After going through my list several times, my D doesn’t seem interested AT ALL with seeing Bryn Mawr. I have tried to sell her in the co-curriculum piece with Haverford, but sadly her mind seems made up and I don’t think she will give it a fair shot.
So I have decided to just do an unofficial walk through of that campus and schedule another tour at a nearby school. At what appears to be opposite ends of the spectrum are Ursinus and Swarthmore. I realize Swarthmore will be a huge reach, but I don’t want to discourage her from trying either (her SAT scores are low, but she’s in boot camp and we are hoping for improvement).
Based on what seems to appeal to her- Strong Creative Writing program, being academically challenged but able to enjoy being a college student and getting involved in the school, enclosed campus, school spirit and happy students, we will need FA so one known for decent merit or need based. Which school would you recommend her adding to the list- Swarthmore or Ursinus (she’s not someone who is hung up on prestige, but rather the whole vibe of the school)?
I second Ursinus- Swarthmore to me seems very intense, high pressure, but I base that soley on knowing our super Type-A 2017 Valedictorian who never received below a 97 in 4 years of high school, was rejected. She’s now at UPenn with a 4.0. If they reject kids like that, I worry about the pressure. Again, I could be completely wrong!
We took BM off and put Ursinus (how is this pronounced :-?? ) on the tour list. We go next week, so I’ll be sure to report back on each visit.
@deb922 I agree about Lehigh! Was so hoping to get an official tour in, but if she likes the vibe she gets from walking around and hopefully asking a few questions along away, then I’ll be sure to bring her back.
I think Lehigh has one of the prettiest campus. The first time we went there, it was one of those early warm spring days and the trees were flowering, it was gorgeous.
My kids both ended up where the weather was a warm spring day,everyone was out and enjoying a glorious spring day. We laugh about how shallow we were.
I am eager to hear how you like Ursinus ( Errr-Sine-us) My D is having a very good experience there. It is a small school but that is what is great about it for her.
We head out tomorrow. I will be sure to give feedback on each school we see. Thank you all for the great suggestions. I feel like we have a nice list of schools that seem to match her wants: needs- well At least on paper.
That college (you know the one) should declare Uranus as its sister planet. Neat that the Greek god Uranus was the personification of the heavens. Could point to a heavenly campus!
Sadly no time to officially tour Bucknell, but thoroughly drove through the campus. We will definitely have to come back to see it. The campus seemed fairly large but not overwhelming. She loved how cohesive all the buildings looked, including the Greek housing. A fair amount of students were walking around in very casual clothing- jeans, leggings, hoodies, etc. Also noticed a place to rent bikes, canoes, and kayaks- and then saw tons of bikes parked through out the campus. Honestly the school visually was perfect and seemed to be very well taken care of.
We did tour Susquehanna. Really wish we had seen this school prior to driving through Bucknell, because I think she would have been more excited about it. It has a similar look as Bucknell but not as “polished”. The Greek houses were on the edge of the campus and were a little beat up looking- one house had a broken couch and tv sitting on its front porch, which gave off a very “ghetto” type feeling.
Our tour guide was nice and is wrapping up her senior year in the same major my D wants to go in. She introduced us to the head of the CW Department and he was kind enough to sit and chat with us for a bit.
There were a lot of students out walking around or playing something in the open areas. Most of the students were dressed in Susquehanna clothing- hoodies, jackets, T-shirt’s, etc. Which gave us a feeling of a school with a lot of team pride.
The dorms seemed a bit run down. The one we viewed was a boy wing and smelled like a locker room! So that’s didn’t help.
We were able to eat in the cafeteria. The food was just ok. Didn’t feel like there were too many options in comparison to some of the other schools we have eaten at.
Overall the school was nice. Unfortunately there was no wow factor to it for my D. She’s keeping on the list, but I think it could easily be knocked off. Again I do wonder what her impression of it would have been if she had seen it prior to our Bucknell drive through…
Bucknell is very preppy/Greek/athletic, with excellent sports. It’s also very difficult to get into (not in the same group as Susquehanna in terms of admissions - Bucknell would be with Lehigh or Skidmore, whereas Susquehanna would be with Goucher or Marist.)
My DD’s three top picks in this order Lehigh, Lafayette & Muhlenberg. We went to see Muhlenberg on an am tour with information session then we made it to Lehigh for an afternoon visit (2nd) visit. We stayed that night at the Hyatt Place in Bethlehem and ate dinner at the Bethlehem Brews. Fun place hotel was a basic Hyatt. Next am we traveled to Lafayette for am tour and info session. That afternoon we drove an hour to go to see University of Scranton. Not her favorite. So it was four colleges in two days. Manageable but bring your sneakers for the tours. Hope this helps as my DD only seems to be loving the Lehigh valley schools
Loved the grey stone buildings at Dickinson. But absolutely hated that two main and 3 normal roads that run through the campus. It made the school feel like it was split into different separate sections. There were a nice amount of students out and about sitting in the red Adirondack chairs. Liked the quirky little superstition about not graduating if they step on the seal, and the story behind the mermaid instead of the Triton. Also loved the high focus on the sustainability. But sadly just couldn’t get passed the streets! So this one is coming off our long list.
Next stop was F&M. Immediate reaction as we parked was that we were not going to like the school. Two very busy cross roads outlined the school and cut off the football/ athletic building. As we began the tour our little group was almost hit by a car and then the driver yelled out some type of profanity. Not the best start! But our two tour guides were very personable and the energy they had for their school shined through. I think between the two they knew every student there. Beyond the two busy streets was a nice enclosed feeling campus. My D really liked the different dorm names and Harry Potter themes with them. I can’t necessarily pin point any stand out great thing about the school, but it’s overall vibe made us feel like the school cared about it’s students and the students cared about the school. This one will be staying on our list.
