<p>Smaller colleges are more apt to expect demonstrated interest in the form of visits and interviews than the larger ones. Another reason to visit if you can is because it makes it sooo much easier to write those “Why X College”. (Or at least that’s what my son found.)</p>
<p>But if there is a legitimate reason that the student can’t visit, the “Why X College” essay is the perfect place to explain the lack of a visit. We visited 19 colleges (for complicated reasons), and yet the one my D is now attending is the one she couldn’t visit until the admitted students’ day. She explained in her essay that although she hadn’t been able to visit, she believed the school was a good fit, and they obviously agreed.</p>
<p>I think visiting colleges is really important. In the beginning it does not even have to be colleges that would make “the list”. It helps refine thoughts on big/small, urban/rural, etc. It also helps students get their head into picturing themselves away from home.</p>
<p>One thing to consider is finding other classmates or students in you town who are visitng schools and see if your D can travel with them or meet them at their destination. When my D and I looked at schools one of her friends flew into that city seperate from us (we had been other places first) and met up with us to visit 2 schools a few hours apart. My S took a friend with him when we traveled, by car in that case, to two different schools on two different occassions. Yes, it does mean your student has built in competition but I know that my D and S had more fun visiting with friends than just mom or dad.</p>
<p>Sometimes, college provides the perfect opportunity for a young person to reinvent herself. If your daughter is looking for that opportunity it argues against attending any school that you would describe as a
I’m thinking, look at some “friendly, quirky” midwestern LACs-Carleton has been mentioned and I would add Grinnell and Macalester and Beloit.</p>
<p>She sounds like my son who did very well at Williams. He is about to graduate. And no, he doesn’t drink.</p>
<p>The entry system is a great way to integrate kids. They do everything together at first, from the first night’s dinner on.</p>
<p>The pre-frosh orientation trip gave another circle of friends, and the JA’s (different from RA’s – voluntary position totally on their side) were a great big brother and sister, and S made great friends with their friends so he had friends who were juniors.</p>
<p>One value of a small school is finding a place in EC’s. Shy, shy S who hates auditioning was in two Shakespeare productions, the chorus, the student orchestra and the environmental club.</p>
<p>Winter Study is a great way to make friends without pressure, and he wrote a directed a skit for winter study that other kids were in.</p>
<p>Other people talked about transformation. I can’t say that. He’s still on the introverted side. But the definitely had friends, adored his major, had great experiences and has a direction for the future.</p>
<p>He also found solitary activities he loved which made him happy. He loved walking in the 2800 acre adjoining Hopkins Forest, solo visits to the Clark, the world class art museum adjoining campus, and seeing some indy films at Images in town. Sometimes he’d go with friends, but for the real quirky, indy stuff, he’d go alone.</p>
<p>For example, he recently saw Of Gods and Men about French monks who refused to leave Algeria under terrorist threat. No one else wanted to see the movie.</p>
<p>He loved having singles and associating on his own rhythms.</p>
<p>Not perfect for everyone, but a good fit for him. I stopped trying to change him. He didn’t want to Study Away. He didn’t make a posse of friends he took road trips with. But he had fun, always had something to do on the weekends and is fiercely loyal to his school.</p>
<p>The great thing about bigger universities is the awesome selection of courses, the depth of the faculty and the research centers. I am familiar with the University of Pennsylvania, so Ill use that as an example. Penn has a One University policy so that undergrads can take courses at any of the its undergraduate schools as well as graduate and professional schools the Wharton School and the Law School, for example. All the schools get tons of research funding so opportunities for undergrads are plentiful. Study abroad programs are encouraged and well developed, too.</p>
<p>In neuroscience, they have a plethora of research institutions:
[Neuroscience</a> @Penn || Department of Neuroscience || School of Medicine || University of Pennsylvania](<a href=“Homepage | Department of Neuroscience | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania”>Homepage | Department of Neuroscience | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania)</p>
<p>as well as a large number of neuroscience faculty:
[Faculty</a> || Department of Neuroscience || School of Medicine || University of Pennsylvania](<a href=“Homepage | Department of Neuroscience | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania”>Homepage | Department of Neuroscience | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania)</p>
<p>The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which is right on campus, is amazing:
[Penn</a> Museum - Penn Museum](<a href=“Page Not Found | 404 - Penn Museum”>http://www.penn.museum/)</p>
<p>The research going on in psychology is phenomenal:
[Research</a> Areas | University of Pennsylvania Department of Psychology](<a href=“http://www.psych.upenn.edu/graduate/resareas]Research”>http://www.psych.upenn.edu/graduate/resareas)</p>
<p>And Penn teaches a gazillion languages, including the classics.
[Penn</a> Language Center // Languages](<a href=“http://www.plc.sas.upenn.edu/languages/]Penn”>Languages | Penn Language Center)</p>
<p>There are over 350 registered student organizations at Penn, including several theater groups. She can get involved in several of them.</p>
<p>Penn, of course, is by no means the only university with such breadth and depth. But it is a larger school (Penn has fewer than 10,000 undergrads actually), and I feel it is only at a larger university that your daughter will be able to truly explore academically. So many kids change their minds about their majors that it is a blessing to have so many options and to have friends and dorm mates studying such an array of subjects.</p>
<p>As for her shyness I think we all knew shy kids in college they find friends. They find their place. If she does research, for example, shell work with a small number of undergrads, grad students and faculty, and is sure to become close to them. She will find a tight sense of community in her dorm too. Base on the way you talk about her, she sounds ready for the challenge of a larger school.</p>
<p>As other people have mentioned, Rice sounds like a great choice, too. I would put it at the top of her list their residential college system sounds perfect for her.</p>
<p>Whitman!
Nurturing, rigorous, unpretentious, amazing Outdoors Program. Frequently makes the top 10 “Happiest Students” list. One of the “Colleges That Change Lives”.</p>
<p>At the risk of sounding repetitive and boring, I submit another vote for Whitman. Everything you’ve said jibes with everything I read during the epic search of 2009-2010. My D did not apply, as she was in the bottom 25% on a good day and was put off by the rigor. Travel stress will be one thing to consider.</p>
<p>I will put in a recommendation for Brandeis. My older daughter is on the shy side and really flourished and grew into a strong, confident person at Brandeis. It is not too small, not too large, students very accepting of one another, flexible curriculum, intellectually stimulating, nice location outside of Boston so you are apart and have a campus life but can also take advantage of larger city and what a city has to offer plus Harvard Square and other schools. She certainly sounds like she is in the ballpark academically.</p>
<p>My younger S is very shy. In his search, he looked at small schools - his favorites being Olin and Alfred U.</p>
<p>He chose Lehigh :eek:</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see how my shy son changes over the next few months.</p>
<p>You might be surprised at what your D ultimately decides.</p>
<p>She sounds like a fabulous kid, and it’s really a shame visiting isn’t going to be possible.</p>
<p>Is she an only child? Speaking from experience, sometimes the distance issue is bigger for you than for her.</p>
<p>That said, given your description, I’d go for a LAC with a relatively self contained situation,but on the larger side–more than 2000 or in a consortium so that she has room to grow once she’s comfortable. In addition to the others mentioned:</p>
<p>Colgate, Middlebury, Oberlin, Smith, Amherst, Wesleyan, Vassar,</p>
<p>mmorrell, by the time you get to the end of this thread you have about 50 different recommendations. Based on my son’s experience (Williams 07) I can’t say enough good things about an LAC education – academic and social. I was an introverted teenager at a mega-sized university, and although I received an excellent academic education, my son’s experience would have better suited the person I was at that time.</p>
<p>I would, however, strongly urge your daughter to visit. LACs have specific personalities and fit is critical. In my son’s case, the visit changed everything: he ended up going ED with a school that was a last minute add; his number one choice from afar dropped off altogether.</p>
<p>Williams would be a good fit for an intelligent, athletic, outdoorsy, quiet girl active in theater. Plenty of others (as this thread demonstrates) come to mind like Hamilton, Kenyon. Mt. Holyoke if she’s interest in women’s colleges.</p>
<p>She should put together a must have and like to have list in ambience factors like geography, environment, politics, Greek system, etc. Once she has a “ideal” she can add similars in varying degrees of selectivity.</p>