I’m posting/writing this in hopes of giving my son some more information. He has narrowed it down to two schools he’d like to apply to for ED, but keeps going back and forth. I’m hoping either current, recent, or parents can provide some insight.
He’s an athlete/sporty, but fairly introverted and not much of a partier. He tends to have a smaller and close circle of friends, not a huge crowd.
Not into Greek life, although I don’t think he cares if his friends are into it.
Not sure on current major, although leaning towards business.
As an aspect to consider, Union College does not appear to offer a business major. Union does, however, suggest potential majors for students interested in business and finance: Business & finance | Union College.
Have you visited? We went to both when D was looking at LACs – the two schools are great but we felt they had different vibes.
And agree with @merc81 , Union does not offer a full business program and I don’t know anything about Dickinson’s program. Perhaps consider Muhlenberg (a LAC with traditional business majors in a similar location and academic range).
These were two top choices for my kid who was interested in studying economics as a path to business. Both are great schools.
Vibe-wise, union is a bit more New England/New York vibe and the party scene is perhaps more prevalent. Dickinson is a bit more “Pennsylvania-nice” - a little warmer, perhaps.
They have different academic calendars. Union has more flexibility in study abroad options.
Personally, I liked both quite a bit. I would think for a kid looking for a tamer scene that Dickinson could be a good choice but I can also attest that kids who were definitely not super social found their tribe at Union.
Is there a way he could spend a Friday, inclusing Friday night, at each? Is there someone from your high school who is there who could host him? I know that when DS was looking, they both made it easy to shadow a student for a day?
Has the student been to both? Can you afford both?
You should never ED if you’ve not been somewhere. And while you’ll hear mixed stories, when one EDs it likely lessens the ability to get merit aid. Why? Would you give money to someone who is bound?
You don’t have to ED. It’s your right to - but make sure you’ve been there, you can afford it, and you want to afford it - and of course, make sure they have the curriculum he might want.
So the major is unknown - but if he’s thinking business, then yes he should go to a school with business - because Econ isn’t business. Econ is a social science.
Would there be a sub discipline of interest?
So it’s hard to identify all LACs with businss, but it might be wise to start here and figure out, who fits the mold that you described - non greek, not much a partier (of which some of these won’t work).
They include - but are not limited to:
Bucknell
Christopher Newport - smaller public
DePauw
Franklin & Marshall has Business, Organization and Society - doesn’t look full business.
Furman
Kalamazoo
Lawrence - bus and entrepreneurship
Muhlenberg
Oberlin
Richmond
St. Anselm
St. Mary’s Maryland (public honors college)
St. Olaf
Skidmore
Washington & Lee - a reach compared to the two you mentioned
Wheaton (Mass)
This is OP. Thank you for the helpful and considered responses. I was a bit gun-shy about posting, as I also frequent another board that (inexplicably) gets nasty even about questions like I posted.
To add information and answer some questions:
We can afford both, and will not qualify for financial aid.
We have visited both, but not during the school year which makes a difference. Planning on visiting during the year when possible but we are not close to either school so that makes it more challenging. Son plays multiple sports and is being recruited for them at these two (among others but has narrowed it down to these two) which is why ED and other schools are not under consideration, even though the list PP compiled was great and would ordinarily be very helpful. Thank you.
I apologise for being somewhat vague initially.
Interesting to hear Union has more flexibility in study abroad, I thought I read somewhere that study abroad is one of Dickinson’s stronger points.
I think you can study abroad at most, if not all schools, and if that school doesn’t have a program that works, there are affiliates or other school programs you can petition to have count. My daughter at Charleston had her summer trip cancelled. Not enough kids. So we did Case Western…also cancelled. But on semester programs at another school, they’ll be a go and you’ll have access at both and if none work, you can bring in another.
How it works for an athlete who will have team commitments, I don’t know.
There are also summer programs too.
I think where the question of those two schools came in was because you mentioned business as a major and neither truly has although both have elements - so that’s why maybe some thought it was a bit off.
Dickinson has international business which looks sort of like doing business pre-reqs but not hugely deep into business although they have some electives.
Union has Managerial Econ - which is not business but has a few classes. But this is a social science.
Doesn’t sound like a bad choice given his interests. Both will lead to a business career as would many other majors.
Both schools were on my DD list. In our case we had to drop Union after the visit because they had some strange policy that if they transfer x number of credits (she had 30 DE credits), you are not considered a freshman (most schools do not do it to HS seniors who never were enrolled full time), and you are not eligible for merit or financial aid.
She loved Dickinson, but in the end attends very different school.
From our visits we felt that Dickinsion also had a robust study abroad program so I would not think that should be a deciding factor. I’d focus on fit with the school and coach/team.
Congrats on the excellent choices. They are both great options – IMO two reasonable people could make two different selections.
I think since you are ED and he will definitely get in, I would try to visit during semester. He needs to see the school in action, communicate with students, and feel the atmosphere. What can swing him can be absolutely irrelevant to other people. For example, for my DD it was important to have an option for late eating (after 8 pm). I think Dickinson had separate food courts for freshmen (with unlimited plan), so they had no option for late eating. Dorms can make or break decisions. I know some people choose Dickinson due to its proximity to DC (for political science). If foreign languages were in play, available languages made a difference for DD. Also some things like political atmosphere… DD was totally not interested in any politics and preferred campuses without much political movements. All kids are different, and believe it or not every LAC is different even though they may look similar on the paper. Did he join Instagram at both schools? Did he try to communicate with other students (that was a huge deal breaker for my daughter.) In his case also did he try to communicate with potential teammates?
“Interesting to hear Union has more flexibility in study abroad, I thought I read somewhere that study abroad is one of Dickinson’s stronger points.”
When DS was considering these two, Dickinson made a big point of the fact that study abroad programs were run by them. That’s a selling point only if you liked their locations, but it’s also important for FA. At the same time, they talked it up a lot (it’s their program!) so study abroad was emphasized at every visit. I see now that they have some partner programs.
Other schools were quite generous in allowing students to attend programs run by others, which tended to open up the globe and areas of study. I’d have to go back and see how much has changed at Dickinson, but that is what I meant. And fwiw, my kid, who studied abroad, was not as thrilled by Dickinson’s offerings.
Btw, I suspect that some of the concerns about social life - partying, etc-- will be far less dramatic for an athlete. At either, the team will function as that first inner circle.
@Sabine427 , you may want to look at how the academic calendar intersects with sports seasons at both because they do have different academic calendars.
For example, schools with Jan Plan were great for skiers. Except they couldn’t go away for Jan Plan. Short term in May, super for crew. Football players at schools that start later in September may get half their season done before classes start.
I’d also check, if it’s the Summer ones, how often do they run.
After both the C of C one and CWRU ones we signed up for cancelled, we were looking around. UC (U of California run them collectively) and well over half were cancelled likely due to not enough attendance.
The other worry with a school run program - you don’t want to be with your fellow students in another country. You want to be with other students - experiencing the local life. If you do a semester program, it would likely be that (you integrate into another school) although many colleges also have their own semester programs abroad, led by their own faculty.
I did that when I went abroad - big mistake.
So the semester ones, as part of attending another school, might be best to target.
To the extent practical, I would try to make visiting the two schools a priority.
FWIW when we visited we felt Union had more of a STEM vibe (including engineering) and Dickinson had more of a humanities vibe…but that is just one family’s opinion (and D ended up attending another LAC). I know people who have been happy and successful at both of these fine LACs. Visit and decide for yourselves which is the better fit.
I agree partying (and the Greek system in particular) is more low-key at Dickinson.
Study Abroad is taken for granted -as many have noted, it’s a point of pride along with “preprofessional preparation in a LAC setting” - and can be incorporated into any major. The International Business major emphasizes foreign language and foreign culture fluency (foreign language classes focus on cultural differences/cultural issues as early as low intermediate, which is a great benefit for Management majors.)
Dickinson parent here. My child has had a wonderful experience as an athlete at the school. International business is one of the most, if not the most, popular major at Dickinson. Many students of all majors (including athletes) study abroad and it is a big draw for many Dickinson students. There is only one fraternity at Dickinson and as a member of a sports team, your son will have an instant social group.