Agreed. We are doing the admitted student event at MHC this weekend (we had gone by the campus in the fall, but not on a day when they had tours going, so no real “tour”, just walked around). We previously attended an admitted student day for Sarah Lawrence in Feb after she was admitted EA. We did an all day fall open-house at Grinnell, and have visited Stevens - treating WL from Wesleyan and Bryn Mawr as rejections, but CWRU seems to be a little different than most in regards to WL, so took a shot.
We’ll see how it plays out. After this weekend, D will be choosing where to make her deposit and get excited about attending - if she ends up coming off the WL, she’ll then have a decision to make. Right now it is an “absolutely, yes I’ll go to CWRU” - but after committing to another school, connecting with others going there, she may decide that’s the one.
I know my S18 got waitlisted at a couple places, and wanted to stay on the WL; then we did the admitted student weekend at Cal Poly (SLO), he loved it, and he opted out of the WL everywhere else.
I think I’ve mentioned it in another thread before, but I’ll repeated it here. I know a student who was deferred (EA) and then waitlisted (RD) with a stellar application. He told CWRU that he would commit if he was taken off the waitlist. And he was the next day.
I live in Albany. SUNY Albany - ugh. It just really is not a fun college campus. The campus is truly dead on the weekends, kids go to off-campus house parties if they want something to do. The area around campus is not walkable - probably a mile walk to the large shopping plaza near campus. My daughter said ABSOLUTELY NOT when asked about SUNY Albany. I do think it is a very big commuter school as well.
My S23 is planning on not taking too much when he moves in in August, and if there’s anything that he really needs or wants, the plan is that I’ll bring it at Parents Weekend in October. While not bringing many clothes though, he’s looking forward to doing lots of outdoor activities, so the camping gear needs to get packed, and there will need to be space for his down top and bottom quilts to be stored fluffed out in his room. Hm.
The box of medicines is something I think about a lot too (especially ensuring that he knows what to take and when, and what not to combine!), and in addition to cold/flu meds - Tums and Pepto.
I’m planning on getting an air filter for allergies too, plus it will be helpful if there’s any wildfire smoke in August or September. It’s not every year, but when it happens, it’s good to have.
Sounds like he might be heading to the northwest? Probably all students, in dorms at every school across the country, could benefit from air purifiers. I’m going to look into that now that you mention it! You might also send a box of masks of the kind that filter for smoke.
But I think you would find - based on published stats - that the overall student your student would encounter at CWRU would be at a different level than Albany - even Honors.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t pick Albany - but I would think that might be another input to consider.
I’ve heard negatives about U Albany too but I have to say they (and SUNY’s in general) do a very nice job of offering a personal touch and making students feel welcome. My son spoke to 2 staff members about his interest in Spanish and ended up speaking to both in Spanish and being invited to future multi-cultural dinners. I also love their focus on LLC’s for first year students (with the honors living being offered all 4 years) and we were impressed with student research and awards (one student beating out students from Harvard and Yale for a prestigious award.) We also liked the architecture and vibe, although it seems people either love it or hate it. I agree the Albany campus seems far from city life (with access to the city something he really loves about Case) but students seemed to be out and about on campus on a Saturday and seemed happy and having fun and busses were lined up returning from weekend trips home but also from fun trips the students took (NYC, etc.) Having said that, it’s definitely hard to compare U Albany and Case Western on many levels and my son fits the mold of a CWRU university student is so many ways (not interested in parties as much as attending a lecture by a guest author, not caring too much about sports, embracing his inner nerd, etc.) so I know it would be a perfect fit. Even the medium size is something he’s been drawn to during our search. I know he’s not their tippy top student (97% GPA, 1450 SAT) but he can offer a lot with his interest in Spanish and other cultures, music talents (drums) community service values, etc. He loves a challenge so the rigor will be great and he’s had to balance 16-20 hours of gymnastics, band, academics, community service & work during high school so it will seem like a vacation without gymnastics! I think he would do very well there, make great personal connections and focus on his long term goals, but I do think he’d be success wherever he ends up. He’s very determined! No final decision yet but we will go to accepted student event and banquet Friday and my guess is that he’ll fall more in love than ever. He understands the cost factor with U Albany being $5k cheaper, but-if Case ends up being the one-plans to get a campus job and eventually apply to be an RA, which he feels would be a great job as a psych major (not easy but he’s really good with building relationships & conflict resolution and I think he’d be strong on the organization pieces.) So appreciate your input and I’ll keep you posted!
Generally the rodents are fine, it’s the people that have the problem.
Seriously though, sometimes that comes with an urban location - so it’s best to be mentally prepared.
My daughter lived in dorms but also private apartments in Manhattan, many blocks apart - and seeing and “managing” rodents of various species was just something to learn to deal with, no matter how different the buildings or how much she and her room mates paid.
At one point, she eventually figured out the entry point behind some appliance, researched fixes in a YouTube video, went to Home Depot for buy what’s needed (metal wool) and then proudly patched the hole.
Yes - PNW wildfires are an unfortunate reality some years, and when you have to stay indoors the filters provide a lot of relief; I’ll hope that it may make a dent in the number of colds he and his roommate may pass back and forth. And it’s a small amount of white noise that also helps a lot with de-stinkifying in your room.
Whitman has bike rentals, you could see how often he actually uses a bike first semester and then figure out if it makes sense for him to bring one back after break.
