaches there and has great things to say about the school. Quick train into Boston and Salem for things to do. It’s also not too far to Newburyport or Portsmouth NH if you go north. I toured with my Senior but it’s “too close to home” for him… and to his brother, who will still be in HS next door. They seem to have a lot of flexible housing as well bc kids tend to stay on campus all 4 years. I’m guessing that’s because rents in the area would be too much given it’s on the coast. I also get the sense it’s not a huge party school.
I have a Sophmore at UMass Amherst and that’s a completely different vibe!!
Hope this helps.
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