I have to say - a bit off topic - but I’m impressed by all these tour guides always walking backward - and I never saw anyone fall, trip, walk into a tree or anything. I mean, that’s a great feat!!
8 Likes
Heck yes! I’m doing this, too!
4 Likes
You know, he’s not going to Pitt. That door has been closed!!
Roll Tide Roll is all you’ll hear. I’m not a big fan but it could be worse. It could be Rocky Top or Woo Pig Sooie.
2 Likes
The Capstone Men and Women are and have always been amazing. Even though S23 decided he could not attend, the Capstone Men were the best part of his tour. They are so impressive. We had two Men for different parts of our visit. They were the best part! And yes, the Women do the same thing as the men “but backwards and in heels” as they say.
PS- They have been wearing the same outfits (with slight changes) since I was a student there and probably before. I love that formality.
3 Likes
When he is back, ask him what Pitt will offer him that Bama won’t and vice versa. That usually brings about a lot of clarity. Have him write it out. Then read it together.
7 Likes
I had to look that one up! 
3 Likes
My dentist does it!!!
Could be the cowbells which would be the worst… and the loudest.
2 Likes
You jogged my memory of my son’s college counselor, back in the mists of June, when he was readying his early assault on all the rolling admissions schools - all “lesser” schools and not highly ranked.
The counselor wrote him in an email that he was getting dangerously close to filling the 20 slots on the Common App, and added:
"This is where advance research comes into play, as well as questions like, “Do I really see myself commuting by plane or car to Alabama or Tennessee?”
These, to the counselor, were unthinkable scenarios.
2 Likes
I see two things that will give him pause: Pitt’s a clear winner in the urban department. And the second one will be peer pressure. I’m not sure how that’ll play out at all.
1 Like
Hmm. Urban department – what types of things does he like to do? And, how often does he go about doing those things?
Peer pressure – I am going to be a bit blunt here and this comes from a father whose son walked away from his dream school (NC State, spring admit with global launch in Prague). Is there really that big of a difference in prestige between Pitt and Bama? I’d argue that to the general public, Bama is a much stronger brand. To me at least there is not. What about cost? Has that been factored into outcome? I can’t remember what your son will be studying. What is the end game?
There are no podunk colleges, only podunk people.
These things have their way of coming back around. I had a ‘friend” that for years told me the school my husband had gone to was “not a good school “. Her kid ended up going there!!
16 Likes
We’re in the NW, close to Reed, and it is known as intense. Local news is about students who drive themselves to the brink mentally, studying all hours, sleeping in the library. Alumni are devoted for life. We know a couple who named their child after the school. But I’m from NJ, and we’d never heard of it. OTOH, I have a friend from the PNW, and she’d never heard of Sarah Lawrence until her daughter was admitted there.
5 Likes
Very true, and I’ve been thinking a lot about this. Along with this comes the fact that some LAC schools here out West are less-applied to and “ranked” lower (FWIW) than they might be if they were located on the East Coast or even in the Midwest. Which leads to a kind of vicious cycle where a kid who is dead-set on staying West and might really thrive in the environment of an LAC but who is also a little cognizant of prestige is reluctant to go to a “lesser-ranked” LAC that might actually be great.
I’m struggling with this exact issue with my D23 who did get into some nice, moderately-ranked CA LACs that she loves (Occidental, Scripps) that just didn’t give enough merit/need-based money to be workable for us, but she has really affordable offers from PNW LACs who have shown her the love in so many ways (Lewis & Clark, U of Puget Sound). I am certain that she could have a fabulous experience at these schools that are probably just as good as some others that are more prestigious in part just due to the fact they are located in other parts of the country. She’s worried that if she goes to Lewis & Clark, she’ll spend the whole time feeling like she’s attending a “lesser” version of Occidental or Scripps, and I just can’t get her to see it differently. 
All that to say, I wish there was more overall love for West Coast LACs.
7 Likes
Is Lewis & Clark her favorite of the affordable ones? My son toured on a whim just because he was in the area (even though he doesn’t want a LAC) and thought it seemed great. He liked it better than Reed and Occidental (two other LACs he happened to tour). I grew up in Portland and have family friends who were very happy with their experience there, too. It seems like a quality school to me.
1 Like
I can’t even get her to visit. 
When we were picking schools in the fall, she thought maybe the PNW would be good for her, but now she’s really dead-set on staying in CA (which is also why she refuses to visit Oberlin – another school that I wish I could just pick up and plop back down in CA!) and preferably near a big city, even better if said big city is LA. I keep trying to tell her that Portland is very much her vibe, but she’s worried she’ll feel like she gave up “better” schools and that she’ll hate the rain and that all of the concerts and things she wants to do and see are in LA. She’s also concerned that L & C is not diverse enough. I’m struggling with whether or not to force a visit. In the end she needs to feel like she picked the school, but I’d just like her to actively say no to it after visiting rather than no in the abstract based on what she thinks she knows about it.
1 Like
Thank you very much for sharing this, although it did make me cry. For those of us who still have a child at home, it’s an extra reminder to appreciate every moment to its fullest.
3 Likes
Hmm, that’s really tough if she hasn’t visited and it is already April 17! You want it to feel like a fit!
Would it be helpful to share which schools are on her list of affordable options to consider now? And which ones has she visited?
2 Likes
He loves walking in cities for hours, soaking in the energy, going to museums etc. He would miss out on all that, no doubt. But whether he’d have time for any of it once immersed in college is an open question.
Prestige just does not matter in our family. His godmother will be appalled. Some of his schoolmates will roll their eyes and scoff in disbelief.
In PA, Pitt is a well-regarded school, but you’re right, outside of PA and maybe some more college-cognizant circles, it’s not got the name recognition or “prestige” of other similarly ranked schools.
Ironically, he’s accepted to FSU with the in-state tuition waiver - a bit higher ranked than Pitt, a tougher admit, but barely rating a nod of recognition up here.
He plans law school; philosophy/poli sci major of some sort. So cost is a big deal - Bama’s merit aid would mean he graduated debt-free. For us to afford Pitt, he’d be taking out max loans every year. Plus working, which wouldn’t be necessary at Bama.
3 Likes
My kid also loves to spend time walking in cities, loves to go to museums and concerts, etc. He is hoping to satisfy this urge by spending time in other cities on study abroad trips. This will be possible because of the lower cost and higher flexibility of his chosen school (which isn’t in a city itself). Maybe your son can do something like that too? There are lots of amazing cities in the world.
4 Likes