I have been in touch with @AnonMomof2 regarding Colgate’s social scene. Unfortunately, I can’t really give much insight into the math program. I would suggest that one checks out the math depths website and also the career center’s website to see where the math majors end up and what kind of work they do. Curious to hear about the visit!
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See, THIS is the reason I don’t wash the windows at our house (I knew there must be a reason other than laziness) --it is so my kids will feel at home if they go off to college someplace sort of shabby!
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Is that a big, tall glass of Nope? With a plate of nope on the side?
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Pitt is a local safety that she really doesn’t want to go to. Her Boarding School is extremely remote so that doesn’t bother her. We are visiting on Colgate on 4-21. We only visited a few schools before she applied.
I am actually really nervous about visiting after seeing so many posts about how the fit at Colgate is not for everyone- It seems to be the only school on here where that comment is made over and over again.
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Good luck on the visit(s) and with Hamilton FA offer. Sounds like you have some good insider info from homerdog and will get some more from you D’s stats teacher.
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I almost spit my tea out on my keyboard!
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We just visited Colgate this week and it was phenomenal. Go in with an open mind and enjoy it!
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I come from a family of engineers (and teachers) and those are two professions that really don’t care what school you go to, as long as you have the skills.
I was lucky enough to be invited to a F1 event last year as a special guest of a sponsor and we got to talk to many people on the team. Because I have a senior, I asked them what kind of background/ experience they would look for if someone wanted to be hired. Their number 1 answer was that the applicant should know the sport of F1. They don’t want to hire someone who’s good at computers/ mechanics/ whatever but has no clue about what the sport really requires. So that Oregon State/ combined with a few well-placed European internships would be a dream resume for a career adjacent/in F1, IMO.
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Undergrad degree in Math + MBA = lots of jobs in consulting, real estate development, private equity.
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@AnonMomof2 one danger of CC is that there are a handful of users that contribute frequently. Their info of course is helpful but generally not representative of that many experiences. We know two students that absolutely love Colgate. They do not take part in Greek life and have many social opportunities. Don’t forgot it’s not a tiny school. lots of different students with different personalities. Def. visit w/ an open mind
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We did look at UNO, yes! At the time, S had already gotten into Loyola and he loved it, so we were feeling good, but also searching for less expensive options in case we needed them. It is known, like you said, for having awesome visiting musicians like Marsalis, and honestly I can’t tell you why it was on his list and then off again. I think University of Memphis (the one that is 20k) will be his last application, though, hallelujah. It’s down to money, and then a decision.
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You remind me of when my kid would make a beep-beep noise like a garbage truck and slowly back away. LOL.
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This was a perfect assessment of Loyola New Orleans with great detail and an excellent, honest balance of pros & cons. My daughter was assigned to Bieber Hall as a freshman in 2019 and lasted exactly one semester. There were definitely issues with cleanliness and air quality (she was sick often) but her main issue was her roommate was having 4-5 friends over each night watching Netflix late into the night when my daughter had early classes. Students are expected to stay in the dorms 2 years but they made an exception for my daughter and allowed her to move off campus (a junior friend had an extra room for rent in her apartment near campus) as long as her parents approved, which we did. So a poor housing experience was probably her only complaint during her time at Loyola and it was early on, but resolved quickly so she sees it as a positive since res life was very accommodating. Having said that, Res life is very aware of complaints, particularly with Bieber, so hopefully they are addressing the serious concerns. My daughter has loved her experience at Loyola. She struggled a bit with remote classes during Covid (not ideal for a performance major) but took a year off and was thrilled to come back to in-person classes. She has great relationships with her music professors and enjoyed her singer/songwriter ensembles and her current pop/rock/blues ensemble (which was just chosen to perform at French Quarter Fest on 4/15!) The staff really cares at Loyola. To give just one example, when she was a sophomore her friend was struggling and not going to classes and friends reported this so the president of the school (yes the president) called him in to her office to check in and asked him what SHE could do to help the situation. Just so caring and a true family unit. Let me know if anyone has specific questions. I’m not sure how many music students there are but music and music industry are popular majors & minors for sure!
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Just to update my son’s journey:
-Case Western is still my son’s top choice but it’s about $7k over budget. He may write an appeal to see if they can provide more funding but not very likely and he understands it’s in the mix, but not very realistic. They won’t take all his college credit. They said maybe for his Syracuse University classes (6 credits) and CLEP Spanish (9-12 credits) so that’s a bummer! He needs a 5 on a few AP’s which is possible, but too many unknowns with Case IMO.
-2 Florida schools were high on the list (Barry in Miami & Rollins in Orlando) but he’s not so sure he wants to be so far from home now. Sure, they have short direct flights home (sometimes cheap too) but 20-24 hours away by car is making him reconsider.
-He’s pretty much eliminated 5-7 choices (out of 16 he applied to, including a waitlist spot at Northeastern) but hasn’t withdrawn his app yet since he might still be open if more $ were offered in the next few weeks (this happened with my daughter late in the game)
-A dark horse has emerged in the past week: SUNY Albany. He only applied because it was free app week but got into Honors and decided to attend the accepted student day (kind of reluctantly because he didn’t see it as a top choice for a few reasons, including it being so large.) But he REALLY liked it. The honors program seemed close-knit and intimate and actually seems to make it feel smaller. It’s very diverse which is a must for him. They would take all his college credits so he could graduate in 3 years pretty easily or do the accelerated 4+1 BS/MS Mental Health Couseling program in 4 years. It’s an R1 university so lots of research opportunities (early on if students are motivated) and it has a great reputation for their social science professors and programs (he’ll be studying psychology.) They gave him $5k which is great for a SUNY at in-state prices so fits very nicely into our budget. He spoke to the head of the arts & sciences dept. and a Latin American professor about a possible minor in Spanish and ended up speaking to both in Spanish which he thought was cool. The Latin American professor said kind of jokingly “I’m really enjoying our discussion and your questions. What can I do to convince you to come here?” That made him laugh and feel welcome. Everything felt very personal considering they have close to 20,000 undergrads. The design of the campus is unique and interesting and he thought it was cool. It’s also designed so that you don’t have to walk too far for classes, kind of one main area of buildings. He’s not a fan of a 15-20 min walk or having to take a shuttle to get from class to class. My husband and I found ourselves really liking it too. It’s only 4 hours from Buffalo and it just seemed to have the vibe he wants, so we both think he could be very happy there. He’s a great drummer but has never done pep or marching band but thought it sounded fun (no experience necessary and they even give some $ for being involved.) Not sure if this will be “the one” but has lots of potential and was a pleasant surprise very late in the game.
Also happy to announce that he had his level 10 regional gymnastics meet this past weekend in Philly and qualified for nationals in Oklahoma City! This was a huge goal for him this year as he ends his gymnastics career so he’s been on Cloud 9! Super proud of him! Unfortunately, he won’t be able to take his AP Bio exam due to the date conflict but he reached out to his Bio teacher and pretty sure he can do a make-up a few weeks later.
Love hearing all your updates! This month is going to be a wild ride for many of us! Buckle up!
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Congrats on his accomplishment - and it’s amazing how the SUNY Albany came about. But it goes to show you - your name may not have flash but it doesn’t mean you won’t provide a meaningful experience.
Best of luck to him - and no matter what, don’t over spend!!!
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I don’t think it’s always true that college courses are substantially harder than HS. It’s definitely true for some. We prepped both of our older kids for this and they said we oversold it. One did a STEM major (as one of two), the other didn’t, but neither thought that their highly rated LACs (different ones each) were harder than their HS had been, and overall found it less stressful because they could focus on fewer classes and the culture was less competitive than in HS. Like at many colleges these days, they both took a required writing course freshman year designed to get students up to “university-level writing” and each found it an easy A and said the expectations didn’t exceed their HS. They found many of the classes perceptively easier, not necessarily because the content was, but because they had engaging teachers.
I’m sure this is highly dependent on the HS, the college, the major, the teachers and most of all the students.
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Your son has so many cool and varied interests and accomplishments: the drumming, the gymnastics, the focus on social justice, the interest in clinical psychology, the fact that he is a heritage speaker of Spanish. I am not one bit surprised that professors who meet him want to recruit him on the spot! Whatever school lands him is going to be very lucky! (I keep rooting for Barry, but what do I know…)
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Thank you and great advice. My practical, “who cares about name or prestige?” son kind of shocked me lately with his recent obsession with Case Western. He started trying to justify the cost then tried to convince us he could graduate in 3 years with 18 credit semesters (this was assuming they’d take all his college credit, which they won’t) and I found myself wobbly on sticking to our budget. I started to think “This kid has worked so hard. He landed the top merit from Case and was given a great financial aid package, we should be grateful for that and try to make it work…and maybe he COULD graduate early and save money that way…” I mean, I had to slap myself to bring me back to reality. I figured out what was going on. My son’s friends-a few who are Ivy bound and have no budget limits-were pressuring him and convincing him that he won’t be challenged enough unless he goes to the more elite school on his list, etc. That’s why the SUNY Albany experience was so welcome. To see him light up about a school that is reputable (but maybe not “big name”) and in our budget was a relief! And I think he snapped out of his “Case Western or bust” mentality and felt it would be great to go to an R1 school since research is a big focus for him, but not be in major debt. He has other R1 schools on his list (CWRU, UB, and Pitt) but CWRU is out of budget and he didn’t connect as much at UB or Pitt. So thanks for that reminder to stay within budget! Very important!
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Yeah - 18 credits all through college in a tough major…hmmm…no
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I totally hear you on the peer pressure; my kid’s certainly feeling that also. So glad he has this new dark horse candidate!
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