Yes, we watched it! Great documentary!
Lessons Learned at Lawrence.
After touring Lawrence, these were the takeaways from what my S23 wants and doesnāt want in a college.
- Anything less than 3 hours from home is ātoo close.ā
- He likes a mix of old and new buildings.
- There is a difference between āhistoricā and ādated.ā Historic is fine. Dated is not.
- He would like more than 1 dining hall option.
- Nice exercise and rec facilities are important to him.
- Being by water of any kind is a bonus.
- Clustered dorm buildings are a bonus.
- How a town/college smells matters to him.
- What the surrounding area looks like matters to him.
- Easy access to places beyond the college (whether it be in close location or shuttles/buses) is important.
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#8 is big but underrated. It was what turned my D17 off of Georgetown (though she absolutely adores DC in general), and my D19 off from Earlham (though we also learned in rather short order she isnāt a LAC sort of girl).
But no matter what, why would you want to live four years of your life in a place that smells bad?
FTR, Lawrence did not smell. However, being on campus brought up the conversation who he doesnāt like the way the downtown area where his brother lives smells. I donāt notice anything but he does I guess.
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One of the reasons my daughter refused to go back and do an actual tour of Bates is she didnāt like the way the dance building smelled when she poked her head into see it. There were other reasons so I donāt usually mention that one but it was definitely a strong con for her.
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My son has been pretty closed lipped about any type of preferences for colleges and after high school graduation plans so I cued into all he said!
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My daughter is at Girls State in MA this week and also loving it. She texted me,l if this is what college is like, take me there now!ā
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How a college smells is a big deal! At Texas Tech, there is a large lot of cows southeast and depending on which way the wind blows, it might be a rotten egg kind of dayā¦the cows are most active in the evenings. lol. edited to change it from oil refineries to cows after I decided to look it up lol edited again to add the school 
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Iām at the closing ceremony for Texas Boys State right now. My son was elected to Supreme Court Associate Justice 
Heās had an amazing week, itās really been a transformative experience. Heās probably going to come back next year as a counselor.
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We visited Carleton and St. Olaf in April, and thereās a Malt-o-Meal factory right there on the edge of town. Depending on which way the wind is blowing, the smell of cereal, brown sugar, and toast is intense!
It wasnāt bad, but it was so distinct and strong at times - but then when the wind shifted you forgot all about itā¦until the next time 
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I can definitely vouch for this lolā¦itās thatā¦ummmā¦unique Lubbock aroma 
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I have an Astro kid too!
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Lots of visits for my stem astronomy obsessed kid this spring, we had previously done east coast so this was a cross country track and random other visits.
UW Seattle - a surprise hit, loved the city, the vibe, the gorgeous campus that is not at all urban but close to a large city, extremely strong Astro department, very ācoolā progressive and queer (according to kid) vibe and kids he viewed as āhis peopleā.
CU Boulder - also a hit, gorgeous setting, campus, town, good restaurants, amazing NASA connections, great facilities (the engineering and aerospace engineering tours made me want to go!). A bit of a more conventional rich fun kid vibe, but hey nothing wrong with thatā¦
UWisconsin at Madison - kid hated it so much we didnāt finish the tour, hated the town which everyone kept saying wasnāt that bad, the food seemed horrible, hard to get to from us and generally the midwestern vibe of most of the kids we saw did not work for kid. Also we went during very high Covid levels and there were no precautions being taken - yikes. And of course the terrible weather we happened to hit didnāt help!
UMichigan - everyone I know who has gone or has a kid that has gone loves it but was really a miss for us. We were there during March madness which everyone seemed obsessed with and though I am sure in a school this size there are a ton of kids more like mine - nerdy, queer, progressive, into science etc etc we mostly saw rowdy sports focused crowds and a bar-filled town and I couldnāt break through kidās āthis isnāt for meā reaction.
UChicago - we werenāt even going to visit, but kid loved the city of Chicago enough to add it to our list. though still very wary of UChicagoās reputation for intensity the kid really enjoyed the tour and connected with the kids we met. Made its way onto the list.
Northwestern - surprise hit of the trip. Kid loved the lakeside setting, the very brainy but lower key vibe, the campus in a college town that was right next to but not in a large city that he really likes, loved the tour and the tour guide and the ease of double majoring (the tour guide was a double major in astrophysics and theater - similar combo may be in my kidās dreams) and taking classes in the different schools. Was a bit concerned about its rep for frat culture but seems to think that is more historical. We may have our ED school!
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LOL! I was trying to figure out why I got a notification for the Parents of the Class of 23. Now I understand.
@smbayguy - DS22 was just accepted to SLO for Comp Sci. Our school never went CR/NC for classes, but I know a lot of schools did. I donāt think itāll count against him since there were a lot of kids in that same boat. Theyāll probably just use his GPA for 10-11, the classes he took, and the rest of the checkmark items as usual. One thing that confuses me on your sonās GPAs, why is the 9-11 GPA different from the 10-11 with CR/NC classes in 9th? BTW, the EC hours with leadership and the work hours major-related are probably what pushed my son over the finish line. Your sonās GPAs are great. Do you know his GPA with counting only 8 semesters of honors credit? The excess hours are counted as 4.0 on the 4.0 scale. For example, my sonās fully-weighted GPA was a 4.29 (he took extra A-G classes which lowered his GPA). His GPA with only the 8 semesters of honors was a 4.23.
Congratulations on your sons acceptance to Cal Poly SLO.
I need to ask my son about the GPA. Heās now at one week American Legion CA Boy state camp.
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Well the 12th grade graduated today and so my S23 is officially a rising senior!
Cheers to all for a good summer! Iām looking forward to chatting as our kids embark on writing their applications in a few short months.
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Dropped off D23 at her two-week residential music industry cap at the University of Colorado Denver today.
Not much to say about it, honestly, except that itās begun. More updates anon, presumably.
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My first one is a raising senior Class 2023
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Welcome! Glad to have you here as things start to get real.
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And so it beginsā¦junior yr report cards are out, DD is officially a senior and application essays have startedā¦hopefully she will be able to cut the list down from 17 after we knock out the final tours in the next few weeks!
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