<p>Hi, my daughter is going to the scholars dinner tomorrow night and the accepted students' day on Saturday. I'm definitely driving her up and staying in the area, but I'm not sure what to do about the dinner and Saturday. They seemed to invite parents, but I wasn't sure how many parents actually went. I even called the admissions office to ask, but the young woman I talked to didn't really seem to know anything about it, and I couldn't get out of her whether or not other parents were coming.<br>
So does anyone here know how many parents actually go? I have no strong feelings either way; I just don't want to make my D feel awkward by having her be the only one with a parent there, or, conversely, the only one without a parent there.<br>
Any advice would be appreciated!!</p>
<p>I will be going with my daughter to Saturday’s programs. (She was not invited to the scholars dinner.). My feeling is 1) if I am driving up I’m not going to sit around in the hotel lobby all day, 2) if I am paying for it I want to see what I and my daughter are getting, and 3) my daughter never asks questions and I don’t want her to miss important information that will affect her decision. I have gone with my daughter on all the college visits to this point; I’m not going to stop now that it is close to decision time. In fact, I would argue that I need to be there now more than ever. </p>
<p>She has a friend at Clark and will sleep in the dorm on Friday night so she will have ample time to experience the campus without me.</p>
<p>Just as an update, I went to the dinner and the accepted students’ day, and both were filled with parents. In fact, they cautioned us parents NOT to answer in the sample classes they gave – they wanted to give the students a chance – but some parents just couldn’t restrain themselves. The overnight was less of a success; the students spent a great deal of the time telling my D how boring Clark was.</p>
<p>@BefuddledParent - I’m sorry to hear the student body told such things to your D! xD</p>
<p>What is her opinion on attention Clark right now, after having had an overnight visit?</p>
<p>Yes, Befuddled, we’d love to hear your input, too. Of course, she could have been unlucky enough to meet kids who wouldn’t be happy anywhere. </p>
<p>My D had to choose between two accepted students’ weekends last weekend, and went to the “other” school, because she visited Clark last fall. We thought she might come home totally in love with that other school, but she didn’t. Clark might be back in the #1 spot again… so I’m curious to hear your report.</p>
<p>Yes, please, anyone who went to the weekend events post your impressions. My D applied RD and just got a nice handwritten post card from admissions, so she’s a bit pumped about the school.</p>
<p>My freshman son has not yet complained about boredom. i guess the bored kids haven’t met the kids he knows.</p>
<p>Those overnights are chancy. My D just did one at another school a couple of nights ago, and while she really liked her host and her host’s friends, she got stranded in the library for three hours because her host had a meeting that got complicated and went long. So she didn’t have any fun on her big night at a college (although she got a LOT of reading done!) But that doesn’t say anything broader about the school.</p>
<p>My daughter stayed overnight with a friend she knew from a summer trip. The student is an RA and they couldn’t leave because she was on duty that night. We also took a different friend who is a freshman there, and her roommate, out for dinner. My daughter had a nice overnight visit. The girls did say that sometimes they get bored because there isn’t always stuff to do but they love the school. Overall my daughter liked the school very much. She felt very comfortable there and liked the atmosphere a lot. She enjoyed the mock classes, the opportunity to meet with student club leaders, and the discussions with professors at the academic majors program. I was not impressed by their study abroad options compared to other schools I have seen. I was very impressed by the faculty I met. It is still on her list (ie she didn’t eliminate it) but we still have a few other admitted students days to attend before she makes her final decision.</p>
<p>Overall, my D liked Clark, despite the rather dismal overnight visit. I’d say it’s still on her list of possibilities, but she didn’t fall in love with it. We knew the overnight was going to be hit or miss – it’s tough to judge a college on one person or group of people.</p>
<p>What she liked: She wants small classes, and she liked the sample classes we went to. The students who sat with us at the scholars dinner and at lunch the next day were interesting, welcoming and nice. The student population looked good to her, and had some diversity, which she wants. Worcester was bigger than she thought, and it looked like the downtown did have some places to go. She was not worried about safety, particularly – we live near NYC, and she has some street smarts.</p>
<p>What she is concerned about: She is worried about small colleges being clique-y, and worried that in terms of finding really good friends that she likes, it is a smaller pool to choose from. She worries that Clark might be boring – the people we talked to did not seem to go into Boston much, or even go out much. But then, she may find that once she gets to college, she’s busy enough with school work that it is not a huge issue. </p>
<p>She did an overnight at Ursinus last night, but I haven’t spoken to her about it yet, simply got a text that it “went really well.” So it may be higher on her list!</p>
<p>Thanks, Befuddled. The clicquey thing was much in evidence at Dickinson, where my D did the accepted students’ weekend last weekend. She though Clark was less so when she visited there (last fall). She felt like the Clarkies seem to mix it up a little more. But she wasn’t there long enough to get a feel for whether it was boring or not.</p>
<p>She is social and is devoted to her friends but does, however, like enough down time to do homework, watch her crime and bad reality shows, and even take naps. Boring isn’t always bad!</p>
<p>Can’t speak for social dynamics between Clark women, although I know one who graduated a couple of years ago and 2 who attend now. Very friendly kids. </p>
<p>FWIW: I just texted S who attends there and asked the question about cliquey stuff. It’s Friday night and apparently he’s not to busy to text with Mom. 
</p>
<p>He said that it’s not cliquey, but athletes (he is one, so I am glad he recognizes this) have a bit of an advantage at getting into parties. I think that’s because they get to know upperclassmen through their sport.<br>
I asked if the same thing is true for female athletes. He said, no, not such a big deal for women; it’s a pretty friendly place.</p>
<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I am a sophomore at Clark right now and was so interested in what you guys all thought about Clark! </p>
<p>Just to answer the question about being cliquey, we are definitely not. Of course everyone will have their good group of friends, but its so easy to meet new people and hang out with different people anytime and everywhere. You ask what the favourite thing about Clark is to us and most of us will say the people. If you have any questions please ask! otherwise, good luck to those who applied RD and I hope to see many of you here soon!</p>
<p>Dragons–I would like to know several things:
On average how big are your classes? How accessible are profs?
How easy is it (really) to get to Boston? And do many people go?
The school talks a “good peace and justice and activism” philosophy. Are the students really motivated in that area?
When we toured the school and area, Worcester looked like a disaster area. And the school feels isolated in a super run down town. How is it going to school there? Do you feel isolated and stuck on campus?
In terms of “party” school, how would rate Clark? Is it or not?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>My experiences may be different from st.g.i.dragons’.</p>
<p>As a junior math major and physics minor, my classes are pretty small. The max for most of them is probably between 10 and 15. Since the math department is so small, all my professors know me by now since I’ve had classes with all them at least in the past 5 semesters. They are all incredibly accessible. One professor, who isn’t my advisor, went out of his to help me figure out my future plans. He just asked me one day after class if I was starting to think about grad school and we ended up talking for an hour. </p>
<p>As for getting to boston its pretty easy. I have a car on campus and mostly just drive there whenever I go, however, the majority of people probably take the train. Union station is the main station in worcester and its not that far from clark. I know people who have walked there. I wouldn’t really recommend it though.</p>
<p>I have no idea about the peace, justice, and activism stuff. I’m not really involved in all that stuff, so I don’t pay attention to it. </p>
<p>As for going to school in worcester I personally think its fine. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, but there is really no reason to be walking around main st, especially after dark. Park is fine, and there is tons of stuff to do on park. There are a lot of restaurants and there is also a comic book store thats fairly popular.</p>
<p>As far as feeling isolated and stuck on campus I don’t really know what to say. I live “off campus”, but my apartment is literally across the street from the traina center. There are lots of people who live off campus on florence, beaver, charlotte, maywood, and so on. </p>
<p>This also means there are plenty of parties to go to on weekends at various “off campus” houses, within walking distance from campus. In fact a lot of these off campus houses are right next to houses owned by clark and considered on campus, especially on florence.</p>