@shortnuke Pitt engineering covered all costs for the summer research program in Singapore for everyone who goes afaik. For a study abroad experience, might want to look into that option?
@ucbalumnus Not certain what is the purpose of your post (#60). Itâs nice to have your stats but I thought the purpose of this thread was for people to speak of THEIR impressions and surprises. The OP was mentioning that THEY didnât find ND to be that diverse. Stats wonât affect this albeit, in this case, the stats do tend to support the OPâs impressions.
U of south Carolina has excellent student mental health services, ans well as general health services.
That was the point, to show that the previous posterâs anecdote was reflective of the actual situation at ND.
Oklahoma State University - their computer system to log in is not good. The process for navigating the college is just OK. The students were fabulous and nice. The business school was good. The apartments were not great in Stillwater but on campus apartments were good. His first dorm stunkâŠbadly. (boy BO) Living on campus is good for when it sleets. The gym on campus is great. Best partâŠhe got a good job.
Baylor - online navigation was good. Dorm for engineering and CS majors was awesome. They unload your car for you the first year to make it easier. The teachers for the most part care. But, Baylor is still a liberal arts school at its heart and that is not good for math/science boys. Too many philosophy, english, literature and fluffy classes for my guy who is a math geek. Not sure he will get into med school or grad school due to 3 semesters of Spanish and many liberal arts type of classes. If your child is a math/science person go to A&M.
Iâm OK with ucb putting up the actual stats for ND and his input is usually among the most valuable. I think coming from the Seattle area we would have found just about any college in the Midwest much paler than we are used to. It just happened to be visually surprising walking around his campus.
S2âs HS graduating class was 38% Caucasian/30% Indian/30% other Asian. His college sendoff party was maybe 20%. His kindergarten class was about 80% so that is how rapidly things have been changing around here.
University of Rochester
Surprise positives:
The first shouldnât have been a surprise, but Iâm sort of a cynic. They actually lived up to their promises in terms of opportunitiesâundergrad research, affordable travel abroad, active and involved student body (it seems like everybody is in some kind of EC, sport, and/or performance group.
Excellent freshman orientation and ongoing social/emotional/academic support for first years.
âMel Weekendâ rocks and is much better than most homecoming/parent weekend/fall-fling type campus-wide celebrations.
Surprise negatives:
A somewhat laissez-faire approach to advising, including an area where they should excelâmed school admissions advising. Iâm not sure thatâs entirely a bad thing, though, since over her four years there, I think my daughter has learned to be more proactive than she would have been if her school had done more âhand holdingâ.
Poor response on the part of the university to a sexual harassment charge made me question the priorities of the administration, but my daughter was not affected negatively by it and she does not feel that that represents the campus culture.
And, petty as it sounds, the upper-classmen dorms were a disappointment after the more spacious and comfortable first-year dorms.
MODERATORâS NOTE: The thread keeps veering off topic. Please stick to the subject of the thread title.
I want to add another surprise positive for Davidson â self-scheduled and take home exams. With their strong emphasis on the honor code, students can schedule their exams (often called âwritsâ) and do them on their own. The prof gives a window for completion. Really helps my D with reducing stress b/c she can plan her week and set aside the time when it works for her. She did a 2 hour Calc III exam from 9 to 11 one night this week! Having that control over her schedule really suits my D. Prior to her starting, I hadnât really thought about what a positive that would turn out to be.
I hadnât looked at this thread in a while, and I just saw the stuff about the Wawa at Princeton.
Both of my kids told me that it was an unpleasant surprise to them when they went to college in Chicago that there were no Wawas â and nothing like a Wawa â to be found anywhere. Growing up in Philadelphia, they were certainly aware that there were lots of places you could get better hoagies, breakfast sandwiches, or other fresh sandwiches than at Wawa. But if you didnât happen to be near any of those places, or it was a time of day when most of those places were closed, Wawa was really not a bad choice, and its price/value ratio was usually excellent. They understood that Wawa was a regional chain, but they assumed other regions had equivalent stores. But it turns out they donât. There are plenty of chain convenience stores in America, but not so many (if any) that have made the commitment to quality fresh food that Wawa has.
Note: Thereâs a town called Wawa in southeastern Pennsylvania, too, along Route 1 near the Delaware border. Which is where the convenience store chain started.
My son and I had no idea that Wawa has had such large presence in certain parts of the country. From the way some of you talk about it, itâs like my feeling for 7-11 convenience store chain. Not that 7-11 offered for me anything special in terms of food or anything. When I emigrated to this country some decades ago as a young teen without knowing a word of English, I used to stop by this local 7-11 store on the way back and forth from the school that I was placed in. Not to buy anything since I didnât have any money, but to practice my English, âhow much this, how much that?â I think I drove the counter clerk crazy, but itâs one of the fondest memories I have of settling down in this place called Oxnard, California.
My son, Iâm sure, will end up with a very fond memory of Wawa years from now looking back. For a kid who didnât really care for the food when we visited together during his move-in day, Iâve been noticing the signs of his frequent visit there on my credit card statements since, twice in one day, too.
Merging the side Wawa discussion with an addendum to my post above about the surprise positives of Dâs college, University of Rochester. One wordâWegmans.
I love Wegmans. Unfortunately the closest one to us is an hour away - too far for my grocery shopping preferences. Fortunately Weis is ok too.
ETA: And yes, we found Wegmans via our lad at U Rochester. 
Otherwise, I agree with EllieMomâs assessment of pros/cons for that school.
DD is a sophomore at UCLA. The experience has exceeded my expectations.
Positive surprises: Nice personal touches like getting a âwelcomeâ phone call from the parents of an older student. Move-in day was epic â not just the logistics which were flawless but the nice touches like fresh whole fruit, coffee & tea, bottled water and snacks at every turn, and an army of experienced parent volunteers and special reception for OOS families. Free food everywhere, and it was really, really good. We felt like rockstars. My daugther loved everything about True Bruin Welcome week, including the concert. There was nothing like any of this in 1987 when I moved in. Housing gaurantee for first three years was a huge surprise since there were not enough dorm rooms for even the first-year class, let alone anyone else when I attended. My daughter took a one-credit seminar on Asian poets (part of the schoolâs âFiat Luxâ series for Freshman) that was to her a -life-of-the-mind exercise â she loved it and couldnât stop talking about it. There were less than 10 students in that class, btw, which was a pleasant contrast to lecture halls we expected at a flagship public. A âCommon Bookâ is designated each year, and undergraduates get free copies. My daughter read last yearâs selection in one sitting and called me in tears, in the middle of the night, wanting to talk about it. I imagined her experience multiplied by the thousands of students across campus who were also reading it, and it made me smile. Anyway, she was having the kind of discovery moment that affirmed $60K was worth it.
Negative surprises: Not many. though, I have to say the competitive nature of such a school is more pervasive than I remember. There is an application and interview process (assuming you are selected to move to an interview) for EVERYTHING⊠even, volunteer work. That was a shock. Expect a lot of opportunities in just about everything you have an interest in. But also expect a lot of competition. They donât want just âmembersâ to boost their numbers, they want blood. By that, I mean they want to know what your academic schedule is, what other commitments you have that compete for your timeâŠpast experience in this area â other evidence that youâll be a genuine, active contributor and not a just a resume fluffer. There was nothing ivory-tower about this â itâs real-world I know, but I wish there was more coaching or priming so we could come in expecting this rather than be surprised. She grew up fast in that respect. Getting a lot of ânoâsâ before she got a âyes.â
DS is a freshman at Purdue, which he loves. If this thread is still alive next year, Iâll have better insight to share then. so far, itâs exceeded our expectations.
We wuv Wawa and Wegmans⊠weally!
University of Virginia
Surprise Positives: None really. My S was all in from the very beginningâŠand we were as well. He chose it over a few higher ranked schools that he was accepted to and had/has no regrets. It really was a fit for him. To use his wordsâŠhe âhad that feelingâ when he visited. He planned to apply to the Comm SchoolâŠwhich was a bit of a stressor but he was accepted so his plan came to fruition. No complaints on our endâŠhe had a great 4 yearsâŠis now well employed and LOVES UVA. His College experience was all that he hoped for and he took advantage of all of the great opportunities available to him there.
Charlottesville is a great college town and we loved visiting.
Surprise Negatives:
-The difficulty in getting to the airportâŠeither Dulles or Richmond. This stressed me out much more than he ever was stressed about it. There really wasnât an easy way to do it and the school was no help. There were a few busses scheduled by the Student Government at Thanksgiving/Christmas Break but it was always announced after flights needed to be scheduled and was at an awkward time. He was âon his ownââŠthe first year he found rides on a rideshare site but I stressed about it. He later had friends who could pick him up /drive him to airports but we were very careful about scheduling flights to meet the potential schedules of others. Richmond is 1 hour 20 from UVA and Dulles is 2 hours away. How easy it was to get to an airport had not been an issue for me when we were looking at schools. When we were touring with my younger D I knew to ask the question. My D is now at a school that is one hour from the airport and there is a shuttle that runs every hour or two 7 days a week!
-How competitive joining many clubs can beâŠeven if it is to volunteer. My S was planning to apply to the Comm School so he wanted âComm relatedâ clubs. Lots of rejections that first yearâŠwith a few acceptances. Kids really need to âhit the ground runningâ in my opinion right at the beginning of the first year. He applied for several and got into one. He became the President of one Club by his second yearâŠthis one wasnât competitive when he joined and didnât get many new members. When he became President they decided to have it be a Club that you had to apply to and the applications tripled. Just an example on the âhyper-competitive climateâ.
-Students start looking at off -Grounds housing in September of their First Year. The school tells you that is it not necessary and that the landlords create " a false sense of urgency"⊠I personally disagree. My S and his roommate started looking in September of First Year and ended up on a few waiting lists and didnât get a first choice apartment. They moved again the next year. because of the location of the apartment that they got. It is a crazy market and if kids want to live in optimal locationsâŠthose get signed on early in the Fall.
@MAsecondtimer Having to look foroff campus housing for sophomore year so early freshman year sounds stressful. How does one even know who they want to room with that early? I put the halt on any schools where the kids canât live on campus for the majority of their time there. I know that is limiting but I donât think that situation would be good for either of our kids.
@MAsecondtimer my friendâs D12 had the same experience with housing. It is just crazy to have to decide before you really know people well. The positives outweighed that and it was a good experience. She graduated and has a great job now.
I worry about the schools on S19âs list for the airport issue. Thanks for bringing that up. He is looking OOS and we will do some research on options.
@homerdog That dynamic is fairly common at large publics, like IU Bloomington, Wisconsin, etc. where most students move off campus after first year and the most desirable housing is close to campus. At least in our experience at Wisconsin, the administration continued to communicate with parents that it was not necessary to sign a lease in Nov of freshman year for sophomore year, though it did mean that our student was stressing about roommates etc. when he was still in the fall semester.
From what I recall of your studentâs path, he is largely looking at LACs where that will not be a concern. As for mine, he learned a lot, grew a lot. I was not a fan of signing guarantor agreements for the whole apartment, where we were on the hook financially for rent which was split among 4-5 residents, but that was the norm. Fortunately, no one dropped off the lease, and it all worked out,
James Madison University
Daughter is a current freshman there, only two months in, but here is my perspective so far
Positive:
- Oh my, the food. When you see it on the top ten lists for best food, there is a reason for this. Great choices!
- Ability to be guaranteed of her choice of majors. She wanted to major in marketing, and chose JMU over another well-known Virginia school. The other school would have required her to apply to their Commerce school for junior year. And a third aren't accepted. She didn't want to risk not being able to major in what she wanted to major in. Bonus: due to her AP credits transferred, she is now able to earn TWO bachelors degrees by taking only three extra classes. I'm not talking about a double major. I'm talking about a Bachelors of Business AND a Bachelors of Science.
- The community. They do a week long program to help the freshman settle in. They run them ragged. By the end of the week, the vast majority have found their place. This school seems to be filled with kids with great social skills. School spirit on caffeine at this school, students, families and alums alike.
- She is really enjoying her classes and the class size is smaller than expected.
- Harrisonburg is cute and has everything you need in the commercial area, and then a coolness factor in the old downtown area.
Negative:
- Some of the dorms lack a/c and you pay the same amount regardless. One cluster called The Villages is being knocked down in a year or two to make way for new dorms. Dorm quality should improve as a result.
- Off-campus housing seems to be a little risky. While some find nice places, a LOT of parents are complaining about sub-par choices filled with mold and creepy landlords.
- Honestly, those are the only negatives so far, so I guess that's a good thing!