<p>Just sent a PM to you.</p>
<p>mattmom, a question. In principle I do agree with your comments above regarding travelling a long way to attend what may not be the most illustrious school. In effect, you are going to a lot of trouble to attend what is essentially just a regional institution, but in another region. But to me this is an issue that is worth serious consideration: what are your options if:
1) you really want to get out of your region of the country (and in the process decline your in-state options); 2) you are a good student, but your record is not necessarily sufficiently distinguished to assure yourself good (or even any) merit aid at a top (or even near-top) institution; and 3) financially your family looks good on paper but for whatever reason your resources are limited? This seems to me the issue here if I am understanding correctly. Now you will certainly find that at many of the schools mentioned, the student body is primarily in-state or at least in-region; this proves your point. But every school has some exceptions. Is this not a good example of one of them? If not, what are the alternatives?</p>
<p>yes weldon, that is exactly that</p>
<p>That is a pretty ambitious itinerary. It's a very wide loop and I'd estimate that it will take the better part of a week to complete. </p>
<p>FWIW, TCNJ is the classic "suitcase" school and Ramapo and Drew are close.</p>
<p>No hard and fast answer to weldon's question; I guess it is a judgment call. My adult perception is that there is a bit of the-grass-isalways-greener in the thyinking that a mediocre school in another region is better than a comparable school closer to home. There are perhaps regions that are more interesting than others and regional institutions with a lot to offer, so no way to be definitive about what to do.</p>
<p>We will leave Friday and return the following Sunday!</p>
<p>What is a "suitcase" school?</p>
<p>A "suitcase" school is one where a large percentage of the student body goes home for the week-end.</p>
<p>Glad you like the snow and cold because there's a lot of it to love around Potsdam NY where the annual accumulation averages in the hundreds of inches and the themometers can read -10 to -20 in mid-winter.</p>
<p>Oh well, that's not good. </p>
<p>I really DO need to find another school to look at instead of Rutgers.</p>
<p>I hope you have a great trip. While I do prefer small schools like F&M, Dickenson, Muhlenberg and some of the others that have been mentioned you might consider riding through the Rutgers campus if you pass by New Brunswick. They may have an Honors program that might offer you money. I went to F&M as an undergraduate and had a great time before going to Rutgers to graduate school for 6 years. Rutgers is a very large university but it does have, like any large state University, tremendous resources for those students aggressive enough to take advantage of such a large school.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Don't know what your criteria are for a school to replace Rutgers, but have you considered Ursinus College? I've heard good things about it and the impression I get is that they tend to take a more holistic approach to merit aid as opposed to strictly by-the-numbers. It's also not far from F & M.</p>
<p>As I said before, you have a very ambitious itinerary. Dropping a destination might not be a bad thing. Give yourself some time to relax and reflect. In any case, enjoy your trip.</p>
<p>rebelliousduck: your statement about Potsdam's winter temperatures is correct. But you are wrong about the snow. Potsdam is actually out of the snow-belt at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, snowfall tends not to be that much of an issue (at least as compared to the rest of upstate NY!!!)</p>
<p>for those of you who have been holding your breath, the 30-yr. ave. annual snowfall for Potsdam, NY is only 83 inches.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if this has been suggested yet, but you may have luck at Eugene Lang.</p>
<p>So...how did the trip turn out?</p>
<p>It was awesome! I really like University at Albany, Temple University, and University of Pittsburgh. They are all, of course, are in cities!</p>