<p>Anyone get an invitation? Do you plan to go?</p>
<p>I got invited--I'm not sure I'll be able to attend, though..I live in North Carolina so it's a long trip..</p>
<p>My D was also invited...unfortunately, there's too much stuff going on senior year, plus we live over 6 hours away. She'll also have to decline.</p>
<p>I am going on March 2nd and 3rd.</p>
<p>Let us know how it goes divel. My d will also not be going - we're in Georgia, and that weekend is All state orchestra.</p>
<p>Yes, divel, please let us know how it goes. It's a long trip for us and if we go it would be the following weekend. Not sure whether is would be appropriate to "tentatively" RSVP or just respond late. Looks like the weather is pretty cold and snowy now...might be better by March...have a safe trip!</p>
<p>i think i am going march 2nd 3rd. we actually got a really cheap from JFK to Pittsburgh. </p>
<p>As long as my basketball team doesen't make the state tournament, i will be there</p>
<p>yes, i'm going the 3rd....not doing the overnight stay because my parents own a restaurant and friday night is super busy. plus we live an hour away so its not that big of a deal to drive in the morning.</p>
<p>divel and ba3452 and trellily (and anyone else who may have attended)</p>
<p>How was Trustees Weekend? My family is going next weekend.</p>
<p>I'd love to hear how it was! I've never visited Allegheny, and it's hard to get there from NC.</p>
<p>they are very accomadating and you can tell that they are really desperate for you to attend. For me, the location is just too remote and i already have better offers from better colleges, but the school seems very focused on academics. The town is nothing to speak of and it's a very slow way of life.</p>
<p>I really liked it! I probably won't end up going to Allegheny because its my safety, but I almost wish that I didn't try to get into "better" schools because otherwise the weekend would have decided it for me.<br>
I can't say about the overnight stay, because I didn't attend that part, but Saturday was good and informative... It was a new experience for me. There are a lot of opportunities to talk to professors and administrative officials that you'll be encountering a lot. I'm shy, so the first activity--going up to professors from different departments--made me really nervous, but Scott Friedhoff, the VP for Enrollment, introduced me to one of the professor and that broke the ice for me. Mr. Friedhoff is very friendly and enthusiastic by the way. When you're eating breakfast with your professors, take the opportunity to ask them questions! Out of the six students at my table, only another student and I asked the majority of the questions. Speak up! They even give you a list of questions to ask if you're stuck in your folder. The residential life tour takes you through three rooms, and most of the academic buildings are open for tours, plus in the administrative buildings, like the ACCEL center, there are plently of people just standing around to tell you about what they can do for you.
It might just be because these were all the Trustee Scholars, but Allegheny did seem stress academics, one of the reasons its so attractive to me. The programs, professors, and opportunities appeared top notch. Still, it didn't seem as though it was overwhelming. Meadville is a small city with not a lot to do, and is "culturally lacking" as the professor I breakfasted with said, but they do have a movie theater and various other things to do, and Grove City Outlet mall is about an hour away (Millcreek Mall in Erie is about 45 minutes in the opposite direction). I'm not looking for fast paced city life or anything, so it didn't bother me. The college seems to do okay with entertainment, because last weekend they were putting on a production of the Pirates of Penzance de la Cruz and Wayne Brady from Who's Line Is It Anyway? was performing. Sadly, I wasn't able to attend either.</p>
<p>Well I think I just wrote a novel, so I'll stop. To sum it up, the Trustees Weekend was fun, informative, and really got me excited about Allegheny.</p>
<p>Trellily - If you really liked Allegheny you should really consider going there, even if it is your "safety". My guess is you will find it just as challenging and interesting as other schools you have applied to. Allegheny does stress academics and is well regarded by graduate schools. I don't know what other schools you are considering, but remember that fit is a very important factor. If Allegheny fits you, then go for it!</p>
<p>Trellily and ba3452--Thanks for posting. I'm going up tomorrow for the overnight and Trellily's tips r much appreciated.</p>
<p>Trellily: You should really consider Allegheny if you like it. Trust me, if you find out you don't like the school that you are at, it's miserable. Therefore, it is important to visit the schools you got accepted to. Allegheny is a wonderful place with high standards for the students (not just academically, but responsibilitiy wise, too).<br>
Allegheny is very well respected with graduate schools in the Pennsylvania, NY and a few other close state regions. Do you have a major you are interested in? I'm a neuroscience & psychology major.
Just for an example if you are interested in especially neuroscience (which you replied to the neuroscience thread, so this is why I am using this as an example) -- anyways, more Allegheny College students get accepted to University of Pittsburgh neuroscience grad. program than any other college. They say they are a Ph.D. mill for Allegheny students and Univ. Pitt. is one of the best neuroscience graduate schools. Also, Allegheny students (graduated and currently enrolled) are sought out for some of the best internships and graduate schools. Last summer there was 6 or 7 Allegheny students at one of the top research institutions in the world.</p>
<p>I just got my financial aid award from Allegheny, and its HUGE, which will make it a contender since that's one of the big factors in my decision.<br>
The only trouble with Allegheny is I'm not sure how it stands up to schools like Kenyon College and the University of Virginia, where I've also applied. I know I'd get a great education and opportunities at Allegheny, but I'm not sure its in the same league as those schools. As it is, I will have trouble convincing my parents to let me go to somewhere like Kenyon over somewhere like Cornell (if I get in, that is). I know this is a bit off topic, but does anyone have any advice on how to convince parents that a smaller, less well-known school can be better than a big cutthroat nationally recognized university?</p>
<p>I am interested in neuroscience, and maybe chemistry or biochemistry. Right now I've really started to consider what I can do after college with my major. My financial situation is such that I'm not sure I'll be able to go on to grad. school right after I graduate, but I do want to do that eventually. What can you tell me?</p>
<p>I can tell you that some neuroscience students don't go to graduate school directly after graduation, which is completely fine, might be preferable actually. Students after graduation [in neuroscience] go to the National Institutes of Health or other well respected research laboratories. About 30% of the neuro. don't go to grad. school directly. 90% of neuro grads. do go eventually though. (with a ~90 - 95% acceptance rate). Tell you parents to buy the book "College that Change Lives" (<a href="http://www.ctcl.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.ctcl.com/</a>) Fourty schools across the nation were selected and Allegheny's one; this book can tell you advantages to going to a smaller school rather than an "ivy league" or commericially known ones (<a href="http://www.ctcl.com/why/myths.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.ctcl.com/why/myths.htm</a>). Go to: <a href="http://www.allegheny.edu/admissions/others.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.allegheny.edu/admissions/others.php</a>
Here are some other books that may be of interest.</p>
<p>We just returned from Trustees Weekend and my daughter absolutely loved the school. We had visited in the summer, and were worried about the weather in winter (we're in VA) but that doesn't seem like a factor anymore. What she (and we) especially liked were the other students and the academics/professors. The student body is very genuine (not preppy, which is important to her), and the professors seem very dedicated, knowledgeable, and accessible. </p>
<p>D decided she will definitely be a neuroscience major if she goes there. She is interested in pre-vet and/or animal behavior, and that major seems to marry her interests in bio, psych, and even chem. There are two tracks...cellular and behavioral, LG6 tell me if I got that wrong...and she would probably do behavioral. We were all very impressed with the program.</p>
<p>While we were there, they told us they had mailed financial packages late in the week, and like trellily, we had ours when we got home. Our EFC is such that we'll have to pay pretty much everything above the Trustees Scholarship and perhaps some small loans; if that's where D decides to go, that's what we'll do.</p>
<p>Allegheny is the furthest away of all of the colleges D applied to, and financially she'd do much better at one of VA's fine state schools, but Allegheny is unique and clearly high on her list. She applied to a couple of top tier schools, which we are still waiting on optimistically since she has great stats; she will decide when all the financial info is in and we've done some "accepted student" visits.</p>
<p>I wish I had magic advice for Trellily in terms of convincing M and D about the smaller college experience vs. the prestigious, well known University. I expect my D will have several choices, but her Dad and I pretty much are going to leave it up to her within the bounds of what we can afford (definitely a factor since we have a high efc but are older so will retire soon). I have to confess that I'd be thrilled to brag that D's at Carnegie Mellon or the like (she actually decided not to apply to UVA as "too preppy" but is waiting on W&M); on the other hand, it's more important to me that D be content and productive for the next 4 important years. I suspect that, if you make a good case, it would come down to that for your folks too.</p>
<p>In terms of working rather than Grad School after graduation...keep in mind that gov't agencies like NIH tend to be very generous in supporting graduate courses for employees. Some agencies even help with student loans. Having worked for the gov't for many years, believe me that it's worth thinking about and looking in to. The gov't will have many retirees in the next few years ((like H and me, the earliest baby boomers), and will do much to attract young workers. The colleges in the DC/MD/VA area are excellent--I've taken classes at most of them for my agency, and know many people who have gotten advanced degrees at their agency's expense. But the best thing about working for the gov't is that so many of the jobs are unlike anything that you'll find elsewhere...unique, interesting, challenging. And whichever party is controlling the administration , professional and
dedicated.</p>
<p>Best to all...gotta get some sleep after the trip!</p>
<p>I am so jealous with you guys. I cannot go to Allegheny although I got admitted. I am an international student and they left me with such a big amount of money.</p>
<p>Something to mention about graduate school. If you go to grad school in science, you usually don't have to pay anything. Science grad students usually get all their tuition waved and then get paid to either be research assistants or teaching assistants. </p>
<p>I don't know much about neuro-science but they did get a big national grant not too long ago. Also, chemistry is especially strong at Allegheny. Hubby is a chem grad from Allegheny and is currently the exec. director of one of the top graduate chemistry programs in the country. Opportunities are available to Allegheny grads, even if it is not as well known as some other schools.</p>